Interviews: Warchief

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Experimental Hard Rock band Warchief from Finland. Check out this band and follow them on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it or came out like that?

The original concept of the band was to combine Finnish/Ugric mythology with retro-futuristic sci-fi. So the name Warchief was chosen to conjure up images of shamanistic tribal warfare. It also helped that there were people in the band knee-deep in heavy World of Warcraft addiction so it played into that as well.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

In 2009, before Warchief was formed, we had an idea of a traditional stoner/psychedelic rock band which we managed to group up and actually rehearsed with for about a year. But like many other band projects, it just faded away for no particular reason. It worked as a good launching off point to continue creating something else. Soon after we started to create and compose a new song, which ended up being ”For Heavy Damage”, Warchief’s first track. This time the idea of the band was not to play traditional stoner rock/metal, but instead we took some elements and ideas from different genres such as grunge, sludge, psychedelic rock, mixed it up smoothly and create something completely new and it just felt right thing to do after many years of playing hardcore punk, metal and traditional stoner rock.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

In 2006, Teemu (Guitar) and Tommi (Guitar) met in a death metal band project which didn’t last very long, but the interest of playing music kept them going and we formed a short-lived thrash death metal project which included Teemu’s childhood friend Juho (Drums). After that, we had a short moment without playing anything, but with Juho’s idea of a new band, we started and formed a crust-punk band called ”Hangover Overdose”. We played for 4 years together, did hundreds of gigs and a couple of albums which strengthened our playing individually and as a group. At first Warchief’s lineup was very different from the present lineup, Teemu played drums for ”For Heavy Damage” and we had only one guitarist. Esa, Teemu’s friend, joined as a singer but soon after we added bass to his tasks. Juho joined us as a drummer because we wanted to have two guitarists to expand our possibilities when it came to musical composition. With this lineup we made our self-titled album ”Warchief” and played a bunch of gigs. After some years, Esa decided to quit the band and focus more on the dad-rock spectrum of rock and roll, so we had a position open for a bassist and vocalist. We started looking for a new member and it didn’t take long until we asked Tommi’s childhood friend Arttu to join the band as bassist and vocalist. We started rehearsing and composing our next release, ”Morning Home” and to this day the lineup has stayed the same. So in short we are all long term friends and have known each other for a long time. The best ship is friendship.

4. Each band member’s favourite band?

This is a very hard question and nearly impossible to give a good specific answer because it's constantly evolving and changing. Let’s just say we all have very different and versatile tastes of music. For example, Tommi has his thing for Dark Ambient, Teemu loves 90s alternative rock, Arttu digs psychedelic rock/metal and electronic music, and Juho listens to basically everything.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

We don’t know any other way to live. Playing and listening to music has been a part of all our lives as long as we can remember. It’s a real desire for freedom, a place apart from a world in abandon.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last gig was in our hometown Jyväskylä, in a venue called ”Poppari” 13.12.2024. We were really happy to share the stage with Ēlūcescentia and Orbiter.

7. Where would you like to act?

We are up to almost anything which we can manage. Outside of Finland would be a lot of fun to do.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

We’re up to playing with pretty much anybody from any genre. No boundaries. Smash division.

9. Whom not?

Right wing/nazi/fascist bands. Fuck ‘em.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

I think everybody experiences this in some form or another. It gets better with practice and there’s always, of course, alcohol.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Too many to count.

12. What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Someone tried to very insistently buy Teemu’s guitar after a gig. He was, however, very happy when Teemu declined. Strange all around.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We love them and we want to express our honest and purest gratitude and gratefulness to them. Huge thanks for the support!

14. What do you think of our site?

It’s a very nice site and helpful to get information about the bands. Good stuff! 

15. Something to add?

Thanks for the interview, it was a pleasure. Believe in yourself and your dreams and never give up. We all start from the bottom.