Interview with Sally Armbrecht from The Nest
Interview conducted on December 18, 2019
by Dan Locke
The Nest is an atmospheric alternative rock band from Southern Finland. Their moody music explores the sacredness of nature, life and death, love and mystery. The singer and keyboard player, Sally Armbrecht, is originally from the US. Both the bass player, Markus Lehtinen, and the drummer, Tuomas Villikka, hail from FInland, and it is this interesting collision of culture and musical tastes that makes The Nest’s sound unique. The music relies on a contraposition of heavy bass and drums with soaring female vocals and poetic lyrics. Influences are from bands as diverse as NIN, Dead Can Dance, Jefferson Airplane, Florence and The Machine, and The Doors.
Dan Locke: Sally- How does a girl who is from Charleston, West Virginia went to school in Seattle get hooked up with Markus Lehtinen and Tuomas Villikka in Porlammi inland?
Sally Armbrecht: It is incredibly good fortune that I hooked up with Markus and Tuomas who live within three kilometers of my home at the end of a dirt road in Finland. Our village only has about 600 inhabitants, so when I started looking for people to start a band with, I thought I would have to look in bigger towns, which would mean lots of driving. One thing that is great about living in the countryside is we have space in my sauna building for our own practice space/music studio.
I moved here over a decade ago with my ex and I stayed because of my child and my love for my new home. I really miss the mountains of West Virginia and Washington state though, Finland is flat!
What were your musical influences while you were growing up?
Well, I have three older sisters, so I listened to their music, like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, and Billy Joel. From these bands, I fell in love with music that is poetic and tells a story, or just makes me want to sing or dance! My parents always had the local classical radio station playing and of course, coming from WV, there was lots of live bluegrass at the summertime fairs. I guess it influenced me to not just get stuck in one genre of music. I freely listen to what appeals to me across all genres and admire musicians for their abilities and not that they play something I like.
Later I was really into bands like The Cure, Pink Floyd, Sex Pistols, Sinead O’Conner, Tom Waits, and NIN. In college, I was a DJ and had, first, a reggae show and then a blues show. And of course, when I lived in Seattle, there was lots of great music with all the grunge and jazz bands. This is one reason our band has such a unique sound; each of us are into different kinds of music, from Pantera to Dead Can Dance, from Nirvana to NIN, from PJ Harvey to Patti Smith.
How did you get your band name?
Our band name, The Nest, was originally inspired by a story I read. The nest is a safe place from the cares and struggles of the world, which is what music is for us. It also illustrates our connection to nature.
Did you know there is another Finnish band with a similar name (Nest)? And a Jazz band (The Nest)?
Yes, we know of this Finnish band, their music is great. I only started to listen to them, myself, after we started releasing videos on YouTube and their name popped up. I’ve not heard of the jazz band. It’s challenging to pick a band name, and we wanted to use The Nest because it has an important meaning for us. Luckily, all of these bands play quite different styles of music. Perhaps it just adds to cross-pollination.
Since you are from Charleston, West Virginia have you looked into your band performing on the mountain stage on NPR?
I am a longtime fan of The Mountain Stage and would be honored to play there. It is complicated for European bands to play live in the states because of visa issues, so we’ll see. If we are touring in the states we will be sure to let you know!
What is the End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock about? Since you live in Finland, what is your view of the American political policy? How does one become a minimalist?
My parents brought me up hiking and camping in the hills of WV. They taught me about the birds, the plants, and the stars. This led me to become an Environmental Educator and I have my Master’s degree in this field, so the unifying theme behind the politics and lifestyles that I am curious about or support all involve respect for nature and the other beings with whom we share this earth. As a longtime poet, and now a lyricist for The Nest, of course, my perspective of the world influences my words. While I may sing about issues like climate change, war, or rape, I prefer to speak here about the music and not my political views since I represent the band. Woven through some of our songs is my love of the rivers and trees where I live and also the spiritual feelings that arise when I am in nature. I also sing about my hope that we will take care of nature and each other, and explore other themes like love, death, and the universe!
On your Facebook page, it states that you are stoner rock. What is that?
We have heavy influences from stoner rock – bands such as Om and Brant Bjork – so in the beginning, we described our music that way. But I think alternative rock is a better description since we don’t use the driving guitar sound that predominates stoner rock and we have keyboards and synth weaving in with the heavy bass and drums (And thank you, I updated our Facebook bio!). Inverse Records has described some of our music as stoner folk which I like a lot.
Since you have red hair, I am going to ask you about some other bands whose lead singer has red hair. I would like you to say something about each if you can.
Ed Sheeran
Reba McEntire
Josh Homme- Queen of the Stone Age
Rick Astley
Geri Halliwell- Spice Girls
Lindsay Lohan
Florence Welch- Florence and the Machine
Wynona Judd
Nikka Costa
Hayley Williams- Paramore
Johnny Rotten
Trey Anastasio
Well, I couldn’t possibly say something about each of these artists. But I can say that I feel like redheads are a tribe. So when I see another redhead, I feel a connection. At least in the states, growing up a redhead was tough, and as a redhead with an afro, it was even tougher. I should write a song about it! Here in Finland, they call us “gingers” and my friends say there is no stigma or teasing for it.
I can say that Florence Welch is, personally, an influence. She is a classically trained singer, as am I, and you can hear it in her songs. The way I use my voice as a first soprano is quite different than when I am singing rock, so I like to listen to other singers who move so beautifully between a classical voice and a more driving, rock voice. Also, her lyrics often explore esoteric, spiritual themes, so it gives me the courage to sing about things that are usually very private for me in my life.
Is there a video that gives people a good idea of what the group is like?
(Yes The Watcher, which was released on December 12th!
How do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself doing what we are doing right now, and more. I see us playing clubs full of fans who have come to see us because they are into our music. We are traveling to play festivals throughout Europe, and we are composing and releasing more music.
Anything in closing?
I feel so fortunate to have teamed up with Markus and Tuomas and I love composing The Nest’s music with them. I have written poetry all of my life and, though I have some published, it has felt like my words were stuck in notebooks. Getting to sing my poems is like setting them free. Markus is incredibly prolific in coming up with the songs in ways I never could. And Tuomas brings in the beats and his riff ideas. I bring in the lyrics, singing melodies and keyboard riffs. None of us could do this alone, and the combination is always better than any on a part… and always surprising. When we began, I had not really written any lyrics before, so I was unsure how it would work. It has been so amazing to see how the lyrics fit into the musical line almost like some mathematical dance, and how I can go from free verse poetry to this structured expression with end rhyme. I’m having the time of my life… a dream come true!
I would also like to encourage people to go for their dreams. When we began playing covers together, a year before we started The Nest, I was afraid to sing solo and had never sung with a mic. And now years later, here I am, rocking out on stage! So we might think that we have something that prevents us from doing our dreams but if you just decide to go for it, you find solutions and ways through. I never could have imagined this… well, actually, maybe I did!
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