Averlanche- combines catchy melodies with beautiful female vocals. Their sound is influenced by Finnish heavy metal music from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Vocalist REBECCA SPÖRL is originally from Germany,
where she lived until she moved to Finland in 2014.
Interview conducted on May 19, 2020
By Dan Locke
Averlanche was founded in Helsinki, Finland, in early 2017. During the same year they recorded their first demo “The Machinery of Life”. After the release of the demo and the first few gigs it was time to record their first full length album. They wanted to have an experienced producer to guarantee the best result so they contacted Hiili Hiilesmaa who suggested that they should record the album in Punkalaidun with Arttu Sarvanne. The band spent 12 days in the beautiful countryside of Finland and recorded 10 songs for the upcoming album.
Band Members
Haalahti, Hämäläinen, Kopra, Pätsi, Spörl
What is your upbringing?
I grew up in a house on a hill with my mother, father, sister, and a cat. I spent my free time drawing comics and also practiced jujutsu for six years. As a teenager I started watching music videos on Finnish television and was fascinated by them. At 16 years old, I was accepted into an Upper secondary school of visual arts. Both music and arts have always been a big part of who I am, since early childhood.
How did you discover music?
When I started to get into music, it must have been around 2005, melodic metal was very popular here in Finland. The Finnish TV-channel “The Voice” showed music videos of bands like HIM, Nightwish, Stratovarius, The Rasmus, Lordi and Sonata Arctica and I fell in love with their sound.
How did you start to write music?
I have always been a person who needs to create aAverlanchend I have this strong urge to tell stories. When I was a child, I told my stories through the Donald Duck comics I was drawing. When I discovered music, it was only a matter of time that I started to tell my stories through songs.
Do you remember how you started to play keyboards?
My mother bought me my first keyboard as a birthday present when I turned 13 years old. To be honest, I can’t even remember why I chose keyboards to be my instrument. Maybe because guitars were too mainstream, and it’s the perfect instrument for creating melodies.
How did you get your band together?
I met our singer Rebecca and drummer Antti through the internet and Antti knew our guitarist Otto. Joonas heard about our band from a friend and joined us soon after. We enjoyed playing together and everything just fell into place.
How did Rebecca, end up going from Germany to Finland?
Rebecca: As a teenager I was listening to Nightwish a lot. In an interview they were talking about Finland and its beautiful nature. At the time I didn’t know anything about Finland, but out of curiosity I started researching and fell in love with the language, culture and nature. As I heard that Finland has the highest number of metal bands per capita, I was completely sold and decided to move there to start my own metal band.
How did the band get its name?
I just tried to combine different words and at some point, I came up with Averlanche. It’s simple, unique and everyone liked it.
What was your first gig like?
It was very exciting, but also scary. At that time, I had never played live before and was very nervous about showing my own music to the world. The mixing was so bad, I didn’t even hear what I was playing, but apparently it went well, since we got really good feedback after the show. We learned a lot from the experience and the second show went much better. All in all, we had a lot of fun performing our own songs live for the first time and it got us excited for more.
What happened to your online presentation of some of your past songs (At the Edge of Insanity)?
Our past songs were only demo versions that we combined to a demo EP. We re-recorded three of them for the album: “The Sounds of Insomnia”, “The Machinery of Life” and “Imagined Nothing”. The rest didn’t make the cut this time.
What is the second single “Klang der Schlaflosigkeit” about?
It’s the German translation of “The Sounds of Insomnia”. Rebecca translated it with her father.
What was operation “new songs”?
We were rehearsing the songs for our first album.
Let’s talk about your new album. Tell me about it?
For our first album I chose 10 easily approachable songs. I like melodic music, so you can expect our album to be very melodic as well. I have been blessed with the most talented colleagues, both inside and outside of the band. They all helped me to bring this album to life and I am very grateful for that.
What is the story behind “The Sounds of Insomnia”? What is the difference between your original demo “The Machinery of Life” and your present recording?
In my opinion one of the most beautiful things in music is, that a song can have a completely different meaning for every listener. That is why I don’t want to give away my version of it, but I am always interested to hear how other people interpret my songs! The difference between the old and the new version of the song is that it is now a bit shorter and in better quality. We changed the arrangement with the help of our producer Hiili Hiilesmaa and I updated the lyrics.
What are you feeling about streaming music?
Streaming makes it easier for new bands like us to show their music to the world and find their audience, but I kind of miss the times when people went to the stores to buy physical copies of albums. Hunting down rarities makes the music feel very special.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I am still buying physical albums and I hope musicians will continue to sell physical copies of their music. I have a collection of over 300 CDs and a small vinyl collection as well. I am aware that digital releases are the future and we need to accept that fact. However, our album will be released both digitally and on CD.
Any plans to tour?
Yes, definitely! We are a new band and at the moment we are still trying to find our audience. Because of the Covid-19 situation it will take some time before we will be able to tour, but we can’t wait for this situation to be over, so we can finally play live again.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you?
This is a hard one – there’s so much good music out there! I would say Killing Loneliness by HIM. The song is from the first HIM album I ever got and one on of the most beautiful songs I know.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
In this difficult time musicians have to become even more creative. Within few months online gigs have become very popular and artists have discovered new possibilities and ways of working. I think many people in the music business will keep using those new methods they have discovered alongside the traditional ways. However, I believe that live shows will never end for good. Fans need a real connection with the band and bands are made to tour.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have been working on my thesis and some new songs as well. Wine has kept me motivated.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I have discovered new wines!
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Are you planning to do something like that?
We haven’t planned anything like that. Actually, we haven’t even seen each other since the pandemic started. We decided to wait until the situation has calmed down. We are using the break to practice new songs independently and to promote our new releases.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
Why not – anything is possible in this crazy world! It’s funny that you can watch a concert of your favorite band in your own living room, but like I already said earlier: People need live music!
First it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
People need social connections and social connections spread this awful disease. In the worst-case scenario, we will need to wait until fall 2021 or even longer before we can have concerts again. It is hard to say how the situation will develop. I really hope that we can enjoy live music again as soon as possible, but for now let’s be patient and stay safe.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
I have never thought about that, but I would definitely book Iron Maiden to cheer up my Saturday nights 😀
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
I hope that I can continue to make music with the talented musicians I have in my band right now. I want to travel the world and get to know new people and different cultures.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Thank you for your time 🙂 Support your favorite bands (and new bands as well) and remember to wash your hands!
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