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Finnish cult gothic rock band Two Witches, formed in 1987 in Tampere by Jyrki Witch and Anne Nurmi, is one of the creators of gothic rock music and scene; and its iconic figure Jyrki Witch is regarded as the godfather of the Finnish goth scene. The band debuted in 1988 with cult singles "Pimeyden Jousi" and "Cat's Eyes", and after some more singles, EPs, split releases, it released its first full-length, Agony Of The Undead Vampire Part. 2, in 1992 via Darklands Records (re-issued in 2001 by Actcom Music as a jubilee edition). In 1993 Anne Nurmi left the band and joined Lacrimosa, but Two Witches continued making history in the goth underground. Today also, after many line-up changes, Two Witches keeps spreading the horror, deviant philosophy and vampiric tales, lately most notably on its last two albums, Goodevil (2014) and last year released magnificent opus The Undead (the review is HERE). The current line-up is Jyrki Witch (vocals), Miss Blueberry (keyboards, back vocals) and Marko Hautamäki (guitars, bass, programming, back vocals), and all of them participated in this interview. Welcome to read it.
Interview with: Jyrki Witch, Miss Blueberry and Marko Hautamäki
Conducted and edited by: Jerneja
Jerneja: Hello Jyrki, Miss Blueberry and Marko, I'm glad I have this opportunity to conduct the interview with you. I've watched the interview conducted by Oskar Terramortis in 2017 when Two Witches celebrated its 30th anniversary. I must say, I found out more about Two Witches through that interview than elsewhere. How come Two Witches doesn't have an official page?
Jyrki: I guess many bands have abandoned their websites. People are nowadays looking for information elsewhere on social media and the bands' websites have become a curiosity that would have to be paid for by some web service provider.
Jerneja: Almost another five years have passed since then, and another full-length, The Undead (released on 30 June 2021), has been added to your music opus after seven years of silence. Your previous album Goodevil got a pretty positive response from the media and fans, so how is The Undead doing, and, more importantly, how do you comprehend it now, eight months later?
Jyrki: Actually, we have not been in silence, not even on recordings. Goodevil came in 2014, then the next album Voodoo Wytches in 2016, "the best of" compilation Put A Spell On You! in 2018, Deepland - Live in Sao Paulo 2020 and The Undead in 2021. I also wrote my first novel, and the book was published in 2019. As a part of the novel, we recorded a four-song EP under the alias Noitarovio (but most of our fans know it was a new material of Two Witches). In between Goodevil and The Undead, we also toured in 13 countries on three continents... I'm still pretty happy about the new album. It still sounds good. We asked some guest musicians for it, and they all said "yes" and took their part. The artwork by Jan Örkki Yrlund (Darkgrove Design, known for his works for many international artists) is a fine piece of work, and the songs are better done than in our early recordings.
Marko: I'm also still very happy with the album. It turned out very well, and it's a very good representation of the band we are now. Also, The Undead just got released on all streaming platforms, so now there really is no excuse to not check out on it. We have also been active playing gigs the whole time, and additionally, both Voodoo Wytches and Put A Spell On You! contain, as well, some new material.
Miss Blueberry: The Undead was the first studio album I participated in from the beginning of the project. Not only for recordings but for the first time also while we composed and arranged the material. I have to say I'm pleased with how good the album became.
Jerneja: I only mentioned Lacrimosa because of Anne Nurmi, otherwise, your music styles are different, and consequently, so is the fan base. But there is also something different about The Undead. If compared to Goodevil is more "3D" in the meaning of diverse, dynamic and dramatic. It starts with a lighter side, including some danceable rhythms, and by the end shows its darker side, with haunting atmospheric/cinematic rhythms. How come such an approach, and which side of the album do you fancy a little more and why?
Jyrki: If you compare Goodevil and The Undead, the main difference is probably, that the new album has been made from start to finish in collaboration with the same core trio of the band, and the guest musicians are only bringing a bonus to the result. Goodevil was the result of a multi-factor collaboration. Goodevil also had one unified story on the other side of the album, starting with the first song and ending with the last. The story of a man who sees his evil doppelgänger in the mirror and what happens next. The Undead has more individual songs where we this time only tried to make the best songs possible and decided the order of the songs only when all the songs were ready, and we were wondering in what order they should be on the album. Excluding both "Penny Dreadful", already while composing the songs, we knew they should be the final songs on the album... Every song is equally important to me. And an equally important part of the whole. Just like anyone who has children or pets, they can hardly name which of their children or pets is their favourite. That's why I too, can't name which side of the record would be the one I would like to focus more on or see another side fancier than the other.
Miss Blueberry: I also see the record as a whole. And we talked to each other for a long time about the right order of the songs.
Jerneja: I find the album's title, The Undead, somehow figured out. On the first note, the undead is/are the alive one(s), but there is probably a second note, which is...
Jyrki: Personally, I like the idea that everyone interprets the album title in their own way. We don't want to give ready-made answers on how anyone should understand that title. It can mean so many different things.
Jerneja: With all the respect, I'm not fond of this idea. Namely, every book or movie (well, perhaps not the hardcore ones) has a story and preface/summary. In the end, each of us comprehends it differently, anyway. I was interested in what the three of you had in mind when creating the album and its title.
Jyrki: I see this thing quite differently. Personally, I don't like the idea that the artist explains the purpose of his production. However, each explanation gives the recipient a presupposition of the future. That is why I do not want to know the interpretations of my own favourite artists, for example, but to find my own interpretation of the works.
Marko: Let's just say that the undead have been mentioned a few times in the past. It's all the same continuum.
Jerneja: You mentioned above that the songs were better done than in your early recordings... What exactly did you change regarding production?
Jyrki: In the early days, we needed to rent a studio for recordings. And because we were always out of money, we needed to do all the recordings in a few hours. It always meant hurry, stress, and everything had to succeed at once. If something went wrong in the recordings, someone missed the right notes, the beat wasn't stable, I pronounced something incorrectly or sang out of tune, or the sound wasn't the best, we always had to think really fast if we had the time and money to fix the thing or if we just had to accept the result as it was and move on to the next song. Nowadays, we are recording everything in Marko's studio, and we can use as much time as we need.
Marko: Working in my home studio has made things much easier. We can do unlimited takes and try out all kinds of things that would have been regarded as an expensive waste of time in a commercial studio back in the day. Compared to Goodevil, the sound is now much more uniform throughout the album. Goodevil was recorded over several years in several studios and even in several countries, and some songs have very different sounds compared to others. The Undead was all recorded in one place and mostly with the same gear, so the album sounds like one entity now. And of course, my studio cats provided their contribution to the soundscape of the album as well. Can you spot them?
Jerneja: Several artists collaborated on The Undead; I guess it wasn't hard for you to "get them on board"... But was there any who declined "the invitation"?
Jyrki: None of the ones we asked declined. We were talking about the subject with some others too, and also all of them said "yes", so we might do some collaboration with them lately. We'll see what happens while planning the next album.
Marko: The same with the studio cats.
Jerneja: Since The Undead was created by a much-extended music cast, with the pandemic restrictions being on the top of fame, was there any super-interesting happening you don't mind sharing with Terra Relicta web magazine readers?
Jyrki: Due to pandemic restrictions, everyone, of course, recorded their parts in their studios. That's why we were not in contact except via email. In Finland, the restrictions have been quite mild, so Marko, Miss Blueberry and I were able to arrange the whole concept together, and we spent many evenings talking about what kind of record each of us would like to make.
Marko: Right now, we are kind of back to that, planning the future stuff. In general, since the pandemic got all gigs cancelled, many bands have been spending time in studios and writing new material. We did that as well. Perhaps for the first time ever, we have plenty of new material to work on.
Jerneja: Speaking (also) of books, you mentioned your first novel had got published in 2019. I've been searching, but I only encountered "Inner Circle Outsider - the lyrics of J.Witch", the selection of lyrics for various bands, published in 2021. Would you, please, tell us some more about this other engagement of yours... Any new book ahoy?
Jyrki: My first novel, "Unien Valtiatar", was published in 2019. It's a modern and erotic vampire story. In addition to the traditional vampire themes, one of the main characters in the story had a rock band called Noitarovio, and that's why we got the idea to write a few songs for that imaginary band. Then Marko, Miss Blueberry and I recorded those songs and a CD of Noitarovio was included in the first edition of the book. So, if Noitarovio sounds "a bit" the same as Two Witches, now you know the reason. "Inner Circle Outsider" was my second book, and at the moment, I'm writing the next one, but it might take years to finish it. At the same time, I'm writing short memoirs of Lumous Gothic Festival (2001-2020) and the history of the 80's gothic scene in my hometown Tampere to the web pages of Miss Blueberry.
Jerneja: Miss Blueberry, you've joined Two Witches quite recently - four years in April since you performed your first concert with the band. Have you been a member of some other band before, and how did you "end up" with Two Witches?
Miss Blueberry: I haven't been in bands before. But I've performed in pole dance and aerial ring shows. The previous keyboardist left the band, and Jyrki asked if I would like to join, and I promised right away.
Jerneja: According to your Facebook page, you are also a pole dancer and alternative model. I saw your performance in Chaos Research's video for the "La la la" track, unleashed last October. I would probably twist if not break something (and it wouldn't be the pole), but it looks fun, and you are doing it with such ease. How much effort does it take to master it?
Miss Blueberry: I ended up in my first class ten years ago, and quickly the hobby changed to pole dance. Before that, I spent more time in the stable with the horses, and I rode. Right now, I have hundreds of hours of pole dance training behind me. There are many ways to practice the sport, but it took me along, and everyone develops at their own pace, and everyone has their own strengths. Most importantly, enjoy what you are doing. It also became my second job because nowadays, I work as a pole dance instructor. If you are interested in the sport, then I encourage you to look for the nearest pole school. I train regularly, and last year I participated in the duo series at the POSA Pole Sport World Championship 2021 in Bologna, Italy.
Jerneja: Two Witches, on the other hand, hasn't served many videos. How come?
Marko: We are very much aware that we need more videos. Usually, it has been the lack of time, money and/or skill preventing us from making videos. We don't want to do straight-up playing videos where we just stand there and play the song. There are lots of live clips out there that fill that void. On the other hand, we have put quite a lot of thought into our band photos and that's something we would like to carry over to videos as well. Chaos Research's "La la la" video was written, directed and edited by me, so I am slowly learning that stuff as well. We have been planning a video and even shot something already, but when and how things will progress, only time will tell.
Jyrki: As Marko said, it would need money and/or skill to make promotional clips, and those are the subjects we do not have. I would love to do more videos, but I also think the playback videos of the bands pretending to play "live" in the studio are really boring. I'd rather watch the real live clips instead.
Miss Blueberry: If any video expert wants to make us a video, we will be happy to accept the offer.
Jerneja: Marko, your musical path is quite long and genre versatile; there was/is: Ater, already mentioned Chaos Research, La Vampire Nue, your solo project Majesty, Shade Factory, Sinmasters and probably some I overlooked. What is going on with the still vital ones; any new release coming soon? Cats... To answer your question from earlier - I didn't spot any cat as such, but in my observation, the three of you have these cats' poses/expressions on The Undead album cover. By the way, it's a great and unusual album cover.
Marko: With Chaos Research, we are now releasing a series of long-form ambient remixes of some of our old tracks, intended mostly as background/meditation music. We will start releasing our next new body of work on Samhain. The concept of the work is the paganistic wheel of the year, so we will release one song on each pagan holiday from Samhain 2022 to Mabon 2023 and then possibly do the album version afterwards. I recently also resurrected my old doom metal project Majesty, although I am going to ditch the name because of several other Majestys out there. Instead, I will release that as Lord Gravehill. I am planning to first release one new song in April or May, and I will also release all the old Majesty stuff for streaming, including the unreleased first album.
Jyrki: La Vampire Nue was my first band to get Marko to join the lineup. It was a short-lived project by Marty Kasprzak (from Berlin), Toby (ex-Two Witches, ex-Love Like Blood, Silene), Marko and me. Before that, I asked Marko to join Two Witches, but it still took about two years until he wanted to join. A bit after La Vampire Nue, I started SinMasters and first asked Jan Örkki Yrlund (Imperia, Satyrian, ex-Lacrimosa) and Timo Väänänen (Harmony Garden). Soon after that, I wanted to add some extra musicians to the lineup and asked Marko, Marty and Toby to join. All of them have also been members of Two Witches in the past.
Miss Blueberry: If you see them in cat-like positions, maybe they have something like that. However, we looked for images of old movie posters and horror movie characters.
Jyrki: The art of the album cover was made by Jan Örkki Yrlund of Darkgrove Design (www.darkgrove.net), as I've already mentioned. He is my long-time friend (we have known each other since the beginning of Two Witches), and he has also been a member of Two Witches and SinMasters. He has also played for bands like Lacrimosa, Satyrian and Imperia. Nowadays, he is internationally known for his artworks for such artists as Manowar, Korpiklaani, Battle Beast and many many others.
Jerneja: And, for the next Two Witches' album, if you decide to include also some guest cats' musicians, "my" Geronimo likes to sing; I think, he's a tenor. So, how numbered is your studio cats' choir?
Marko: Only two, but they got doubled a couple of times.
Jerneja: Since this is the first interview with Two Witches for Terra Relicta, would you please tell us about the band's beginnings?
Jyrki: It was early 1987 when I met Anne at a club in my hometown, we ended up dating, and she moved to live in my flat. We found out we had similar taste in music and got the idea to form a band. At first, we didn't even have decent instruments or amplifiers and didn't be able to play very well either. Therefore, playing covers was out of the question, and we had to start composing our own songs right away. As soon as the first songs were finished, we started booking gigs for ourselves. Very soon we started thinking about the first records, as well, and all-in-all, everything was done at a very fast pace, without thinking too much and mostly in a do-it-yourself style. Our original name Noidat (which means witches in Finnish), was changed even before the first gig, and at the same time, I started writing the lyrics of the songs in English. In the beginning, we were playing as a duo, but we soon realized that it would sound better if we had other musicians involved. The extended line-up and traditional instruments changed the sound and style from the early days "Einstürzende Neubauten meets New Order" style to more traditional gothic rock. After several gigs in Finland, we toured around Europe for the first time in 1990, then in Germany in 1992 and, at the same time, signed our first international recording deals (with Talitha in Germany and Cleopatra in the USA).
Jerneja: Two Witches "belongs" to the first wave of gothic rock. In a way, you were also still breaking new ground, most definitely in Finland, namely, Two Witches is the first Finish gothic rock band. What was the "playground" back then in comparison to nowadays?
Jyrki: When you practically started from scratch, it allowed you to build the scene in the direction you wanted. Nowadays, there are already frames, and everyone assumes you will stay within them. Back in the days, Finland was pretty much grey and boring, but the alternative scenes accepted each other better than they do today.
Jerneja: Jyrki, you have not only been creating gothic music but also promoting the gothic scene through magazines, concerts/events organizing,...
Jyrki: This whole gothic scene has been one of the most important things in my life. That's why I've tried to do as much for the scene as possible. I have been a journalist and also published 'zines, run my own Darklands record company, Anne Nurmi and I were also running a small record and clothes store under the same name Darklands in our hometown (between 1988-1990), then I hosted a gothic radio show, performed loads of gigs as a DJ, organized different clubs and foreign bands to Finland for gigs and tours, but I guess the most important thing I was a promoter of Lumous Gothic Festival for 20 years (2001-2020). Lumous was the only gothic festival in Finland, a club size four-day summer event. I think it is important to do all those things to keep the scene alive.
Miss Blueberry: And at the moment Jyrki and I are running the only Finnish info site of gothic events; Gothic Event Finland.
Jerneja: Regarding such a long band's history, I'm borrowing "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" from Charles Dickens, only to ask when were these times for Two Witches?
Marko: My nomination for the "worst time ever" award goes to our attempted European tour in 2002 when we only made it to Copenhagen, and while we were eating, someone stole our tour bus and all our gear. We pretty much had to start from scratch after that. Although, that prompted our move to Berlin, which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise, so there is that.
Jyrki: I totally agree with Marko.
Jerneja: Now that your least favourite season has come to an end and the pandemic's restrictions seem to soften in most of the world, do you plan a tour with Two Witches? If so, when and where?
Jyrki: Oh, we would love to start touring again. But of course, such things are not up to the artists themselves. It all depends on whether someone wants us for a gig. We are ready for gigs and will be happy to hear the gig offers.
Jerneja: I don't think this will be a problem regarding Two Witches' cult status. Though, the pandemic's situation is still uncertain. Thank you very much for this interview, Jyrki, Miss Blueberry and Marko. If there is anything you want to share or communicate to Terra Relicta dark music web magazine readers, please do so...
Marko: Thank you so much for the interview! For news on our next moves, please follow our social media pages. There will be new stuff coming out pretty soon from Two Witches and also from Chaos Research and Lord Gravehill.
Jyrki: I hope we could have a chance to play gigs near you and meet all your readers!
Two Witches links: Facebook, Bandcamp, Instagram
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