Present yourself to the readers
I’m Eetu, I play bass and sing in Burweed.
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?
Mostly it’s guitar player/singer Toni and me who come up with the initial ideas, but of course the arrangements are made as a trio. Usually Toni comes up with a skeleton of a song and we start working from there. He has stuff figured out quite well at early stage, so myself along with drummer Late just have to learn our parts and play it. My style is more like “I got a riff like this, can we make something out of it? The most satisfying part of our songwriting is when the structure of the song has been set and we start working on the arrangements. That’s the part when the song starts to sound like Burweed. Along the years we’ve created a way how the bass and guitar parts interlock and how Late adds his nuances and grooves around the song. That’s a pleasurable challenge for us to create this kind of music and try to get it sound full with just three guys, without backing tracks. There’s really still a lot more to examine and experiment on our chosen path.
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
Toni did the lyrics for our latest release, our debut full-length “Hide”. He didn’t have the easiest time when we were writing songs for the record, and that reflects on the lyrics. On “Hide” the lyrics handle ones personal intimacy and personal borders.
Why the name BURWEED ?
We had this post-apocalyptic theme when we first started making music. The only things left after the apocalypse are insects and weeds, and we chose to go with the latter.
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
In the early phases it was Callisto along with Neurosis that kicked us on our way. Nowadays we’ve fooled around at rehearsals by playing Mastodon, Deftones along with some Santana and that kind of stuff and some of that has made its way onto our songwriting. Personally I’ve been lately listening to Swans and Earth, and I feel some of that mood and intensity grabs onto our new stuff. Rather than being ultra-technical metal drummer with a gigantic kit, Late’s sense of groove comes from years of listening to rap and skate punk. Really, most of our drum stuff could be on some early 2000’s rap metal record and nobody would notice anything. Toni has some real poppy melodies going on here and there between the crushing riffs, and I try to fill up the spaces.
What's your opinion about the current music scene in Finland ?
There’s been a rise on really good, interesting and unique bands during the last few years. Ten years back Finland was a big metal country, and really to me most of that stuff sounded the same. Nowadays as that scene has mostly passed, the bands have the freedom and room to experiment more. The borders between different genres have started to collapse more and more, and that has given birth to bands like like Oranssi Pazuzu, Domovoyd and Beastmilk. On the other hand, there’s been a rise of young 80’s thrash and NWOBHM-style bands which is quite fun and refreshing.
Generally, what's the reaction of the public during your concerts ?
Usually when people come see our gigs they haven’t heard from us before, and that really gives us the opportunity to blow their brains out. We’ve worked hard to get our three-piece sound a lot bigger and more interesting than just three guys on stage, and I think that pays. Loud and tight.
What's your best live memory ? And why ?
Our best gig was in Valga, a small town which is half in Estonia and half in Latvia. We were on a short tour with our buddies Cassie and that was the final show. The show was in a small club where people could bring their own drinks. Somehow the mood and everything was just right, and we played a furious show. Also the afterparty was a thing to remember.
What would be the festival of your dreams ?(with you playing in it of course !!!)
Kuudes Aisti 2013.
