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Genre: Folk metal
Origin: Russia
Current label:
Independent
Current line-up:
Troll - Vocals, Guitar
Jetra - Vocals, Irish whistle
Skioldy - Bass
Elias - Fiddle
Alex - Drums
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Discography:
Troll Bends Fir - 2003
Hangoverlainen Holiday - 2005
Konung Hop - 2007
1516/Order Of the Holy Hop - 2009
Oktoberfest - EP 2010
Hoplnir - EP 2011
Official Site:
http://www.myspace.com/trollbendsfirofficial
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1. Hello! How are you? What are you doing at the moment? By the way
can you give us some info about the band?
Hi, fine, thanx. At the moment we’re getting ready for Women's Day
celebration tomorrow ?, after which we're heading for the “Holpnir” EP
tour.
The band was created in 1999 by its permanent members me (Troll)
and Jetra (at the moment we are the only from the first line-up). Having
left St.Petersburg Viking metal band NOMANS LAND, I, wishing to play more
folk music, came across Jetra, who sang and played the Irish whistle. I
offered her to make a funny folk band based on metal rock. Later we named
the style “beer folk” that defined our material exactly.
2. What does the band name, TROLL BENDS FIR, mean and how did you choose
it?
TROLL BENDS FIR’s Russian name “Troll Gnyot Yel” sounds very close
to Scandinavian languages, it’s original and dynamic. It just came to mind
somehow and we realized that it would be the band’s name.
3. Your music can be described as folk metal. So can you tell me a few
things about your folk influences? Do you get inspiration only from the
Russian folklore music or from other countries too?
Haha, actually you can tell it from our name ? As you know, trolls
are the creatures from Scandinavian mythology; you won’t find them in Russian
folklore. We live in Saint Petersburg, it’s only a couple of hours drive
from Finland and landscape here looks more Scandinavian than Russian, so
you can easily imagine trolls dwelling here many many years ago.
4. From what I have listened to up to now, I have noticed influences
from bands like KORPIKLAANI and MAGO DE OZ. Do you agree? Which other metal
bands do you consider that have influenced your sound and in which way?
As to KORPIKLAANI, we got to know those guys only about 6 years
ago when we were already a quite popular band in Russia. We’re trying to
move on, so our style has changed since our first albums, nowadays we got
heavier and inevitably we’re compared to world famous folk metal bands.
As to the bands, we’re all into metal but I can’t name an exact band, influenced
us.
5. Back in the 80’s and 90’s we had a few bands playing folk metal and
the most known of them was SKYCLAD. What do you think has changed lately
and so many bands that play folk metal rise from all over the world?
I won’t try to make up anything wise, in my opinion it's just like
a fashion. In different times it was glam rock, thrash, black metal, luckily
(for our band) it’s folk metal now ;)
6. Which do you think is the place of TROLL BENDS FIR in the folk metal
scene and more specifically what exactly can they offer to the fans of
this kind of music?
In Russia we have made a name for ourselves and there are some Russian
bands influenced by our music and they admit it. Talking about other countries,
we started promoting ourselves outside Russia a short time ago, so we’ll
live and see how things work out but I think we have a quite recognizable
sound to be noticed.
7. How important are the lyrics for you? Who writes them and what kind
of themes inspire you to write about?
The heroes of our lyrics live in pagan Scandinavia and in Europe
of the Middle Ages. Some songs tell funny stories that happened to characters
in taverns and woods due to drinking too much amber nectar. Other ones
are praise for hop and beer philosophy. Actually, it’s not easy to find
a more beer band than we are! And hope our lyrics will help develop a beer
drinking culture in Russia, so these are a really important part of our
work.
8. Since we talk about the lyrics how do you choose which lyrics fit
each tune that you have composed?
It’s a part of creation I can’t explain, you just feel it…
9. You sing in the Russian language. Do you think that this is a problem
for you to become better known abroad? Do you plan to have any songs with
English lyrics?
People from all over the world often say that they like to hear
songs in Russian even though they don’t understand lyrics because it brings
something new and sounds exotic. I’m sure it’s not a problem, take IN EXTREMO,
KORPIKLAANI, ELUVEITIE, ARKONA for example. On our new EP there’s a song
“Beer Mantra” in English and “Ave Celia!” with a Latin chorus.
10. How do the fans and press receive your music so far? Do you get
any interest from countries abroad? By the way, how supportive are the
Russian metal fans of their native bands?
Well, we get lots of positive feedback via MySpace from many countries,
even such distant from Russia as Brazil and Japan. Here we have lots
of fans who willingly buy our albums (though more willingly download them
?), merch, go to see our shows which lets our music be the only income
for the “TBF”members.
11. That’s all for now! Thanks for your time answering my questions!
The epilogue to this interview belongs to you…
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” (B. Franklin)
I totally agree with that! Cheers!
Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis
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