Hateful Chains

Lumous-Festival and other happenings

It's been a while but there's a good reason for that: I was in Spain again, for a whole month, writing songs and resting.

Before that there was of course the event of Lumous Gothic Festival at Tampere, July 12th-15th. 

We arrived there in good time at Pub Dog's Home and the stage was set by the festival organizers and the people from the bar and us. The other bands, Astral Zombie and Agnosia came a little later, so we decided to start with the soundcheck first. We got to decide the playing order among ourselves, so we agreed first Astral Zombie, us, and last Agnosia. 

After soundcheck of course FOOD! Because we had been driving for several hours. And then checking into the hotel. Then the guys took their naps. But I had no time for that, I had to paint my face. Since this was a Goth festival nothing would be too extravagant or over the top. I went with red eye shadow and dark lips. Clothes were simple, just a net skirt and a top with lots of jewelry. 

So I was just about ready when we had to go to the venue already. Showtime was at nine and an hour was reserved for every band, so our turn would be at ten o'clock. We chatted for a while with the other bands and noticed that Agnosia was actually from the same city as we. Maybe we could play together some time?

Astral Zombie was a solo artist who used a sound effect track and improvised on that with heavily distorted bass and screaming a poem about Death coming to visit and drinking coffee. All the elements of goth music you really need. There were three songs all knitted together so you wouldn't know where each one ended or begun. It was something really different and would also fit nicely in a contemporary art/music festival. After his gig Astral Zombie wanted to show us his blistered fingers: having suffered enough was an important part of his artistry, I gathered. 

Then it was our turn, and boy, was I scared. But it passed quickly. It was just so much fun being out there. The stage was small, not much room to move, but I did what I could. We started with A Night Like This and there was some problem with feedback. But the Mixer-guy from the venue fixed it from his side and things went better from there on. Next song, Choices went quite well, except I ruined the end by starting the last chorus too early. Well, mistakes happen. The rest went without problem and we had a lot of fun. I even survived playing guitar AND singing at the same time. 

During the gigs I could notice the audience's reactions. During some songs more people listened attentively, and even smiles and enjoyment was visible. During some others I could sense some critical faces and more people focusing on chatting among them selves. I get it, because the songs of our coming debut album are all quite different. There are some more metal-related with heavy guitar riffs and even d-tuning, which might not be every Trad Goths' cup of coffee, and some very pop-like songs, which might sound, well, pop. And I say "sense" because you don't really notice it consciously. There are so many things you have to give your attention to, so I guess some of it just happens sub-consciously. 

After the gig several people came to personally thank us. That felt nice. I remember especially one guy in Ghost's T-shirt, thank you, who ever you were! Thanking personally really made me feel like there must be something to this music we are playing. 

Finally Agnosia played. They were a kind of a "punk-attitude with goth elements" band, with sometimes Finnish, sometimes English lyrics, live synths and heavy guitars and basses. I especially liked the drumming, which borrowed much from post-punk. Vocals were basically distorted singing. I actually chatted with the singer for a while and we realized we were originally from the same city in eastern Finland. The world is small.

The whole evening was fun and ended too soon. The next day we went to see an exhibition of a Gothic artist, Henna Pitkämäki. Then the others went on their way, the guitarist to another gig, the others had work or something. I stayed for another day to enjoy the unique atmosphere of Lumous, day two. I spent the afternoon in parks and wandering around Tampere, and then got back to the hotel to get ready. The first band to play would be Chaos Research, in Pub Dog's Home. 

I was anxious to be on time, which I always am when alone in a strange place. There was nobody yet, except Chaos Research's cellist. I sat alone for a while just waiting, and then he came to talk to me. We had a nice chat. Turned out he also played in Two Witches, the iconic nineties' Finnish Goth band. Clueless me, but then again I was introduced to the scene pretty late and never knew the band well except the name. After a while his friends from Sweden came and sat around the same table. Then their Finnish friends came, and I had company all evening. We talked a lot about Goth bands and events and what the scene is like nowadays. The Swedish guys were organizers of a Goth- festival in Umeå, and of course I was keen to introduce my band to them, since they hadn't been there when we played. It might lead to something, or not, but it's fun to make connections get to know people anyway.

Chaos Research was ethereal and beautiful, with magical vocals and cellos. What more can I say? It was beautiful!

There were three more gigs at another venue close by, and we all went there. First was The Doctors, a duo from France. The guitarist played the whole gig with a mask on and took it off only at the end. Certainly created a mood. Then there was Randolph's Grin. I quite liked the vocals and can still recall some of the unique rhythms and riffs. The lyrics stuck to me, because they seemed to handle a wide variety of issues and were not all unpolitical. Last was Metallspürhunde, from Switzerland, an energetic and aggressive band that reminded me of Rammstein with an up-beat. Between bands everyone gathered at the bar's porch. I talked to some new Swedish people there, also organizers of the aforementioned festival in Umeå. During the last band I noticed that most them just stayed at the porch, so I danced away to Switzerland rhythms by myself. After that was more dancing with dj:s Jyrki Witch,  Xavier and Jussi40. My feet were dead tired when I got back to the hotel.

The next day, and final day to me because I had to be back on Sunday, dawned and I went for breakfast. I met the Swedish people from last night and we chatted some more. They were sweet! We walked together to the Festival's Dark Market. I found some music and jewelry. I also stopped to talk briefly with Jyrki Witch, who had his own table at the market. We talked about record companies, releasing music and how it is done nowadays. I also had the chance to thank him for having us in the festival. After the market I went home. Didn't stay for the legendary End-party, but maybe next year, because I'll definitely be going!

So, Thank you Lumous Crew: Jyrki, Toni, Nina!

Thank you Marko from Chaos Research, Nick, Sara, Ola, Maija and all others I met there!

Thank you Astral Zombie and Agnosia, and most of all, thank you Hateful Chains for being there with me!

You are all beautiful people!

Love: Hypnosis