Antivalent – Exclusive Interview
Antivalent is a Finnish alternative rock band from Seinäjoki, formed in 2016. The band plays modern alternative rock, blending heavy riffs with soft melodies and emotional vocals.
The band Antivalent characterizes their music as modern alternative rock. Such songs as "Raven", "Full Repair" and "Heavy", which were included in their debut album, have already attracted attention on Finnish radio stations and streaming platforms, earning the band a growing fanbase. In the spring of this year Antivalent presented a new single "Godlike Sinner", the sound of which brought the band to a new level. The musicians are actively working on new material and are not going to stop on their achievements. With festival appearances and shows alongside well-known Finnish acts, the band continues to build their reputation as one of the country's promising rock newcomers. The band's vocalist Omar Zouiter opened the veil of secrecy and told us how Antivalent is doing.
Tell us how your journey started?
The journey of Antivalent started in 2016 when I needed to do something different musically in my life. At the time I played drums in a metal band and had various other projects going on. I some how knew that I needed to do something else. Something where I can write and perform my own music and tell stories through my eyes and my experiences. After some time I had made few demos of maybe two or three songs. At the moment I didn’t have any band member beside me so obviously I had to recruit players. I knew Ode and Joni from other projects and told them that I’m looking for players for this band I’m trying to put together. I played them the first few demos that I’ve made and I remember they both were like ”I guess I could try”. So now we had me singing and playing the rhythm guitar Ode playing the lead guitar and Joni got behind the drums but we obviously were lacking some low end… Joni said that he has an old friend that played bass and would definitely fit the group. Turned out that Joni was right! So now we had our group together and after a while we knew that we had something interesting going on. Something that we all were kinda looking for.
What do you think about you debut album «Lifelong» now? What can you say about this album?
Well we think that ”Lifelong” is the best album that we’ve released so far. *laughs* But yeah… We think that the album is a great way for a listener to get a grab of our music and the whole landscape of themes and emotions that we are diving in. We think that a person who’s unfamiliar with our music can quite quickly get a hang of what we’re about.
The journey of Antivalent started in 2016 when I needed to do something different musically in my life. At the time I played drums in a metal band and had various other projects going on. I some how knew that I needed to do something else. Something where I can write and perform my own music and tell stories through my eyes and my experiences. After some time I had made few demos of maybe two or three songs. At the moment I didn’t have any band member beside me so obviously I had to recruit players. I knew Ode and Joni from other projects and told them that I’m looking for players for this band I’m trying to put together. I played them the first few demos that I’ve made and I remember they both were like ”I guess I could try”. So now we had me singing and playing the rhythm guitar Ode playing the lead guitar and Joni got behind the drums but we obviously were lacking some low end… Joni said that he has an old friend that played bass and would definitely fit the group. Turned out that Joni was right! So now we had our group together and after a while we knew that we had something interesting going on. Something that we all were kinda looking for.
What do you think about you debut album «Lifelong» now? What can you say about this album?
Well we think that ”Lifelong” is the best album that we’ve released so far. *laughs* But yeah… We think that the album is a great way for a listener to get a grab of our music and the whole landscape of themes and emotions that we are diving in. We think that a person who’s unfamiliar with our music can quite quickly get a hang of what we’re about.
Released on March 31, the single «Godlike Sinner» was very cool! Are you really touching on religion or are there hidden meanings in the lyrics?
Thank you so much! Well yeah, a listener might think there’s some kinda religious attitude going on in the song but no, only metaphorically. «Godlike Sinner» is sort of a ”hate song” dedicated to all the hypocrites and manipulative narcissists who live in their own twisted dreamland exploiting others. I think it must have been a documentary or something a saw on TV about narcissists or narcissism in general. The stories and experiences of people who became victims of narcissistic exploitation were really shocking and obviously it left a mark in me.
Half a century ago, almost every artist wrote songs only about love. What issues do you consider important to you?
The way that I see it is that the world is filled with numerous big scale and megalomanic things. But the smaller things in life that sometimes tend to feel as big and overwhelming as the universe are in my opinion way more important because they are more relatable for a human being. I think most relatable and also important topic is the story between two people. It can hold various amounts of scenarios, feelings and outcomes.
Thank you so much! Well yeah, a listener might think there’s some kinda religious attitude going on in the song but no, only metaphorically. «Godlike Sinner» is sort of a ”hate song” dedicated to all the hypocrites and manipulative narcissists who live in their own twisted dreamland exploiting others. I think it must have been a documentary or something a saw on TV about narcissists or narcissism in general. The stories and experiences of people who became victims of narcissistic exploitation were really shocking and obviously it left a mark in me.
Half a century ago, almost every artist wrote songs only about love. What issues do you consider important to you?
The way that I see it is that the world is filled with numerous big scale and megalomanic things. But the smaller things in life that sometimes tend to feel as big and overwhelming as the universe are in my opinion way more important because they are more relatable for a human being. I think most relatable and also important topic is the story between two people. It can hold various amounts of scenarios, feelings and outcomes.
Do you have any taboos in your lyrics? And do you think it's appropriate to write songs about global situations happening in the world or do you consider such an act commercial?Well I like to say that there is no topic that we won’t write about but politics and religion are kinda no touch zone for us. But like said we might sometimes use religious lingo in a metaphoric way. But that’s about it. We think that it’s more than ok to write about issues that touch in a global level for example problems and grievances that affect the environment and human rights.
We heard that you are a sci-fi fan! Share the movies that made an impression on you. For which of these movies would you choose the soundtracks of songs by the Antivalent?
The list is definitely long but the movies that I keep returning to or just think that are awesome are «The Star Wars» saga, «Interstellar», «The Martian», «The Fifth Element», «Inception» just to mention a few. I must say that «Broken Satellite» is a song that would fit «The Martian» because in my opinion the storyline matches with the theme of the song quite nicely. But if «The Terminator» was a love story that continued from the ending scene were the Terminator was lifted from the lava pit then «Full Repair» would fit perfectly to it. *laughs*
We heard that you are a sci-fi fan! Share the movies that made an impression on you. For which of these movies would you choose the soundtracks of songs by the Antivalent?
The list is definitely long but the movies that I keep returning to or just think that are awesome are «The Star Wars» saga, «Interstellar», «The Martian», «The Fifth Element», «Inception» just to mention a few. I must say that «Broken Satellite» is a song that would fit «The Martian» because in my opinion the storyline matches with the theme of the song quite nicely. But if «The Terminator» was a love story that continued from the ending scene were the Terminator was lifted from the lava pit then «Full Repair» would fit perfectly to it. *laughs*
You've played a lot of shows and you have a gig at Aukusti Festival coming up. Tell us, what were the most memorable moments from the concerts for you?
Well we have to say that our gig at Provinssi might be the most memorable for sure. It was our long time dream to play there and this summer the dream came true. One special thing that we did there was that we threw some merch to the crowd in the end of the show. That was cool. *laughs*
What is the «recipe» for creating the perfect song?
Well… If the demo sounds after 100+ plays as good as it sounded the first time and also makes you do the rock nod every single time then you know you got something hot going on. There’s one thing that one can not perform without in the studio besides musical equipment and that is the holiest of them all… Coffee.
Which song of the released (or maybe not yet released) songs is the favorite of each band member? Why?
Omar, Joni, Tomi: Oldies are goldies but our upcoming new material for sure!Ode: «Raven», because it unknowingly scratches others too from the inside. But the upcoming new stuff sounds freaking awesome!Santeri: «Heavy». It’s a timeless banger!
Do you dream of making some special music video?
Well, thank you very much! We like the cinematic style a lot when it comes to music videos. All kinds of exotic camera angles and abstract ways to narrate the story is kinda go to method when we are in the process of making a music video. We think that 30 Seconds to Mars’s «A Beautiful Lie» which was shot entirely on location 200 miles north of arctic circle is so impressive visually and statement wise. It would be awesome to shoot a video one day in monumental or historically significant place.
What are your plans for the near future? What about the new songs?
We sure have plans made for the future and new material cooking that’s for sure and we hope to get new material out in the end of the year. All we can say about it for now is for you to hold on to your socks because they will surely fly off after you’ve pushed that play button!
There are a lot of rock bands in Finland. What do you think is the reason for this?
I think it’s something to do with escaping reality and letting it loose. It could also be that it has something to do with the whole aesthetics of rock music that attracts. Finnish people are also known for their need for speed if you think F1 and Rally for example and with great speed comes danger. So it’s kinda logical that rock music is the way to go. It got speed, energy, danger AND emotions.
Do you have any proven ways to deal with depression? What lifts your mood and helps you move forward, no matter what?
Music definitely is one of the best mood lifter there is, no doubt. Also being able to the things you love to do is also important. But I must say that family and friends play such a huge role when you’re trying to deal with the difficult times in life in my opinion. The thing is that you just need to talk your stuff out to them which I know is easier said than done.
We are looking forward to the release of your new music! Also good luck to you at the Aukusti Festival! Will you say something to your listeners in Russia?
Thank you a lot! And we’re really looking forward to get new material to you to listen to. We hope we can rock with our Russian fans some day.
Well we have to say that our gig at Provinssi might be the most memorable for sure. It was our long time dream to play there and this summer the dream came true. One special thing that we did there was that we threw some merch to the crowd in the end of the show. That was cool. *laughs*
What is the «recipe» for creating the perfect song?
Well… If the demo sounds after 100+ plays as good as it sounded the first time and also makes you do the rock nod every single time then you know you got something hot going on. There’s one thing that one can not perform without in the studio besides musical equipment and that is the holiest of them all… Coffee.
Which song of the released (or maybe not yet released) songs is the favorite of each band member? Why?
Omar, Joni, Tomi: Oldies are goldies but our upcoming new material for sure!Ode: «Raven», because it unknowingly scratches others too from the inside. But the upcoming new stuff sounds freaking awesome!Santeri: «Heavy». It’s a timeless banger!
Do you dream of making some special music video?
Well, thank you very much! We like the cinematic style a lot when it comes to music videos. All kinds of exotic camera angles and abstract ways to narrate the story is kinda go to method when we are in the process of making a music video. We think that 30 Seconds to Mars’s «A Beautiful Lie» which was shot entirely on location 200 miles north of arctic circle is so impressive visually and statement wise. It would be awesome to shoot a video one day in monumental or historically significant place.
What are your plans for the near future? What about the new songs?
We sure have plans made for the future and new material cooking that’s for sure and we hope to get new material out in the end of the year. All we can say about it for now is for you to hold on to your socks because they will surely fly off after you’ve pushed that play button!
There are a lot of rock bands in Finland. What do you think is the reason for this?
I think it’s something to do with escaping reality and letting it loose. It could also be that it has something to do with the whole aesthetics of rock music that attracts. Finnish people are also known for their need for speed if you think F1 and Rally for example and with great speed comes danger. So it’s kinda logical that rock music is the way to go. It got speed, energy, danger AND emotions.
Do you have any proven ways to deal with depression? What lifts your mood and helps you move forward, no matter what?
Music definitely is one of the best mood lifter there is, no doubt. Also being able to the things you love to do is also important. But I must say that family and friends play such a huge role when you’re trying to deal with the difficult times in life in my opinion. The thing is that you just need to talk your stuff out to them which I know is easier said than done.
We are looking forward to the release of your new music! Also good luck to you at the Aukusti Festival! Will you say something to your listeners in Russia?
Thank you a lot! And we’re really looking forward to get new material to you to listen to. We hope we can rock with our Russian fans some day.
August 2, 2023
- Tuuli TalvinenFounder & Editor-in-ChiefInterviewer