Hanging Garden – Exclusive Interview
Hanging Garden have been shaping their sound since 2004, evolving from doom-death roots into something more layered and atmospheric. The band is regarded as one of the finest on the Finnish doom metal scene.
Formed in 2004 in Mikkeli, Hanging Garden started out with a sound rooted in melodic doom/death and gothic metal, which was clearly reflected on their debut album Inherit The Eden, released in 2007. Over nearly twenty years since the band was founded, Hanging Garden have gone through many changes — members came and went, only one person from the original lineup remains, and their music has become increasingly melodic, taking on a more modern sound. Today, they are regarded as one of the finest representatives of the genre on the Finnish doom metal scene. Despite releasing the EP Neither Moth nor Rust in January 2022, the band still disappeared from the radar for a while, which led to further changes in the lineup. Vocalist Toni Hatakka spoke about how that period affected Hanging Garden.
Hello! Thank you for agreeing to the interview. How do you feel now? How was this year for all of you?
Hi! Last year was intense with everything, both in and outside the band. We had some hardships within the band which in the end resulted in our old drummer Antti Ruokola rejoining the band. We also started rehearsing after a year of hiatus, and are starting slowly to be in some sort of shape for live shows once again!
Most recently, you released an amazing song «The Four Winds». What is the history behind this song? What prompted you to write lyrics for it?
The song, composed by Jussi H., was my absolute favorite from the very raw and early demo stage, and had a very strong atmosphere of traveling. The scenes that were invoked in my mind from hearing the song had this sense of urgency, of a need to find something else, something better, and a very har resolve to reach it. This image is what I tried to put into lyrics.
Hi! Last year was intense with everything, both in and outside the band. We had some hardships within the band which in the end resulted in our old drummer Antti Ruokola rejoining the band. We also started rehearsing after a year of hiatus, and are starting slowly to be in some sort of shape for live shows once again!
Most recently, you released an amazing song «The Four Winds». What is the history behind this song? What prompted you to write lyrics for it?
The song, composed by Jussi H., was my absolute favorite from the very raw and early demo stage, and had a very strong atmosphere of traveling. The scenes that were invoked in my mind from hearing the song had this sense of urgency, of a need to find something else, something better, and a very har resolve to reach it. This image is what I tried to put into lyrics.
The music video is also captivating. It has a special aesthetic of mystery. Where and how did the video shoot take place? Who came up with the idea to do it this way?
It was supposed to be a simple lyric video, and this one beautiful autumn morning me and Riikka decided to head out and shoot some material for it. We found this beautiful inlet during the sunset, with a myriad reeds flowing in the wind. Later that evening we headed out to the docks of Matinkylä to shoot the dark parts in the end. So it was in essence this kind of spontaneous burst of creativity.
Your eighth studio album, «The Garden», will be released on March 24th. What stage is the album in? When did you start working on the album and how long did it take?
It's done and dusted! We are now working hard to get the videos done for the last singles! We started working on the album quite fast after releasing Skeleton Lake, and built up pace towards last spring and summer, when we finally entered the studio to record the album. The mixing was done by early fall.
How is «The Garden» different from your latest album «Skeleton Lake» and «Neither Moth nor Rust» EP? What can you tell about «The Garden» now?
The feel is very different. After listening to the demo versions of the new songs I felt there was a lot more of light in them than our past songs, and I felt that after a decade of melancholy and despair, we could have some room for hope and light and love. I think that feel is the most significant difference to the earlier releases.
It was supposed to be a simple lyric video, and this one beautiful autumn morning me and Riikka decided to head out and shoot some material for it. We found this beautiful inlet during the sunset, with a myriad reeds flowing in the wind. Later that evening we headed out to the docks of Matinkylä to shoot the dark parts in the end. So it was in essence this kind of spontaneous burst of creativity.
Your eighth studio album, «The Garden», will be released on March 24th. What stage is the album in? When did you start working on the album and how long did it take?
It's done and dusted! We are now working hard to get the videos done for the last singles! We started working on the album quite fast after releasing Skeleton Lake, and built up pace towards last spring and summer, when we finally entered the studio to record the album. The mixing was done by early fall.
How is «The Garden» different from your latest album «Skeleton Lake» and «Neither Moth nor Rust» EP? What can you tell about «The Garden» now?
The feel is very different. After listening to the demo versions of the new songs I felt there was a lot more of light in them than our past songs, and I felt that after a decade of melancholy and despair, we could have some room for hope and light and love. I think that feel is the most significant difference to the earlier releases.
Can you say that «The Garden» is a concept album? What themes formed the basis of this album? Do the songs of this album have a common idea?
I wanted to explore this thought that even after everything ends, as the world as we know it has collapsed, we as humanity would find meaning, togetherness, and hope, be it from each other, promise of tomorrow or different kinds of spirituality. This, combined with different contrasts and counterpoints, like dreams, reality, life, death, nature and urban cityscapes, wilderness and forlorn technology are some of the concepts and imagery I put in to both the songs composed by me and the lyrics on the album. The lyrics written by Riikka fit this aesthetic perfectly as well, in the end.
What inspired you while writing the album? Maybe it was some legends, books or music of those performers you look up to.
Nature, love, life, loss, hope and the world. There is a lot of intertextuality as usual, at least in my lyrics. Music-wise - there are a handful of songs composed by me on the album - I found a lot of inspiration from cinematic and game music composers, such as Yasunori Mitsuda, Joe Hisaishi and Ennio Morricone. For the songs written by others, I can't say, as we haven't discussed the matter.
I wanted to explore this thought that even after everything ends, as the world as we know it has collapsed, we as humanity would find meaning, togetherness, and hope, be it from each other, promise of tomorrow or different kinds of spirituality. This, combined with different contrasts and counterpoints, like dreams, reality, life, death, nature and urban cityscapes, wilderness and forlorn technology are some of the concepts and imagery I put in to both the songs composed by me and the lyrics on the album. The lyrics written by Riikka fit this aesthetic perfectly as well, in the end.
What inspired you while writing the album? Maybe it was some legends, books or music of those performers you look up to.
Nature, love, life, loss, hope and the world. There is a lot of intertextuality as usual, at least in my lyrics. Music-wise - there are a handful of songs composed by me on the album - I found a lot of inspiration from cinematic and game music composers, such as Yasunori Mitsuda, Joe Hisaishi and Ennio Morricone. For the songs written by others, I can't say, as we haven't discussed the matter.
Do you plan to release any singles or videos before the release of «The Garden» album? What are your plans to promote the album?
We will be releasing two more singles before and one focus track around the time of release. There will be some kind of video to accompany each one. The promotion is centered on the video and single releases, as well as interviews and album reviews. We will have a small release party in April in Helsinki as well.
What difficulties did you face while recording the album and how did you overcome them?
Well, the change of drummer two weeks prior to entering the studio was probably the single biggest one. Fortunately, Antti is a beast when it comes to both drumming and coming up with rhythmic ideas and aesthetic, so in the end everything worked out fine! The other "difficulty" was that we had over 20 demo song candidates for the album. This doesn't include the sub-par ones already dropped earlier. It was quite difficult to decide which would fit the album best.
How do you think Hanging Garden has changed since your first album «Inherit The Eden» in 2007? What makes your music unique?
Well, it's been many albums since, and only one band member from those days is still in the band. I would like to think we have broken the confines of "Finnish death-doom" at some point during our career, even though that aesthetic is still present at times! I guess everyone likes to think their music is unique. Is ours? Maybe? I'd like to say the way we shy away from defining our style through music genres gives us some unique qualities, and I also like to think we are quite bold when it comes to certain ideas and implementing them in the songs. I feel we often chase the situation where we need to ask ourselves "Can we get away with doing something like this? Can we pull this off? Is this too weird?", and usually the end result is some unique flavor or detail in a song.
The voice of Riikka Hatakka added charm and melody to the songs. Her vocals are mesmerizing, especially on songs like «On the Shore of Infinity», «Neither Moth nor Rust» and the new «The Four Winds». How global was Riikka's joining the band for you?
I'm not sure what you mean by "global", but Riikka kind of joined the band gradually. She made the mistake of choosing me as her partner, and she being a songwriter, I once (back in 2016) asked her to do some vocal melodies for a song, as I was suffering from a writer's block. Jussi H. wanted to keep her vocal takes in the end, and after that the guys started asking for her to feature on this or that song or part, and at some point our bassist Jussi K. proposed that it was silly to have her as a "guest" vocalist when she was on every other song and every live show. That's when she joined the band "full-time".
What do you think is the main driving force behind Hanging Garden? What helps you stick together and deliver such amazing music every time?
I really can't say! We like to create stuff. We have a core group of people who keeps the ball rolling, and everyone steps up when they are needed, and we don't have anything stopping us from doing what we love, maybe?
What are your plans for the near future?
We will release this song under Agonia records, and see how it fares. And keep writing new stuff!
We will be releasing two more singles before and one focus track around the time of release. There will be some kind of video to accompany each one. The promotion is centered on the video and single releases, as well as interviews and album reviews. We will have a small release party in April in Helsinki as well.
What difficulties did you face while recording the album and how did you overcome them?
Well, the change of drummer two weeks prior to entering the studio was probably the single biggest one. Fortunately, Antti is a beast when it comes to both drumming and coming up with rhythmic ideas and aesthetic, so in the end everything worked out fine! The other "difficulty" was that we had over 20 demo song candidates for the album. This doesn't include the sub-par ones already dropped earlier. It was quite difficult to decide which would fit the album best.
How do you think Hanging Garden has changed since your first album «Inherit The Eden» in 2007? What makes your music unique?
Well, it's been many albums since, and only one band member from those days is still in the band. I would like to think we have broken the confines of "Finnish death-doom" at some point during our career, even though that aesthetic is still present at times! I guess everyone likes to think their music is unique. Is ours? Maybe? I'd like to say the way we shy away from defining our style through music genres gives us some unique qualities, and I also like to think we are quite bold when it comes to certain ideas and implementing them in the songs. I feel we often chase the situation where we need to ask ourselves "Can we get away with doing something like this? Can we pull this off? Is this too weird?", and usually the end result is some unique flavor or detail in a song.
The voice of Riikka Hatakka added charm and melody to the songs. Her vocals are mesmerizing, especially on songs like «On the Shore of Infinity», «Neither Moth nor Rust» and the new «The Four Winds». How global was Riikka's joining the band for you?
I'm not sure what you mean by "global", but Riikka kind of joined the band gradually. She made the mistake of choosing me as her partner, and she being a songwriter, I once (back in 2016) asked her to do some vocal melodies for a song, as I was suffering from a writer's block. Jussi H. wanted to keep her vocal takes in the end, and after that the guys started asking for her to feature on this or that song or part, and at some point our bassist Jussi K. proposed that it was silly to have her as a "guest" vocalist when she was on every other song and every live show. That's when she joined the band "full-time".
What do you think is the main driving force behind Hanging Garden? What helps you stick together and deliver such amazing music every time?
I really can't say! We like to create stuff. We have a core group of people who keeps the ball rolling, and everyone steps up when they are needed, and we don't have anything stopping us from doing what we love, maybe?
What are your plans for the near future?
We will release this song under Agonia records, and see how it fares. And keep writing new stuff!
December 26, 2023
- Tuuli TalvinenFounder & Editor-in-ChiefInterviewer