Hämärä reach the “top” of their Ivory Tower
Ivory Tower is Hämärä’s return to the stage after a seven-year hiatus
Hello Hämärä! How are you? It’s a pleasure to interview you. How has the pandemic been taking you all this time?
We are doing well, thanks for asking! Hämärä has been on a hiatus for the last 7 years leading up to the pandemic. So we looked at the pandemic as an opportunity to spend more time writing, planning, and recording the album Ivory Tower.
According to its bio, the band was formed in 2006 when its members were teenagers. How did the idea of creating the band come up?
When we came together as teenagers, it was as simple as wanting to be rockstars like all the bands we were so highly influenced by. Josh Ruff was in a band called Arch Angel, and Aaron Schug was a guitarist looking for his place in a band. Josh and Aaron really wanted to start something that sounded more unique here in America. So we got together which led to the formation of Hämärä. There are so many amazing bands out there globally, but there is a lot of music that sounds very similar in each of the sub-genres. We wanted to create something that our fans could add to their libraries that had a different sound to stand out. The varying musical interests of each band member has allowed Hämärä to develop a style that blends a diverse set of genres, creating what we believe is a unique and dynamic sound.
What motivated you?
Between the original founders (Josh Ruff, Aaron Schug, Tony Molieri, Kent Johnson), we knew that we had the right mindset, were talented musicians at a young age, and were passionate about music. We had the right ingredients to start a band and wanted to run with it. We saw the metal scene starting to grow in America, and really wanted to be a part of it. There is nothing more enjoyable than creating music and sharing it with the world.
What bands influenced you to define your musical style?
Our sound has matured as our musical interests and inspirations have really evolved. Prior to Ivory Tower we had a more modern melodeath style because of the Scandinavian influence on Aaron’s writing style and Austen’s interest in the more radio friendly metal bands. Over the last seven years while Hämärä was on a hiatus, Tony and Josh had actually been involved and are currently involved in a number of different bands (cover bands, thrash metal, rock, etc.). Josh spent a lot of time studying songs as he learned to record and produce which really led to us referencing popular songs from metal acts to better understand why their popular songs engaged their audiences (e.g., In Flames, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Soilwork to name a few). With this album, we decided to pivot into a more symphonic blend as Tony now had the tools to pull from his experience in classical music and to write the orchestral layers that we had always wanted to incorporate which paired with Josh’s production experience led to us being able to create a much better record than ever before.
I guess after so many years the lineup of the band has changed. Have there been many changes in the lineup?
The lineup has changed a few times. Our original drummer, Luke Ruff quit to pursue college, who was replaced by Joshua Pease for a couple years. Now Orlando Manzanares is the drummer. We also lost one of our guitarists, Kent Johnson, who was replaced by Austen Couch, the guitarist on the album Ivory Tower. Interestingly, Austen had to step away due to life circumstances, and now Kent Johnson is back. Josh Ruff, Aaron Schug, and Tony Molieri are the only ones that have remained with the band since the beginning.
Who are the current members?
Josh Ruff (Vocals/Bass), Aaron Schug (Vocals/Rhythm & Lead Guitar), Kent Johnson (Rhythm & Lead Guitar), Tony Molieri (Keyboard/Synth), Orlando Manzanares (Drums).
Let’s talk about your latest album “Ivory Tower”, which was released a few months ago. How was the editing and recording process?
All of the album was recorded and produced by Josh Ruff. He had been building a studio in his basement for the last 7 years and he spent a lot of time researching equipment, how to produce songs to include transitions, structure, building tension and release, etc. Some songs had over 100 tracks when all the synths, orchestra, choirs, etc. were added. Needless to say, it took a long time. During the time that we were recording the album, we had no drummer. So, we hired Alex Bosson to record the drums for us. He did an incredible job! We then had the album sent to Taylor Hahn (www.hahnaudio.com) for mixing and Sterling Sound (www.Sterling-Sound.com) for mastering.
How many songs does it include and what are it about?
Ivory Tower has 9 songs, all of them have different meanings as the album doesn’t necessarily follow a story or theme. Withering Away for instance, is about a sinner who gets dragged to hell-by-hell hounds. Hardly Awake is about a man who continues to have terrible things happen to him, and he breaks down, losing control. The cool thing about this song is that when you watch the music video, it has a fun little twist that everyone can interpret their own meaning from. Under the Sun is about a person who worked hard their whole life, and never actually lived. No family, no friends, only materialistic assets and money. Only to realize in his old age that while he was rich
materialistically, he was poor emotionally, alone, without living a truly fulfilled life. Each song is unique and has deep meaning behind it.
Any audiovisual material?
Yes! You can watch our music videos for Under the Sun and Hardly Awake on our YouTube page ((361) Hamara Metal Official — YouTube) and on our social media accounts.
How did you go about promoting and promoting it?
So far, we have done much of it ourselves through social media. It has been super helpful to have reviews written. And these kinds of interviews to help push our name out to the public, so thank you! That’s truly one of the hardest parts of all this. No matter how good you sound, if you don’t find a way to be heard, it’s hard to get traction.
How was it generally received, both by the public and by the specialized press?
When we first started playing shows as teenagers back in the early 2000’s a lot of our friends and the local scene was blown away. We brought such a different sound to the Denver scene that really caught the attention of our audience. Unfortunately, due to life circumstances, we had a long hiatus as a band and never released a high-quality album until now.
As far as the new album goes, we’ve always had an extremely strong and loyal set of fans in the local area that have been asking us to put out new music for years. Once a handful of them heard the demo tracks, they got super excited about the sound and could hear how much work we put in. Our reviews since the album release have truly been amazing. We are getting higher ratings than I think any of us would have expected. Some reviews from magazines and other places have rated us at the same or even higher than some of the bands we listen to and are influenced by! We honestly couldn’t be happier and thankful about how people are loving this album we worked so hard on.
I noticed that this is the band’s first album after a 7-year break. What was the reason for this?
The simple answer is life happened. People were going through a lot. Building careers, finishing college, getting married, having kids, getting divorced, you name it. Those years were some of the busiest for everyone. And we just couldn’t find enough time to invest in Hämärä. We didn’t want to carelessly move forward with the band and produce a lacklustre album simply because we didn’t have time. So, we focused on our skills and wrote songs while we bided our time for when it was right. Now it seems as though we have all gotten to a more stable path in our lives and can truly focus on the band again.
Did you think about ending the band?
We were close to calling it quits for sure. But Josh has an uncanny resemblance to glue and always found a way to keep us together. What we can say is that the worst is behind us, and we are here to stay. In fact, we are already a few songs deep into our next album.
What motivated you to create music again?
We never really stopped creating music. Aaron always continued to write in the background. He has so many songs we could choose from to “spice up” for an album. The amount of content we have from the hiatus is quite surprising. The hard part now is taking those songs and making them better based on the newfound musicianship we have all worked on. We might keep the majority of a song, keep one riff of another, or completely abandon one for one reason or another.
What was it like to meet the public again after so many years?
Refreshing, exciting, and a little scary to be honest. We were away for so long; mainstream metal had changed drastically in that time. Our sound has been spoken of as a “rebirth” of old school mixed with new metal. We had no clue if our vision for our music would be taken well. We are so thankful that people are liking it. We will always look to improve our sound by being ready to adapt and change but will remain true to the core of what Hämärä’s sound is.
Back to the initial question. As I said, the band emerged in 2016. How do you guys feel so far?
We feel incredible and can’t wait to drive forward with a new single and new album. We have recently invested a fair amount of time in preparation for playing live again too. So that will be another thing to look forward to, for both us and our fans.
How much has the band and its members grown?
We have grown on so many levels. Aaron has been working on his techniques and writing ability, some of his new stuff is pretty incredible sounding and we can’t wait to share that with you. Tony continues to improve his classical skill sets, he’s even a music teacher now. Josh grew the most out of all of us. He spent so much time working on not only his own skills as a bassist, but he took vocal lessons, learned how to produce, and how to record. He has become an incredible musician/producer that all of us rely deeply on. Even if it means axing some of our favourite parts of songs we have written, it makes for a better final product in the end.
How would you like to see the band in the future?
We are all still very busy, both in our careers, with family and other things in life. But we want to be able to produce content more regularly including new singles and albums. We also want to start playing live again!
Back to the band. What are the band’s most immediate plans?
We are working on a new single currently. It will be a debut of a newer sound we are starting to pull into the band. Orlando is still recovering from surgery, and we have to catch Kent up on all the songs from the album and content we are working on behind the scenes.
Do you already have any upcoming gigs planned?
We are in the process of lining up some local shows to knock off the live performance rust. After that, we are planning on doing some weekend tours that are within driving distance and then next summer we are aiming for a 2 week-long tour either throughout the US or hopefully throughout Europe.
Well Hämärä, this is it. Thank you for your time and wish you the best of luck in your career. Before we finish, something you want to say.
Thank you so much for taking the time to interview us. We enjoy interacting in this way and hope that it will not only get our name out but help to inspire other bands that may be in rocky times. It’s okay to take a break, work on yourself, work on skill, take care of things in life and come back better than ever. We are living proof that it’s possible!
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