PETRI LINDROOS INTERVIEW, 10/20/2004
Initiating a tradition of interviews
with Kramer axemen, KramerForum is proud to present an interview our own GT
recently did with Petri Lindroos, vocalist / guitarist of Century Media alumni
NORTHER. Norther play a satisfying mix of melodic power metal and thrash
similar to Children of Bodom or Dimmu Borgir, but with a distinct
flavor and most satisfying guitar pyrotechnics. 
[GT: This
was a double treat for me as I have played the hell out of Norther's 2003
"Mirror of Madness" release. We emailed Petri at the email address on
Norther's website, and two days later, Petri responded. Very cool!]
From:
"Petri Lindroos"
Hello, this is Petri Lindroos from Norther.You asked
about that interview, could i do it...Sure thing,just send it to me and ill
get back to you!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Petri,
First, thank
you for agreeing to do an interview with us. It’s a pleasure interviewing a
rising star in the metal community. I’m sure most interviews ask you about
the similarity of Norther to Children of Bodom, but we will stick to
guitars, and any other cool topics we can think of!
1. First, how
long have you been playing guitar and what are some of your guitar
influences?
I've been playing now for ten years & some of my
influences are Marty
Friedman, Slayer, and Paul Gilbert.
2. What is your
main setup for recording and touring? (amp, guitar, effects, etc)
For recording we have had a
compilation of amps, mainly a 5150 and some
other amp to fulfill the sound to its extreme; for live act I use a
Rocktron chameleon and Marshall 8008.
3. There are
many photos of you with a Kramer Baretta Pro by Gibson. What led you to the
Baretta and what do you like/dislike about it?
I just happened to find it in a
music store--it was quite cheap so I
bought it and been very satisfied with it. I like its feel a lot; it's
quite similar to Jackson guitars but I didn't find any good Jacksons when I
was searching for a new guitar so I ended up buying a Kramer.
4. Do you tune your guitar in standard tuning or do you tune down? For
awhile, here in the US, it seemed like most new guitar players were tuning
in drop-D. What are your thoughts on that?
I play in two bands at the moment, Norther plays in
D-tuning and
Ensiferum plays in standard E. Drop D rocks, it gives balls to the riffs!!!
5. What, if any, riffs or scales do you play when you’re warming up? I’m
noticing a lot of melodic minor runs in your playing.
Actually I don't know what I'm playing cos i dont shit
about theory? So
I'll just play whatever I know and feel like playing!!
6. Who plays most solos in Norther—is it you or Kristian?
We both play solos!
7. Right now, it seems like there are hundreds of European metal bands.
What direction would you say the metal style is heading in—is it getting
more atmospheric, more drum-oriented, or all of the above?
Hard to say, there are so many different metal styles
out there right
now, but I really miss the 80s and early 90s thrash metal bands cos those
bands are dying away; noone is playing that kinda stuff hardly anymore.
8. Do you feel that metal will ever be as commercially successful as it was
in the 80s?
Maybe those more mainstream metal bands will have more
publicity than
death or trash bands ever nowadays and NO WAY [death and thrash bands] GONNA HAVE THAT
KINDA COMMERCIAL SUCCESS!!!
9. Any plans to tour the USA? Would you want to play in the US knowing that
the venues for metal bands are smaller than the ones in Europe?
The venue's size doesn't mean a shit!!! If the crowd is
good then the
gig is great! And yes, I would love to make a US tour and I think we're gonna do a
US tour in 2005!!!
10. What gig comes to mind as the best, or biggest, gig that Norther has
played?
When we were touring with Dimmu Borgir last winter, a
gig in
Sweden, Klubben.
3000 people were singing with us the Final Countdown and
[it was] fucking great otherwise too!!!
11. Since your band is from Finland, I have to ask about the biggest Finnish
metal band from the 90s, Amorphis. They have gone from playing an
innovative melodic doom/death to playing hard rock. What are your thoughts
on that?
The band is just moving on and their music style has
changed few years
ago cos they stopped these growling vocals and took a clean voice vocalist.
I like more these latest albums they have made!!
12. As you may know, Gibson is going to be reissuing USA-made Kramer guitars
later this year, or in 2005, including the classic Baretta model, Nightswan model, 1984 model. If Gibson /
Kramer approached you with an endorsement, or a partial endorsement deal,
would you be interested?
Of course I would be interested!!! I'm not getting rich
by doing this
kind of music but this is what I love to do so give me endorsement!!!!
13. Of the following, which do you prefer and why?
-Judas Priest or Accept
Judas Priest, Halford screams like beast
-Blind Guardian or Gamma Ray
I like both, really good live bands and many excellent
albums
-At the Gates or Amorphis
At the Gates, Gothenburg rocks
-Helsinki or Espoo
Espoo, we have better roads
-Kahler or Floyd Rose
Floyd Rose, cos I don't know anything about Kahler!
-Lapin Kulta or Olvi
Lapin Kulta--it's really smooth and has this nice, roundy
taste!!!
And
it's quite cheap too!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That's great! Thanks, Petri! I hope Gibson pays attention and
gives Petri an endorsement. Jackson has already scooped up Kristian,
the lead guitar player in the band. Visit NORTHER at
http://www.norther.net , and check them
out on tour in 2005!--GT
NORTHER Discography:
