{"id":69343,"date":"2021-04-06T05:21:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T10:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69343"},"modified":"2021-04-06T05:32:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T10:32:17","slug":"interview-with-arde-teronen-of-temple-balls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-arde-teronen-of-temple-balls\/","title":{"rendered":"Arde Teronen of Temple Balls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a band name doesn\u2019t mean exactly what it seems. That\u2019s what happened to the Finnish Hard Rock ensemble Temple Balls who recently made the headlines explaining surprisingly non-anatomic origins of their moniker. With their new album Pyromide <\/em>out on April the 16th<\/sup> on Frontiers Music SRL and the pre-release livestream just a day earlier, Temple Balls\u2019 lead singer Arde Teronen checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the details of the new release, their longtime collaboration with H.E.A.T.\u2019s own Jona Tee, songwriting, band image and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo credits: Studio PSV, Oulu<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Pyromide <\/em>is the third Temple Balls album overall, but the first one released on Frontiers Music SRL. What circumstances led you to the record deal with this label and are you happy with how things turned out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Well, we started out without a record label, you know… (laughs) So we\u2019ve been searching for one and found Ranka Kustannus, which was our first label. We did those first two albums [Traded Dreams<\/em>, 2017, and Untamed<\/em>, 2019] with them, but we kind of wanted to do things a little bit differently than the label wanted. And also, we got an offer from Frontiers, we thought about it for a while and decided to give it a shot. Everything was arranged the way we felt comfortable with and that\u2019s how it all happened. I couldn\u2019t be happier about it and I think we made the right choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. So far, reviewers worldwide were pretty enthusiastic about your works, especially your second album Untamed<\/em>. Do you pay attention to the feedback you receive from them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Of course, I\u2019m reading all the comments all the time since I\u2019m a social media manager [of the band] and I do most of the posts and follow every channel we have \u2013 YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… I usually check the numbers, reply to the comments, reply to the e-mails and stuff, so obviously I\u2019m always somehow aware of what people \u2013 and reviewers \u2013 are talking about us. And that\u2019s really nice to see and hear that when it comes the two singles we have released so far, for example on YouTube, we\u2019ve had a lot of great, positive feedback. It\u2019s really amazing to see that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Do you think it still makes sense to do reviews these days, especially in a traditional written form, when everyone has access to music via YouTube and streaming platforms and can basically check it out for themselves, without paying attention to someone else\u2019s opinion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: In my opinion, there\u2019s always need for reviews. I think they\u2019re really important actually, because people are kind of busy nowadays as we have social media and stuff like that… People just don\u2019t seem to pay much attention to things. But there are those who are actually looking for the new music, and I bet it\u2019s like this with other people as it is with me \u2013 that I constantly read something online. And if there\u2019s some sort of an album review and I have heard the name of the band or an artist a few times before, I start to pay attention to the review. It takes just having heard or seen the name somewhere when somebody\u2019s written a review about them to make me go, \u201cI really gotta check it out.\u201d  I think there\u2019s really still a room for reviews and similar forms as well and I read those all the time myself. I\u2019ve found a bunch of great new music to listen to through those reviews as well, and when people say we don\u2019t need reviews anymore, I think that\u2019s not actually true at all. Also because there\u2019s still a number of people who order the physical copies [of music albums] and they won\u2019t listen to music online, like ever… So there is and there will always be people like that, and for them it\u2019s also really important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So it\u2019s good news for the reviewers! The new albumwas produced by Jona Tee of H.E.A.T., who in fact has been working with you guys since your first record. Back when Untamed <\/em>was released, you went as far as to name Jona \u201cthe sixth member of the band.\u201d What do you think is a secret of such a longtime collaboration you have with him and do you think you\u2019ll continue working together in the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: We haven\u2019t signed any papers (laughs), but he\u2019s always pushing us forward to write new songs and he\u2019s eager to hear new stuff \u2013 like new demos we\u2019re actually working on already as we speak \u2013 and I think he\u2019s gonna be the producer of our fourth album as well. With Jona, we share the same kind of humor I think and the same kind of taste in music as well, and these things are really important for any relationship to last long time. He\u2019s like an older brother or a sixth member to us really, and it\u2019s been fun to work with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: The band\u2019s guitarist, Niko [Vuorela], was quoted as saying that all of you participate in writing lyrics, so can this brainstorming method be challenging at times?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Oh, it\u2019s always difficult in the first place… You might have fifteen very early demo-type-of-things (laughs) in your drawer, and then you have twenty guitar riffs, or a couple of lines for a verse or a chorus… (laughs) So we always tend to argue about what to put on the song or on the album, but I think that\u2019s pretty normal when you have five or six guys \u2013 or girls, for that matter \u2013 in the room and everyone has obviously got their opinion… And then you just have to somehow find that red line to follow. But I think we\u2019ve always ended up having the best solution for every song that we have written. So it\u2019s quite normal to have one\u2019s own opinion I guess, as long as we are able to find the final solution which will satisfy everyone eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Was the songwriting or recording process for Pyromide <\/em>any different than before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Obviously, it was a little bit different compared to our debut album, since we recorded Traded Dreams <\/em>in Thailand (laughs), but it didn\u2019t differ that much compared to Untamed. <\/em>The studio we used was the same now and then, the producer was the same and even the engineer \u2013 Pasi Kauppinen \u2013 was the same, although he didn\u2019t do much engineering on Pyromide<\/em> in comparison with Untamed<\/em>. This time we\u2019ve had a week and a half more time to record than before, so we were having a kind of a laid-back schedule (laughs). We could easily work ten to twelve hours a day and still had much time off which we spent mainly kicking football, sitting in a hot tub, going to sauna and such… (laughs) That was really nice and I\u2019m pretty sure that we\u2019re gonna record our fourth album at Studio 57 as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: When I interviewed Jona Tee over a year ago, it was right in the middle of pre-production of Pyromide<\/em>. He said there are some similarities between the new material and Untamed, <\/em>mentioning \u201cKill The Voice\u201d and \u201cThe End\u201d as points of reference. Do you agree with his opinion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Yeah, I could agree with him, although I\u2019d add it\u2019s kind of a mixed bag of Traded Dreams <\/em>and Untamed<\/em>, because I think we have more fast tracks and maybe a little bit of Pop-ish songs on Pyromide <\/em>as well. Untamed <\/em>was actually a pretty dark for our standards, but while we have the Untamed <\/em>side on Pyromide<\/em>, we also have this rock\u2019n\u2019roll positive energy of Traded Dreams<\/em> on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And speaking about Pyromide, <\/em>can you take us through the albumtrack-by-track?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: If only I could remember the order… (laughs) But seriously \u2013 track by track… The first one \u2013 the opener \u2013 is \u201cThunder From The North\u201d. That\u2019s one of my favorites. It was released as a first single and probably is going to be our opening track for a live set as well \u2013 but nothing\u2019s set in stone so far, so we might change it after we have rehearsed the setlist a couple of times more. I\u2019m not sure if that was one of the first songs to be ready for the album. I think it was one of the first indeed, but I cannot remember precisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second song, \u201cLong Ways, Long Lies\u201d is a story about a douchebag person (laughs), dedicated to all the assholes out there (laughs). I think it\u2019s just an attempt to let off some steam and let go of pressure, and that\u2019s pretty much all about it. That\u2019s actually one of my favorite tracks as well \u2013 although I could say that about every track on this album (laughs)…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: But isn\u2019t that how it should be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Yeah, precisely. But you know, on the previous two albums I\u2019ve always had one or two tracks which I don\u2019t like at all, but they ended up on the album because we always decide by voting and everything is chosen by democratic means (laughs). But back to Pyromide<\/em>, number three is \u201cT.O.T.C.\u201d It\u2019s really a great, great song \u2013 I remember doing those first demo versions of this with our guitarist Niko and I think we fell in love with the track immediately as soon as we gave the rest of the guys the demo to listen to. It\u2019s pretty much about fighting your way back up, especially if you\u2019re young and willing to do whatever it takes to reach your goals. That\u2019s what stands for \u201cthrill of the chase,\u201d or actually the whole line which would be, \u201cIt\u2019s not the kill\/But it\u2019s the thrill of the chase.\u201d It\u2019s like doing whatever is necessary to reach your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number four is \u201cFallen Youth.\u201d That had a lot of different versions lyrically, but eventually we ended up writing something about the fallen youth and the struggles of being some sort of an outcast. That\u2019s pretty much it. And then we have the sexiest song on the album (laughs)…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: …which, in my humble opinion, is probably the best one \u2013 or at least it\u2019s my favorite (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: You think so? That\u2019s nice to hear! That\u2019s the one we wrote with Jona and Erik Gr\u00f6nwall (ex-H.E.A.T.) and one other guy, whose name I don\u2019t happen to remember (laughs). I have bad memory \u2013 I\u2019m really sorry… But anyway, he wrote some lyrics for \u201cBad Bad Bad,\u201d and as I\u2019ve said, that\u2019s the sexiest song of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next one is \u201cWhat Is Dead Never Dies.\u201d Actually, I wrote a couple of versions of it \u2013 a couple of sets of lyrics \u2013 starting when we were having a pre-production session in Stockholm, probably in the fall of 2019. I had a vision of writing a song about nightlife in Stockholm, but eventually I tossed that… I think that was Jona who actually suggested that we should use the title \u201cWhat Is Dead Never Dies,\u201d and that was when I realized that\u2019s pretty much the same as in Game Of Thrones<\/em> \u2013 \u201cwhat is dead, may never die\u201d. So I wrote what I think is my version of what was happening in the Game Of Thrones<\/em>, the book series and the TV series as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, we have \u201cUnholy Night,\u201d which is my absolute favorite of the album. I love singing it, as the range fits my vocals perfectly and also, I love the lyrics which are actually completely by Niko \u2013 we\u2019ve just tweaked some things while recording \u2013 as well as the whole song, it\u2019s also his own. It\u2019s really a great track and I\u2019m really looking forward to get to sing and play it live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next one is \u201cHeart Of The Warrior,\u201d which is \u2013 once again \u2013 one of my favorites… (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Surprisingly! (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Yeah, surprisingly! (laughs) \u201cHeart Of The Warrior\u201d is pretty much about Julius Caesar and how he was about to start a civil war \u2013 although I don\u2019t necessarily think that it was a great decision (laughs) But I just love the story behind the Roman Empire and I\u2019ve just finished watching the documentary and reading a couple of articles about the ancient Roman history… When Niko introduced the riff, I think the song was pretty much done but it didn\u2019t have any lyrics or melodies. And as he put the title as \u201cHeart Of The Warrior,\u201d I went, \u201cOh my God, I\u2019ve just watched this documentary about the Roman history\u201d and I wrote about that, so that\u2019s how it eventually came out to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou Better Run\u201d is, I think, one of the oldest songs which wasn\u2019t actually written for this album but Untamed <\/em>probably; it\u2019s just we didn\u2019t finish it back then. It\u2019s more Pop-oriented type of song of the album and I like that too. Not sure if we\u2019re gonna play that live though \u2013 but only time will tell…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Only I Could\u201d was real fun to do with Niko. We were pretty sure that the rest of the guys wouldn\u2019t accept the track \u2013 but when we introduced it [to them], they liked it so much that we decided to put it on the album eventually. It\u2019s a very personal song in terms of lyrics. And it\u2019s real fun to get to sing lower octaves. I love to use my voice [this way] \u2018cause I know I\u2019m able to do pretty high vocals, but usually I just scream at the top of my lungs to make that high pitched stuff (laughs), so it\u2019s really nice to have some variety vocal-wise. It\u2019s actually a funny story as the verses of the next and the last song on the album, \u201cSomething To Die For,\u201d were originally on \u201cIf Only I Could,\u201d so it wasn\u2019t like a full-type, proper power ballad in the first place. We kind of mixed these songs eventually, and \u201cSomething To Die For\u201d was actually one of the demos we had made for Untamed <\/em>and ditched because we didn\u2019t have proper verses for that track. So we left it in a drawer and then we found out that the key matches and the tempo matches pretty much the same, so we decided to complete it and that\u2019s how it came to be on the album. And that\u2019s pretty much it. We have eleven tracks on the record and I love each of them \u2013 and also, I\u2019m one hundred and ten per cent sure that every band member loves all of them. And everyone who\u2019s listened to the album say it\u2019s the strongest album from us, so I think that\u2019s pretty well-said and really sums it up. I\u2019m so surprised that we finished it and it came out so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Well, it is your strongest album to date indeed \u2013 that\u2019s a fact! You\u2019ve revealed a bit about more Pop-oriented tracks on the album, and for example \u201cBad Bad Bad\u201d has this underlying almost Dance-esque vibe and rhythm to it, whereas other songs on the album are pure classic Hard Rock\/Heavy Metal. In general, while listening to Pyromide<\/em>, the \u201880s influence is obvious. What do you think was so fascinating about that era in music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Thank you! I think it\u2019s the melodies, the punchlines… probably the lyrics as well. There\u2019s so much to discover about them \u2013 whenever you listen to music from the \u201880s, or the \u201870s or the \u201890s, whatever… it\u2019s just that every time you listen to an album, you just find something new and it\u2019s not always about love (laughs), or hate, or joy. There\u2019s history and all other kinds of stuff \u2013 for example, in songs by Iron Maiden, DIO or Black Sabbath there\u2019s joy and sorrow, there\u2019s history, there\u2019s sex and drugs and so on… There\u2019s so much you can discover and listen to, and the punchlines and melodies are the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Very true! And when we think the \u201880s, we have this very particular image of a Rock band that Temple Balls continues \u2013 but overall, these days the rules seem to be way more relaxed. Do you think it\u2019s better now that there\u2019s generally less focus on band image?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: I think it\u2019s really important for the band to look great on and off the stage, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary to use a lot of hairspray or wear make-up… (laughs) We can do without it. I mean, you could obviously do those things if you like \u2013 I don\u2019t mind at all and I think no one does these days…  But I think the image of the band should look good \u2013 like a complete look \u2013 and everyone should fit the rest somehow. Beyond that, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s really necessary to set any rules. If you want to wear shorts, wear them onstage if you like (laughs). It\u2019s not completely forbidden. For example, in our band we\u2019ve agreed that we need to improve our image all the time and we have decided that we can wear whatever we want as long as it fits the group. The overall look of the band should be consistent and in order, if I may say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: As we\u2019re running out of time, all I\u2019m able to ask you are the band\u2019s future plans, so what are you up to at the moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Well, since this pandemic is still going on, we don\u2019t have much plans other than to rehearse our setlist… But as we won\u2019t have a proper album release show, we decided to something else. We\u2019re going to do a livestream on YouTube and it\u2019s gonna take place on April the 15th<\/sup> 9:00 PM CET+1. We\u2019re gonna listen to Pyromide <\/em>track by track and people can drop by and say hello and have a few cold ones with us (laughs). Or, if they like, they can drink orange juice (laughs). But that\u2019s what\u2019s gonna happen on Thursday, April 15th<\/sup>, so stay tuned for more details!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So we\u2019re looking forward to the livestream of course \u2013 and is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arde Teronen: Thank you so much for supporting us, listening to our music, buying our albums and merchandise and coming to the shows! We hope you\u2019ll all stay safe \u2013 see you at the gigs eventually, when they start! (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Temple Balls online: Official Site<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014 Sometimes a band name doesn\u2019t mean exactly what it seems. That\u2019s what happened to the Finnish Hard Rock ensemble Temple Balls who recently made the headlines explaining surprisingly non-anatomic […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":69346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[15355,12866,203,15356],"class_list":{"0":"post-69343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews-recent","8":"tag-arde-teronen","9":"tag-frontiers-music-srl","10":"tag-interview","11":"tag-temple-balls"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}