An interview with Juha Höyssä of the Finnish post-metal band SEES.
The title of your debut album is "Suoja," meaning "shelter." What—or whom—is this record meant to protect against?
In short I guess the answer would be “from the world and everything”. But maybe a bit more elaboration would be in place for such a good question.
The title reflects both personal and global movements of culture and art. The three-track entity of “Suoja” was written during a period right after the previous band of three of us came to an end after a long journey and we were figuring out if we should continue making music and if so, what would be the ambition level. We decided that we’d make a couple of tracks and see how it feels and quite soon came to realize that we needed this form of outlet even more than we might’ve thought of at the time. Making music is a way of expressing ourselves and in that way also a shelter for us, not just to deflect something external, but also a home, a safe space and an outlet to healthily unburden some internal pressures.
That personal approach expands to reflect a more societal aspect, as it feels like culture and art are discussed in very short-sighted fashion at times, especially in public and especially political narratives. The songs were crafted during a time when at least in Finland, support for culture was cut and many artists struggle even more to make ends meet. At the same time it feels like the triviliazation of humane aspect and human connection that comes along with the AI development is somehow twisting the perspective on what art can and has been to us.
Art serves as a shelter for the humane in us, invites us to share experiences and to express ourselves in a very deep and connecting manner.
You chose to write lyrics exclusively in Finnish. Were you concerned that this might prove an insurmountable barrier for international post-metal fans?
We did have a surprisingly short discussion about this when it was time to decide. We had already worked on material before our vocalist Ville joined the ranks and had an idea that Finnish would be an intriguing possibility, but we hadn’t locked in on anything. In one way or another, making this kind of music in English would’ve felt like a more “safe” choice, but we wanted to challenge ourselves with the lyrics, too. And of course, we feel like the Finnish language is very expressive and fits to the atmosphere. And when Ville joined we knew that he could deliver it also in a true, credible and raw manner, so at that point the decision was easy.
How the larger audience receives this remains to be seen, hopefully people can relate to the delivery and the feeling even if the language is not so familiar. Now that we have signed on an international label, we’ve taken the approach of trying to relay the content also in English to hopefully lower the threshold a bit.
Tuomas Kokko, known for his work with bands such as Swallow the Sun and Ghost Brigade, handled the album's production. How significantly did he influence the final shape and sonic clarity of "Suoja"?
Tuomas was familiar to us from our previous projects and we didn’t even think of other options when we started working on the songs. He gets us and knows already what we’re aiming for, but still challenges us to test out stuff and to look at things from another perspective. His professionalism and curiosity for music for sure has had a huge impact on how the album sounds, but also the right amount on the songs themselves. Especially after working with these kinds of songs for a longer period, having an external pair of ears and wits you can trust to challenge some solutions is very fruitful. And with Tuomas it’s always a respectful discussion, where he really aims to understand what the meaning of some solution is rather than just quickly assuming something. And if some suggestions feel dysfunctional to him, we try to find an alternative approach. Some parts get cut out, some extended, some get rearranged differently and some stay stubbornly as they are. So from our perspective, his approach has been real producing, caring about the artistic outcome.
Soundwise, Tuomas is also always eager to try weirder stuff too and pushing us to expand our vision. We’ve recorded smashing furniture with sledge hammer, made moldings from the walls drop down as we look for violent enough bass tone, added some pump organ to song, and played keyboards with a nose…
It is said that the recording and refinement process took quite a long time and coincided with a turbulent period in your lives. Did this personal turmoil have any impact on the album's final atmosphere?
Yes, for sure. In a way this album is a log of a certain time in our lives and in the development of this band. There’s definitely “something old and something new” in it. Even if we aimed to make a one coherent album-sized effort, in a way it also represents the different phases that got us to where we are right now. For Sees to exist, that meant a lot of different configurations of the lineup, different approaches, lots of times when we didn’t feel confident and a lot of times when we were zoned into the outcome.
It is very apparent to us right now as we are already working on the followup album for Suoja. Now that we all have been working together from the get-go, it has given a certain different vibe to everything and we are waiting excitedly to bring that to everyone after Suoja. In a way the final track on this album, “Silmän tottuessa pimeään” (out on 15th October as a single with lyrics video) is a breakwater, as it was recorded and arranged with everyone in Sees committed and pitching in, maybe giving some hints on what is to come.
You’ve joined the roster of the Polish label Agonia Records, which came as a pleasant surprise to many listeners. How did this partnership come about, and why did you feel this particular label was the best home for your debut?
Our collaboration started in a surprisingly “traditional” way: we contacted Agonia with an unmastered version of the album and they quickly expressed their interest in working together. For us it is a very interesting and exciting chance to work with professionals and to reach out beyond Finnish borders. Of course the roster had many familiar names, so we’re happy to join the ranks.
Agonia Records is renowned for promoting uncompromising, dark music. Do you feel that their global distribution network will help your post-metal reach niche audiences around the world?
Yes, definitely. We have always been bad with genres and labels to our music, but from the atmosphere point of view, we feel like we fit in just fine. There’s a lot of nuances and undertows in our music that match the vibe, even if the “technical expression” might be different. This is apparent in our own music taste also, as our band chat is a constant flow of links and discussions about a very wide array of music, from black metal to AOR and from grindcore to pop.
"Suoja" will be released on, among other formats, a beautiful "Red Vertigo" double vinyl. How important is the physical release format to you in the digital age? Were you personally involved in creating the artwork?
It might be an age-thing, but we are firm believers in physical format as well as album as a format. Especially with our music, we do always think of a bigger picture than just one track. In that sense the whole of an album is a very important concept to us musically and doing things this way feels almost as a counter-movement to the modern fast-food mentality on music. We’re not aiming to get the TikTok publicity or expecting people to get us based on a quick listen on one track, we want to challenge ourselves and the listeners.
We also consider ourselves to be somewhat of a visual band and the artwork of an album was very important to us. In this case we had the privilege to work with Jussi Pohjanen, who created the cover art for the album along with other pieces of art used in single covers and merchandise. Getting that art to where it belongs - on a cover of a LP - felt right and luckily for us guys from Agonia agreed instantly.
The Finnish metal scene is primarily associated with melancholic doom metal or melodic death metal. How do you view the current state of the post-metal and sludge scenes in Finland?
As said, we’re terrible with genres, but there is and always has been a great movement of slow-churning, dark and atmospheric music in Finland. A lot of great, inspiring bands who do their thing with passion and quality. We’d definitely urge you to check out bands like Sunniva, Besra, Entheomorphosis and of course our label mates Hanging Garden. Happy to see also that Callisto, who did some pioneer work is also back in business. And of course our international pride and joy Oranssi Pazuzu continues to be an inspiration.
For us, it feels like this is a continuum, as most of us have been around in the different underground scenes for more than 20 years. There’s certainly a lot of talent and vision here, some very genre-defying and groundbreaking. We’re more than proud to be in the mix, so a shout out to all of our Finnish “colleagues” pushing their passion outward!
Post-metal listeners can be very demanding. How are you reacting to the initial reviews and pre-release feedback from the music community?
It might be cliché, but the reception has been very positive. The movement has not been overwhelmingly big yet, as we’ve just surfaced, but what we hear has been encouraging.
To sum up, then: if you had to pick one perfect moment of the day—along with a specific location and setting—to listen to the album "Suoja" from start to finish, what would it be?
Maybe a walk in the forest during the twilight, alone with your thoughts and the music. There’s definitely a lot of personal vibes, slowly opening layers and space to explore there.
And if Sees’ music were a medicine prescribed by a doctor, which ailment of the human soul or mind would it treat most effectively?
Maybe for some numbness of the limbs or anhedonia. We hope to poke out some internal movement and introspection.
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