1 day ago11 min read

大自然的奇观 - 芬兰Progressive Metal乐队Heaven-Gemini专访

今天采访到的是一支来自芬兰的Progressive Metal乐队Heaven-Gemini，成立于2018年的Heaven-Gemini乐队是一支比较年轻的乐队，最初由Aleksi和Santtu组建并且翻唱一些经典乐队的给，比如Opeth、Gojira和Stam1na等乐队，随后Aleksi开始创作了一些原创作品并且在2022年放行了两首单曲和一张EP专辑，2023年贝斯手Eetu和吉他手Mikko加入乐队，让Heaven-Gemini乐队变成了一支完整的乐队并且在2024年发行了第一张正式专辑辑“Luonnonoikku”并且在芬兰著名厂牌Inverse Records发行，在新专辑发行之际杂志通过Inverse Records厂牌的协调进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 S: 代表Santtu）

Today's interview is with Heaven-Gemini, a Progressive Metal band from Finland. Formed in 2018, Heaven-Gemini is a relatively young band that was originally formed by Aleksi and Santtu and covers classic bands such as Opeth, Gojira and Stam1na. Stam1na, then Aleksi started to write some original compositions and released two singles and an EP in 2022, and in 2023 bassist Eetu and guitarist Mikko joined the band, making Heaven-Gemini a full band and releasing their first official album in 2024. ‘Luonnonoikku’ was released on the famous Finnish label Inverse Records, and on the occasion of the release of the new album, the magazine conducted an interview through the co-ordination of Inverse Records!

(V: for the author S: for Santtu)

采访对象：Santtu（Heaven-Gemini乐队鼓手）

采访时间：2024.12.03

V: 你好Santtu先生，很高兴见到你，非常感谢你参加这次采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访，首先向所有的中国粉丝问好，Heaven-Gemini乐队成立于2018年，是一支成立6年的乐队，是谁提议成立这支乐队的，Heaven-Gemini这个名字的含义是什么？

Hello Mr Santtu nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview, I think this is the first time that your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, first of all say hello to your Chinese fans, Heaven-Gemini was formed in 2018 and is a 6 year old band, who proposed the formation of this band and what is the meaning of the name Heaven-Gemini?

S: Heaven-Gemini向所有中国朋友致敬！我们希望我们古怪的Prog Metal品牌能引起中国观众的共鸣！我们从2018年成立至今。我（Santtu）和吉他手兼主唱Aleksi于2018年相识。一开始我们只是在大学的实训室里翻唱Prog和Metal。我们演奏了很多诸如Opeth、Gojira和Stam1na等乐队的歌曲，从中获得了很多乐趣。最后我们开始演奏Aleksi创作的超棒Prog歌曲。乐队的名字源于一种头部移植手术，它分为两个阶段：天堂和双子座。天堂-双子座 "完美地代表了我们的创作合作。

Heaven-Gemini salutes all of our Chinese friends! We hope that our eccentric brand of prog metal resonates with the Chinese audience! We have been around from 2018. Me (Santtu) and our guitarist-singer Aleksi got to know each other in 2018. We started out just playing prog and metal covers in our university’s training room. We had lots of fun playing songs from bands like Opeth, Gojira and Stam1na. Eventually we started playing Aleksi’s awesome prog songs. The band’s name refers to a head transplant procedure that has two phases: Heaven and Gemini. Heaven-Gemini represents our creative collaboration perfectly.

V: 你们乐队在2023年更换了贝斯手和吉他手，为什么第一代成员退出了乐队？新成员是如何加入乐队的？你们对新成员满意吗？

Your band changed bassists and guitarists in 2023, why did the first generation members quit the band? How did the new members join the band? Are you happy with the new members?

S: 我们乐队在最初几年经历了一些人事变动。我们的前贝斯手和吉他手从库奥皮奥搬走了，有一段时间Heaven-Gemini只有我们两个人。2022年发行“Dolores”EP之后，我们找到了两位热情的音乐家，他们是我们的最佳拍档。Mikko现在是我们的节奏吉他手，Eetu担任贝斯手。这两个人到来后，我们开始真正提升我们的技艺。如果没有这两位出色的音乐家，我们不会走到今天这一步。

Our band went through some personnel changes in the first years. Our former bassist and guitarist moved from Kuopio, and Heaven-Gemini was just the two of us for a while. After 2022’s Dolores EP we found two enthusiastic musicians who were the perfect match for us. Mikko is now our rhythm guitarist and Eetu plays bass. After these guys’ arrival we started really advancing our craft. We wouldn't be at this point without these awesome dudes and brilliant musicians.

V: 你们乐队对编曲非常讲究，能谈谈你们的创作经历吗？

Your band is very particular about arrangements, can you tell us a little bit about your songwriting experience?

S: Aleksi的作品总是充满惊喜。多年来Aleksi一直在创作旋律和完整的歌曲。2021年夏天，我们获得了第一首真正意义上的Demo“Takinkääntöpiiri”。从那时起我们开始以不同的方式创作歌曲并将许多不同的想法融入到我们的音乐中。在新专辑“Luonnonoikku”中，我们希望在不牺牲朗朗上口的同时，创作出渐进、刁钻的作品。我们是Prog Metal的忠实粉丝，但我们仍然喜欢美妙的和声。近年来我们的歌曲创作有了很大的发展，我们渴望在未来尝试许多不同的方法和风格！

Aleksi’s compositions have always been full of surprises. Aleksi has been writing riffs and full songs for years and years. It was summer of 2021 that we got our first real demo “Takinkääntöpiiri”. Since then we have approached songwriting in many different ways and implementing lots of different ideas into our music. With our new album “Luonnonoikku” we wanted to make progressive and tricky compositions without sacrificing catchiness. We are prog metal fans by heart, but we still like great choruses. Our songwriting has developed a lot in recent years and there's lots of different approaches and styles we are eager to try out in the future!

V: 你们的乐队在录音方面也很出色，这张专辑是在哪个录音棚录制的？哪位制作人制作了你们的专辑？

Your band is also great at recording, what studio did you record the album at? Which producer produced your album?

S: 我们的首张专辑是向专业化迈出的一大步。除了混音和母带处理，“Dolores”的所有工作都是以DIY的方式完成的。可以说“Luonnonoikku”是在库奥皮奥市附近的几个不同的录音室和我们的家庭录音室录制的。鼓声和人声都是在录音室环境中录制的，以获得尽可能清晰干净的效果。这张唱片是自己制作的，作曲和整个专辑项目的创意方案由Aleksi和Santtu完成。

Our debut album was a massive step toward professionalism. “Dolores” was all in all done in a very DIY-style approach, except for mixing and mastering. “Luonnonoikku” was recorded in a couple of different studios near the city of Kuopio and also in our home studios, so to say. Drums and vocals were tracked in studio environments to get as crisp and clean outcome as possible. The record is self-produced. The creative solutions considering the compositions and the album project as a whole was done by Aleksi and Santtu.

V: 你们的音乐主题是关于什么的？你们为什么选择这样的音乐主题，你们想通过这样的音乐主题表达什么？你们有没有创作歌词部分，这些歌词是谁创作的，他的灵感来自于什么？

What is the theme of your music about? Why did you choose this theme and what do you want to express through it? Did you write the lyrics, who wrote them and what inspired them?

S:“Dolores”有一些总的主题元素，而"Luonnonoikku"则是一张概念性很强的作品。专辑的芬兰语歌词由鼓手Santtu创作，歌曲“Tinnitus”的歌词来自Aleksi。这是一张颇具故事性的概念专辑。主人公基本上是一个被装在大桶里的大脑，它与一台名为“Luonto”（自然）的机器相连。在一场灾难性的生态崩溃之后，最后的人类在一个共享的模拟环境中继续生活。在整张专辑中，我们的主人公不断加深对模拟的理解并经历了许多不同的阶段。歌词探讨了死亡、永生、决定论和因果报应等主题。这是黑暗而沉重的东西，但其核心是肯定生命的信息，承认生命的可贵是件好事。

While “Dolores” had some overarching thematic elements, “Luonnonoikku” was a strongly conceptual piece of work. The album’s Finnish lyrics were written by drummer Santtu, and the song “Tinnitus” has lyrics from Aleksi. It's a concept album that has quite a story. The protagonist is basically a brain in a vat that is connected to a machine called “Luonto” (Nature). Last human beings continue their lives in a shared simulation after a catastrophic ecological collapse. Our protagonist develops an understanding of the simulation throughout the album and there's many different stages that the character goes through. The lyrics examine themes of death, immortality, determinism and karma, for example. It's dark and heavy stuff, but at it's core is a life-affirming message. It's good to acknowledge the preciousness of this existence.

V: 你的Logo设计非常特别，谁为你设计了这个徽标？你的专辑封面设计精美，是谁为你设计的？

Your logo design is very special, who designed this logo for you? Your album artwork is beautifully designed, who designed the artwork for you?

S: Heaven-Gemini的Logo是由我们的吉他手兼歌手Aleksi设计的。它是一件很酷的作品，有着与众不同的外观。我们专辑的精美插图由坦佩雷的视觉艺术家Jussi Huttunen创作。Jussi的眼光独到，大大提升了专辑的档次，黑暗的科幻美学让故事和音乐风格栩栩如生。

The logo of Heaven-Gemini is created by our guitarist-singer Aleksi. It is a cool piece of work that has a distinct look to it. Our album’s beautiful artwork was done by Tampere-based visual artist Jussi Huttunen. Jussi had a great vision and with it he elevated the album significantly. The dark sci-fi aesthetic brought the story and musical style to life.

V: Inverse Records刚刚发行了你们的新专辑"Luonnonoikku"，这个厂牌是你们国家最好的厂牌之一，你们是如何联系上合作的？你对这家唱片公司的工作满意吗？

Inverse Records just released your new album ‘Luonnonoikku’, this label is one of the best in your country, how did you get in touch to work together? How did you get in touch to work with them? Are you happy with the work of the label?

S: 我们非常高兴Inverse Records能出版我们的第一张全长专辑。我们从他们那里学到了很多东西，非常感谢他们为我们提供的帮助。在我们朝着更有艺术野心的方向发展的过程中，我们过去和现在都学到了很多东西。Inverse从一开始就是我们的正确选择，我们对与他们合作取得的成果感到非常高兴。

We were enormously happy to get Inverse Records to publish our first full-length album. We have learned a lot from them and appreciate greatly the help they have provided us. Many things were and are to be learned as we go towards a more artistically ambitious direction. Inverse was the right choice for us from the start and we couldn't be more happy about the outcome we have achieved with them.

V: 你们的乐队成立于2018年，但所有作品都是在2022年才开始创作的，是什么原因让你们四年之后才选择发行作品？

Your band was formed in 2018, but all of your work was not started until 2022, what was the reason when you started writing four years later?

S: 我们一开始基本上是一起演奏我们喜欢的音乐来消遣。最后我们对创作、演奏和录制自己的作品越来越感兴趣。一开始我们并不清楚自己最终会制作自己的音乐。这是一个循序渐进的过程。在2018年的时候我们可能不会相信六年之后我们的手中已经有了我们音乐才华的具体证明：我们的全长实体专辑。

We started out basically by playing our favorite music together for fun. Eventually we had more and more interest to write, play and record our own stuff. In the beginning it wasn't clear that we would end up producing our own music. It's been a gradual process in that direction. We probably wouldn't have believed back in 2018 that six years later we have a concrete evidence of our musicianship in our hands: a full-length physical copy of our album.

V: 首先祝贺你们今年发行了第一张正式专辑"Luonnonoikku"，这是一张非常棒的作品，极具氛围感，复杂的编曲给我留下了深刻的印象，尤其是你们的鼓点非常稳定、精准，敲击稳健，歌手的歌声沉稳有力，你们的自我感觉非常好。你觉得自己的作品如何？

First of all, congratulations on the release of your first official album ‘Luonnonoikku’ this year, it's a wonderful piece of work, with a great sense of atmosphere, I was impressed by the complex arrangements, especially on the drums you were very stable, precise, steady strikes, the singer's vocals are calm and powerful, you have a great sense of yourself, and you have a good sense of what you're doing and how you're doing. What do you think of your work?

S: 我们能推出"Luonnonoikku"这样的唱片，这让我们感到很惭愧，也仍然很难以置信，我们对这张唱片非常满意，它是我们去年学习经验的总结，其中肯定有一些不完美的地方，就像我们一样。这是一次穿越不同情感和精神状态、情绪和氛围的多元化之旅。其中包含了我们对Prog Metal的所有喜爱：一些令人窒息的Heavy Metal Riff、情绪化和空灵的段落、一些疯狂的部分和高潮部分。更重要的是，这些歌曲极具挑战性，演奏起来乐趣无穷。

It’s humbling and still quite unbelievable to us that we got out a record like “Luonnonoikku”. We are very happy with the product. It's a summary of our learning experience from last years. There's some imperfections for sure, just like us. It's a diverse trip through different emotions and mental states, moods and atmospheres. There's everything we love about prog metal: some crushingly heavy stuff, moody and ethereal passages, some bat-shit crazy parts and big climaxes. And importantly, the songs are challenging and loads of fun to play.

V: 你们乐队参加过哪些音乐节，哪些音乐节给你留下了深刻印象，你能否描述一下音乐节的氛围，2025年还有哪些音乐节邀请你们参加？

What festivals have your band played, what festivals have impressed you and can you describe the atmosphere and what other festivals have you been invited to in 2025?

S: 事实上我们的乐队从2024年才开始现场演出。我们在一些很酷的地方演出过，2025年还会有更多。到目前为止Heaven-Gemini的现场音乐会充满活力，反馈也非常令人振奋。我们怀着无比激动的心情登上舞台，尽我们所能让观众分享Prog Metal的精彩和乐趣。我们已经确定了明年春天的几场音乐会，还有一些其他计划，稍后会公布。我们打算用现场音乐会来庆祝 “Luonnonoikku”并邀请我们可爱的听众与我们一起分享。

Our band started playing live just in 2024 in fact. We have played some cool venues and there's more to come in 2025. Heaven-Gemini has had highly energetic live concerts so far and the feedback has been super heart-warming. We come to the stage with great exhilaration and do everything we can to get the audience to share the sheer awesomeness and fun of progressive metal. We have a couple of concert dates set up for the next spring and some other plans that are announced a little later. We intend to celebrate “Luonnonoikku” with live concerts and invite our lovely listeners to share it with us.

V: 你们是一支伟大的乐队，我会一直支持和关注你们的乐队，也希望通过这次采访能有更多的中国歌迷关注和支持你们的乐队，最后有什么想对中国歌迷说的吗？

Your band is a great band, I will always support and follow your band, I also hope that through this interview, more Chinese fans will pay attention to and support your band, do you have anything you want to say to your Chinese fans in the end?

S: 由于我们的音乐是用芬兰语演唱的，我们和国际歌迷之间显然存在语言障碍。如果中国歌迷有兴趣，可以翻译一下我们的歌词，看看我们为你们准备的古怪故事！如果你喜欢旋律优美、趣味十足、变幻莫测的Prog Metal，Heaven-Gemini可能就是你的不二之选！爱你们，希望你们喜欢"Luonnonoikku"！

As our music is sung in Finnish, there's obviously a language barrier between us and our international fans. If any of you Chinese fans are interested, translate our lyrics and check out the wacky stories we have for you! If you are into melodic, fun and unpredictable prog metal, Heaven-Gemini might just be the band for you! Love you guys, hope you enjoy “Luonnonoikku”!