EMQ’s with ST. AURORA

St Aurora Logo

EMQ’s with ST. AURORA

Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQ’s interview with Finnish Alternative Rock band, St. Aurora. Huge thanks to their front man, Nile, for taking part.

What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

I am Nile, and I’m the frontman and lyricist of St. Aurora. Our bassist Eemi and our drummer Vallu founded our band just as the pandemic was starting to get a grip of society. They then rounded up the rest of the crew by finding out freaks who would be willing to go nuts on stage. We recorded our first EP during the end of 2020 and released it in spring. We are at the beginning of a huge journey!

How did you come up with your band name?

The band name has a somewhat spiritual meaning to Eemi and Vallu, and I feel like I’m not the one who should tell you that story, but what I can say is that there is a psychologic hospital in Helsinki named Aurora, and I’d be lying if I said it’s got nothing to do with our bands name.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We’re from Finland, a rather small country in Northern Europe. You could say we have a pretty massive Metal and Rock scene here, considering the size of our country and population. I still think we’re onto something different from what’s been going on in the scene. Maybe not something completely new, but something wild.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

We released our “They All Remember” EP during the spring. Also, our song ‘Falling (Just another way to fly)’ has a music video in youtube, go check it out!

St. Aurora – Falling (Just Another Way to Fly) – Official Music Video  

Who have been your greatest influences?

My greatest influence is probably Corey Taylor (Slipknot & Stone Sour), for his attitude and range, not only vocally, but musically in general. I also take a lot of stuff from M Shadows, and the Rev (Avenged Sevenfold), when it comes to singing and writing lyrics and melodies. Travis Barker is a big dude for me as well, for the way he combines different genres, and just does his own thing behind the drums. Also, as new idols, Remington Leith (Palaye Royale), and Yungblud have given me courage to be who I am without holding myself back, style wise.

What first got you into music?

I started out by playing the drums in a Punk Rock band when I was a about 15 years old. After a while I got into singing, and the thought of being a frontman. My passion towards music gets its roots from my older brother, who is a die hard Iron Maiden fan, and was playing riffs from their songs all the time to me when I was a kid.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?

It would be huge to open for bands like My Chemical Romance, or Palaye Royale, in Finland! But I think Finnish rock bands like The Rasmus would be super cool to collaborate with!

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Definitely Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium! Super cool festival and it would be a dream come true to be up there!

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

Well hahaha, I haven’t been receiving any gifts from fans, so if somebody’s got the idea of giving me a gift, I do need a pair of blindfolds for sleeping, thanks so much.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

Stay bored, for nothing is ever created if we don’t.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

I bet it’d be Chester Bennington or Chris Cornell. A true loss to the music industry, the both of em.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

I love the fact I can express myself and create something that might inspire somebody else to do it too. To infect people with my art. And if I had to say a thing I hate about music, I’d had to say art block. The way sometimes it’s just impossible to create anything for a while.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

I’d love to change how people see records. Nowadays, people see new records as a list of new possibly good songs, and not as a whole record. I’d like to think every record is like a movie or a book that wants to be watched or read from start to finish. Only then can you truly say what you think about the record.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

My all-time favourite album, hands down Avenged Sevenfold’s self-titled album. It also has the best song in the world; ‘A Little Piece of Heaven’. Couple of other great albums are Lamb of God’s “Ashes Of The Wake” (And “Wrath”), Palaye Royale’s “Bastards”, and Slipknot’s “All Hope Is Gone”. For a wild card I’ll drop Yelawolf’s “Love story”.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?

If by “downloads” you mean streaming, I think streaming is the best. Just to explain myself, I mean I’ve gotten to know a shitload of my nowadays favorite bands by the possibility of streaming. Music should be easy to acquire, and nowadays when everything is digital, I’m glad we have services like Spotify and iTunes. I still do collect records as CDs though.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

We have played only one gig with St. Aurora, so I’m gonna go ahead and name that one.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

I’m studying to be a professional actor, and that’s what I do when I’m not playing or making music. I also do graphic designing and other visual arts in my spare time. So possibly something else that would include art in general. Like designing characters for videogames, that’d be super cool.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Wow, what a question, hmm. Maybe Corey Taylor, M Shadows, Jack Black, John Mayer, and Travis Barker. What a wacky little afternoon would that be. Probably wouldn’t be able to talk at all.

What’s next for the band?

Well right now we’re recording our next EP, and it’s gonna come out next year. And we’re getting ready for a couple of gigs we have before the end of the year.

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

www.facebook.com/saintauroraband/
www.instagram.com/saintauroraband/
www.open.spotify.com/artist/3XNz0XuBEJMMnMIrGoYbRY

Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?

Definitely a biscuit bruv, they’re my fucking weakness! Put them on the coffee table and you have seen the last of them, period.

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Be who you are and let everybody see how fun you’re having with it. Be careless and I’ll repeat myself; get bored, for nothing is ever created if we don’t. Cheers! 💜

St. Aurora Promo Pic

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities

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