Interview with Marko "Majesty" Hautamäki

Majesty first entrance on the underground doomscene came in 1995 with the demo The Natural Architect but how was this project formed originally?

Originally Majesty was supposed to be my side project besides Ater (a death/doom band in which I did guitar and vocals at the time). I just felt I had ideas I couldn’t properly carry out with Ater so a side project became a necessity. After Ater split up Majesty became my main band for several years. At first I had to spend a lot of time and trouble to acquire intruments and proper gear and learning to use them properly. Fortunately things are much easier nowadays.

Majesty has always been a one man project but unlike Godsend (Gunder Dragsten) and GraveFlowers (Matte Andersson) you dont bring in any guest musician like a guitarist a drummer etc. Will Majesty remain with only one member or are you aiming to piece together a band?

Every now and then I have toyed with the idea of forming a proper line-up to be able to do gigs but right now it seems more than ever that Majesty will remain one-piece in future, too. If someone would offer Majesty a big enough gig I’d probably recruit a session line-up for live purposes only. With smaller gigs, the sad fact is that doom bands get no audience, especially in Finland where the doom scene is next to non-existent. Considering the time and trouble I rather play gigs only with my other bands. They have bigger audiences as well.

In studio I prefer working alone as far as Majesty is concerned. The reasons for this are several, actually. After doing Majesty for a while I’ve learned to play all the instruments I need. Also, because of the fact that it’s just me I have a bit different relationship to Majesty compared to the other bands I play. Majesty is more personal thing and that’s also one of the reasons why I don’t necessarily want to have other people around me telling their opinions. This is probably the only possibility to have 100% democracy within a band… Plus there’s also the fact that writing music is fairly easy to me. Besides Majesty I have 4 other bands as well and I write songs for all of them so I don’t really need help in that matter either.

When you released the mini album The Crown Of Scorpio 1996 did you feel at that time that the good response that you have received with The Natural Architect was a perfect springboard for that mini album?

Definitely. "The Natural Architect" sold very well for a demo tape and that surely helped to spread the name around. Also, the mcd showed a lot of development so I don’t think anyone who liked the demo would have disliked "The Crown of Scorpio". And of course it was the demo which got me the contract for the mcd in the first place! It actually spawned the "deal" with Garden of Grief, too, because the mcd wasn’t out yet when they showed interest the first time but more about that subject later…

Talking about the response to The Crown Of Scorpio, were you pleased with the response from the fanmail and media coverage on that mini album?

Yes, "The Crown of Scorpio" was received very well, indeed. The media coverage is always a difficult issue for a doom band though. The underground zines wrote a lot about Majesty and there were lots of interviews and reviews, but airplay has always been next to none. The mainstream media neglecting Majesty was never an issue but considering the label, some media attention would definitely help them. That’s why we’re trying to get Majesty to some bigger magazines like Prospective as well as on finnish cable-tv. The new album already got a minimal amount of radio airplay in middle Europe and that’s always welcome, of course, but it’s not the main thing. The Majesty fans don’t usually listen to stations playing commercial danceable music and special radio shows devoted to metal are few. DJ’s of good metal shows are always welcome to get in touch!

The response from the fans has been a wholly different issue all the time. I can only wonder the amount of fan mail I still get and I hope it’s amount will even grow. I always try to answer the fan mail I get but there have been times it has been difficult and even impossible for me. For example, right now I’m having a very busy perioid in my life: Majesty just released a new album and I need to promote it from my part, two other bands of mine will release their albums in few months, I’m gigging extensively with Two Witches and after a while we’ll start recording a new album, too.

Now to the new album Doomsday Machine. Ever since The Natural Architect to The Crown Of Scorpio you have created a very down tuned melancholic depressive doom, Doomsday Machine is no exception but I feel this album have a lot more atmospheric sound to it and it is also a much more progressive album. Are you pleased with the performance and the final mix of Doomsday Machine?

I’d say I’m 95% happy with it. There are always things that could be better (and in the future they will be!) but all in all I’m very happy with the way "Doomsday Machine" turned out. You also happened to mention the two magic words, "atmospheric" and "progressive". That’s exactly the direction I wanted Majesty to go on this one. Also the sound is very much what I had in mind in the first place, it’s heavier and darker than before and the orchestral parts have a slightly larger role this time. My abilities in handling all the instruments are much better now and playingwise it coudn’t really be much better. Another important thing to keep in mind is that "The Crown of Scorpio" came out back in 1996 and since "Earthbound" wasn’t released it has been five years since the last release already so I think some development has to have happened…

You made an album for the Italian label Garden Of Grief before this one that have still not released, is that album going to be issued by them or will it be issued from the label you have signed with now Actcom Music?

The situation with Garden of Grief is quite weird, to say the least. I haven’t managed to get any contact with the label manager, Mazzieri Domenico, for years. I don’t even know if he’s still alive. Right now I’m investigating my possibilities with the album. He paid the studio and the rights for the album are his. On the other hand we made a RECORD contract and now it has been 5 years and nothing has happened. There’s a possibility that the contract could be made void but we’ll see. I’d definitely like "Earthbound" to be released in some form by Actcom because I know the guys and they keep what they promise.

More on the production of Doomsday Machine, how much input had recording engineer Marko Ketola with the sound of the album?

A lot or none, depending on how you see it. When I went to studio I already had a clear mental image of how I wanted to work and how it would sound. Marko is a pro and knows what is required from him. There were only two of us in the studio and Marko also monitored with critical ear for playing mistakes and stuff. I could always depend on him that if I sung a wrong note he’d mention it and we’d correct it right away. That would be something a producer (in this case me) would normally worry about. The sound he tweaked on the album is very much what I had in mind beforehand. I like the guitar sound especially. It was very easy to work with him. Basically he’d dial in the tones according to my descriptions and then we’d check the balances and add some spices here and there. I just wish I had had a better bass guitar in the studio. The bass I used was loaned from a friend of mine. It was an Aria Pro II and it was quite diffucult to play and the sound was a little bit too round to my taste. On the final product it sounds surprisingly good, though.

Talking about the deal you have with Actcom I have never heard of them before what kind of label is it and are you pleased with their support for Doomsday Machine?

ctcom Music is a young and small label but it is growing rather quickly, especially when they’ll get more and larger distributors. The label manager Timo "Timv" Väänänen and the promoter Jyrki "Witch" Virtanen are both close friends of mine. We have several mutual band projects but more about those later. Actcom was founded in fall 1999. The releases to date are Shade Factory "Angel" mcd, Ancient Drive "Black Orgies" cd, Two Witches "Eternal Passion" cd (finnish edition), "Dark Alternatives" gothic/industrial/metal compilation cd, Actcom Label Sampler mcd, SinMasters "Seducer" mcd", Two Witches "Agony of the undead vampire Pt.2" remastered jubileum edition of the first cd, SinMasters "Crashing down" mcd and finally Majesty "Doomsday Machine". Upcoming titles are full length cds from Shade Factory and SinMasters and re-release of "Bites" by Two Witches. Most of these titles are probably not familiar to you but the labels direction is "dark alternative". Within this framework it’s pretty much gothic, industrial and metal. Majesty is the only doom metal band on the label for now.

The label has been very supportive with "Doomsday Machine". They do a lot of promotion and are constantly in search for new contacts around the world. Promoter Jyrki even managed to get Spinefarm records to distribute Majesty album! For those who are interested in knowing more about the label, you can find them at the Actcom Web.The upcoming Majesty pages will be located uder those pages, too.

Lyrically it is very depressive subjects a lot of sorrow and destruction captured here on Doomsday Machine in a lyrical standpoint when you write them you must be in a very depressing mood?

I have found out that a bit depressive mood is very creative one for me. Though it often results in a happy mood if I manage to channel my bad emotions to music or lyrics. This doesn’t mean that I always need to feel bad in order to write songs but it definitely helps, especially when Majesty stuff is considered. Also, it’s a style thing as well. It wouln’t fit in with the music to sing happy stuff.

Talking about the title Doomsday Machine does it have any meaning to it?

I chose the title for the album not only because of the song with the same title but I feel it pretty much sums up the contents of the cd. Using technology in making music has always been very natural for me and, honestly, I can’t relate to people speaking against synths, effect processors, computers etc. That’s something I’m taking a stance against but the title has other meanings as well. Technology in music is pretty much the same as if I was a painter and someone would invent a hundred new colors, of course I’d use them!

Another thing that makes this album something extra is the arrangements flute, acoustic symphonic to name a few. Is Doomsday Machine the most experimental recording you have made so far?

In a way. In Majesty context it is definitely the most experimental record so far. Especially "Doomsday Machine" is quite progressive and I’m definitely going to write more that kind of songs in the future. Outside Majesty, joining Shade Factory 2 and a half years ago was a big eye opener. I hadn’t worked with machines that extensively before and the style is also very much different from what I had done before. So from personal standpoint that was probably the most experimental experiance for me, although the songs in itself are not that experimental at all. Well, our version of Ozzy classic "Suicide Solution" is but not otherwise…

It is 6 impressive tracks in a playing time of 53 minutes that you are delivering here, but in what way will this album please the doom heads out there and those who are looking for a alternative where is the strength in this album do you feel?

I think I’m offering something for the both groups. For the doom heads I deliver one of the heaviest records for a long, long time, with all the classic basic elements of doom included. For those seeking an alternative I offer classical influenced arrangements, a vocal style less heard in doom metal and some very progressive and experimental elements considering the musical category.

Another thing that makes the album pleasant to listen to is your melancholic dark vocalsound. Compare to your previous releases did you work harder on the vocals this time?

Compared to the previous records that were actually released I definitely worked harder this time. When I recorded "Earthbound" I worked with them even harder, mainly because of some experiments I made vocalwise. It actually turned out very good at the time so I sincerely hope that the world will have a chance to hear this album someday, too. The experiments I’m referring were mainly higher vocals and some experiments layering different kind of vocals to achieve a certain sound. At the time I was working very hard on my vocals outside studio, too. I did my best to stretch my range and I think it can be heard on "Doomsday Machine" also.

There has been a pretty good coverage of Majesty in various underground zines/distributionlabels so far what I have seen. What aim do you have with Doomsday Machine towards media? Are you and Actcom going to spread out Doomsday.. to the major metal mags what is the plans?

I have contacted pretty much all the underground contacts I know of, though I’m still pretty much trying to find out if some of them are still active or not. I’m trying to get as much coverage in underground zines as possible and, as always before, there’s a shitload of flyers advertizing the new album. This is pretty much the same I have always done promotionwise with Majesty. But now there’s a big difference in the fact that I’m on the label who actually understand the importance of promotion. They actually promote the new record more than I could have ever afforded when I was doing it alone. So, in addition to underground contacts which are, for a large part, done by myself, Actcom is also trying to get media attention from bigger magazines, distributors etc. And I can tell that they’ve done a great job. A good proof of that is the fact that "Doomsday Machine" is now officially distributed by Spinefarm among many others. They also work hard on all the other areas of label managing all the time trying to make new contacts and distribution channels. I can’t speak of the things under work but it’s getting better all the time. About the promotion towards the major magazines etc, that’s the job of the promoter so it’s pretty much up to him. He keeps me well informed though…

You are also involved in a couple of other projects beside Majesty can you fill us in on them and what musical direction they have?

Yes, that is also one reason why Majesty has been so silent for a couple of years. Here’s a brief description of all the other bands I’m currently involved with:

Shade Factory is originally the project of Actcom label manager Timv. The musical direction was originally pretty basic industrial in the vein of Skinny Puppy and stuff like that. Lately the songs have matured and the style has developed into a more "commercially acceptable" direction. It’s very much ladden with machinery and there are obvious influences from Depeche Mode in the newer stuff. I play guitar in this band and guitarwise it’s pretty heavy. A very interesting project from my perspective. Latest release "Angel" mcd came out early 2000 and is available via Actcom as are all the other records of these bands. New full-length album is under works.

La Vampire Nue is kind of experimental gothic rock with some machines. I play keyboards on this one. Besides me the band consists of Sepulcrum Mentis guitarist/vocalist Marty Kasprzak, Two Withes vocalist Jyrki Witch and ex-Two Witches guitarist Toby. There are no releases from this band yet but something will definitely be released in the future. This band is not that active because of the fact that Marty lives in Berlin and we see each other very seldom. It doesn’t prevent us writing songs, though, and when we happen to be in the same country we’ll have 2 or 3 rehearsals and go to tour. That’s pretty much how it works…

SinMasters is a kind of a gothic supergroup featuring members from many different countries and many bands (current and ex-members of Two Witches, Lacrimosa, Sepulcrum Mentis, Love Like Blood, Beltane, Ancient Rites, Dance Macabre etc. Etc.). The musical classification is post-gothic metal dancemusic. I think is sums very well what SinMasters are about: machine based stuff with gorgeously heavy guitar. I play guitar there and occassionally also do some other instruments and composing. SinMasters have released two mcds so far. A full length album is under works.

Two Witches is a pretty big gothic rock band I joined in July as the new guitarist. This band is also to blame from the fact that answering this interview took so long because I’ve been trying to learn songs for a couple of two-hour-concerts we’re going to have in November very far away… 2W have released lots of albums and other stuff and we also do very much gigs. I’m also the main songwriter for the band nowadays and we will probably start recording new album in december or so.

Talking about the songwriting for this album, what visions did you have for the album and what musical inspirations was it for you to piece together this album was it any difference influentially for this album compare to your previous material?

Influentially it was pretty much the same. My musical tastes haven’t really changed, just enlargened and that’s what I consider the main thing affecting my song writing. Ever since I finished recording of "Earthbound" the idea of the next album started evolving in my head so I had a pretty clear vision of what it would be like much before I had finished the first songs to end up on "Doomsday Machine". It’s the same thing at the moment. I know pretty well already what the next album will be like, even though I haven’t finished a song yet! It’s easy when you know what you’re doing and because of me being involved in a lot of different bands, working with different people, my songwriting abilities have improved a lot so it’s now even easier to achieve the result I have in mind.

Finally the plans after the release of Doomsday Machine what is the next plans for Majesty any eps the new album etc.etc. Fill us in.

The next Majesty album will be released next year unless anything unexpected happens. It’s pretty early to talk much about it yet and the outcome of the promotion of the current album will also affect things. The Majesty web-pages will be found under Actcom pages in near future. Shirts are also planned but the time table is still pretty much open for that matter. It depends on many things but everyone, please let me know if you’re interested in Majesty shirts.

Thank you very much for the interview. All the best wishes with Doomsday Machine take care.

Thank you, Gabriel, for the interesting questions and sorry again that the answering took this long. Feel the DOOM!

Majesty info and ordering info at www.actcom.fiemailcontact:info@actcom.fi

Contact Marko at doomsday@luukku.com