When a band with a cult following like Stratovarius tours a country for the first time, it’s all a bit of a gamble. Some bands are greeted with a rapturous reception, while others end up playing to a couple of half-empty pubs. Regardless, Porra is positive. “I’ve never been to Australia so I’m really, really looking forward to it,” he says. “For sure if it was up to me I’d be touring a whole month and just going around there. I don’t think we will be playing concerts that are that big, but let’s see.
“I wish we had more time. I’m really interested in travelling and seeing sights. I always try and make the best of it. I don’t mind if I don’t sleep while I’m there for those few days in Australia. The nature of course is something that I would really like to see and the food. Everybody tells me that Australia is great fun. I’ll try and make the best of it and see as much as possible and enjoy a new, exotic location.”
Asked if the band will be checking out the local scene, Porra seems eager. “I know a little bit about the scene, I know that there is a scene. I only know of AC/DC and Airbourne, but you know I’ve been talking to some Australian people when I meet them, they tell me about other bands. I’m looking forward to it.”
Like many metal musicians, especially in Europe, Porra entered the musical world through classical training, studying for ten years before turning his hand to something heavier. “I’ve noticed that a lot of players of metal…their parents play classical music. A lot of people in the scene seem to come from classical, there are a lot of similarities. There is a strong melody, a certain amount of technique is needed to be able to do it. There’s a strong correlation between classical music and metal music.”
Power metal certainly has strong classical overtones. “I don’t do it consciously, whatever comes out comes out,” explains Porra. “I don’t try to bring classical into Stratovarius. The natural way music comes…you don’t have to decide what you’re going to put there. You shouldn’t think too much about what you’re doing. Study as much as possible and then write from the heart.”
The band’s fifteenth studio album, Nemesis, was released earlier this year, and has performed well across Europe in particular. “The current style of Stratovarius….I think we’re looking at the future and thinking what kind of music we’re doing next,” says Porra. “I don’t like to dwell a lot on the old.”
The album was produced by the band’s guitarist Matias Kupiainen, who was born the year before the original line-up got together to begin making eardrums across Finland bleed. “He’s produced the last two albums,” explains Porra. “Even though the band works democratically he sort of has the steering wheel. I think we will continue like that.
“It seems like most of the stuff we write now, it has this strong direction. I always write to see if something fits in the soup, so to say. Playing in Stratovarius, it’s definitely an honour. I joined in 2005 and it’s a big band. The possibility to play for a great audience, to play good music, when you play in a band like this you have to take care and respect the history of the band. It’s a combination of the old and the new.”
BY JOSH FERGEUS
