Q+A INTERVIEW: Noora Louhimo – Battle Beast

Swedish power metal heroes BATTLE BEAST are returning to the UK next month, embarking on an epic European tour to mark the release of their latest record No More Hollywood Endings, along with CYHRA and BRYMIR as special guests. It will only the band’s second voyage to the UK on tour, and vocalist Noora Louhimo recently sat down with Distorted Sound to lift the lid on the upcoming shows, a look back at some of the band’s most memorable moments and more!

You’re back on tour across Europe and the UK – what’s it like for the band to return to some of the bigger cities and venues?

Noora: It’s great to go back to the UK and Ireland after the first time we played there and we’re really excited! We’re actually now in the States – this is the seventh week that we’ve been on the road here and it’s been great. We still have four shows left on this on this tour and then we’ve got three weeks before we start the next European tour!

What can we expect from the tour?

Noora: Well of course you can expect an explosive show as always, and as a band we are in really good shape as players – now we have been playing the whole year and we have been touring the whole time so it’s going to be great! What’s great is that we are having more than one or two shows in the UK this time, which is what we have been waiting for and now that we can actually do more shows in the UK and people have been requesting for us to go there, it’s a dream come true!

You’ve also got a new album No More Hollywood Endings to support on the tour – what’s the setlist balance like ahead of the tour?

Noora: Well, of course, always when you do a new album you have more material and we have more tracks from the new album, but we try to make it balanced in a way that our old fans and our new fans will be satisfied.

How have you found the reception over the years each time you’ve toured both the UK and in Europe?

Noora: It’s always been a great reception, and especially last time we played the UK. We were in London, it was a sold-out show, so I guess people like us there! I really like British people and I like the UK so I’m really excited to get back there. Especially after the shows I come out and also some of the guys from the band come out to the merch desk and we will come say hi to the fans and it’s always nice to talk to the people and hear what they got to say.

You have CHYRA and BRYMIR supporting BATTLE BEAST on tour as well, what do you think the reception will be for both support acts?

Noora: I believe they are going to make this one of the most dynamic, powerful, explosive evenings of all time! They have such good music both bands, and CYRHA have already been one of the warming up bands for us in the beginning of this year when we started touring with the No More Hollywood Endings album, so I know what to expect from them – they have a really impressive stage presence and show that they have fun is! Our lead guitarist is one of the founding members of BRYMIR so we will see Joona twice on stage! BRYMIR have just released a new album too and it’s just amazing; they have a good balance of melodic heavy metal and growling and it’s really, really great, so you can expect a lot of good surprises on this tour!

As the headline act, when it comes to the support acts do you have much say as a band and how hard is it to pick who to bring with you?

Noora: Well, in the previous years, we didn’t always decide initially who was coming with us, of course we are asked ‘this is what we are thinking, do you agree?’ from the management. But lately, in the last two years, we have been wanting to affect the whole evening and all that, who is coming with us and also help and support upcoming bands that we really think that are worth supporting, or worth support to be supported. Even though the bands come to support us, we want to support them, as taking them touring with us they can show what they’ve got to the world!

What have been some of your favourite moments on stage?

Noora: Actually, my favourite moments on stage are when we have some technical problems – someone says something stupid and then you have to improvise! It’s so entertaining and so funny, even if it was me who was messing up with my words, especially because I’m a Finnish person and English isn’t always the best! Or if someone else in the band says something funny it’s always entertaining, but also some of my favourite moments are when we get this symbiotic feeling with the crowd. There are plenty of different bright moments on stage too, like sometimes when we go on stage in places that we have never been before and we don’t know what to expect from the crowd. At first, they might be a little bit reserved and just staring at us thinking ‘what the fuck is going on?’, and then during the show and until the end everybody’s excited and pumping their fists in the air and knowing that we’ve won the crowd over during the show is one of the best feelings!

What’s your standout memory from touring in the UK?

Noora: Well of course that sold out show is one thing that sticks out, and the people are very welcoming. I remember this show the UK when even though we had really shitty luck with the sound system in the venue, and we knew that this is not going to sound the best way that it could sound, but still the people were like ‘this is the best show ever!’ I love that people, even though we would be doing a small gig in some pub or then a bigger show somewhere, still people in the UK make us welcome always and make us feel like we are home so we really appreciate it!

You’re playing Nova Rock next year – from a personal and band perspective which do you prefer between your own tour and a festival?

Noora: Well, it’s a hard question because we just love to perform! Summer festivals, there is a massive amount of people and it’s always very impressive to be on stage in front of, for example 30,000 people and it’s great of course, but I really love to do shows also in front of, 200 people because it’s always more intimate and I can see everybody’s face! Both are really good but I can’t really say which one is better, but there’s definitely big differences between the two for sure!

What would be the dream line-up for you to tour with, either at a festival or on tour?

Noora: I’ve always dreamt of touring with IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST, I think that would be great; IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and BATTLE BEAST! I would be happy if it ever happened! Of course, there are a lot of great bands but I have to say those because they are my biggest idols and the bands that I admire their music so much. I’ve always dreamt of working with those people!

BATTLE BEAST will be touring across mainland Europe and the UK in November and December this year. Tour dates are available here.

For more information on BATTLE BEAST like their official page on Facebook.