The Explosive Melodic Rock of Wake The Nations

Finnish melodic hard rock / AOR band Wake The Nations has just released their third studio album Heartageddon via Inverse Records.  With absolutely explosive tunes such as Bulletproof and Alive contained within, Heartageddon is destined to enrapture fans of bands such as Eclipse, One Desire, Dynazty, and even classic rockers such as Toto.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed guitarist Risto Tuominen to find out a whole lot more about Wake The Nations and their exhilarating Heartageddon melodic rock masterwork.  Read on…

We’re here with Risto Tuominen from Wake The Nations. Where’s the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
Risto Tuominen: We are in Southwest Finland. It’s hard to do any gigs in Finland. We are a small band, so it’s hard.

Let’s talk about the amazing new album, Heartageddon. Is there any overall story or concept behind that title Heartageddon?
Risto: We are always writing songs about heartbreak and love and so on. We have a theme with these albums because the first album was Sign of Heart and another one was Heartrock, and now it’s Heartageddon. Maybe it’s Heartageddon because it’s quite messy stories. It’s love stories and heartbreak Love is always some messy stuff.

One of my favorite songs on the album is your second single, Bulletproof.  Tell me a little about that song and what that means to you or the inspiration behind it.
Risto: I composed the song. It started – I was trying to be Eddie Van Halen. (Laughs) So it was the first. The first version was before we recorded. I put all the phasers and flangers on my guitar and the main riff went from there.  I tried to make it simple song.  But the first main idea came from the greatest band in the world – Van Halen.

The first single, Alive, which is where I first heard you. Tell me a little about Alive.
Risto: I wanted to make something different. The last album, Heartrock was quite much more the ’80s, adult-oriented rock. But I wanted to make some different song without guitar solos. The main idea came from a Swedish band called Eclipse.  Also, I’ve been listening to Nickelback. Maybe those inspired me to do that kind of song.

What could one expect from a live Wake the Nations show?
Risto: Happy players. When you come to see us, when we can have any gigs – when we are playing live, we are always smiling, and we have fun, and we are enjoying hanging out with fans or friends. We like to play and we’re just happy that we can play – if we can play somewhere. We’re always smiling, and you can have a good time at our gig.

Have you ever played here in the States with Wake the Nations or with your previous band, Human Temple?
Risto: No. We would love to, but no, never.

Eclipse is actually going to be playing at the Whisky next year.  Erik Mårtensson from Eclipse mixed and mastered your previous album Heartrock. What was the experience like working with Erik?
Risto: We worked remotely, but he’s really professional. We said that we would want to sound like something, and he did more. I guess although we had quite good songs, I think he made them better, – more interesting.  He’s a cool guy down to earth, so love him.

Who mixed and mastered the new album, and what was it like to work with this them?
Risto: His name is Mikko Herranen, and he’s a singer and drummer. He’s known from the TV show, Voice of Finland.  We offered the last album also for him to mix. Then we chose Erik, but now he wanted to do it. He’s really a cool guy. And professional.  He did really well.

Looking back on your time spent with Human Temple, what do you think of it now in retrospect and the recordings you did?
Risto: I loved it. With Janne Hurme, it was amazing. He has so much music knowledge from this style of music. He loved KISS and Toto and Journey – and he taught me to listen to cooler 80’s band, and maybe that was a little bit growing for me, as a musician and composer with Janne. It was really great. Too bad we don’t have time to do more. Janne, the lead singer, is very well known here in Finland. He is quite busy doing other things. But it was a great time. And that made it possible to do this band.

You also have a solo project. Tell me a little about that, and will there be any new music?
Risto: I had leftover songs that I think don’t fit in Wake The Nations, and I didn’t know who I could get to sing those.  So, I wanted to try to be a singer, and so I went to release those.  Also, the purpose of those songs is that I’m trying to learn mixing and mastering myself, so it’s good to practice with my own songs.

For people who are curious, the songs are called Here I Am and Real Life Superhero.  Definitely check those out. So, are you currently involved with any other bands or projects outside of Wake The Nations?
Risto: No, not at all. Before COVID hit, I was playing a lot of more with cover bands, but when that happened, everything naturally stopped. But then I was concentrating only on this band. Of course, I have a day job, and now I’m back at school, so I have lots going on in that area also.

You’re busy.
Risto: Yeah, busy, but not in music. I would love to be busier with music, but I have to be in real jobs also.

If Wake The Nations could open for any band, either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Risto: If it’s my decision, I would want to open for Toto, I love their music a lot. But also, if Mr. King himself would be alive, still, Eddie Van Halen – Van Halen would be really great playing with those guys. But yeah, Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen, Toto – there are so many!

Heartageddon is about to come out on Inverse Records. What’s up next for Wake The Nations after the album is out?
Risto: I’m trying to book some gigs in here in Finland, and hopefully we can get something, but it’s hard to do. There are so few places that take original bands, and if they do, they don’t want to pay. And we are not after the money. We are working guys, so it’s not the main thing, but still. We are trying to book some gigs, and hopefully that happens…

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Line-up:
Krister Stenbom (vocals)
Risto Tuominen (guitar)
Janne “Gekko” Granfors (bass)
Tuomas Pelli (drums)

Links:
https://wakethenations.com
https://www.facebook.com/WakeTheNations
https://www.instagram.com/waketnations