Into The Mothertomb with Rootbrain

Into The Mothertomb with Rootbrain

Rootbrain is a Finnish-German alternative metal band blending elements of blackened grunge, groove, and doom-infused melodies. Featuring members of Triptykon, Profane Omen, and Kuolemanlaakso, the band has carved out a distinct sound that bridges the intensity of extreme metal with haunting melodic sensibilities. Their debut album Breakwater (2023) established them as a formidable presence, and their upcoming Mothertomb EP marks the next chapter in their evolving sound.  Highwire Daze recently caught up with Rootbrain mastermind Thomas Wright to find out more about this dynamic band on the rise!  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Rootbrain, and how long the band has been together.
Thomas Wright: I’m Thomas Wright, the bass player and creative dynamo of Rootbrain. We started around 2017 as a trio with rhythm guitarist Helle and drummer Fat Tony. Santura and Jules joined during the Breakwater-sessions (debut album) in 2018 and 2019 respectively. I’ve known all the members since a long time before. This is a band of brothers.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
Wright: Well, technically you could say we’re based in Helsinki, Finland. Not that any of us live in Helsinki. We’re spread around quite dramatically. Me and Helle live relatively close to each other, but Fat Tony is already some 500km away in Kuopio, Santura lives near Munich in Germany and Jules in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jules spends every summer season in Finland, though. We work in intense camps and I for example am in writing mode pretty much 24/7. Finland has a pretty strong and lively metal scene but I haven’t really been actively involved for the last few years.

You just released a new single entitled Unawares. What is the inspiration behind the song?
Wright: I can’t remember any special inspiration behind it. Probably the usual: weed and misery. It was the first song I wrote for the EP. As soon as I came up with the in-your-face verse riff, I had a strong feeling it should be the opening track of the next Rootbrain release. It has all the trademark elements of Rootbrain: in-your-face attitude and groove, but still loads of melody and dynamics. Beautiful and ugly in good balance. The lyrics are very personal, and I won’t open them. People close to me probably get what it’s about.

What made you decide to cover #1 Crush and has anyone from Garbage heard or commented on it?
Wright: I’m a huge fan of Garbage, their ability to combine catchiness with some real substance and depth. Excellent songwriting and of course Shirley Manson is an icon and brings so much charisma on even the most polished productions. I’m not a fan of their happiest material, but overall: great band. I bought the Absolute Garbage best of cd from a flea market to spin in the car and #1 Crush just had all the necessary elements to be beaten into a credible Rootbrain version. We arranged it into a very grungy one during one of our intense rehearsal camps with Helle and Fat Tony. Luckily, we have some very creative and open-minded people in the band. I’m glad we gave that song a chance and turned it into one of our own.

It would be a dream if the Garbage members heard our version. I wonder what they’d think of it.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the EP title and song Mothertomb?
Wright: All the songs are independent entities and there’s no theme throughout the EP. Mothertomb is the song on the EP with the deepest meaning for us. Its seed was sown when Helle played an acoustic pattern to me at my cabin on a dark and hazy autumn evening. He was going through some really hard times: a long relationship came to a sudden end and his dad died. I could relate since I went through a similar turbulance before Breakwater. We were having an escapist retreat surrounded by nature. Just a break from everything. Chilling, talking, listening to music and jamming. Anyway, that acoustic pattern had something about it. Melancholy and hope. I made it the core of the song and wrote the rest around it. I wanted to make justice for the context and I must have done 7 or 8 versions before I dared to send a demo to Helle which he luckily approved. Jules wrote a good text for it that fits the mood perfectly. The lyrics aren’t really about the original background story, but Jules too knew this had to have a certain depth and melancholy to it. For us there are a couple parallel stories there. I always like my songs to tell a story before having lyrics anyway.

What could one expect from a live Rootbrain show?
Wright: Energy and intensity. Occasional bad humour. An intense rock show. Our songs work really well in live environment. We’ve kept our recordings quite stripped down, organic and raw meaning what you hear on our albums is what you get on stage.

Any chance of Rootbrain coming over to the States to do some shows or a tour?
Wright: That is a dream, but I think at the very moment still a distant one. But we’re on an American label so who knows what the future brings.

Are you currently involved with any other bands or projects outside of Rootbrain?
Wright: I am anti multitasking. I suck at it and my multitasking is making many things simultaneously but terribly. I’m also a bit of a tubebrain and when I’m into something I’m into it full force. I live and breathe Rootbrain. At the moment I have my hands full with writing the second full length. Im in no need for additional distractions. I think creativity needs a lot of time and calm around it to be genuine. That’s probably one of the reasons there’s so much generic stuff nowadays. People are doing too much, too fast and on a schedule that comes from outside demands. Artists don’t create when inspired. They create when there’s a convenient little free moment in their calendar.

An exception to my principle is maybe our death doom band, Kuolemanlaakso that is fronted by Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun fame. We put the band on a hiatus a while ago, but I hope we could at least play a few decent farewell shows at some point. But doom is never in a rush so I wouldn’t hold my breath.

How did V. Santura of Triptykon and Dark Fortress become involved with Rootbrain?
Wright: Well, I’ll let him explain directly…

V. Santura; I don’t know how I ended in the band, all of a sudden I simply was… Sneaky bastards…

But seriously, it was a bit like that. Thomas founded Rootbrain with Helle and he booked me and my studio to record and produce the first album Breakwater. At the beginning of the recording session Rootbrain was still a trio, Fat Tony on drums, Helle as tight master of the riffs and Thomas on bass and well… the brain behind Rootbrain.

The vibe during those sessions was very good and I genuinely enjoyed the music and all three of them really nailed their parts. It was a pleasure to do this recording session. Helle is a killer rhythm guitarist, but rhythm guitar has always been his priority and where he shines, so when it came to recording the lead guitars Helle and Thomas asked me if I wanted to record them. I thought, yeah, why not? I liked the challenge as I had to learn everything on spot and I really enjoyed the playing.

I remember that when I was more or less finished with the leads, we were standing on my terrace having a break and a chat and the guys were like… “hey, now that you recorded the leads, how about playing them once we start playing live?” I guess that was the moment I was in the band. Sneaky bastards, haha.

Thomas Wright of Rootbrain

Wright: Brilliant! This story always makes me smile. But boy are we lucky to have Victor on board. He’s really the perfect fit both musically and on a personal level. This band is also a mutual investment into finding time to spend together. Being the sneaky bastard I am, I have lured some of my very best friends into spending time with me on a regular basis.

What’s next for Rootbrain?
Wright: A new full-length album that we’ll start recording during the summer hopefully. Before that the ‘Mothertomb’ ep drops on March 5th through Corpsepaint Records. Hopefully we’ll get some festival shows for the summer/autumn. Or club shows. We wanna play live much more than we’ve done so far.

Any final words of wisdom?
Wright: It takes more balls to love than it takes to hate. Be kind.

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!
Wright: My pleasure! Thank YOU!

(Interview by Ken Morton)

ROOTBRAIN MEMBERS:
Jules Näveri – Vocals (Profane Omen, Enemy of the Sun, Spiritraiser)
V. Santura – Lead guitar (Triptykon, Dark Fortress)
Hurja Helle – Rhythm guitar (Dauntless)
Thomas Wright – Bass (Kuolemanlaakso, The Nibiruan, Elenium)
Fat Tony – Drums (Kuolemanlaakso, Ghoulstars, Discard)

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