Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by ARMANDO MUTILATOR :

here´s the intie. Thanx for the support mate!!!

Marco
MAPLE CROSS

DT: When and why the band was formed?. Tell us about the band in the 80's.
Marco: MAPLE CROSS was formed in´85 under a different name, but in ´88 we started to use the name MAPLE CROSS and recorded our first Demo the very same year.The first line-up was: Marko Siekkinen (guitar), Ville Hyry (drums), Ilkka Heino (guitar), Mika Karppinen (bass) and Marco R.J. (vocals). With that line-up we recorded "Thirteen witches...But one of them. After that we realized we needed a new bass player because Mika wasn't really into playing. So, we hired Nico to play bass. With that line-up we recorded 5 demos and one album, toured Finland and Denmark. We had a great time playing gigs with bands like DARKTHRONE, INVOCATOR, PRESTIGE etc. Great memories, but I really want to look into future.

DT: Why the name of MAPPLE CROSS?.
Marco: It was our old guitarist Marko Siekkinen who came up with the name. Marko got the name from a horror book or something like that and there was a murder in MAPLE CROSS and it kinda stuck into his mind. Finally one day he just suggested it to us, we liked it right away for obvious reasons and we knew there and then it would be the perfect name for us because of our hatred towards any form of religion.

DT: Your influences?.
Marco: It can be anything, but I'm mostly influnced by life itself. There's so many stupid people in this world that I think I won´t run out of influences any time soon. If you were looking for bands that have influnced us I would have to say SLAYER, INFERNAL MAJESTY, VOIVOD etc.

DT: What can you talk me about your "THIRTEEN WITCHES... BUT ONE OF THEM" (Demo 1998)?. Who design the cover?.
Marco: Heh heh... I have no idea who painted that cover design we used. Nico wasn't in the band at the time, but he was one of my best friends already. One day me and Ilkka were at Nico's place and Ilkka went through Nico's artbooks and found the drawing in one of the books so, what did Ilkka do? Of course he just tore the picture right off and didn't tell us anything. I found out later on when Nico came to me and said "thanx man!" in a really bitter voice. Of course we later on shook hands and Ilkka apologized to Nico. We had a great time recording the demo, but we realized Mika was not the right man for us and asked Nico to step in.

DT: Do you remember bands like PHLEGETHON and PROTECTED ILLUSION?.
Marco: Of course I do!! Great bands and I still listen to them every now and then. Go to www.nevergreen.org/pi  and download the whole PROTECTED ILLUSION discography!!!!!

DT: Are you satisifed with your "SACRIFICED HUMANITY" (Demo - 1989)?.
Marco: Yes I am. We were kinda finding our feet on that one and it paved us a way to discovered different ways of writing Metal songs.

DT: Youre fave beer?.
Marco: KARHU, for sure!!!!

DT: Your best Finnish band from ever?.
Marco: Aarghh!! There´s so many great bands over here that it´s impossible to name just one! From the old days A.R.G. and MENGELE were the best, but from todays bands it would have to be THYRANE!! My all time fave album by a Finnish band is North From Here by SENTENCED. That´s the best answer I can give...

DT: Talk me about "THE FOURTH AND LAST DEMO" (Demo 1990).
Marco: The way I see it "The Fourth And Last Demo" ended an era in MAPLE CROSS history. We took that particular style of writing Metal as far as we could and it was some sort of pre album release because "THE EIGHT DAY OF CREATION" album represented that style of Metal. It took me few days after the studio session to realize we recorded one helluva Demo.

DT: Do you like the old Heavy Metal?.
Marco: Alot!! I listen to bands like IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST all the time.

DT: Tell us about your "THE EIGHT DAY OF CREATION" (CD - 1991)
Marco: To us it was our masterpiece and even today I can listen to it with pride. We mixed thrash and heavy metal with instruments like saxophone, piano etc. It was a great experience and it gave us tools to create more aggressive sound to MAPLE CROSS, because we learned a lot about ourselves as composers during that session.

DT: What do you think about ELIPHAS LEVY?.
Marco: To be honest, nothing!!

DT: How many copies do you sold of your "5TH FOR US" (Demo 1992)?.
Marco: As the name would suggest, none.

DT: Are you friends with MIKA LUTTINEN?.
Marco: Not really, heh heh...

DT: JABBA THE HUTT is your idol?.
Marco: No way...

DT: Do you know who is Reverend AL SHARPTON?.
Marco: I have no interest knowing him.

DT: What do you know about South American Scene?.
Marco: I know quite a bit actually. One of my all time fave albums is "Abominable Anno Domini" by CHAKAL!!!

DT: What do you think about TERVEET KADET?.
Marco: They´ve had their moments, but to me they are nothing extraordinary.

DT: Tell us about "UNCONTROLLED ART" (Demo 1993).
Marco: We wrote pretty strong songs on this one and we were pretty aggressive already on this one. This was some kind of beauty and the beast release musically for us. We created these beautiful melodies only to be destroyed by Metal mayhem. Great release!!

DT: What is the gender of PIKACHU?.
Marco: I don´t know and I don´t care.

DT: Do you prefer HORNA or IMPALED NAZARENE? ... do you know LUCHO HORNA?.
Marco: IMPALED NAZARENE. I have no idea who is LUCHO HORNA.

DT: Are you into drugs?.
Marco: Depends what you call drugs, but generally no!!!

DT: What do you think about ANTON SZANDOR LA VEY?.
Marco: Well, he lived and then he died. He ment nothing to me really. He was just another man.

DT: "COOL MAGGOTS" (Demo 1994) was your best Demo?.
Marco: That was the best release with the old line-up!!! We created something very powerful with that one and it will be one of my fave MAPLE CROSS releases forever!!!

DT: Are you into INNER CIRCLE?. Tell us about the Anti Semitic Community.
Marco: We are very antireligious and very anti political group!!! So, that's about that!!!

DT: Do you like drink Vodka with piss?.
Marco: Not in a million years!!!

DT: Who's distributed your "PROMO 1/02". Talk me about the cover, with a great pic of the band.
Marco: We did ourselves and the band photo is there for everyone to see the band straightaway!!! I've also always wanted to put a band photo on the cover like my fave bands used to do back in the eighties, heh heh...

DT: Do you have STAR WARS action figures?.
Marco: No I don't and never will!!!

DT: Tell me about your "PROMO 2/02", is available?.
Marco: We really didn't distribute it too much. It's available through our website and I still have few copies left so maybe someday I will give them away for free through our website. Maybe we'll run a competition or something like that.

DT: Talk me about your last show.
Marco: It was in Rovaniemi, Finland. The gig was nearly sold out(7 people short) and it was total mayhem!!! Blood everywhere and we had to have our roadies in front of the stage to keep some order, otherwise we would have no monitors anymore, heh heh. That was definately one of the best gigs for a long time!!!!

DT: What do you think about ALEISTER CROWLEY, do you read THE BOOK OF THE LAW?.
Marco: He means nothing to me and I haven't read The Book Of The Law and I never will. Why would I? He was just another man, right?

DT: What can you talk me about your experience in "METAL - RULES.COM - VOLUME I" (CD - Compilation, Recorded December 30th, 2002).
Marco: More people got to know about MAPLE CROSS through that CD and I can honestly suggest every band to participate if there ever will be another volume!!! On top of that they are great people to work with and they really support the worldwide Metal scene. All hail Metal-rules.com!!!!

DT: Tell us about your participation on "METAL OSTENTATION II" (CD - Compilation - SOUND RIOT RECORDS, 2003) with bands like LITHAM, are you friends with REDOUANE AOUAMEUR?.
Marco: Another good compilation. I don't know REDOUANE AOUAMEUR personally.

DT: Tell me all about your "NEXT CHAPTER" (CD - VERIKAUHA RECORDS, 2003), Photos by VESA RANTA... aaarggghhh !!! ... thanks to VERIKAUHA for my CD !!!.
Marco: We recorded "Next Chapter" in a cabin in Lappland. We had a great time up there and basically drunk beer and played metal for couple of weeks. We recorded 14 songs but left out 3 because they didn't fit the over all mood of the album. We might use those songs in the future, but for now they are just collecting dust, so to speak. VESA RANTA did take the pictures as he will in the future. He´s a great photographer and easy to work with. "Next Chapter" is 11 songs metal charge and I personally think it's the best MAPLE CROSS release so far.

DT: J. HENTTUNEN from SETHERY is a current MAPPLE CROSS member? He participate on the "NEXT CHAPTER"?.
Marco: J. Henttunen joined the band at the end of 2003 so, he didn't participate on "Next Chapter".

DT: Your last growl for DEATHTHRASHER readers?.
Marco: Drink beer and support Metal!! Oh, and buy "Next Chapter", heh heh.