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Interview – messier

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In the intricate world of indie rock, Messier carves out a distinctive niche with their emotionally charged, boundary-pushing sound. With the release of ‘Baskervilles’, the duo offers a compelling glimpse into their forthcoming sophomore album, Stream of Guilty Consciousness. The track dives deep into the psychological theme of catastrophizing, blending haunting lyricism with a powerful instrumental backdrop that mirrors its turbulent emotional core. In this interview, Lauri and Antti unpack the creative journey behind ‘Baskervilles’, explore their evolving sound, and reveal the inspirations and challenges that shaped their bold new album. From sonic experimentation to personal realizations, the conversation illuminates Messier’s unique approach to crafting music that resonates on both an intimate and expansive scale.

‘Baskervilles’ explores the human tendency to catastrophize—what inspired you to dive into this psychological theme, and how does it resonate with you personally?  

When I write, the music usually comes first and sets the scene where the lyrics have to sit one way or the other. Catastrophizing as a theme fits the compositions perfectly. The topic itself seems to be a reoccurring theme in my writing as well as myself as a person and I will probably circle back to it sooner or later. – Lauri

The song has such a gripping emotional undercurrent. How did you approach balancing the haunting lyricism with the powerful instrumentation?  

I see writing and instrumentation in a similar way as painting for example. You could think of the words you choose, the instruments you choose and nuances in your playing or singing as colours, which you are trying to balance right in order to get your message across. With our second album, we were better at communicating ideas to each other steer ourselves towards the right direction throughout the process. It has helped us to imagine our music to take place in an environment and consequently try to bring that landscape to life when tracking and producing these songs. – Lauri

Can you walk us through the creative process behind ‘Baskervilles’? Were there any pivotal moments that shaped the track’s final form?  

I usually write alone and I am constantly doing it. The problem is I tend to drown myself with new ideas and to deal with that, I usually wait until I stumble upon an idea that is persistent enough to demand more attention to it. Baskervilles was one of those ideas. I knew I had something when we first played the song together and found the signature groove for the song. After that, it was a matter of getting the rest of the balance right. – Lauri

You’ve said the song embodies the themes of the upcoming album perfectly—what makes ‘Baskervilles’ the ideal preview for ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’?

For some reason, it has always felt like an essential part of the album even if there are songs easier to approach on the album. It was among the first songs we played together for the sophomore album and it set the tone we wanted to match with the rest of the album. – Lauri

How do you hope listeners will connect with ‘Baskervilles’ and the message it conveys about catastrophizing and mental well-being?

If someone recognizes the tendency to catastrophize and even enjoy it on some level, I hope they can also recognize how contradictory and hurtful it is to be stuck in harmful habits. I think writing that chorus was a sort of a self realization for me and all the better if someone else can make the same observation. – Lauri

The title ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’ is intriguing and thought-provoking. Can you elaborate on its significance and how it ties into the album’s overall narrative?

Sonically the album is a blend of the nastiest as well as the most beautiful and ethereal sounds we could achieve. Lyrically I explored themes of shame, regret, guilt and how we pull through hardships.

How has your sound evolved from ‘On Malaise’ to ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’? What new directions are you exploring?  

On our debut album, everything was very straightforward. Most of the songs on it only include the main instruments: lead and backing vocals, guitar, bass and drums. There’s a mellotron track in the outro of ‘Hope’. On ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’ we really delved into finding out ways to make the record sound bigger and better in every way. Lauri played a ton of different instruments on the new album e.g. piano, glockenspiel, synths, organ. We even recorded us fiddling with the air conditioning of the studio. – Antti

The album promises intricate moods, shifting tempos, and layered orchestrations. Were there specific influences or inspirations that guided this bold experimentation?  

It is difficult to point out singular influences. I have been listening to a great deal of folk music as well as more electronic music than I have done in the past. You might be able to tell those influences already on this album but I’m pretty sure it will be even more prominent in the future. – Lauri

How did the creative environment in Helsinki shape the production of this album compared to your debut created while you were in Oulu?  

‘On Malaise’ which was recorded mostly in Oulu, the funding and knowledge we had was very different from the upcoming ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’. We gave it everything we knew and did it the best we could and it came out pretty good. The recording of our second album started back in late 2021 with Valtteri Väänänen and we’ve learned so much in the process which is neverending, so I’d say the upcoming album is in every way a more realistic version of our sound. – Antti

You’ve already released three singles, including ‘Baskervilles’. What can fans expect from the remaining tracks on the album?

The remaining tracks of the album include a few slower songs, which came out really nicely and are personal favourites of mine on the album but we felt that they didn’t really fit into the single “mould” that well. On top of that, there are three more real great sounding bangers that also are still waiting to be released with the album! – Antti

Messier’s sound is known for its emotionally charged and boundary-pushing approach. How do you maintain such authenticity and innovation in your music?  

I think it is a matter of writing for yourself first and not letting the industry and trends affect it too much. It’s a bit like taking a look outside the window to see if it’s raining but not letting it determine whether you’re going to leave the house or not. If anything, I’d like to dive deeper into where those boundaries actually are and continue to challenge myself as a writer. – Lauri

Your debut album was released through SideOneDummy Records, a California punk label. How did that partnership influence your trajectory as a band?  

The signing and the time with S1D really helped us keep ourselves focused on our future as a band and songwriters. The timing was a bit rough because of covid-19 and the Atlantic Ocean between us and the label If the timing would have been better, who knows if we’d travelled over and see what’s going on in the States but for now, we’ll have to save that for later. – Antti

As an indie rock duo, how do you balance your creative dynamics and roles within the band? Do you find challenges or strengths in being a two-person act?  

Since the beginning Lauri has kind of been the primus motor responsible for the songwriting and I’m there to bounce ideas back and forth to keep things going. We’ve grown to know each other pretty well in the past seven years so our personal relationship usually helps us to get our point across with our songs. Neither one of us is a drummer so that is currently one of the bigger challenges since most of the songs we’re working on will have drum tracks laid on them and serious drummers are far and few. Luckily we have already started working on yet another album with another drummer.  – Antti

You’ve mentioned embracing a more expansive vision for this album. How do you envision Messier evolving in the future, both sonically and thematically?  

We’re trying out new things constantly and trying not to get stuck on making any specific genre of music. Of course, it’s always going to sound like our track but we’re very interested in finding new sounds and directions to delve into and how to accompany our inspirations into something new. – Antti

For listeners discovering Messier for the first time through ‘Baskervilles’ or ‘Stream of Guilty Consciousness’, what do you hope will stand out about your music? 

I hope the listeners will recognize the depth and versatility of our music. We’ve taken quite a leap since our debut. However, we have already moved onwards with writing and recording more new music and hopefully will be able to share it soon enough. – Antti

Find messier: INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY

Danielle Holian

Danielle Holian is an Irish writer and photographer, specialising in multimedia journalism and publicity, born in the west of Ireland.

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