Matias Kupiainen: carlbegai interviews stratovarius singer

A good interview from http://carlbegai.com/:

Tolkki’s absence isn’t as noticeable as one might expect. There are some tentative moments on Polaris, certainly, but Kupiainen has filled whatever perceived void there should have been. At the very least he’s made making music in Stratovarius fun again.

“I met him once two years ago, but he was originally introducer and a producer and engineer,” Kotipelto says of tracking Kupiainen down. “I had no idea that he was such a good guitar player, but of course there are always good guitarists around (laughs). A year ago Lauri did a TV gig at the Tavastia club in Helsinki for this album called Guitar Heroes, and the next day he called me and told me he met the best live guitar player he’d ever heard. He told me it was Matias Kupiainen, so I found him on YouTube and I was completely blown away. Lauri suggested him to Jens as well, who was very impressed. Jens told me Matias reminded him of the first time he’d heard Yngwie’s playing. He really has that special gift. So, I went to meet him about some other stuff, and after about 30 minutes I told Matias that it wasn’t the real reason I came down (laughs). I asked him if he’d be interested in joining the band and his answer was, ‘Uh…okay.’ We didn’t think about holding auditions or anything, it just felt right asking him.”

“When I visited him in his studio I saw that he had the Visions and Episode albums,” Kotipelto continues, “so he knew some Stratovarius stuff, but he’s more into progressive and heavier stuff. He’s also a power metal guy, so it’s a good combination. Matias can play different styles of metal, which is a great thing. He actually brought in the first single ‘Deep Unknown’, and he helped me with my songs by arranging them and composing the solo parts. It’s been very easy working with him. And what’s a big plus for me was, he produced my vocals for the album. Timo used to do all that, so it was nice to find out that Matias is a really good producer as well. He knows when to

full interview