SENTENCED - Interview with Sami Lopakka Page 2
by Martin Popoff

And why are you putting the band to rest?

"Well, there isn't any one specific reason for it. It is something we had already thought about, for a couple of years. The demand and sacrifices, from, I could say, all the time, during the last ten years, and at the same time our willingness to do long tours, and to be away from home most of the year, has been going down. This band and our music has always been something we wanted to do all the way or not at all. And now we just came to the point where we couldn't, under any circumstances, give all the attention it needed - the sacrifices were going up all the time. So we figured out that the only way to survive without taking any compromises is to make one final album, and to make a funeral out of that album, and play some farewell shows and call it quits, because the last thing we would like to do is to fade away, little by little, and become one of these dinosaurs that takes steps backwards and backwards. But this way we could keep the flame burning very brightly, until the very and, and then let it die with the dignity and the style it deserves, in our minds."

Is family a part of the decision? How many of you have kids and families at this point?

"Two of us, me and Ville. I have one son and Ville has two."

So what are you going to do? Who is going back into music? Who is going into different careers?

"It's a bit early to say at this point. But I would say that at some level at least, every one of us will be involved in music and in some other bands. But speaking for myself, when this is all over, I will take a bit of rest and probably sleep for half a year or so. Then I have been having this idea of writing a novel, for years now. So that is probably the first thing I will try out. But I would say that each one of us will somehow continue with the music."

SENTENCED - Interview with Sami Lopakka Page 3