Mauno Meesit - the guitarist, vocalist and experimenter from Tallinn - is one of the most interesting individuals of the Estonian music scene. He started solo career five years ago. After episodes with a few local rock-metal bands, he decided to go his own path. All this time Mauno was collecting material for his debut album „Butterflies”. It was worth waiting. Sinine - remember the name of this project. It may be one of the most interesting debuts of 2009.
DarkPlanet: Mauno, can You tell us about the estonian stage of independent music? Most of us knows better Arvo Pärt works than rock, metal or electro-gothic bands from your country. Maybe besides legendary Ruja. Which kind of music is in your head, when You are thinking about Estonia? Are there cold, finnish-like climates, monumental prog-rock compositions or dynamic power metal maybe?Mauno Meesit: - Heh, actually I was born in the same little city as Arvo Pärt, it is called Paide. But I'm surprised that you know Ruja! Estonian music scene is better than ever,we have some really interesting new artists and bands. For example, in pop, jazz,metal, hip-hop, drum´n bass etc. Five years ago the situation was quite different. When I was at Castle Party fest with Forgotten Sunrise few years ago, it seemed that they are also pretty well known in Poland. But besides them you also might be interested in No Big Silence, Suicidal Romance, Pedigree, Evestus, Daycleier, Jayne Lakissova, Manatark, Horricane and Stem. When I think of Estonia then, the only music that comes to my mind is only my own music. That symbolically carries many memories from different places in my country. I am a really big fan of Estonian forests, meadows, parks and the old town of Tallinn is also really beautiful. Estonian and Finnish nature are quite similar but at the same time our nature doesn’t differ much from Poland’s landscape eather. This summer I was again in Poland for few days and discovered some really beautiful places in your country!
DarkPlanet: Your solo project Sinine seems to be stylistically very various. Where do your ideas come from? Your own experiences, favourite music, nature?
Mauno Meesit: - Yes, my music really is quite rich of variations. As it is my music, the only right way to do is to give it my face and the similarity with myself as person. Music is a vast field and I’m not going to limit myself to discover only a little part of it. I really enjoy flirting with different styles and genres. What concerns the sound I’m definitely influenced by different kinds of music that I’ve been listening to but lyrics, emotions, melodies, rooms and places created in music are related to my personal experiences and life.
DarkPlanet: "Butterflies" will be your author's debut. It all sound very professional. Are You a guitarist with a classical education?
Mauno Meesit: - I have no musical education on the grounds of theory and playing instruments.
DarkPlanet: You were member of some Estonian bands like for example Archmages. What has this cooperation given to you as a musician?
Mauno Meesit: - Yes, I have been in different bands and projects. Archmages wasn’t really "my" band. I joined the already existing band and I was more like the live-guitarist playing mostly music written by others. It was more about playing in a band than making music but it was definitely very enjoyable until it lasted. One can learn almost from every person and situation and therefore everything done in the past has certainly paid off.
DarkPlanet: Why have You chosen the solo career? Do you want to show your own, private visions and choices?
Mauno Meesit: - It was in 2003 when I made that choice. I had a really tough period in my life back then and it gave me a lot of inspiration and the need to put some things in music. I would have felt myself as prostitute if I had shared the process of making this music with others. As time went by I left other bands and concentrated myself only to my music. It's true, you have to make compromises with others when you are in a band but what concerns Sinine I try to avoid making any compromises in creating-process and in quality. Actually I start to make a band again in order not to leave the music of Sinine only on CD. The Live band is almost together and I´m really excited about it!
DarkPlanet: When did You start to sing and expreriment with electronic? Is it because of the need for new forms of expression?
Mauno Meesit: - I started with electronic music also in 2003 when I began to arrange the songs created on guitar to completed tracks. Back then I’d started to listen to music with very different sounds and styles and I knew that in my new music I also wanted to experiment with many new sounds and possibilities besides using typical rock band instruments. I had started to sing few years earlier in one of my bands.
DarkPlanet: A little bit about you lyrics. Are they more personal or universal? Is it whole one thought over concept or few autonomous pieces?
Mauno Meesit: - The lyrics are anything but universal! They describe different places, people and times. All the songs of the coming album are related to each other and are in a certain order. Having this way one big story to tell to the listener. One of the songs that stands apart of the rest of the concept is "This Girl". That is dedicated to one girl I knew and who was killed. In my lyrics I have used lots of symbols that mean much to me. Actually the coming album is full of hidden symbols and thoughts connected with each other and this goes also to my music and sounds. I have found the right sounds and melodies to describe different themes, places, atmospheres and cognition evoked in my music.The music has the same importance as lyrics of telling the story. I have changed some of my already completed tracks because they weren’t honest enough to describe the point of the song. For example, for one of my songs I recorded and sampled a hundred years old musicbox to give it a certain kind of touch of time. You can’t hear it much but I know that it’s there.
DarkPlanet: Will you plan to sing in your native language in the near future?
Mauno Meesit: - I have thought about it and I think that in the future I will use Estonian in some of my songs. But it is comfortable to sing in English and my music is meant for everyone to listen and to understand, not only for Estonians. Actually there will be one track titled in Estonian language but it will be the album’s only instrumental track.
DarkPlanet: You have been working for five years on Sinine project and you have created everything by yourself. Can you tell us about the process of album’s creation and your cooperation with other, guest musicians?
Mauno Meesit: - Yes, it really was 5 years ago when I started with the material of this album.
Unbelievable, isn’t it? At the same time all the songs have had enough time to evolve and to grow in a very natural way and none of the details has been left unthought. I think that it's impossible to make this kind of music in a fast way. And of course I have developed quite much meanwhile and learned tons of new things. I’m sure that it won’t take me another 5 years to create the next album.
It is true that some of my friends are involved in the coming album. In the studio Elo Masing played the violin and the cello was played by Maarit Kangron. In some of my songs I also used guest vocalists. For example, in the beginning of the song "Our Green", you can hear Anders Melts from Forgotten Sunrise and I can tell you that there will also be some beautiful female vocals. The experienced Estonian pop producer Lauri Laagus has done the mixing of the album and Christoph Stickel from Germany is involved with the mastering process. He is known for working with bands like Deine Lakaien, Guano Apes, Oomph, Liquido and others.
DarkPlanet: When can we expect "Butterflies" release? And what about the label?
Mauno Meesit: - "Butterflies" will be released in 2009. I hope it will happen in spring. Speaking about a label… I think that soon I can tell you some really good news.
DarkPlanet: "Sinine" means "blue" in Estonian. It is probably one of colours the most difficult to define. As your music, isn't it?
Mauno Meesit: - You are right about this one. I always find myself in a very difficult situation if I have to describe my music to someone who hasn’t heard it. The color blue is pretty meaningful to me. For example, when you mix blue with yellow you get green. In symbols you can describe it as mixing profoundness and sadness with sun and joy. So it creates warmth and positive energy. This process is always on the move and very common to mankind.
http://www.myspace.com/sininemusic
http://www.sinine.org
