13 albums as a songwriter/band leader with 5 different acts in only 8 years – the creative output of Kouvola-based multi-instrumentalist Tuomas Saukkonen is quite a rare phenomenon these days. As passionate and restless as he always seemed to be as a songwriter, as difficult and dictatorial one might consider him  when it comes to being a bandleader. Tuomas wrote most music he ever recorded completely by himself and the list of Before The Dawn ex-members has 18 names on it already – after 6 albums. What might falsely be considered as a selfish dickhead is in fact a man who always stayed true to himself and his artistic vision – and besides, he's an easy-going, down-to-earth and talkative fellow as well.

PART II

But then again, when it comes to the music I am pretty much inside my own box. I'm not taking too much time thinking of others. I was younger than 20 when I started and now I'm over 30. So I know myself how it feels when you get a little bit tired. You have seen quite much and you have seen how badly the music business is doing nowadays and how difficult it is to get any money out of it. Even I have thought a few times: "What's the point? Why don't I just do something else? Why won't just keep one project, do only a few gigs a year, skip the touring and that kind of stuff?" Touring is a big financial issue. And since I'm not a party animal, I could possibly give away the touring... even though I like to play for the audience, to see different places and to meet the fans. But to quit making music – that would be impossible. It's like breathing. What should I do instead? Start painting? What would be there to fill that hole? That would be impossible, that would never happen. I could live without the gigs, but at this point I still want to do them. The thing is  when you are in a band for 15 years you get old during that time. You are a different man than you were when you started. The passion might still be there but it's a little bit different. When you have family, a regular work... you have certain responsibilities, not just for yourself. All the bands you mentioned that are gone now have been around for 10 years... Mikko has family now and he barely has time for Black Sun Aeon sometimes. That was also the reason for Sentenced why the quit, they just got really tired of everything. The music business wears people out. It's not easy to keep that workload and passion if you don't get enough back. And when you're not a teenager anymore it's even more difficult. People are dividing slowly into their own lives. It's a really boring answer, I know...