A new EP from Portraits & Tales brings on a warming and personal folk-rock style that takes of elements of classic rock, singer songwriter, and more with an array of gorgeous instrumentation and an incredibly lush vocal approach that fills the songs with atmosphere and emotion.
The Ep is titled This Is Portraits & Tales and it serves as a wonderous and full-bodied set of songs that represent the sound of the group as being able to paint welcoming, meaningful and vivid pictures and messages through the music.
The base is acoustic for the most part but there are outstanding electric guitars that twang in and out creating layers and as the songs play on, you get the personal and honest feel of everything.
The songs create emotional drive and have a way of churning out choruses that stick with you and make you want to jump up and sing along.
The sound is vast but up close and right next to you. Everything has a way of grabbing you and letting you wash away with the sound, and it feels great to let it happen.
You'll have memories pop into your head, and you'll feel like songs were written just for you. It just has that vibe to it. You can relate and if you let them, the songs will move you.
This was a beautifully woven record and with its release, we wanted to have a chat with the band to find out where this all came from.
Here's what happened.
Buzz Slayers: Let's kick things off with the Portraits and Tales album. This record has such a great classic rock feel to it. Where did this EP come from?
Thank you so much for the lovely description! It really feels uplifting that our music is associated with a classic rock sound:) The idea for Epn started already after we had released our second single "Struggel" It was then that we felt that our music started to have a more modern rockier country sound. This combined with our life stories that we wanted to tell through our music, drove us to create our Ep.
Buzz Slayers: When did this all start for you guys?
It all started in the spring of 2018. Alvaro and Jyrki, who have known each other for several years mainly through music, decided to start making their own versions of well-known songs and record them in Jyrki's home studio. Everything was conceived as a hobby from the beginning. But the more they recorded, the more the urge to start making their own songs grew. Later in July 2018, Alvaro met his future wife Malin, who also turned out to have a burning interest in music. Malin's great passion is singing but also writing her own songs. When Alvaro and Jyrki heard her own song "Only You", neither Alvaro nor Jyrki hesitated for a second. This would be Portraits & Tales' first single. After they started arranging and producing the song together, it was first released as a music video on February 14th and later as a single on spotify on June 30th, 2021. From this day, there is no end to this journey.
Buzz Slayers: This record has some great styles! Can you all give us some of your top musical influences?
All three of us have a very mixed background of musical influencers. Alvaro and Jyrki's influence lies more in 70s and 80s rock and dark country, while Malin's musical influences lie more in late 80s and 90s pop music. But there are influencers who unite all of our tastes. These influencers are Smith & Tell, Blackberrysmoke, Bruce Springsteen, Rascal Flats and many more.
Buzz Slayers: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music?
All three work in different schools as teachers. When we're not working in school, or the band, we spend all our time with our families :)
Buzz Slayers: Who's in all your headphones right now?
When it's not ourselves we hear in the studio, it's guaranteed to be one of our influencers sounding in our headphones. But sometimes it's also nice to listen to something completely different that you're not used to. There, streaming services like spotify are absolutely fantastic when it comes to the possibility of being able to discover new artists :)
Buzz Slayers: Are you guys doing any live performances right now?
We have decided to take a break from live gigs. This is due to the large amount of new material we have to process which will eventually be produced into new songs. Unfortunately, we don't have the time that other big established artists have to be able to work on their music. Therefore, it feels important for us to prioritize the recording process right now. Not only for us, but mainly for our fans who are waiting for new music to be released in the near future :)
Buzz Slayers: This track feels like a big undertaking, is there any advice you'd give to other up and coming bands out there?
Actually, there are several tips that we would like to give to new musicians out there. First: Believe in yourself and your music. If you don't, no one else will either.
Be patient in your creation!: Don't rush to finish your song. Listen through several times, and preferably with critical ears. Ask others to listen to your music, both people with experience of their own music making but also ordinary music lovers. When these people start telling you that your music follows a certain pattern and their responses are similar, then you have started to find "Your Own Sound".
Be confident but keep your humility!: No one got anywhere by not daring to stand out, but no one got very far by being a total douchebag either! Hahaha!!;)
Buzz Slayers: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
Our fans can expect that in the near future, Portraits & Tales will take them on a new musical journey and that they will understand that it was worth the wait when they hear the results :)
Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Wow, what is there not to say...Thank you for all the support you have given us during this short but intense time that we have existed as a band. We never expected the huge support we got since we released our first single. We sincerely hope you hear all the time and soul we put into our music. Without your support, this would have been worth nothing. So, thank you for all the listening, thank you for all the sharing and above all, thank you for believing in us. Thank you so much for everything:) And don't worry, new music is being processed as we speak;)