Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
Aittala: We are Aittala (pronounced ‘EYE-tah-la’) from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
We’re a 3-piece all-original band that infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash, and hard rock into a cohesive experience.
While we don’t care for classifications (we just call ourselves ‘metal’), we have been classified as ‘Eclectic Doom’ and have come to embrace it.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
Aittala: The original incarnation of Aittala was formed in 1991 while I (Eric) was stationed in the Netherlands with the US military. The band was starting to gain some traction on the Dutch metal scene, but after a couple of years, I had to leave as my military contract ended. After that, the band was inactive for 15 years (by my choice).
In 2008, after relocating to North Carolina, I decided to resurrect the band and have been active ever since, releasing 7 full-length albums along with 3 EPs.
The latest release is the ‘Ill-Gotten Gains’ EP, coming out in November 2025
The current line-up of AITTALA consists of Gary ‘Zeus’ Smith (joined in 2012) on drums and Dane Taylor (joined in 2025) on bass.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
Aittala: The inspiration and drive to make music really comes from that internal drive that musicians just naturally have.
As a younger kid, I just gravitated towards metal because it spoke to me. Initially, when I started playing guitar, I just wanted to be like my heroes: Judas Priest, Dio, Iron Maiden, along with the rest of the 80s metal bands. At some point, when I caught the songwriting bug, it evolved from just wanting to replicate those bands to writing in my own voice.
As far as subject matter, just as metal music speaks to me, so do the traditional metal themes, the darker side of human existence.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
Aittala: We’re realistic in this day and age about aspirations. The days of signing a huge record deal and being a huge rock star are long over. We just enjoy writing, releasing new music, and having a good time playing shows.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
Aittala: I’d say the proudest moment and biggest compliment that we get often is that Aittala has an original sound. That may seem pretty small thing to be proud of, but, with millions of bands out there, being told you have an original sound is quite an achievement.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new
artists emerging from bedrooms in the age of the home studio. How is that going?
Aittala: It’s definitely tough with how easy it is to promote independently. We’ve done self-promotion in the past with some limited success.
Luckily, our label works with Asher Media and can definitely tell the difference using a professional PR company.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
Aittala: Booking shows can be a challenge. It’s just about making contacts and the right timing.
No live performances coming up, but we haven’t been actively booking since we haven’t had a permanent bass player.
But I’m excited to say we just found a bassist (Dane Taylor) in September, and we’ve been jamming and getting him ready, so we’ll be booking soon for 2026.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
Aittala: In the days of Napster and Limewire, before streaming was the norm, it had its pros and (mostly) cons.
Unfortunately, people aren’t honest about music, and it really was stealing if you weren’t paying for it.
Since the rise of streaming and unlimited data plans, streaming has become the norm, so people are inclined to pay for the service. But now it’s the streaming companies that are ‘stealing’ from the artist. Getting paid $0.005 per stream on Spotify is outrageous considering they made $17 billion in 2024. Now they did apparently pay out $10 billion in royalties, but that’s still a
$7 BILLION PROFIT.
But if you don’t have your music on there and other streaming services, you don’t have any chance.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
Aittala: I thought about this question for a while, and honestly, I’d have to say there isn’t another song that I’d wish I’d written because then it wouldn’t have turned out the way it turned out.
And for any artist, never be envious of someone else’s talent or skill, just continue to develop your talent organically and love what you create.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
Aittala: The industry should be regulated somehow to better take care of artists so they are compensated fairly. Whether it’s streaming services, monopolies like Live Nation/Ticketmaster, or even venues that want to take a cut of a band’s merch (that pisses me off the most)
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
Aittala: Our latest EP ‘Ill-Gotten Gains’ will be released November 20th, 202,5, on Exitus Stratagem Records, and the first single ‘Isolation’ is already out.
We’re also in the midst of recording the follow-up to Machines that was released last April (of 2025). It will be 5 more songs that were originally written and demoed in the ’90s. That should be out sometime in 2026.
And since we just found a new permanent bass player, we’re starting to book shows for 2026.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
Aittala: We actually have a link page with all of our pertinent links:
https://aittala.com/links/
AITTALA links:
Band/Artist location – Raleigh, North Carolina
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Soundcloud – Bandcamp – Merch – Reverbnation –
X(Twitter) – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – Links – Last Fm –
Check our page for Aittala
