Interview: Elina Siirala and Alexander Krull (Leaves' Eyes)

Photo credit: Artur Tarczewski

Interview: 14th March 2026

During the afternoon, before their show in Milton Keynes (review here), Hotel Hobbies spent time in the company of Elina Siirala and Alexander Krull of Leaves’ Eyes.

Hotel Hobbies: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today on a busy tour day.

Elina Siirala: No problem!

Hotel Hobbies: How has the tour been so far? It looks like it has been going down really well.

Alexander Krull: Yeah, absolutely. The support band Catalyst Crime are friends of ours so it is like a big family trip. It has also been great to present the new songs from the EP. It was special in Latin America at the end of last year and the cruise (70,000 Tons of Metal) was great too. The audiences there and on this part of the tour have been amazing. We are in a good place with more to come.

Hotel Hobbies: You also have China and Japan to look forward to!

Elina Siirala: Absolutely. The last time we were in Japan was 2019 and I’ve never been to China.

Alexander Krull: We played in China a long time ago. I have to say though, in this crazy time we live in, we don’t take everything for granted. We can play around the world and it is something we really appreciate.

Hotel Hobbies: Exciting times. Elina – you have been with the band for ten years now. How do you feel you and the band have evolved over that time?

Elina Siirala: For me personally, I feel like I have evolved a lot vocally. When you are a singer and your voice is your instrument, it is you personally. When it changes, you come through some challenges. Now, I think it has been good for me because I am more comfortable with my voice. I have found new sides to my voice and I am able to use them in the songs.

Alexander Krull: Can I add something to that? She’s getting even better. That’s what has happened (smiling).

Hotel Hobbies: And Alex, obviously you have been there since the beginning shaping the musical identity of Leaves’ Eyes.

Alexander Krull: That is my role in the band and of course, the beast beside the beauty (laughing). Then I am leading with the music and producing. We are very close and we have an identity as a band. We have experimented and we might refresh or reinvent ourselves at different times. We want to keep the magic of the band. That’s the right word for it. It is cool for Elina to experience things that are brand new with Leaves’ Eyes.

Hotel Hobbies: That partly answers my next question which is how do you maintain the balance of moving forward creatively but keeping the core identity of what Leaves’ Eyes is?

Alexander Krull: That’s the key. I think the band covers a wide range of music. There are symphonic metal songs but we also have the folky stuff. Some songs are more atmospheric and some are ballads like Roots Eternal on the new EP. We have very heavy, low guitar and drums and punching bass to the more fragile, classical sound. That’s what it interesting to me and keeps the variety in the band. I would not like to do something different for no reason and it not work. The identity of the band also includes storytelling, Norse mythology and nature. They are a big part of the band too. But we also can have some very personal lyrics like In Eternity that Elina wrote.

Hotel Hobbies: On the last album, Myths of Fate.

Alexander Krull: Yeah, exactly. The mystical side of Leaves’ Eyes is also very important. Not just battles and Vikings.

Hotel Hobbies: Obviously, you are really drawn to the storytelling. How do you decide which stories might be the best fit for the band?

Alexander Krull: Good question! That is something I really have to feel. That’s so important. Same with the music. It might be a great guitar riff or song idea but if it doesn’t fit Leaves’ Eyes, then we don’t carry on with it. When we compose, we want to write it from scratch – the same with the lyrical side. Sometimes, it’s interesting and I will remember a story I heard once and find a way to fit it to our music. I also have this Viking lifestyle with the Viking re-enactment scene. I have lots of friends there. We talk around the campfire and sometimes they suggest stories to me. I have been interested in the whole thing for many years. I love myths, legends and tragic tales. All the drama behind it fits the band. That’s how we decide. If it fits Leaves’ Eyes, we do it.

Hotel Hobbies: And I suppose the different themes suggest whether it is better for one of you to sing or both?

Alexander Krull: Absolutely, that comes easily. We don’t force that at all.

Elina Siirala: No - it's usually very obvious where it works and where it doesn't.

Hotel Hobbies: The new EP, Song of Darkness has that variety you mentioned. Hall of the Brave is heavier and Roots Eternal embraces your folky side. Those four songs are a great representation of the band right now.

Alexander Krull: Exactly right. In terms of variety, the other thing I like to do is standing behind the camera to make the videos for the songs. I said to the guys that one of them should be the killer in the video. I don’t have to always be in everything. I see my role as a little different. I am absolutely happy with that. I like adding some spice to the soup of our music.

Hotel Hobbies: The EP is good way of introducing and uniting the new line-up.

Alexander Krull: Yes and we are actually in the middle of the process of the next album. Elina and I are working on the final vocal arrangements for the album. Some of the EP will be part of the new album. We will be in the studio after touring. It helps you when you grab the energy from recent concerts in the studio. It has been great to see how people react to new songs. Some people don’t know them yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFiVewn7B7U

Hotel Hobbies: When you put together a setlist, how do you choose the songs you want to play, the songs might want to hear and the songs that represent the history of the band when you have so many to choose from?

Alexander Krull: It’s very hard. Maybe you want to answer that one (looking at Elina).

Elina Siirala: Yeah, it is difficult sometimes but you kind of already answered it. You definitely need to have those elements in mind. We also think about the tempo and energy of the songs. In my opinion, a good show is not like just one-dimensional. You want to have maybe a little dip here and there. The drama of the show needs to work together. Sometimes, you have swap things around and try them there. I think the set we have now works really well.

Hotel Hobbies: It must be rewarding when new songs are well received.

Elina Siirala: Yes, it has been cool to play them, and see how they work, especially Hall of the Brave.

Hotel Hobbies: If there was someone who had never heard Leaves’ Eyes before and you needed them to listen to one song that represented Leaves’ Eyes and your inherent DNA, what would you choose?

Alexander Krull: That's very difficult. I might have to choose one of the longer songs with all kinds of ingredients like Blazing Waters. It has a big, dynamic introduction with natural instruments and then a very powerful chorus. Hall of the Brave would be a great example of a newer song. It has everything that makes the band great including the vocal duel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1jliCnlFs

Hotel Hobbies: You both clearly love being in Leaves’ Eyes. What is the best thing about being in this band?

Elina Siirala: In essence, it is being able to do what we love – make and play music. I am very grateful for it. It’s not something everyone can do.

Alexander Krull: Very similar for me. Maybe something to add on top of that. I formed the Atrocity band in ’85, and I could never imagine that I would have space or time for a second band. I had another project back in the ’90s and I was like, “Oh no, two bands, I cannot imagine that.” I thought it was really good stuff. I loved it; I made it on the side with some friends. The band was called Corpus Christi.

But the thing is, doing symphonic stuff back in the ’90s… everybody was into death metal with keyboards or black metal atmospheric things. It was not common at all, not like nowadays. So that was the thing: “Okay, it has to be something really special,” you know? If I was going to do another band, it couldn't just be something on the side. And that’s really what Leaves’ Eyes became. I could do only Leaves’ Eyes. It’s a massive thing right in the middle of my life - personally, too - because I’m doing this 24/7.

For me, like Elina said, all the passion and everything we do is trying to make the band as good as it can be. I love the concept behind the whole Leaves’ Eyes world. We draw the listener into our world and help them forget daily life. I do exactly the same. Probably like when people back in the day listened to classical music and went to a Wagner opera. They found something—wow. Or when you go to a Lord of the Rings movie. You can disconnect from everything else and go in there and experience something different. That’s very important for me as an artist. Like I’ve said sometimes before, I like painting pictures with music. I always have visual ideas when I listen to our songs. I already have pictures in my mind. But we don’t have the budget to make ten or eleven movies (laughing). We might be able to make three for each album.

Hotel Hobbies: It is great music to escape into.

Alexander Krull: Yes. That’s a good word. One person on the 70K Cruise told us we changed his life. I was like – what? He said yes, totally changed and shifted his focus. I love it when our music means something to people in an individual way, as well as to fans in a collective way.

Hotel Hobbies: My last question to both of you is thinking back over your time as musicians, what is the most valuable lesson you have learned?

Elina Siirala: Oh wow, that's a deep question (smiling). I grew up with music. It was normal for me to be surrounded by music. It is more than just a career or something I do. It is part of your personality when you grow up with it. When you are a singer, your own body is your instrument. It means that everything that happened in your life changes you. I think the lesson I have learned is that you can always evolve. It’s never the end.

Alexander Krull: For me, that is quite easy to answer because its my lifestyle. As a six-year old boy, I was discovering Deep Purple, and then Whitesnake through Live… in the Heart of the City. I had these dreams and they came true. The lesson I learned is how important music can be. It is like a community. I never thought I would visit sixty countries and five continents around the world because of music. Now we go to China, Japan and go on the 70K Cruise. On the Cruise, there were people from seventy or more nations. There was no fighting. Just a great time with different people. Wherever we go with music, it is the same. In Colombia, we had people waiting at the airport – the same in Mexico or Brazil. It is all about connection. Same as it is here, speaking with you.

Also, I do not take this for granted, especially in these shaky times. I have a lot of friends from back in day who struggle financing their lifestyles. I can say doing this is pretty hard sometimes but I am gifted because I can do this with my friends. When we are on tour or in the studio, it is an important process. We share our vision and do things together. That’s what makes a band right? We have our ritual before we go on stage. That is about connection again.

Hotel Hobbies: Thank you both so much for speaking with me. It has been very interesting. I look forward to the show tonight.

Elina Siirala: Thank you very much.

Alexander Krull: Thank you, it has been great.