Doomed Confessionary: Tommy Angelov & Johannes Wolfpathon (Sidewalk Mafia)
Photo credits: Petri Sara Photography
Sidewalk Mafia is a blackened gothic/doom metal trio from Helsinki, Finland. The band’s sound is oppressive with low tuned guitars, but also melodic and at the same time atmospheric with a wall of sound type production. The group was founded in 2021 and released their debut full-length album »72 Hours« in May 2022 via Sliptrick Records.
With »Soulcrushers«, the second album from Sidewalk Mafia, the band has fully found their own style, as they were still drifting a bit on their debut. The album differs from the previous works in the way that it is not as thematic as the first one. There are some fictional stories in their lyrics for the first time! However, as usual the music is heavy, oppressive with surprising twists and turns – not forgetting the big melodies either!
»Soulcrushers« was released on September 3rd, 2024 via Sliptrick Records. You can find the album on all major streaming services.
Sidewalk Mafia are Tommy Angelov (vocals, guitars), Johannes Wolfpathon (drums, vocals) and Tom O’Valley (bass).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Sidewalk Mafia was founded in 2021. We are a trio, and we play heavy and melancholic music which also contains beautiful – or sad – melodies, and a lot of hooks. Whether it’s doom, goth, postpunk, black metal or whatever, it’s up to the listener to decide.
We just released our second full length album »Soulcrushers«, and things are going well.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
There are always challenges when you are in a band, but we have managed to avoid bigger setbacks this time around. It took some time to find our own style, but after all is said and done it also happened quite easily, because it comes naturally to us when we start playing together. There have been enough challenges in our previous projects, maybe we have learned something along the way 🙂
What can you be most proud of so far?
Tommy: Personally I’m most proud of the fact that this band makes the best music I have ever made and played, and things go forward naturally without any nonsense stress. I’m also thankful and proud that we got the band working this well pretty quickly. I’m also thankful I can make and play music and travel around the world with these guys. They are like brothers to me, and we really have fun!
Johannes: Pretty much what Tommy said, we’ve been playing together for a long time in various projects, and this is definitely the best we have come up with as of now – and we are definitely having the most fun with it as well! I really enjoy the fact that we get to play shows abroad in mainland Europe and the UK, hopefully we’ll get to even more places in the future!
What was your biggest regret?
Tommy: I don’t really regret anything. Of course you could have left some things undone, but even those things have made me and us what we are now. For example, many might think we are crazy because we traveled to other countries at the very beginning, when the band was playing for five people, but without those things many others would not have happened.
Johannes: I think my biggest regret is that I’m not getting any younger! We’ve been in the music business one way or the other for a very long time, over 20 years, and each year going forward I find myself thinking how much time I have left for doing all the things I would want in this field. But well, that’s life I guess.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Definitely last years UK tour. That’s when we noticed that there started to be an audience, and things really started to work. The feeling was pretty incredible when we came back home, probably the best we’ve had after any tour previously.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
We have done this already for so long, with different projects and different people, that nothing really surprises us anymore. Of course, this is the kind of a scene where anything can happen, and anyone can piss you off. We have been maybe a little too blue-eyed in the past with various things, and we have got kicked in the teeth quite badly at times. Nowadays we don’t believe anyone, until you see what is going on, and we don’t wish for anything too special to happen until we have some proof that it actually might!
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Tommy: I listen to a lot of music and different genres, not only heavy stuff. I also try to check out some new bands. For heavy music I trust my all time favorites like Paradise Lost, Motörhead, Type O Negative, Black Sabbath, Suicidal Tendencies and Slayer. From the newer bands Jinjer has worked for me in some way. When we are on tour and we are driving, we have some favorites playing on the stereo, for example Opeth, The Cure, Killing Joke, Cannibal Corpse, Mercyful Fate, Carcass and even Metallica and AC/DC, and some Finnish heavier stuff. But basically we really listen to any genre.
Johannes: Right now I don’t listen to a lot of metal at all actually, even though I do like it. Lately I’ve been listening a lot to different Steven Wilson things like his solo records, Blackfield and No-Man, and some other perennial favorites like Radiohead, King Crimson and The Cure. I tend to obsess on a few artists/bands at a time, and I also listen to a lot of genres, so you never know what’s gonna come next.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Tommy: One acquaintance said to me many years ago: “Do things the real way from your heart, trust yourself and try to avoid bullshit around this scene.”
Johannes: If you want to make a living, you should choose to do literally anything else than be a musician. If it’s not a thing of passion, it’s probably not a thing at all.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Tommy: Haha this is a hard one but I used to watch some stupid soap operas from the TV earlier. Not anymore of course 🙂
Johannes: I’m pretty sure I spend way too much of my time watching pointless videos on YouTube. That and too much beer, although I don’t think the latter is a guilty pleasure!
Can you say something more about current music scene in Helsinki?
There is a really active music scene in Helsinki, although a lot of gig venues have disappeared in recent years. We try to go check out gigs whenever we have time, but to be honest we have no idea about the new bands from certain new genres nowadays.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
At the end of this month we’re going for another UK tour, which I’m really looking forward to! Great to be back there. Johannes and I are extremely die-hard UK fans when it comes to music, culture, history, architecture and even food. We feel kind at home there. Let’s see what else the new album will bring to us, at least there’s gonna be a few shows in Finland at the end of the year.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
The plan is to continue on this path where we are, and see how far we are able to go. We kind of have our own vision, but of course we always want to develop ourselves as a band, and as individual musicians. We don’t take too much pressure, but of course we do things very seriously, and we want to succeed. Thus far it’s been definitely on an upwards trajectory, and we try to keep it that way however we can, but without sacrificing too much of that vision of ours. We want to make more great albums and play more gigs, both abroad and in Finland. In general, as long as there are shows to play and an audience for those shows, we are going forward.
How can people best support your band?
If you like our music, the best support is to tell your friends about it! Otherwise, just listen to our music on streaming services, or buy a physical album, or a T-shirt. And come to our show when we’ll stop by your city!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Check out our new album if you haven’t already.
Take it easy and take care of yourself, because no one else does.
Thanks a lot!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well