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Good evening, first of all, you had a video contest
and announced the winners recently,
can you tell us about the selection process?
How many videos did you actually watch?
Did you have quarrels maybe about the winners?
There were about 200 videos made altogether
and there was no way we had the time to watch them all
So actually the guys from NuclearBlast checked out every single one
and sent us what they thought were the 9 best ones
And we then watched those 9 as a band
and everybody gave their votes for the 3 best ones.
You have a splendid stage set on this tour, who was the designer of that?
Basically it was me and a Finnish guy called Mikki Kunttu
in Finland he’s a very famous lighting designer
he does all those Dances with Stars and Idols and all that stuff
He knows everything about light so...
I just thought that this time since we try to take this idea of
doing a Nightwish show to a whole different level
to do something else than a normal rock ‘n’ roll show
try to put a little bit circus and theatre into it
and definitely those screens
So I just thought that Mikki would be the only guy
who can handle the whole thing, the lights, the pyros, everything
So we basically designed it together.
And what’s that around your keyboards?
It’s supposed to be a kind of like a
steampunk organ throne
But actually it looks a bit like that
and a mixture of something out of The Little Mermaid
*starts to sing* Under the sea, under the sea...
Yeah, a little bit like that, but it’s supposed to be those organ pipes.
Ok, it looks like that.
So, when planning the setlist, were there any songs
that some of the band members really insisted on playing
but you said no for some reason?
No, it was on the other hand.
I really wanted to do The Wayfarer for example
but then both vocalists, Marco and Anette said
that there are much better songs that we could do.
I think both your singers show more colours on this album
than ever before, and also on stage
they seem to interact a lot.
For me especially Marco seems to be much more inspired now.
Have you recognized anything like that?
How do you see their effect on each other?
Well, one of the biggest differences compared to the previous tour
is definitely Anette’s confidence.
You already hear it on the album and you can see it in the live situation.
But the thing is also that we never calculate in advance what to do on stage that much either.
You know, we never do this choreography of what to do and all that stuff.
So it should all come up naturally.
All I told them was that “don’t speak so much between the songs”
because this is more of a theatre than a rock ‘n’ roll show
and we want to avoid the classic ‘are you having a good time tonight?’
because it’s not really part of the show actually, it kinda breaks the hypnosis
And in my opinion...
I mean, you have to interact with the people, you know
get some kind of contact to them,
but I like the idea of being sort of a faceless distant band,
and let the music and the visuals do the show.
Can you see a change in the attitude of the audience towards Anette on this tour?
Yeah, I mean, it was surprisingly good on the previous tour
but there were middle fingers every now and then
and so far we haven’t seen a single one.
So I guess people who don’t like her don’t come to the shows
and that’s the way it should be.
You’ve released a Tour edition of Imaginaerum
which includes a CD with orchestral tracks.
How much were you involved in the editing process of that one?
It was mostly done by Mikko Karmila, the guy who mixed the album.
He just sent me all the files if this is OK,
and I listened to them through and approved that they’re just fine.
The main emphasis on the Tour Edition is the definitely on the documentary.
We put a lot of effort into that, into editing and doing it a nice little extra package.
The deadline for finishing the movie was set for the end of April.
It’s the 29th today, so what can you tell us at the moment?
Maybe a hazy guess about the premiere date?
Well, it was definitely to be expected that some delays would occur
some financial trouble would occur
and all that has happened, but in a much smaller scale than we anticipated.
So the movie should be actually finished in a few weeks
and the premiere would definitely be in fall.
We’re almost finished,
that’s just some effect shots that don’t look so good
as we expected, so
we need to find some cash to get those scenes done better.
But it’s like really small things, I mean, 80% of the movie looks really good.
And the sound design is really cool
the additional scores are perfect,
it’s just some visuals here and there that we need to improve,
and then the movie is finished.
What was the most shocking little detail in movie-making?
Something that you would have never thought of but still it needs careful planning?
Maybe besides the money stuff.
I was about to say the money, to get it together.
Well, I was a bit surprised
because if you compare it to the music business and Nightwish
the band has all the control,
we can pretty much decide what kind of music to do
where to play, all that in a way,
and once we gave this Imaginaerum movie away for production,
there’s only so much we can influence anymore, there really isn’t.
Even though the idea of the movie came from us all that
these producers and the directors were doing pretty much all the deciding, so to say.
And I understand it completely now,
that’s how it works in the big world,
but I was a bit shocked in the beginning.
No hard feelings though.
Everybody’s did a really good job,
it’s just the whole movie-thing is living in some height at the moment,
and I’m just “yeah, what’s going on? OK, yeah, all right”.
Okay, so let’s imagine that the movie hits the theatres,
becomes a huge success,
and maybe you get a call from a studio or agency or whatever,
and they offer you a deal to make a second part.
Would you say yes?
I honestly haven’t given any thought,
it’s been so rocky road to get this film done,
that at the moment it feels such a distant idea to do another one.
It’s been really hard.
But never say never, I love movies and
I’m really proud of this upcoming film,
so we just don’t have to think about that kind of stuff.
And what if you won the lottery, would you retire
or would you invest into something even bigger than a movie?
I would never retire, no way.
I have absolutely no interest in money in this world.
Absolutely nothing.
I mean, at the moment
I have no idea how much money I have on my bank account,
or how much we’re making, that’s just irrelevant.
As long as the salary comes to my hand
and I can go travelling and buy food and have a good time,
it’s enough for me.
But winning the lottery,
there are maybe some ambitions that could be fulfilled with the band
finally get the orchestra on stage or ballet dancers.
Something like this, yeah.
Is there anything that you thought to be completely common and normal,
but after visiting half the world you had to realize that it was something very Finnish..?
What?
Is there anything in the world that you thought to be completely normal and common,
but after visiting half of the world you had to realize that it was something very Finnish..?
Very Finnish? What do you mean by that?
Like characteristics of your nation or country.
Something ...
Oh.. okay..
Something you’d never been aware of before that.
That’s a really tricky one.
I’m trying to think.
‘Cause the cultures and the people they do change a lot,
from country to country.
But maybe the Canadians, they are as close to Finns
when it comes to nature and the characteristics of the people as it gets.
For example, Americans are quite a different breed,
not to mention South Americans and Southern Europeans,
Japanese,
it’s a huge difference all around the world,
which is only a good thing.
But Finnish people are such a unique breed that it’s hard to find...
I mean, you guys in here,
I think you’re like one of the closest...
They say it’s like Finland, Estonia and Hungary, or the language at least.
Do you keep with you on tour anything against homesickness?
I don’t have homesickness, that’s kinda funny.
The thing is that I really love doing this,
I love the wandering around and playing.
And the fact, that I know that in 9-10 days I will be at home,
that makes all the difference.
Because I know I will be there,
I get to spend some time at home,
by the campfire and all,
why would I miss it?
Because it’s gonna happen anyway.
And this is such a bliss being here and having these adventures.
So I don’t feel homesick at all.
And several years ago you said that you did not feel comfortable to write songs in your native tongue...
But looking at the latest 3 albums,
we had Kuolema, then Erämaan Viimeinen and now Taikatalvi.
What happened? Have you mastered the language maybe? :-)
I think it’s like trying to find new ways of writing songs
and you want to give a good challenge to yourself
and I’ve never been happy to any of the songs in Finnish that I’ve done,
the lyrics, and still haven’t.
So that’s why I do that.
To finally nail it somehow.
But Erämaan is so beautiful, well with my [non-native Finnish] eyes.
Yeah, it has its moments.
But it’s still so much harder to write in Finnish than in English, for some reason.
But it’s also a territory that I would like to try a bit more in the future,
because of its difficulty.
Can you recommend us some Finnish writers?
Maybe the 3 most influential books that everyone should read who’s interested in your culture?
Obviously Nr. 1 would be
- I don’t know if she’s Finnish or Swedish -
but Tove Jansson and the Moomin books.
That’s definitely Nr. 1. You should read them all, they’re all fantastic.
Every single line is pure magic.
I’m a huge, huge fan.
So that would be my Nr. 1.
Then when it comes to poetry,
there’s a guy called Uuno Kailas,
which I really like.
It’s really melancholic but heart-warming stuff.
So Kailas, K-A-I-L-A-S. - I’ll write it down.
I don’t know if it’s been translated to other languages,
but he’s my favourite Finnish poet.
And of course, Mika Waltari, everybody knows him,
and he has some really good historic stuff.
As far as I know, you have some plans about writing fiction.
What can we expect? What kind of stories? - Where did you hear this?
Wow! *laughing*
But well, I’ve been writing some stories for the past year,
just like little novellas, or whatever you’d call them.
And I have no idea if it’s ever gonna be released,
but it’s just a hobby beside doing music.
And there was one publisher who read those stories
and she was really enthusiastic and said that let’s make a deal,
but you need to write something like 10 more stories.
So maybe in 5-10 years they will be published, I don't know...
Kind of like weird tales...
fiction... poetry... that kind of stuff.
Have you ever felt that you’d like to, or you should study creative writing in some way?
Did you have any theoretical support for writing lyrics?
I never had, no.
It all just comes natural.
Well, now that you mention, I don’t think I need any advice to writing lyrics,
but when it comes to writing fiction, yeah...
‘Cause I’ve been writing those stories
and I kinda like the idea behind them,
but something in them just doesn’t work.
So I’ve been asking actually from the publisher to give me some advice,
what’s wrong with this, and, you know,
what’s the proper way to make the reader actually care
about the characters in the story and what happens to them and all that.
And well, Jukka is a vegetarian,
Anette’s in the gym all the time,
and as far as we know, Marco stopped drinking,
have you considered following their example in any way? :-)
Have I considered what?
Following their example in any way...?
Well I do quite a bit of gymnastics when I’m at home,
I go to the gym and try to take care of my fitness.
Not so much on tour though, I’m a bit lazy.
And...
Yeah, when I’m at home, I do take care of myself.
And when it comes to drinking,
I never had any problem with that,
so I just keep on doing my stuff with that.
[ Good luck with the wine! ]
Allright!
Okay, what are your hobbies now on this tour?
Maybe some interesting group activities?
During the tour?
Yeah.
We’re just playing poker guys, backstage all the time.
Magic tricks?
Yeah, that too, Troy’s doing those all the time.
And then the technicians are playing badminton, they always put up this net.
Some sightseeing, like yesterday,
we also like to eat well, you know to go out and eat, sushi, Indian, whatever.
When you started to listen to metal music,
did you immediately start to follow these.. well, clichés,
like wearing dark clothes, maybe putting posters on your wall, or anything like that?
There’s only been one band poster on my wall ever.
For about two weeks, that was Metallica.
But that’s just not my thing.
I started to wear black and started to grow my hair when I joined the band,
all that, just part of the thing that feels natural to do.
But I’ve never ever been like this...
How do you say?
It’s all metal, it’s all true...
I think that’s just crappy thing.
It’s such a kind of music that I enjoyed to listen about 15 years ago,
and I really enjoyed listening to the more extremes.
Like the Norwegian scene, that kind of stuff...
which I really like still,
but this ‘stay all black and true’ metal thinking,
that’s just kind of like cheesy.
I agree. Anyway, do you have surprising,
or even embarrassing issues in your CD-collection?
The thing is that what is embarrassing? Because, I mean...
I don’t know, no one would expect you to have Lady Gaga or something like that.
There’s nothing embarrassing about Lady Gaga, she has great songs.
The problem is that I don’t think her albums are that good.
Just my opinion.
‘Cause when I heard Pokerface, it was ‘wow, this is a really good song’.
And when I listened to the whole album, it was nah okay...
And I like Celine Dion. Nothing to be ashamed of that.
And Eminem... he’s really good. - But that’s surprising really!
Surprising yeah, but embarrassing, no.
Just listen to whatever you...
Yeah just those true metalheads,
maybe they would find it embarrassing, that’s what I meant,
but of course there’s nothing bad about them.
Well, that says something about true metalheads...
Okay, last question...
We don’t expect you to go into details on this one,
but do you have the main idea for the next album?
Nothing settled, but yeah we have been talking about what the next album is about,
what it’s gonna be like, how we’re gonna do it, and...
yeah, it’s on a quite solid foundation.
We have quite a good idea, yeah.
But we’ll not go too deep into that.
Okay, anything that you’d like to share?
Maybe some wine later on...
yeah for now...
It was very good, thank you.
Kiitoksia!
Ole hyvä!