artykuł o EOI 2003

czarnycharakter

Few weeks ago Nightwish's new DVD, 'End of Innocence' was released. This is how Tuomas Holopainen expains the origin of coming into being of this DVD:

The DVD was just a funny coincidence; it was never intended to be the way it is. The whole interview section was filmed by a guy who wanted to write a book about Nightwish, and I was just telling him the story of the band. They shot everything, and when we looked at it afterward, we realized we could make a DVD out of it. I thought it would be cool to put the tour material and the fooling around in with the serious stuff because no one has really done this before. One of the biggest strengths of the documentary is the fact that when we're talking we're not posing for the camera. At that point we didn't know there would be a DVD, so it's very natural and very honest.

In retrospect, Tuomas doesn't have any regrets about revealing so much of himself, but he does admit to having done some soul-searching before giving the project his blessing.

I was very, very suspicious about the whole thing; I thought about it for weeks, trying to decide if it was good or really bad. When I watched the footage over and over, I noticed that it's really honest even though it's very revealing and kind of stupid. (laughs) I'm counting on the fans to understand what we were trying to do, so I don't think I'll have any regrets about releasing it.

With regards to the 2001 break-up, Tuomas says that it was a personal decision that was kept within the confines of Nightwish, a few trusted souls at their Finnish record label, and a song ('Slaying The Dreamer' from 'Century Child'). Which explains why none of us media hacks were all over the story.

It was kept a secret up until this point; we didn't want to discuss it with anybody. It was a very sensitive thing for us, and I thought the DVD would be a perfect chance to bring all the skeletons out of the closet. Basically, we had been on the road for the 'Wishmaster' album for too long and there were problems with the chemistry of the band. The whole band was tired, and I decided that I'd had enough. I'm just very glad that I changed my mind because I'm still having the time of my life.

On 'End of Innocence', Tuomas is vague when discussing the catalyst for his decision to put an end to the band. During this interview he was unexpectedly forth coming.

A lot of people thought that we would break up because Tarja had moved to Germany to concentrate on her classical studies, but that was never the problem. I'm being really honest about that. It came down to problems between me and our old bass player, Sami. There are certain things that I expect from the people playing in this band, playing my music. I want devotion to the band. I want their hearts to be in it, and Sami's wasn't. He once told me that he didn't enjoy playing this kind of music, and that was the start of it all. He also didn't like travelling or touring, so I think getting rid of him and hiring Marco was the best thing for all of us.

With Hietala's entrance came a breath of life for Tuomas, who produced some stellar material for the Century Child album, released in 2002. It had been decided prior to the release that Nightwish would take a break in 2003, with only five summer festival gigs planned, but they ended up doing several short jaunts through Europe and South America over the course of the year including a return performance in Montreal this past September.

It just turned out that way. When I got the gig list form the booking agency before the summer I was surprised because we had a deal that we were going to take it easy, but there were some very cool offers and they figured we didn't have anything better to do. They were right (laughs). Looking back, I'm glad we did those tours because it was a great summer and we took another step in every way. But, it's also caused some problems because we're entering the studio in November, so it's been a really hectic time for the last month getting things together.
There's a lot of Century Child in the new music, there's a lot of 'Oceanborn' in it, and there are a lot of new elements that I've never used before. Tuomas continues. That's the way I want it to be every time we do an album; the Nightwish style is there, but with something new added to it. If I don't experiment a little I can't see the point of doing a new album, because it's boring doing the same thing over and over again. I think the new album is going to be a little more guitar-oriented this time, more riff-oriented. More of a kick in the balls. I'm interested to see what's going to come out of the sessions because I'm always very suspicious of the new material at this point. We'll be in the studio until March, which means the album will probably come out in May or June next year.

As for the multitude of side-projects within the Nightwish camp - drummer Jukka Nevalainen and Sethian, guitarist Empuu Vuorinen and Altaria, Tuomas, For My Pain and the eternally planned project with Sonata Arctica singer Tony Kakko - they will of course be put on hold with the understanding that Nightwish is a top priority.

That's the great thing about the Finnish metal scene. It's a very tight community because everyone respects everyone else's music. People aren't envious of one another. It's a natural character for somebody to envy their neighbour when that person has a new house or a new car or something, but when it comes to music the people here are very happy and even proud when their friends are successful. Success isn't something that people hold against you here, and that's something special.