Metal Maniacs Anette styczeń 2008

czarnycharakter

Nightwish – Spearheading Both Columns On Santa’s List

“All this beautiful [music] is lovely, but you need to be naughty sometimes,” says Nightwish’s flirtatious new songbird, Anette Olzon, a giggle punctuating the titillation. “I’m a nice girl, but I don’t feel all the things I sing about are only from a male perspective. Everyone has sins and naughty thoughts. You just have to bring that out when you’re onstage. When I sing ‘She is My Sin’, I try to sing it from my perspective, even though it’s about a girl.” That alone marks a departure from her predecessor, Tarja Turunen, who had espoused a certain level of discomfort mouthing words penned by founder/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen. Then again, it might just be the Swedish people’s healthy attitude towards sex.

Globally, most agree Olzon has amply filled Turunen’s shoes, on Dark Passion Play, as well as onstage. Given cell phones that take pictures, everyone looking for the next Internet scoop and the copious quantities of alcohol downed throughout Scandinavia, the fact Nightwish were able to keep Olzon’s identity secret – for months – rivals the chicanery surrounding Kiss’ true identities throughout the ‘70s. “I understand why they did it,” coos the likeable, well-spoken front-woman, “protecting me as long as they could. That was good. Of course it was a bit ridiculous. If we took a flight, we had to have different seats and pretend we didn’t know each other. It was like the FBI or something. I couldn’t tell anyone, but I still think it was good. We needed to have some songs to release before they gave out the name.”
“She came to a Tarot show with [manager] Ewo [Pohjola],” bassist Marco Hietala adds. “‘Yeah, this is my cousin from Sweden. A journalist from…’ That’s basically how she came up with the nickname Arska, which is basically a Finnish nickname for guys. And since it begins with an A, we just used it, ‘when is Arska coming over?’”

So how did she go from unknown, to fronting one of the planet’s best-selling metal outfits (a fact that still stuns her)? “I think I was among the first 10 or 20 submissions. The sound engineer in my other band [Disdain] said, ‘have you heard? Nightwish kicked out Tarja. You should apply.’ I was like, ‘no. Why should I?’ He said, ‘well, you should hurry up, because I hear they already have someone.’ This was like a week after everything happened. I rushed to the studio and asked a friend, did the song rapidly and sent it off. I only sent ‘Everdream’, a new version. We redid the background and guitars. It’s my version. Maybe one week later, Tuomas sent me an email that he really liked it, but it wasn’t until September that I actually met them. They turned me down once, before that! I didn’t know why. They didn’t say, but I know now it’s because I have a child. I was stubborn and during the summer, I sent them some more material, but still I had to wait until late January to know it was me.”

Surprisingly, Olzon contends she wasn’t all that familiar with the band. That all changed once she got the gig. “I had to start listening to the band a little more. Not that I got into the band that much. I listened to Once, because I was singing to that one, but I hadn’t listened to Angels Fall First. Even now, I haven’t listened to the old material that much. I prefer Once and the last album. Of course I listened to the songs I have to sing, but I haven’t read the [autobiography] or gotten into the story about what happened with Tarja. I understand these things happen. I think I was quite a beginner, when it came to the whole Nightwish story, even when my name was announced. Still, I’m amazed at how big it all is. Everyday, I think, ‘what is happening?’ I’m not someone who thinks too much. I just take things day by day.”

The levelheaded approach may be her biggest asset in adjusting to the demands of superstardom. “I think it is. I have more confidence [now] that I can say, ‘no’. You have to be able to say no or you would die! There are so many [requests] they want you to do. Meeting people and onstage, if someone gives you the finger, says ‘fuck off’ or screams ‘Anette sucks’ I don’t take it as hard as I would have when I was younger. I can shake it off easier. Being older, you have the capability of being alone – it’s quite a lonely life, touring. You need to be able to be by yourself.”

That maturity and self-confidence held her in good stead with her band mates from the earliest days of recording. Although Dark Passion Play was already written, awaiting the new vocalist’s stamp, Olzon was allowed some creative input. “They were guidelines,” Hietala explains. “We let her find her way. Some places, things changed, others, they stayed the way we thought they should be. She learned really fast.”

The singer agrees, offering her take on the first single, “Eva,” as one example. “Even if it’s the same melody, the way I sing it is a little different in that I accentuated certain words. I really get into that one. On ‘Sahara,’ at the end, where I had to do the ‘ohs,’ they just said do something. There are lots of little things everywhere. When I sing a song, I never sing exactly how it’s written. That’s the difference between me and a classical singer. I don’t sing by notes. I improvise and sing by hearing, so the interpretation is mine.”

Improvising continues in the live realm. “They have really liked almost everything I do, so I’ve had a free hand. When I was ill [at the start of the US tour], I had to improvise a lot. I had to make new melodies, because I couldn’t hit the high notes. They liked that and want me to do it more. It feels good that they trust me and my ability to sing the songs, even if I’m ill. That’s something you have to do live, because if the voice is tired, you have to cope with it. There hasn’t been any, ‘do this, do that.’ Of course, maybe, ‘can you wear that skirt?’ If I have a particular style they like, but if I say no, that’s it.”

Olzon seems to have firmly established herself, within and outside of, Nightwish. The band will return to North America in May 2008 for another string of headlining dates on what promises to be a two+ year world tour.