Metal Shrine.

czarnycharakter

How are you?

Tuomas: I´m doing really well. How are you doing?

I´m doing fine. So to get right to it. Does it kind of feel like starting all over again?

Tuomas: Some people see it like the start of a new era, but I don´t see it like that at all. I never saw it like that. I just think that we are continuing from were we left off and it´s just one band member who has changed. So that´s pretty much it.

Cool. How many auditioned for the lead singer spot?

Tuomas: There were about 2000 demos that we recieved from 55 different countries, so that was amazing. I was expecting something much less and out of those 2000, 50 were promising enough that we sent them a reply and out of those 50 we met about 10 in person. That´s the statistics for you.

Wow! Did you listen to all those 2000 demos?

Tuomas: Yeah we did. Evey single one of them. You have to do that and it was a lot of fun actually. It wasn´t that much work as it may sound. It took about a year, so we had a lot of time to listen to those and at some points it was a lot of fun and then some demos you only needed to listen to for ten seconds. It was the world wide idol syndrome where everybody thinks they can be stars.

What was it that Anette had that made you decide that this is the one, because I read that you first told her that she didn´t get the job?

Tuomas: That´s true. For a change the rumours have a truth behind them, so this part of all the rumours is true. It was only because of her having a child. I got a little bit scared about that and I remember, I guess I was a little bit drunk (laughs) and I acted spontaneously. We already knew each other for months via e-mail and she was really nice and she had a great voice. Then she sent me an e-mail, "By the way, I have a 4 year old son!" and I was still in a bit of a shock of what happened with Tarja and everything so I kind of wanted everything to be as perfect as possible. That was like the initial thing. I didn´t think, I just sent her an e-mail, "I´m sorry, this is it!". It was totally my mistake and I´m just glas that she was stubborn enough. But the first thing that really impressed me wash er voice, of course. I just felt that it came out so easily and it´s something we are looking for. It especially fitted the new songs perfectly. That was the first thing. We had no idea what kind of person she would be, but after we met her for the first time, we immediately clicked. She´s definitely the most positive person in the band. She talks a lot, she laughs a lot. You get an easy laugh or cry out of her. She´s really emotional and very honest and down to earth with everything. Things that I respect. She´s different from us but she kind of like feels the unity of the band.

Did you ever think that you would go for a well known singer or was the idea from the beginning to take someone that was unknown?

Tuomas: You know, the thing is that we really didn´t care at the time. We were just keeping all the options open to see what kind of demos we had. Whether it was a well known person or an unknown didn´t really matter. The same thing with the nationality. It didn´t matter to us at all whether she came from Greenland or South America or Finland or Sweden. We were just looking for a good girl.

When did you start writing for the album and were all the songs already done and she just came in and did the vocals?

Tuomas: That´s the way it went. All the songs were already recorded. She just came into the studio and sang her parts. This is actually the way we have been doing it for the past ten years.

Yeah, I know because I read the book recently.

Tuomas: Right, right! So nothing´s changed in that perspective. I really hope that this will change, for the next album so maybe for the first time ever we will have a singer at the rehearsals. That would be really nice.

There´s 13 songs on the album. How many were written? Did you write like 25 and these are the 13 that made it?

Tuomas: I never work that way. I always put a bit more effort to the quality. We recorded 16 songs altogether and the two remaining songs, the other one´s gonna be a bonus track on the up coming single I think, and the other one we recorded was a cover song from the movie "The piano", but we didn´t get the permission to release it because original composer hated our version. He told us to burn the tapes (laughs). Which makes me kind of sad because it´s one of my all time favorite songs and we really tried to pay hommage to the song and everything, but he totally hated it. Hated the lyrics and everything. But you have to give respect to the guy....

Right, for sticking to his guns, so to speak...

Tuomas: Right.

Cool. I was wondering about the album cover? What´s the story behind it? Did you have an idea and then tell someone to that "this is what I want"?

Tuomas: I´m pretty much a dictator when it comes to covers. I want to be involved in every part. All the ideas come from my head and the cover, it´s the pendulum. The key song of the album is "The poet and the pendulum" and we just thought that this pendulum thing was kind of cool and that we can use it on everything and it actually ended up on the cover even though it might look like a kitchen tool (laughs). Once you read thye lyrics to the first song and listen to it, you´ll understand the symbolism.

Yeah. It´s a really nice cover. It´s very powerful.

Tuomas: Yeah, the whole album layout is really, really nice and it´s the best one we have done so far. There´s a picture drawn for every single song, kind of like an art gallery.

I can´t say that I´m familiar with all your stuff, but I just get a feeling that this album, in some parts of it, is a bit heavier than some of the stuff you´ve done before. Is that correct?

Tuomas: Absolutely! I consider this being the heaviest and the darkest of all our albums. There are just two that are a bit more happy songs, which are "Amaranth" and "Last of the wilds". Pretty much everything else is on the darker side.

Also, the feeling that I got from listening to it and especially from "The poet and the pendulum", is that you could almost watch a movie playing in your head. I know you´re very fond of movie soundtracks and you could probably put a very cool story to it. Kind of like a movie soundtrack.

Tuomas: That´s the biggest compliment anyone could give me after listening to a song. "I almost saw the song!". That´s how I always try to do the songs. I want the listener to see them as much as hear them.

About the book then? Did that book turn out the way you wanted it to?

Tuomas: I feel a bit contradictional when it comes to the book. I´ve only read it once and I was a bit ashamed to give the book for my mother to read. I thought about the book and do you really need to tell everything? But then I started thinking and I didn´t have anything to do with this book, I was just giving interviews and it´s all the author´s interpretation of what we said. It´s totally his work and I didn´t write a single word, so it´s his vision and let it be like that. Of course it´s a book about a rock and roll band and it needs to have its comic reliefs and dirty moments. I think it´s a really nice package and mainly we have only gotten positive feedback about it.

Like I said, I read it and I thought it was a good thing that everybody got to say their part, including Tarja. It wasn´t just one story and that was it. It was from everybody´s perspective.

Tuomas: Yeah, I´ve read about it being a one sided story but I really don´t see it like that. Everybody gets their part and nobody´s innocent. You can really see the whole picture.

Yeah! I really liked the part with the included tour rider. That´s the stuff that fans want to read about.

Tuomas: Exactly. That´s what I would like to read if I read a book about Metallica for example.

And now you´re gonna head on out on a US tour. Finally, I guess. That´s the tour you should´ve done a couple of years ago.

Tuomas: Yeah! There are two reasons why we start off in the US. The first one is that we had to cancel two shows because of different things, so I think we owe it to the US fans. The second reason is that it´s much easier to start with a new singer in the US, where pretty much nobody knows us and the pressure is not sky high. It´s more like a rehearsal tour this way, for Anette.

And then you´re going back next spring, right?

Tuomas: Yes we are, so there are already two tours booked.

What can they expect and what can we expect when it comes to the show? Stage set and so forth? Will it be an ellaborate stage show and stuff like that or more scaled down?

Tuomas: In the US it will be very scaled down and that has to do with the fact that we´re playing small venues like 500 - 2000 seats, so there is only so much that you can bring on stage. It´s gonna be a very plain rock and roll show, but in bigger venues, like in Finland and Sweden, we´re definitely gonna bring out some special stuff. I love to do that, especially with this kind of music which is so visual and we want to emphasize the whole feeling with pyrotechnics and lights and water walls and stuff like that. It´s gonna happen in Scandinavia.

That was another thing, going back to the book again, some amazing photos in it. Really nice live shots which made the book so much more.

Tuomas: Right, cool!

You just did a video shoot in LA. What was that like? Was it the American version with your own trailer and stuff and 2000 people involved?

Tuomas: It was actually pretty much like that (laughs). We didn´t go to the US just to do the shoot because it´s the US. We just went there because we wanted to have the same guy who did the previous video, Antti Jokinen, and he has his own studio there and he asked us to come over there. But it´s not like kissing the US´ ass or something, we just wanted to do it with him. That was one of the best weeks we´ve ever had. Eleven days in LA and one day of video shooting, so ten days of Disneyland, partying, Stanley Cup final and that was awesome! We just went to the studio for one day and did two videos and that was it.

About the video? Is it the same thing there, that you have a story or did he come up with stuff and said "This is what I envision!"?

Tuomas: With this one it was totally 100 % his idea. For example "Nemo", it was basically my idea, but this time he came to me and said "I´ve got this idea and listen to this!" and I said "Yeah, this is cool! I have nothing to say, so go for it!". So everything that happens in "Amaranth" is completely the directors idea and I really like it.

I was kind of wondering... I know that Tarja is putting out a solo album and she has some fancy guests on it. Do you think she´ll sell any records? Do you think the old Nightwish fans will buy it? Do you think she´ll make it?

Tuomas: I have no idea! Even though if I have some opinions about this I think it´s better not for me to have any comments about anything. This is something really juicy for the media, this tragedy that happened, so if I say one bad word it´ll be in the headlines. It has already happened twice in Finland. In an interview in Spain I just mentioned that I sent Tarja a Christmas card, and that´s the only thing I said. The next day in the tabloid, the biggest Finnish newspaper, "Toumas tried to make up with Tarja and she still hates him because she didn´t reply!". And then when you read the story it´s all about me sending a Christmas card. So I´m being really, really careful about that.

Even before Nightwish, was that something that you had any idea of happening? Being in the tabloids and tv-shows? It seems like in Finland there´s tons of that stuff every week.

Tuomas: God no! There is and we really hit the big time. We dug our own grave with this (laughs). Honestly, I didn´t think that we would be such an interesting band. Maybe the whole scenario with this dramatic... nothing is more interesting to a human mind than when other people have problems and especially with relationships. It totally blew me away. I can´t believe that this is such a big deal. Even the prime minister of Finland had something to say about it. Every single talk show in Finland was talking about how I need to find my feminine side (laughs) and it totally got out of hand. Like a public soap opera. It has calmed down a little bit, but it´s still like that. Every week there´s something in the papers.

Amazing! Another thing I was wondering about, since listening to the promo, do you have any saying...the promo I got includes voice over... do you have anything to say about that or is it just the record company? When you review records it really pisses you off.

Tuomas: I totally understand, but I also think that you can get the big picture of the album still, so... I understand it pisses people off but it´s still a thing you need to do because this album has already been on the Internet for a month and a half. It being a voice over on the Internet, I think helps a little bit. If it was the actual album it would be a disaster, so it´s just something you need to do in the Internet era, I´m sorry to say for you guys. The other thing is that you can do it RHCP or Metallica style and not give it to anybody, but I think that would also be wrong.

What do you think will happen in the future? Will all music just be released digital and will it come to every single band releasing their own stuff without record companies? Is that something you see yourself doing, releasing your own stuff?

Tuomas: I really don´t see it happening, at least at the moment. The future is so uncertain, but I do think that music listeners really want to have the physical thing in their hands. Music is all about emotions, big emotions and people take it really serious, most of them. I mean, there are still people who only listen to vinyl. I don´t think it´s gonna go totally digital ever.

Something totally different. I read on your website that then first album you bought was KISS "Asylum". Do you listen to that stuff these days?

Tuomas: No, it´s not actually. I listened to it back then. My big brother was a KISS fan.

It´s a good album!

Tuomas: Yeah, it is! It´s not something I´m fanatic about though.

What kind of stuff do you listen to these days? Is it movie soundtracks...?

Tuomas: Yeah, it´s movie soundtracks and metal. Whenever I hear a good song, as long as it´s a good song...Backstreet Boys have many really good songs, but mainly it´s metal and film music.

What kind of books are you reading then? I guess you get influenced by movies and books and so forth. Is it Tolkien and things like that?

Tuomas: I´ve read all of the Tolkiens so many times. I´m just thinking about start reading "The dark tower" by Stephen King again. I read the whole thing once and I think it was compatible to "Lord of the rings". So good! Then I´m also reading, believe it or not, fairytales. I´m reading stuff from Tove Jansson, Grim brothers books. For example, if you talk about the "mumin" books, people consider them being kids stuff, but I think they hold so much more. I´m a huge Disny fan too.

I know. Do you collect magazines and stuff like that?

Tuomas: I collect Disney memorabilia. It´s not all about comics, but all kinds of stuff.

I know you´ve got a song in a Finnish movie. Is that you´re somethig you´re thinking about? I guess it would be a dream of yours to make an entire soundtrack for a movie? Do you think it will happen?

Tuomas: I hope it will happen some time. I want to try it, even though I think I hav and overly romantic image of the whole soundtrack business. There is not that much of an artistic freedom in it. You have to do exactly what the director says and your heart will bleed. That´s what I´ve heard from the other movie composers. But yeah, I want to give it a shot one day.

Would you like it to be a Hollywood movie or...?

Tuomas: Just something that would catch my interest. I really wouldn´t mind doing music for a nature documentary or something. Something like Jacques Cousteau or whatever. There´s some really cool stuff in those nature documentaries.

What kind of composers are you into? Is it Danny Elfman and John Williams and those guys?

Tuomas: Yeah, the biggest ones for me are James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer.

Right. Is this something you started liking at an early age?

Tuomas: No, I think it was in 2001 when I saw "Gladiator" and that music just instantly hit me and after that I started to search the world of film music and I´ve been totally hooked.

Which is the best soundtrack so far?

Tuomas: I think it´s "Gladiator" by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. But also "The Village" by James Newton Howard and "Sleepy Hollow" by Danny Elfman.

Cool movies! Especially "Sleepy Hollow".

Tuomas: Yeah, that´s in my all time top three movies. I´ve seen it at least twenty times.

When you´ve completed the second US tour next spring, is it the rest of the world then?

There´s a Scandinavian tour before Christmas this year and after that in January it´s gonna be Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong followed by a really massive European tour for two months and after that it´s the second leg of the US tour and after that, summer festivals blah, blah, blah.

You´re gonna be busy for a long time.

Tuomas: Yeah, the plan is to do shows until the end of the festival season in 2009.

Wow!

Tuomas: I´ve got nothing better to do. (laughs) The other ones got families, so it´s gonna be a bit harder for them. I can just roam free!

Roaming the streets of the world! Sounds good! I´ve really enjoyed this Tuomas. A lot of fun talking to you and I wish you all the best with the album and tour! Have a good one Tuomas!

Tuomas: You too! Bye!