Nightmail - Marco - wrzesień 2007

MacFly

Victoria (California): How would you describe the differences between your work in Nightwish and in Tarot as well as the aspects of each job that you like or dislike?

Marco: In Tarot I have stay at the front and take care of the leadership issues more. Being the main rooster of the house is fine in its way, but as a position it has more responsibilities also. With Nightwish there's some more space to breathe as just one of the guys. Almost all the music and lyrics I write goes to Tarot, but some things end up at the side of NW as well. Of course they have to go through Tuomas' filter first, and hopefully pass it also.

... (...): Whats your favorite video game/ movie?

Marco: A few years back I played a PC rpg called "Planescape: Torment". A really great and weird story of a guy in search of his lost mortality. You can find the movie stuff in the factfile section of the bandmembers.

NeoMvsEu (the Web): What led you to change to a Warwick Vampyre bass, as shown in the "Amaranth" video?

Marco: I haven't changed it totally. I will be using the Infinity a lot still. I've just had my eye on Vampyre for some time, and now I had a chance to get myself one. I'm still looking for a suitable role for it in the liveset.

Leslie (Los Angeles): -If you died tomorrow (which would be devastating), what would you want written as your epitaph?

-What would a perfect day be like for you?

Marco: 1. At last that lazy bastard can lie down forever.

2. In all honesty: If I could for a just one day forget about the business, hassle, expectations of the people, cellphone cameras when you're in an amusementpark with your family. All the stuff that has to do with your being famous. Good and bad. I'm afraid I dug this hole myself. And then I jumped into it.

Matthew (United States): Do you believe in aliens?

Marco: I really don't know about aliens as grey dudes watching us from above. However, in a universe this big and diverse, it is actually more likely that there's different life out there than not. That I do believe.

top

jonna (kuopio): You've been living in Kuopio city at some time ago, so could you name an especially important place or memory there? Or is there one? Very Happy

Marco: If I take just one, then it's the pier of Kuopionlahti. I've spent so many moments of summer there with my bandmates, friends and the wife drinking beer, jumping into the lake and talking total bullshit. Those were the days...

Jule (Germany): Are you going to play "While your lips are still red" live?

Marco: We've talked about it but haven't rehearsed it yet. In all likelyhood we're gonna be doing it one day.

Rosa,s poem (Karkkila, Finland): 1. What do you think about the fact that some of the new Nightwish-songs have found their way to the Internet?
2. How is it like now to suddenly sing with Anette when you've been watching Tarja perform for so many years?
3. Does shouting for example "Fuck yeah" help you to get into the right mood at gigs (or otherwise Smile

)? At least with me it gets me going and the hair spinning!!!

Marco: 1. It stinks!
2. We haven't done this for long, but there's definite chemistry and more will be found. Anette seems to react a bit more openly to things.
3. Well, this is one of those things that are actually corny, until you're really in a mood, and you find yourself shouting that stuff. It is the rock. Devil's work...

Elina (): What were you like in elementary school -times? (7-11 years old)?

Marco: A science fiction and a fantasy freak. I learned to read too early (4 years) and it ruined me.

Marje (Deutschland): How do you prepare for a tour? Do you rehearse every day?

Marco: Individual rehearsing happens everyday if I have a chance. There are travelling and promo days when you just have no time for it. The band rehearsals are something that we have to schedule quite a lot. Everyone of us lives in different places and that's why we really need to arrange it this way. This time around we rehearsed for a couple of weeks in Kerava at Emppu's and Tero's small studio and then went on to Tampere, Akun tehdas to do five days of full PA and light system rehearsals.

top

Nefi Kuolema (Czech Republic): You're going to play with Tarot and with Nightwish at the same festival (On Dark Winter's Night). Is it going to be hectic to play with 2 bands or is it normal for you?

Marco: Not normal. Probably very hectic. This is only for two nights in a row, so it should go easy. There are other bands playing between the two shows a night, so I can maybe relax a bit and catch my breath. If Zakk Wylde could do it with Black Label Society and Ozzy, then I should be able to do it also.

Dana (USA): Between recording the demo version of 'Amaranth' on which you sang, and recording the album/single version which Anette sang, the chorus' lyrics changed. Is there any specific reason why this change took place? Or was it just decided they needed to change?

Marco: It was Tuomas who changed them. The new ones should be better. They actually are.

Miss Drakul (Brazil): if your life was a music, which would be the name of it?

Marco: The priviledge of existence.

Miss Drakul (Brazil): How it was to compose "The Islander"?

Marco: I was messing around with an acoustic at home and I found a riff. On another day I found a melody and a verse, and I thought that this gonna be a song. One day I found the chorus. Then I had to write a few words in order to demotape the raw structure. I sat down to listen to it, was satisfied and thought that I'll play it to Tuomas.

Benjamin (Ziefen (Schweiz)): I have always wondered how you manage to concentrate on singing and playing at the same time. How do you do that? Do you concentrate on one thing and the other comes automatically or can you actually concentrate on both equally well?

Marco: Every time I have to rehearse the new songs, it is troublesome at first. Especially when the timing of the vocals and bass go against each other. I usually build up a certain automation with the bass in those places, because the vocals are the thing where most of the concentration needs to go. Vocals, after all, are the thing which affects the listener most. After doing a few shows it usually gets to the point where I don't have to think about either of them anymore.

top

christian b. (kuchen(germany)): Do you guys play better when you are drinking alcohol?

Marco: No. And I'm not defending it but maybe we're a little bit more relaxed.

Susi (Vienna): As a child, what did you want to be when you grow up? Have you always been dreaming about becoming a musician?

Marco: I got crazy about music already when I was 9-10. I did want to be an astronaut at first. But hey! I live surrounded by the stars Wink

Alain (Schweiz): In this August's Nightmail, Tuomas said in his answer to the question of which songs the other band members do not like "Marco has to bite his lip to play 'Sacrament Of Wilderness' live". Why do you not like this song? I think it is great! =)

Marco: I don't really have anything against it. I can say that there's certain mathematic predictability in the vocalmelodies, and I find other songs more exciting because they don't have it. It's still a good addition to the liveset.

Alexandra (Germany): If you could be God for one day, what would you change in the world?

Marco: I would unmake all the money and maybe cigarettes too.

Marian (Deutschland): Which song is most fun for you to play live on stage?

Marco: The most fun is probably "She is my sin". Punch and groove. The most exciting right now is "The Islander", because it's the first time that we're changing the atmosphere that much live.