2011 - Cult 22 / Rock Brasília (English)

Papilon

1. You started your career as a classical singer right? How was the transition between classical and heavy metal music?
It took me several years to learn how to use my classically trained voice for rock music. Only after many concert tours and after hundreds of performances I started to feel more comfortable and certain with my voice. Even my vocal recordings in the studio in the beginning was very difficult to me. What I realized after all was that my classical training truly helped me to gain a healthy way of singing, even though singing rock music. I knew the risks of doing something wrong could harm my voice, so I wanted to continue taking singing lessons which I in fact do still today. My studies in classical music didn´t end with the fact that I joined Nightwish and started to sing metal. No, I continued my classical studies still many more years.

2. What special care you you take with your voice?
I train and rehearse daily. I also need to keep a good physical condition, which means I go running or swimming or do yoga every day. I know my body better than anyone else could, because singing has made me very sensitive for little changes. So, if a flu is on it´s way for example, I can sense it a week earlier! I need to eat well every day, drink a lot of water, sleep well enough every night. To be a classical singer, you have to take in consideration many things, that normally people don´t even think of or they don´t really have to think. Being a singer is way of my life. I have needed to sacrifice quite a few things to have a voice I have, but I won´t regret it.

3. What kind of music do you listen to when you are home? What are your favorite artists/bands?
Various kinds; Movie soundtracks, classical music, chill out to relax. Rock & metal while I drive my car and when I need to gain lost energy.

4. How did you decide to cover Alice Cooper´s “Poison” for your album?
I covered this song for my first solo album. Even though I have never been a huge fan of Mr. Cooper, I have listened his music since I was teenager. I just thought it would be fun to make my version out of his legendary one. I had the idea of a cello solo for the song, since cello was really big part of my first album over all. The song turned out to be radically different, but that´s how I feel doing a cover if I work in one. I want to respect the original but to make it my own.

5. You started writing your own songs for the album “What lies beneath”. How is the writing process to you? Is it easy?
I wrote together with many professional song writers and ended up writing one complete song by myself as well already on my first record My Winter Storm. Having had that experience of starting something completely new to me, the people around me managed to convince me that I could write on my own. Now on my second album I was in the writing process from the scratch, since the very beginning, and my album is very personal to me because of that fact. All the songs are my “babies” one way or another.

I compose with piano, that´s my instrument. First I have to have a good musical idea, then to develop it with a strong lyrical idea. Writing songs is very challenging to me and it requires the best environment which I most likely find from quiet places.

6. After the Christmas album, have you thought about doing something else in the classical style?
I am planning a purely classical album for this year. I am going to have some meeting about it very soon, but the idea is to record one complete album in the end of this year. There will be some very challenging classical concerts happening in this year too, one of them together with tenor Jose Cura in the Opera festival in Finland.

7. Does inviting Kiko Loureiro (Angra) to record a cd mean that you want to keep the heavy metal alive in the album?
I choose the musicians I work with for different reasons. The talent, the background, the personality, the ability. If you take a look at my band today, who are really working with me at the moment, there are musicians from different kinds of backgrounds. From pop, metal, rock, classical etc. I also have a background not only in metal, but also in classical music. My music today is what you hear from my records, it represents my artistic love in music. And I am very free today! Free to choose people to work with, free to compose music that touches me, free to be me. I don´t need to keep heavy metal alive in my music just by choosing the people I work with or by the fact that other people are expecting me to keep on doing metal. I choose people I like to work with and heavy metal is part of my musical taste and passion still today. And as you read correctly, is a part of it. If you listen my album, you will understand that I am not only making metal music today, the music consists a wider scale of musical elements. It´s inspired by rock, classical music and metal.

8. Speaking of Nightwish, you were let go on a very uncomfortable way. But now you seem a lot happier. Do you hold a grudge against the band?How was that experience (going out of Nightwish) to you?
I believe that after something bad ends, something good will be born and that´s exactly what has happened to me. I don´t hold any grudge against my former band members because I don´t feel a need for it. I just hope they are happy on their own as I am much happier on my own. I honestly don´t want to even think of my departure from the band, since the time was miserable to me and it took me a while to recover from all that sickness happening around me. It´s way healthier for me to head to the brighter future, rather than to look back.

9. What are your expectations for Brasília? What do you know about the city?
I have been once in Brasilia with my former band and I remember few things about the city. It basically blew me away with it´s original, different look! It had not too much in common with other Brazilian cities, because of it´s modern looks. I got to visit the Finnish embassy there and swim alone in their swimming pool in the middle of the night, NAKED! It was just lovely to watch the stars...and hope that no one will discover me there! Well, no one did.
The fans in the concert were amazing there as in every other city in Brazil.

10. What can we expect from your concert?
I am sure I will have a blast with my fans in Brasilia!!!! The show will consist songs from my both records, but mostly I am presenting my newest album What Lies Beneath on this tour. Of course we will play some songs from Nightwish as well and perhaps we will figure out some surprises to you. The music is emotional, so will be my show. It is a concert from me who loves beauty but also loves to rock with the people, so I am sure you will be having a good time there together with us. Can´t wait to see you guys soon!!!!! Thank you for the love!