Tuomas Holopainen - The Most Beautiful Man In Music
You have to feel my utter excitement as I prepared for this interview, with Nightwish being one of my favourite bands of all time, and me speaking to the bloke I've had my eye on for a potential husband for many years; Tuomas Holopainen.
So needless to say, whilst chatting about their latest release, not-so-new-anymore singer Anette Olzon, I thought my head was going to explode with excitement, but I did manage to keep it together just about long enough to get a somewhat decent interview!
Hey Tuomas, how are things in the world of Nightwish at the moment?
Well actually we are on a three-month break at the moment after the first leg of the tour finished last November in South America. The story continues on the 11 March in London, from where we start our European tour and it goes right up until the end of September; so there are still five of six more months to go.
Wow, what a busy life... so what made you decide to record the latest DVD, Made In Hong Kong (and various other places)?
It was actually an idea that came form the label and to be honest I wasn't the most happy person when I heard this idea but it's going to be a long break between full length albums so they thought we needed something new, and also to promote the European tour with a new release and since we don't have anything new in our hands we decided to do this live EP which would have some additional stuff on.
So that's why it ended up being Made In Hong Kong (and various other places), because there is probably one song that's recorded in Hong Kong and the rest of the live songs are from around the world.
So how have the past two years been since Anette joined the band?
Interesting! Very rewarding and very exhausting as well, it has been the longest tour we have ever done and it's been fantastic for most times but there has been some bad times as well, as always.
I think the only mistake we have done so far is the tour schedule last year was a bit too hard because when I was following the group at the end of the summer I could sense that the people were ready to go to a mental hospital so that is why this three-month break that we're on now is very well needed.
Are you just relaxing?
Pretty much, I went to Florida for two weeks to see Donald and Goofy and I've been doing some side projects just here and there, and have just been, you know, hanging around.
Lucky for some! So do you feel that your latest album, Dark Passion Play has shown a new side to the band?
I wouldn't call it ‘new' it showed the darkest side and the heaviest side of the band in my opinion but I don't think it's something radically new, I think from all of the songs you can still tell ‘this is Nightwish.'
Obviously there are some new elements, such as the Celtic instruments, a gospel choir, an even bigger orchestra and naturally, a new female singer. But I don't think it's like the beginning of a new era for us, we are just continuing from where we left off with the previous album.
What one song would you say best sums up Nightwish?
It would be The Poet And The Pendulum by far. It pretty much shows all what Nightwish is about.
And is there any new material in the pipeline?
Not any time soon I'm afraid but I'm working on new material all the time and I actually feel like my head is exploding with new ideas. I pretty much have the concept of the new album in my head already but it's going to take a year before we start working on it full-time because we are not the type of band who can concentrate on two things at the same time. Right now we need to get this tour over with, then maybe take a little break and then start work on the new album.
Is there a particular process you go through when writing songs?
Well I can only speak for myself but for me the process is almost the same every time; at first I always need to have the idea of what the song is about, for example a story or idea, I cannot just start jamming with the keyboard or the guitar to see what comes out.
After I have a storyline in my head I have to think how to make the story come to life; ‘Is it a ballad?' or ‘is it a rock song?' Should I use a piano or acoustic guitar. When I get the song done it is after that I write the final lyrics and then I recite the song to the rest of the band and we start writing.
Wow, I feel like I know a insider secret now... so keeping that up; why is there always a little Captain Jack Sparrow on your keyboard?
It's more of a joke because... [FF: Because you look like him?] Yeah, Haha! It was thrown on the stage once and after that I got thrown two more from fans. There were some people who said I was a copycat of Jack Sparrow so I just wanted to add some gas to the flames!
It's been there ever since! I also have Edward Scissorhands now!
What is your favourite Nightwish song to play live?
Again, I would have to go for The Poet And The Pendulum because it's so massive and epic and I always get the vibes. The Islander is the other favourite of mine.
You have obviously covered some beautiful songs, High Hopes by Pink Floyd and Walking In The Air, but what other songs would you like to take on?
Oh we have thought about that because we haven't done a single cover on this tour - for a reason actually - it's really hard to do a song like Walking In The Air because it's my all-time favourite song. But at one time we were thinking about covering The Thing That Should Not Be by Metallica but we never even got to the rehearsal stage, it was just an idea.
Who is your favourite musician?
If you allow me to mention and artist I would say Vangelis, it's not a band but he is my favourite musician. He has done like 50 albums and I don't know all of them, he did Chariots Of Fire.
If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, which would it be?
It would be The Snowman Soundtrack by Howard Blake.
What one thing would you change about the music industry, given the chance?
I would get rid of the digital downloading crap and everything to do with the internet and downloading.
Now we want to ask you a couple of non-musical questions... firstly, if you won a box set of movies featuring just one actor and one actress, which actor and actress would you choose?
The actress would be Christina Ricci; she's my little daydream. Since I saw Sleepy Hollow she has been just that! For the male actor I would say Morgan Freeman there is something about him that I really, really like.
If you could take over another country tomorrow, which would you take over and what would be your first law?
Instead of their money bills saying ‘God Bless America' I would say; ‘God Bless The World.'
And finally, what do you think is the most important invention of the past 100 years?
Recording music, so that you can actually listen to at home instead of going and see bands play lives. It has helped people to escape in their own homes for decades now and has made the world and easier place.
So after that interview I have to go and dip my head in cold water - wow - that totally made my day! I think I love him! Haha.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
You have to feel my utter excitement as I prepared for this interview, with Nightwish being one of my favourite bands of all time, and me speaking to the bloke I've had my eye on for a potential husband for many years; Tuomas Holopainen.
So needless to say, whilst chatting about their latest release, not-so-new-anymore singer Anette Olzon, I thought my head was going to explode with excitement, but I did manage to keep it together just about long enough to get a somewhat decent interview!
Hey Tuomas, how are things in the world of Nightwish at the moment?
Well actually we are on a three-month break at the moment after the first leg of the tour finished last November in South America. The story continues on the 11 March in London, from where we start our European tour and it goes right up until the end of September; so there are still five of six more months to go.
Wow, what a busy life... so what made you decide to record the latest DVD, Made In Hong Kong (and various other places)?
It was actually an idea that came form the label and to be honest I wasn't the most happy person when I heard this idea but it's going to be a long break between full length albums so they thought we needed something new, and also to promote the European tour with a new release and since we don't have anything new in our hands we decided to do this live EP which would have some additional stuff on.
So that's why it ended up being Made In Hong Kong (and various other places), because there is probably one song that's recorded in Hong Kong and the rest of the live songs are from around the world.
So how have the past two years been since Anette joined the band?
Interesting! Very rewarding and very exhausting as well, it has been the longest tour we have ever done and it's been fantastic for most times but there has been some bad times as well, as always.
I think the only mistake we have done so far is the tour schedule last year was a bit too hard because when I was following the group at the end of the summer I could sense that the people were ready to go to a mental hospital so that is why this three-month break that we're on now is very well needed.
Are you just relaxing?
Pretty much, I went to Florida for two weeks to see Donald and Goofy and I've been doing some side projects just here and there, and have just been, you know, hanging around.
Lucky for some! So do you feel that your latest album, Dark Passion Play has shown a new side to the band?
I wouldn't call it ‘new' it showed the darkest side and the heaviest side of the band in my opinion but I don't think it's something radically new, I think from all of the songs you can still tell ‘this is Nightwish.'
Obviously there are some new elements, such as the Celtic instruments, a gospel choir, an even bigger orchestra and naturally, a new female singer. But I don't think it's like the beginning of a new era for us, we are just continuing from where we left off with the previous album.
What one song would you say best sums up Nightwish?
It would be The Poet And The Pendulum by far. It pretty much shows all what Nightwish is about.
And is there any new material in the pipeline?
Not any time soon I'm afraid but I'm working on new material all the time and I actually feel like my head is exploding with new ideas. I pretty much have the concept of the new album in my head already but it's going to take a year before we start working on it full-time because we are not the type of band who can concentrate on two things at the same time. Right now we need to get this tour over with, then maybe take a little break and then start work on the new album.
Is there a particular process you go through when writing songs?
Well I can only speak for myself but for me the process is almost the same every time; at first I always need to have the idea of what the song is about, for example a story or idea, I cannot just start jamming with the keyboard or the guitar to see what comes out.
After I have a storyline in my head I have to think how to make the story come to life; ‘Is it a ballad?' or ‘is it a rock song?' Should I use a piano or acoustic guitar. When I get the song done it is after that I write the final lyrics and then I recite the song to the rest of the band and we start writing.
Wow, I feel like I know a insider secret now... so keeping that up; why is there always a little Captain Jack Sparrow on your keyboard?
It's more of a joke because... [FF: Because you look like him?] Yeah, Haha! It was thrown on the stage once and after that I got thrown two more from fans. There were some people who said I was a copycat of Jack Sparrow so I just wanted to add some gas to the flames!