Nightwish, with new singer Floor Jansen (top left)
(Editor’s
note: This interview was conducted a week prior to Anette Olzon’s
departure from Nightwish. Obviously, the context of the interview would
be much different had we known what was forthcoming…)
Nightwish
doesn’t do anything small. Nor should they have to, given their
standing high atop the symphonic metal mountain. Their latest Imaginareum
is perhaps their biggest risk of all, a dual album-cinematic release,
something according to main man/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, has been
in the works for five years. If there is a band that can pull it off,
it’s definitely Nightwish, for the sheer grandiosity of the band’s
overall presentation is picture-perfect for cinema. No pun intended.
The theatrical release of Imaginaerum
is going to have the cloud of Olzon’s departure hanging over it,
though. We’ve yet to get the specifics as to why she was booted, but it
probably has something to do with her track record of illness and near
show cancellations, and as you’ll read below, the show always goes on
with Nightwish. Now it goes on with former After Forever/current Revamp
siren Floor Jansen.
Before all this transpired, we caught up
with a relaxed and easy-going Holopainen via telephone prior to a show
in Columbus, Ohio. Read closely to some of his answers, for they’re
oddly prophetic…
Blistering.com: You’ve made your mark in
Europe, but in terms of this tour, it appears that attendance has been
strong and reaction has been enthusiastic. Are you surprised that after
not being over here for so long that this is happening?
Tuomas Holopainen:
I’m satisfied. You try not to think about it too much, you just go out
every night and try to make every night count, that’s the rule. We saw
some glimpses in the beginning of the year when we played a couple of
shows in L.A., then did the heavy metal cruise [70,000 Tons of Metal] as
well. Then tours in Finland, tours in Europe, and the response has been
really enthusiastic all over the world. We had a lot of confidence
coming to North America and it’s really paying off.
Blistering.com:
You’re not here every year like some European bands, so I think we take
those for granted. Nightwish coming here is an event, basically.
Holopainen: We like to put a lot of effort into quality, instead of quality, and that goes with the live shows and the albums.
Blistering.com:
I read that for the first show of this tour in Atlanta, Anette was very
late and almost didn’t make the show. In those situations, is there a
plan B? Do you go on with the show? What would you do?
Holopainen:
You can’t in those situations. It was a really scary situation. She had
such a bad stomach flu that she couldn’t fly. She actually flew into
Atlanta three hours before the show
started, so it was cut really close. I’m happy we made it and no harm
done. But we don’t really have a back-up plan [laughs]. We would have
had to cancel the show if that would have been the case.
Blistering.com: Marco [Hietala, bass] can do some of the vocals, but there are some he wouldn’t be able to do.
Holopainen: It wouldn’t be right. We’ve always had a female singer for 16 years and the nature of the songs are composed for a female singer. It wouldn’t be right.
Blistering.com: Can you compare Anette on this round of touring to when you first had her out after Dark Passion Play in 2007?
Holopainen:
She’s more relaxed. There’s nothing to prove anymore. On the first
tour, no one knew her, so people came and tried to see what’s like and
all that. Now, people can concentrate on what’s really important, which
is the overall show and not just her and her voice.
Blistering.com: On those initial tours with her, were you skeptical as to how she’d do?
Holopainen:
We weren’t really scared at any point. We have a lot of confidence in
the whole concept of Nightwish and the way we think is that it’s a
carousel or vehicle that can’t be stopped by anything. That’s the way it
goes. We can’t let anything stop it.
Blistering.com: For this tour, you’re doing 90 minutes. What was the thought process in terms of picking the set?
Holopainen: The most important factor was that “Let’s just do the songs
we feel the most inspired by to play.” That’s why we cut out the song
“Wishmaster.” It hasn’t felt right to play in years. I don’t know why,
but it’s not fun to do and maybe that’s reflected on the audience. So we
decided to do the songs we really love to play, and that’s how the
setlist was formed. We also put some emphasis on doing a show that’s
less “rock ‘n’ roll” and more theatrical so there wouldn’t be that much
talk and diversion between the songs, like “Hello Cleveland!”
There’s
very little talking going on between the songs so we can keep the
setlist going on and on. And we’re not doing any encores, so after the
outro and the bow, that’s it. It’s like doing a theater
performance instead of a regular rock performance. I have nothing
against rock and that kind of show, but I think it’s never been the
greatest strength of Nightwish. We are more in the theatrical side and
that’s what we’re good at, so let’s keep emphasizing it.
Blistering.com:
Some of the bands that came up through the 80’s will really milk the
encore thing. I saw a band a few months ago do three encores.
Holopainen:
It’s just about trying to avoid clichés. When you think about it, it’s
like “Thank you, we’ll see you sometime in the near future,” but then
you come back. It just doesn’t feel right. We used to do it all the time
too, but then we thought it was really unnecessary. Like I said, it’s
about avoiding clichés [laughs].
Blistering.com: “I Want My
Tears Back” is probably the best song on the album, and when you play it
live, you bring Troy [Donockly, uillean pipes, tin whistle] out. How is
it going over?
Holopainen: If I had to mention one song out of the new album
that’s a really killer to play live, it would be “I Want My Tears Back”
by far. It has already become an audience favorite all over the world
for some reason. Maybe it’s the uplifting spirit, or Troy’s parts, or
the “danceable” C-part…I don’t know what it is [laughs]. It’s a lot of
fun to play and people like to hear it. I think we’re stuck with that
song until the end of our career, which suits me fine. Also the fact
that Troy is with us the whole tour…he’s almost like the 6th member.
Blistering.com: That was my next question. Do you ever see his role expanding?
Holopainen: He’s excellent. He’s gluing the band
a bit more together both as a musician and a person. It’s a bit hard to
imagine a Nightwish show without him anymore, or a Nightwish album. I
think he’s going to be there until the end of the band. I also think we
won’t make him a full-time member of the band because marriage has
ruined many, many good relationships [laughs].
Blistering.com: Let’s move onto the forthcoming movie for Imaginaerum.
In the States, we have the usual flashy red carpet event for a movie
premier, so will the same thing take place for the premier in Finland?
Holopainen: Yes, it’s going to be a big event on the 10th of November in Helsinki in the Hartwall Arena, where we shot our
DVD, an
End of an Era. Basically, what’s going to happen is first, we’re going to play a show which will be
Imaginaerum from beginning to end, we’ll take a 30-minute break, then the
movie is going to play. It’s going to be pretty huge. There’s going to be 8,000 people, so it will be huge indoor thing.
Blistering.com: Are you starting to feel a sense of finality to the whole Imaginaerum process?
Holopainen:
I had a really weird feeling last Tuesday when we saw the movie
completely ready for the first time. We were in Montreal and they
organized a screening for us, all the actors and the guys who worked on
the movie. It was really emotional and an empty moment to see the whole
thing finished because we started to work on this project in the summer
of 2007, so it’s been five years in the making. Without any
exaggeration, a few of us when into hell and back to get it done
[laughs]. It was a really rocky road to get the thing finished because
of financial reasons and a million different things. There were some
desperate times, but now that I’ve seen the result, I feel really happy
and proud for the whole
band.
Blistering.com: How much of the band is in the movie? Are your parts cringe-worthy?
Holopainen:
Luckily, we are only in two scenes. We have cameo roles and don’t have a
single line the whole film. We hired professional actors for the movie.
I think that was the only way to tell a believable story. We don’t know
how to act. You see the band in two scenes in the background playing as
a band. That’s something we felt comfortable with because it was like
shooting a
music video.
Blistering.com:
It makes me think of when Kiss starred in their own movie in the 70’s.
Sometimes it’s best that musicians just stay musicians and not try their
hand at acting.
Holopainen: It was actually the director that wanted to write us a little role, and I said “Don’t you dare!” Whenever I see
Justin Timberlake
in a movie – no matter how well he acts, he’s still Justin Timberlake
[laughs]. It takes something out of the movie. It takes something out of
the credibility of the movie, and we didn’t want that. He’s not the
best actor, but he’s not that bad, but still, I can’t watch movies with
him…there’s something wrong with the picture.
Blistering.com: You mentioned you started work on the concept for Imaginaerum all the way back in 2007. So, are you the type that always has something going on creatively?
Holopainen:
Not really. I’m a little bit on the lazy side, actually [laughs]. I’m a
storyteller by heart, so these things work with me all the time. I have
my notebook and microphone with me, so I’m constantly thinking about
new songs
and new poetry and what to create next. It’s not like I’m ever stressed
over [it] or lacking time to do what I want. I’m not a workaholic, so
to say. I know how to take it easy too.
Blistering.com:
Switching gears, I don’t think the addition of Marco roughly 11 or 12
years ago can be understated. He’s quite the asset to you guys in a lot
of facets. Can you speak to his contributions?
Holopainen:
He made all the difference in the world. At that point, I knew I’d like
to use a male voice a bit more, and we needed a new bass player and how
wonderful it would be if we could get a bass player who could sing.
Marco was the first choice…he’s a legend in Finland. We were so happy
when we joined the band. His range and style is so powerful. He can sing
almost anything. I love the fact that I have the chance to use two
wonderful voices in this band, and can do almost anything. Just fooling
around with the verses, choruses, and harmonies, and doing duets is
really intriguing. It gives me a lot of possibilities as a songwriter.
Blistering.com: This year marks the 15-year mark for Angels Fall First. Have you done any type of reflecting on it?
Holopainen:
Our drummer, Jukka [Nevalainen], just mentioned it a few weeks ago. I
haven’t even thought about it. Obviously, we will be somewhere touring,
so there’s not going to be anything happening. But let’s say in 20 years
– we need some round years, then something big may happen. Give it
another five years [laughs].
I remember it all vividly. The first album hit the charts in Finland, then the next album
Oceanborn
at the end of 1998 blew up big-time and entered the charts at #5. We
started touring all the time…we were touring Finland, then we got the
chance to tour Europe, then we got it licensed in Germany. Things just
started rolling at such a speed that it was a bit hard to handle. I was
working as a stand-in teacher in the high school of my hometown teaching
all sorts of stuff like biology and mathematics, and I got this phone
call: “You have a record deal in Germany, and by the way, the album is
#5. Things are really rolling now.” I thought, wow, this would never
happen, so I quit my teaching job and started doing Nightwish 24/7. And
here I am, still walking that road.
Blistering.com: I have to ask: Were math and biology your favorite subjects growing up?
Holopainen:
I have no education [laughs]. It was a stand-in thing, so when a
teacher would get sick, I would go in and tell the kids what their
teacher wanted them to do. I taught almost all of the possible subjects,
but I have no education, it was a summer job.
Blistering.com:
You know, the substitute teacher has the stigma where he or she will
have to face kids goofing off and being disrespectful. Did that happen
to you?
Holopainen: Not really. I guess I had enough
authority for them to behave [laughs]. It was a really easy job because
all I had to do was give them the sheets or read from the book. It
wasn’t that hard.
Blistering.com: Did you have long hair at the time?
Holopainen:
I didn’t. I had short hair, glasses…I really looked like a nerd. All
the males have to go to the army in Finland, so I had just gotten out
and had really short hair.
Blistering.com: Wrapping up, what’s in store after the movie is released in Finland?
Holopainen:
There are some preliminary plans to enter the studio in 2014, so we’ll
take some time off after this tour to write the songs. It’s going to be a
big gap once again, but like I said: quality over quantity.
www.nightwish.com
