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© 2006 - present, Sabrina

Scans by Brigitte and Afrodite, translation by The Engima

See scans of the article here.

Nightwish have their fountain in the backwoods of Kitee

Nightwish, founded in Kitee 1996 have slammed an undetachable mark in the icy soil of Finnish heavy music. The band have become a national favourite, whose music appeal to diffrent groups of audience from little girls to adult men. We visited the composer-keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen at his home in Kitee for a cup of coffee.

Kitee

The sky of North Karelia is grey and hangign like a rag even though we live in the middle of the most lovely summer. Potoskavaara of Kitee, near the eastern border may taste the whip of rain. The tar-paved road between birches and fields leads the traveller to Tuomas Holopainen's green home yard. The coffee is waiting, so the guest is asked to sit straight at the table. Beside the coffee there are doughnuts and boar steak which Tuomas tells he bought with intention to prove how it's like. The leading figure of Nightwish lives hectic times due the new album "Dark Passion Play" which will be released in September. Four months have passed with making the record in Helsinki, in England and shooting videos in the United States. The vacation for a couple of weeks at home among trees and lakes has been welcomed. "When I get back home from a long journey, I'm too tired to talk anything and just want to be on my own. But after a couple of days I will begin asking myself if I had something to do" laughs Holopainen.

Childhood is a source of strength

30 years old Holopainen has lived all his life in Kitee and plans to stay there in the future, too. Soon he is facing a move to his own log house on the opposite side of the village. He recalls his childhood in rural surroundings with special warmth. "Happy childhood is a huge source of strength to me. It was awesome period and I am extremely thankful for it. I was able to run along the fields and forests. Memories from childhood still bring me the chills. The last track on the upcoming CD "Meadows Of Heaven" tells about those feelings." The peaceful and beautiful surroundings where he was raised has been an important link for his creative work and it has a great impact on Nightwish's music. According to Holopainen the band would not sound as it does if his youth was spent on paved streets. "All songs are born or finished on the upstairs of this house. The livelihood and honesty of the music originates from the fact that I live in the forest and am a kind of hermit by nature." Holopainen tells that he has been melancholically following how the Potoskavaara village has been turning more and more silent. The remote village of the Kitee with 10000 inhabitants is a typical rural area with rare occupation: Local shop, post office and school have been closed down and the population is decreasing. "When I was a kid, it was great pedalling four kilometres to the shop to buy ice-cream. It is sad that those places are dead, since there is nothing more national romatic than a geniune Finnish village shop."

There is a small farmer in me

At Tuomas's home, in the family of father the engineer and mother the teacher has never been done farming or raised domestic animals. Despite of the fact, Tuomas has experienced the joys and roughnesses of farming jobs. "As a teenger I had a summer job at a farm: I made silage, stacked hay and got to drive a tractor. I liked the work awful lot and there is still a little farmer in me." "There are a certain romantic aspects involved with the idea that one is able to grow his own bread and walk with a straw in his mouth along the sides of the fields. But basically it is an awfully heavy job. I appreciare greatly farmers' toughness to keep milking and ploughing year after year." Holopainen has not met envy in Kitee, which is well known for the pesäpallo-game and pontikka (moonshine), on the contrary, his band is well supported and people are proud of them. "People are really nice to us. It may originate from the fact that we haven't forgotten our roots. I have heard something about little girls in Kitee who would not dare to ask for an autograph from me just to let me be in peace when I come home."

The wild forest helped with choosing the new singer

After finishing the coffee it is time to visit the near-by sauna at the lakeshore. The view over the lake is very beautiful. On one of the islands stands the Holopainen family's summer cabin. In that small cabin the new Swedish singer Anette Olzon passed her final test to become a bandmember. According to Tuomas the trip on the island gave the seal to their decision. "We flew Anette here from Sweden and went to stay at the cabin with the whole band. We slept in sleeping bags on the floor. There is no running water or electricity. It was October and it rained heavily. Anette did not complain about anything but she enjoyed it all. There we found out that we can come along with her very well." "I think that it tells a lot about a person's character if she can use the outhouse to have a dump. A person must be able to deal also with a more primitive circumstances without crying for porcelain to sit on", tells Tuomas.

Eppu Normaali of heavy music

(EN is the best selling Finnish pop-rock band in Finland for almost 30 years) Nightwish have gathered an enormous amount of fans and appeals more often also to those who are not into heavy music. Holopainen is not too astonished even though their popularity in the home country has reached the Eppu Normaali-like figures. "Despite our global success we are a very Finnish band by nature like Eppu's and Popeda (= another everlasting rockband). There are strong melodies and melancholy in our music which is known to appeal to Finns." The Finnish-Swedish blood will be tested next time on the North American tour which will begin in October. In December a domestic tour of eight gigs will cover also northern counties in Levi and Oulu. "It is great to get performing in different parts of Finaland after a long time. If it depended on me, I'd be ready to go playing in Nivala right now, jokes Holopainen and fills his mug with coffee for the third time.

Text Jouni Hirn

FACTS

The second best selling international band in Finland

Nightwish are Anette Olzon (voc), Tuomas Holopainen (kb) Emppu Vuorinen (gt) Marco Hietals (bs) and Jukka Nevalainen (dr). The band has sold 2790000 albums. The last studio album Once (2004) sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, gold in Sweden, Norway, Austria and Greece. Nightwish is the second best selling international act in Finland after HIM. Next album "Dark Passion Play" will be released on September 28. It will be the most expensive CD ever made in Finland. Making the record took about 500000 euros.

Anette Olzon is proud of her rural roots

"I am a coutry girl. Sure I like it in cities, but my soul is from the countryside." says Anette. The new vocalist of Nightwish lives currently in southern Sweden, but she tells to have grown up near the small Katrineholm town in middle of Sweden. "The nature there reminds that of Finland and that's why I loved it on my fist visit to the country. I love lakes, coniferous trees and hiking in forests. And not to forget sauna, it is wonderful and relaxing." 35-years old Olzon was chosen among 2000 applicants as the follower of Tarja Turunen who was dismissed from the band. Anette visited Finland for the fourt time last autumn when Nightwish called her for audition. Until now trips to the neighbouring country have been made about ten. I think that it is our common rural roots which unite our band. We are feet-on-the-ground type and we share a common sense of humour", says the lively Swede. How about learning Finnish, Anette? "I know some Finnish already or at least understand a little what is talked around me. The boys have teached me some words but I'm not quite sure if they are all appropriate."

Text Jouni Hirn