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© 2006 - present, Sabrina

translation and transcript by The Enigma

I: Tuomas, warm welcome to Metalliliitto!

T: Oh, thank you!

I: Let's go through this training period, a few days behind, I could imagine it gives a picture how the pieces are coming together.

T: Yeah, we rehearsed first three weeks in Kerava in smaller circumstances and now we are going through the dress rehearsals or the last anointing before meeting the inquisition. Here in Tampere at Akun Tehdas, we've been rehearsing with full audio gear and still have a couple of nights to go but everything is in such a great shape already that it can't get much better any more. Now we should get on stages coz with training you'll learn to train and with playing gigs you'll learn to play gigs. We all have an awful drive to the tour right now.

I: Say, as you're known as a perfectionist, it looks like no big problems have occurred during rehearsals?

T: No, we have been doing extremely well and feel really good, but I think that after another three weeks with a few gigs done the feeling will be even better. Or maybe not. I don't know.
Our biggest concern was how Anette would fit in the band and how she will do in live situations, that was the so called clue's end. When we decided to hire her in January, none of us could tell for sure if this will turn out to become anything and I'm sure that were any other vocalist chosen, the situation would have been still the same. None of us began building castles in the clouds telling now we found "the singer", now we're taking off the ground. We were rather that she is extremely good on all sides, but let's see what will turn out. Then we recorded vocals for the CD. it went great, we shot the videos, she was at home in front of the cameras, at rehearsals everything has gone well, so now it's just the last thing - how she'll make it live.

I: Well, at the moment we can say already that we don't have another Blaze Bailey joined Iron Maiden, can't we?

T: Well, not in our opinion, which is most important right now.

I: Tell us a little about rehearsals. What and how have been rehearsed? Have you been doing full sets at Akun Tehdas or have you been sticking to some particular songs?

T: We have about 30 songs rehearsed now, so we can have a little more variation to setlist than on previous tour when we played the same songs most of the time. Just to get our own interest alive, we have picked older material and maybe a few more unconventional songs, and from the new CD we have rehearsed all but three songs. In the beginnig we went through the songs one by one but now we have been doing the gig setlist and some extra on top of it. Also practiced changes and things, there will be also acoustic guitars taken along which will cause some more adjusting. Small fixing here and there, then we're deciding the right moments for bombs and effects and all that.

I: OK, we'll return later to that. But can you reveal a single bad moment, has there occurred a particular big obstacle at rehearsals, if any. Can you tell us anything.

T: Well, there really hasn't been anyhting... if we talk about Anette's performance, she's been able to clear everything we have given to her starting from our old songs to the new ones. It's bee more like we guys got to get the band into such a shape that Anette doesn't need to feel ashamed of us. [laughs]
Seriously, if we take the fourth song from the new CD, Cadence Of Her Last Breath, it's been quite troublesome, I mean it may sound easy, but getting the groove in it has taken an awful number of working hours.

I: One could imagine that while your old catalog is long enough, including not-so-easy songs, smacking an insaenly huge epos like DPP on top of it; I can honestly say that my imagination isn't going to figure out how the palette will be made into working shape, but congratulations for the fact that it works!

T: Like I said, we're having fun, and it works allright. For example the CD's opening track The Poet And The Pendulum, we are going to play it live, at least somehow crawl through it. We will try. Like I said it takes a few gigs before we can see if we're getting into aything with this. But I think we will.

I: How would you rate Anette's overall performance until now in school scale? [in Finland: 4=fail, 10=exellent]

T: Sheesh... I can't give her less than ten, and I'm talking on behalf of the whole band. We haven't met a single problem with her anytime, but the kind of... even unnecessary tight perfectionism shines in her aura. For example, when we have taped our rehearsals and then listened to them checking out things that don't work and to find anything to improve, she doesn't even want to listen to her own voice because she thinks she did a shitty job. [laughs] She'll lose her night sleep if she'll hear a single wrong note in her singing at rehersals. That's with her... she's got so insane self-criticism - which may also be good at this point...

I: Within this band the perfectionism is not really a rare feature, is it?

T: Yeah, it's the same with all the members, every little aspect has to be made to the last end.

I: Now we're getting to the subject these rehearsals aim at. Hitting the road. A bit earlier when we talked outside this place, you said you are "excited like hell" because of it. Now you may plough through your feelings and tell us what things exactly scare you and why?

T: As a matter of fact, a small-scaled panic hit us a few days ago when we realized that there isn't much time left before the tour will start and also Anette opened her heart to us... You know she's got an extremely good poker face, no matter how bad she'd feel she'd always smile, she genuinely is a self confident and good poker faced person, but then she held us a five minute lecture about how she actually is shit scared. [laughs] and how she felt she had to tell sbout it, and at that point a little panic hit at me, too: this can end any possible way, can't it? But, the basic confidence is intact and we weren't here if this wasn't going to turn out well. Before every tour we've had the same feeling, only now it feels double-sized beacuse of the new vocalist. I wish everything will work fine on stage and that the fans would give her a warm welcome. Or let's say they'd come to see us with open minds.

T: The first gig will be in about two weeks in such an unusual [metal] country as Israel. How did Israel got picked to be the opening place for the DPP-tour.

T: It'll be the opening gig. We planned to start in the USA and stay five weeks there, but they have kept poking us from Israel for so many years asking us to play there, and we took a look at our calendar and found out that the weekend was the only available in the next 12 months to come. We then decided we'd start the tour there.

I: When you go to a place like Israel, are there any special things to keep in mind or take notice of.

T: Yeah, we will have to play Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction there, I think... [laughs] ... not really, it's a gig like any other, even some family members have asked me why there and will you do fine there. But we've heard a lot of stories and know it's just a place like any other. Trouble can happen in any country in this world.

I: Now, let's take a larger look at the tour, you've got a huge one about to start. That's nothing new to you, one may say touring for you means normal life. But what happens when a long tour ends and you should begin to cope with the normal routines? Are there any chances for you adapting yourself to such routines?

T: We have talked about this with some colleaques. When a tour ends and even you have been waiting for the moment a long time, a strange depression hits you for a few days, an empty feeling like what should I do now. Adjusting to normal life isn't too easy, at least not for me, somehow adrenaline will keep rushing in the veins and when you suddenly drop on empty after the hassle it turns you into an empty, little depressed feeling. But here, now everyone only waits to get on the tourbus to get the healthy gig routine turned on because everything between finishing the CD and starting the tour make the most stressful time. All planning, rehearsals, promotion and an awful lot of things to fix here and there, when it's all over and we're on the road then everything will roll smoothly.

I. You have this, call it a bad habit; when Nightwish tour is on a break one could imagine you to take a vacation, but you have also been known to relax by saying "why not" to a gang from Lappenranta. This has raised in my mind some questions like this: why in the hell? You could take it easy as well.

T: [laughing] It's the best possible vacation for me, getting along the road with the Lappenranta- guys. I can't imagine anything better and more relaxing thing to do, you know what I'm talking about. [laughs]

I: I think I do. Let's play something by them, Kotiteollisuus. Any particular track you wish to hear?

T: Kuolemanjärvi.


[The song Kuolemanjärvi plays]


T: Excuse me!

I: His cellphone rings...

I: Cellphone closed, Tuomas, can you tell us what was it about?

T: Yesterday my the stand of my synths broke and I can't get similar anywhere in Finland or even in Europe right now. I've got another at home in Kitee, and I had to recruite my dear mom to fetch it from my house, pack it and send it here on express delivery. So, thanks a lot Mom!

I: Even metalhead has mom always in his mind, that's the right way to be. But hey! Let's move on with the upcoming Nightwish tour which will reach places where no-one ever roamed before - almost. What kind of spectacle you have planned on stage? You mentioned the bombs been synchronized with music. Will there be a full fireworks all the way.

T: No, indeed not. Our performance must work at small clubs and at big arenas, it has to be the music where it all originates from. The fact is that The Poet And The pendulum must cause the same shivers to 500 people at a small culb in the US and to the full house at the Harwall Arena, but if there is a possibility and money to spend on the visual side, then of course we want to use it. But with style before all.

I: When continued from Israel to North America, there will be relatively small clubs waiting, well, what is a small, but in those where you can't do the Lordi-like spectacles. Small clubs are a favourable idea to you, Am I right?

T: Very favourable. I feel myself most at home in small clubs like those. The North American tour will mainly stop at House of Blues and the likes, with capacity between 500-2000 persons and we can't carry bombs in those venues but it'll be OK. An intimate, sweaty rock-club works best with me.

I: Does it bother you since the band is too big to play at small clubs too often any more?

T: Well, America, Australia, there are plenty of countries where we can play at small venues. It's mainly in Europe where we can't do it or we have to play at bigger venues, but then again, those gigs have their own distinctive feeling.

I: Lets talk about the setlist for the tour. You said the band has rehearsed 30 songs for the tour with this new lineup. How will the basic setlist be? What will be the rate between old and new songs?

T: Mmm... maybe 60/40 between old and new, a little more older than new, but in order to keep our own interest up, we will play quite many new songs, too. But I'm very irritated by the idea of a band going on tour with a new CD and first play it from the beginnig to end and then three biggest old hits for the encore. [laughs] Yeah, everyone will do their thing, but I find a suitable mix of old and new better.

I: Will Sleeping Sun be included in the setlist?

T: Yes Sleeping Sun will be included. A couple of evergreens we will play no more can be named: Phantom Of The Opera and Over The Hills And Far Away. The latter became kind of forced play for us on the last legs of Once tour so why would we take it back, after all it is a cover version.

I: The first gig in Finland will be on on December 8. Tell us what will be your scaryness level before the domestic gigs. It's always more scary to perform at home than in foreign countries, isn't it?

T: Mmm, yeah it's the fact that at home we are the big band, at least in the eyes of public media. The expectations are much bigger than in, say when we go playing in North America. At that point we will have about 40 gigs behind us, and I think we have found the necessary routine, but it will be exciting no matter what. But a fine momet as well. I think we have played too few gigs in Finland in recet years and it'll be good to play at home again.

I: Lets talk about America bit more. How much Finland will be in your interviews and marketing. It's been a double edged blade with bands, like some keep Finland up all the time, others don't put much stress on their origin or even leave it stay in the shadows.

T: In decent amounts. We are a band, we're not exporting Finnish national pride or trying to raise someone's self confidence, but we want to remind that we are from Finland, from Kitee and we are proud of the fact. But that will be it, I don't think it would be something we'd like to boast with all the time. Our Finnish origin can be heard in our music and in the structure of melodies, and it can be seen in what we are as humans. That will do.

I: On the other hand, Anette better not go boasting her Swedish origin in this circumstances - or...? [laughs]

T: Yeah, right! [laughing] Better be ourselves and see where it takes us.

I: I think it'll take you pretty far. If we go back to the domestic gigs, you have picked quite a special opener. Your pick has raised quite intensive debates on the fire-spitting metal forums and I think you understand what I'm talking about. [laughs] Where did this decision come from?

T: I've been fan of the band since their debut CD and I really like them, and I have yet to find another band on this planet who have the image of soul as close to ours as they do. Even when we play in differenrt genres the certain world of thoughts we both posess are very close to each other. It came from there. Then I threw a curve-ball to the guys and managent that how about doing good cross-over, let's ask Indica to open for us in Scandinavia. Right then I had just heard them making some new material in English. Soon everyone were asking why not then, it sounds like some fun.

I: We won't play Indica now, even I will undersign the fact that the songmaker of Indica is very talented, they have obviosly something big coming up. But now we will go in really huge atmospheres. Tuomas, you have to present the opening track of Dark Passion Play CD called The Poet And The Pendulum. This massive track obviously has a special place in your heart, please would you like to tell us about it.

T: Sheesh, I have made 350 interviews during the last 5-6 weeks and I'm sick and tired of talking about myself. But I will do it once more: [laughs]

The Poet And The Pendulum is the most personal track of our most personal CD. It mainly sweeps the incidents in 2005 when I had an enourmous frustration and self disgust in me and I happened to read The Pit And The Pendulum by E.A Poe and got the idea of myself being the character on the altar. The kind of symbolic connection, I'm quite proud of the idea The Pit And The Pendulum/The Poet And The Pendulum - yeah, there is something in it. Then I started building the story, it's about extreme self hatred, feeling unworthy, of desire to go back in time and about the fact that even when the world kicks in the head, there are the people who will love without asking for anything. That's where the song ends. In the lyrics there are quite straightforward wording, even harsh, some parts for the boy sopranos didn't pass when the choir leader came to tell us that we're not making The Excorcist part V, would you mind cleaning your mouth a little. [laughs] But we're lucky, we have Marco in the band and we could push the censored parts to him. The result is a massive theatrical works and you will hear the world premiere tight now!

[The Poet And The Pendulum played in full]