Nightwish

[Serena]

Finnish symphonic metal legends Nightwish are currently bringing the music from their recently released album Endless Forms Most Beautiful to the live stage in North America along with support from Sabaton and Delain. The subject matter of Nightwish’s brilliant new record centers on evolution and celebrating the diversity of life. The album is also the band’s first studio offering with new vocalist Floor Jansen.

Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen spoke with Hardrock Haven just before a sold out show at the Agora Theatre in Cleveland, OH. Holopainen was eager to speak about the making of Endless Forms, his continued use of old floppy disks, his favorite non-Nightwish Floor Jansen album, and his thoughts on widespread creationist beliefs in the United States:

Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish 01 350Hardrock Haven: You have a new album out, Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Can you talk a little bit about how the tour has been going so far with Sabaton and Delain?

Tuomas Holopainen: Well, at least for me personally, it’s the perfect package, two of my favorite bands. We get a chance of touring with them. Such lovely people. Great bands. The beginning of the tour has been your average beginning of the tour. So it takes some time to get used to the routine and everything but all of the shows have been more or less fantastic so far.

Hardrock Haven: Richard Dawkins plays a very prominent role on the record with the narration. What would you have done if he had said “no” and declined to participate?

Tuomas: Probably read those same words with another person, if he would have allowed. But we were just lucky enough to have him. I mean, he said an immediate “yes.” It was kind of funny because he sent me an email saying “Thank you for the letter sir, but I’ve never heard of Nightwish before. I went into YouTube and enjoyed what I heard immensely. So I’m really looking forward to the collaboration.” Such a gentleman, a really nice guy and we’re really just happy to have him.

Hardrock Haven: I know Pink Floyd had Stephen Hawking on their last record.

Tuomas: Yeah.

Hardrock Haven: And obviously Nightwish has Dawkins.

Tuomas: I heard about [Stephen Hawking on Pink Floyd’s album] afterwards, actually.

Hardrock Haven: Any scientists left out there that you think should be on a rock album?

Tuomas: There are many superb guys. The late Carl Sagan is one of my biggest heroes. Dawkins, of course. Neil deGrasse Tyson is really cool. Brian Cox. There are many of those, but Dawkins for me personally is the ultimate.

Hardrock Haven: You mentioned Sagan, and I know that there’s going to be a new single coming out featuring the non-album track, “Sagan.”

Tuomas: Yeah, like the instrumental version.

Hardrock Haven: How did you make that call to not include that song on the record? Was it ever intended to be on the record?

Tuomas: Actually it was originally, and it fit the theme of the album perfectly, but the album stands at 79 minutes at the moment. And 80 minutes is the absolute limit you can have on CD. So you had to cut one song. So, we kind of like made votes within the band and Sagan was the one to be dropped off.

Hardrock Haven: The band made a lot of trailers leading up to the release of the record. 15 or 16, right?

Tuomas: Yeah, still a few more to come.

Hardrock Haven: Still yet to come, excellent. In one of those you mention you can hear the vocals in your head, what you intend them to be, or what they’re going to be. Do you coach the other vocalists towards your ultimate goal? How does that work.

Tuomas: What I do is what an album producer does. But yeah, I have a really clear vision of what the song and the vocals should sound like. But it happens often that the vocalists come up with much better ideas than what I have. In the beginning we, like, rehearse them in a way that I had it in my mind. And after that, start processing the thought. For example, for the first song on the album, “Shudder Before the Beautiful,” we had much operatic vocals, originally. That’s what I had in mind, but it just didn’t work. It sounded prog. And then Floor took a different approach. And it started to work.

Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish 02 350Hardrock Haven: Absolutely it worked. The album cover art…I know you worked with your long time art team Toxic Angel. Did you have any input in the whole double helix theme of it? Did you provide any ideas of what it should be?

Tuomas: Again, yep. We worked really closely together with Toxic Angel. Sometimes I have quite a clear vision of what the images look like. And then again, there were songs like “My Walden” and “Our Decades in the Sun” that I didn’t really have an idea [for] so I just told him, you know, listen to the song, listen to the demo, what it brings to your mind, and release the artist inside. And he came up with this beautiful image. The artwork of the album is really important.

Hardrock Haven: Troy, as a full member on this record – did that affect the sound or was there an increase in the use of pipes and whistles?

Tuomas: Well I think the amount of pipes and whistles on this album is about the same as on the previous albums, so I don’t think it really changed that much, but he does quite a bit of singing on the album as well, and also the bouzouki in a couple of songs, so a lot of cool stuff there.

Hardrock Haven: The epic track, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” I think I originally heard it was a longer song.

Tuomas: Yeah, it was about 35 to 40 minutes.

Hardrock Haven: Any idea of using parts that were recorded that maybe didn’t make it on the record in the future?

Tuomas: I have them somewhere, in the floppy disc of my keyboard. So maybe.

Hardrock Haven: [laughs] I love that part of the trailer where it shows you still use the old floppy discs.

Tuomas: Yeah, I still use [them].

Hardrock Haven: Is it just stubbornness or is it just familiar to you? Why do you still use the floppy discs?

Tuomas: It’s not really stubbornness. I mean, it works, so why change? And that’s something I learned 15 years ago. I really haven’t felt the need to upgrade to Pro Tools or anything because I’m still not like a professional technician. I would never record an album by myself. So, the technology is there only to record the demos, to get the ideas. And I’m fine with floppy discs.

Hardrock Haven: Well like you said, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

Tuomas: Yeah.

Hardrock Haven: What was the initial spark that inspired you to write about the diversity of life, evolution. Why is that the theme of this record? Where did it come from?

Tuomas: From books that I read. From the Cosmos series, bot the 80s Carl Sagan one, and the updated one with Neil deGrasse Tyson. I watched those and said, yeah, this is the thing for the next Nightwish album for sure.

Hardrock Haven: The animal sounds in “The Greatest Show on Earth” – were those record specially for the album?

Tuomas: They were made specially for the album by Mr. Jussi Tegelman, who works in Hollywood. And honestly, I really don’t know how he did those, whether he recorded those or used some old samples. They sound fantastic. My favorite part is the apes, before “The Toolmaker.” They sound fantastic.

Hardrock Haven: What’s the perception in Europe of creationism in the United States? Because I know it’s much more prominent here, the idea that a divine being created everything.

Tuomas: It’s rather funny, to be honest, because it’s not even debatable. I mean, creationism is such an absurd idea, that the planet is less than 10,000 years old. It’s just plain wrong, and we have all the evidence in the world to prove it like that. So yes, it’s a bit of a funny thing.

Hardrock Haven: How did you first get connected with Pip Williams?

Tuomas: Oh, that was through our mixing enginner, Mikko Karmilla, back in 2003, so we go back quite a long way already. We wanted to get the possible orchestra that you can have in Europe and he had a contact to Pip Williams. He had done a project with him earlier on, and he recommended him to us. That’s how we started. It immediately clicked, and ever since the Once album, I’ve done all the orchestra work with him.

nightwish2

Hardrock Haven: He was very complimentary of you in the trailer. Was that embarrassing at all? He called you a genius. He put you above Rick Wakeman.

Tuomas: It’s always embarrassing, yes. But thanks, Pip, anyway. Thank you. I love you.

Hardrock Haven: Ha. Ha. Why did you select Vancouver to film the next Nightwish DVD?

Tuomas: There will be some other venues as well, so it won’t be only Vancouver. There are certain reasons for it, but let’s keep it a secret for now.

Hardrock Haven: Excellent. Nothing beats the experience of seeing a band live, obviously, but do you have any favorite live concert videos of yours that stand out?

Tuomas: Well we’ve done three official ones, I think. From Wishes to Eternity; The End of an Era; and Showtime, Storytime. They’re all great.

Hardrock Haven: Well I mean of other bands.

Tuomas: Oh, other bands. I’m sorry.

Hardrock Haven: No, you’re fine.

Tuomas: Yeah, the Pulse concert by Pink Floyd. That would be my desert island concert DVD for sure. Incredible.

Hardrock Haven: What was your reaction to the news that Nightwish is going to be on a Finnish postage stamp?

Tuomas: [laughs] It’s an honor. It really is an honor.

Hardrock Haven: With some other peers of yours as well.

Tuomas: Exactly, yeah.

Hardrock Haven: You just recently did a solo album, The Life and Times of Scrooge, your first. Do you ever think you’ll do another one?

Tuomas: Uh, never say never. If there comes an idea for a project that I couldn’t realize with Nightwish, then maybe, but I have really no ambitions of going solo. I love working with these people. I love the idea of being in a band and doing things together.

Hardrock Haven: It seems like a lot of musicians are getting into the alcohol business and I know you’re a big fan of wine. Have you ever given any thought to owning or operating a vineyard?

Tuomas: Why not? There’s a romantic touch to the idea for sure. Just Nightwish red wine – somehow it fits. And we actually put a lot of effort into it. We tasted all the different brands and all the different grapes. We put a lot of effort into the logo and the text and everything so it would really look like a band thing and not just another commercial product.

Hardrock Haven: So to wrap up we just have kind of a lighting round so we’ll just ask some quick questions. What is your favorite non-Nightwish Floor Jansen album?

Tuomas: I remember hearing the debut album of After Forever [Prison of Desire], in the late ’90s I think it was. It totally blew me away, so I’ll go for that.

Hardrock Haven: You’re known for wearing a top hat, often on stage and in promo photos. Who is your favorite top hat wearer in pop culture?

Tuomas: Scrooge McDuck.

Hardrock Haven: Excellent. I should have anticipated that. What is your favorite Disney movie?

Tuomas: The original Fanstasia, 1940.

Hardrock Haven: You said in one of those trailers that you once wanted to be a marine biologist. What is your favorite sea animal and why?

Tuomas: Oh dear. There are so many. Is it too obvious to say dolphins? Dolphins and whales, for sure. And all those really weird looking deep sea creatures.

Hardrock Haven: [laughs} The ones with no eyes?

Tuomas: Yeah, right out of a sci-fi film. Octopi are awesome as well.

Hardrock Haven: Favorite food to eat on tour in the United States?

Tuomas: Curry. Indian food.

Hardrock Haven: Last thing for you, Tuomas. Anything you’d like to say to Nightwish fans that might be reading this.

Tuomas: Thank you for the sincere passion and support throughout the years, throughout all the turbulences, and ups and downs. I mean, there’s nothing more loyal in this world than a Metal fan.

Hardrock Haven: Thank you so much for taking the time.

Tuomas: Thank you.

Hardrock Haven: It has been a pleasure speaking with you.

Tuomas: You too.

For more information on Nightwish, please visit www.nightwish.com.

[Transcribed by Justin DelPrince]

[Serena]

Marco Hietala‘s entrance into Nightwish, before the release of their critically acclaimed 2002 album Century Child, was a turning point for the band. His voice, the high-pitched growl-like singing, gave the band a whole new depth, and allowed to them to reach a level that, in all likelihood, would not have been possible without him. His abilities, which he demonstrated plenty with his band Tarot, both as a musician and as a songwriter, were a great addition to the symphonic style of Nightwish, and gave the band a darker and heavier tone, which I personally love.

I met with Marco during the Amsterdam listening session for their upcoming album Endless Forms Most Beautiful. A truly bizarre experience where you’re sitting in front of the artists, listening to their album, silently making judgments on the work they’ve put their sweat and tears into. For a musician, that must be awkward as hell.

MB: Endless Forms Most Beautiful represents a new chapter for the band, as it is your first work without Jukka in drums and, of course, your first work with Floor‘s as the official singer. At the same time, some see it as an opportunity for Nightwish to return to form, due to Floor‘s lyrical abilities in regards to opera.
Marco: She has a very versatile sound, and she can almost do anything with her voice. We didn’t really do a lot of the operatic things in the album; there are only or two places on the album where that comes across. We tried a lot of different things, simply because it was possible to do it.
There’s a big scope of things, also vocal-wise, where you go from really soft ethereal things into really big and loud things. It’s easy to do it when you’re in a band where you have musicians who are capable of that.

MB: Since joined Nightwish you have also participated in the songwriting. How does this process change with every different singer?
Marco: It doesn’t really change that much, because the basic things, how you write the music, the melodies and the lyrics, stay the same; they have their own life. It is the vocalist who then goes through them to give them their own personality and let shine through whatever the lyrics and the story have to say.
Of course, you have to keep in mind what is the actual range of the vocalist, and operate within those boundaries.

MB: Considering the connection that people develop with Nightwish, are there many concerns about fans liking a new singer whenever a change happens?
Marco: Yeah; during the times of Dark Passion Play there was this burden of proof that we had to meet; we had to prove that the band wasn’t just one face and one voice, but we managed to do that at the time. It went well; the album sold well, we did an extensive tour, etc. We proved our point then, so now everybody takes it more easily. If you do this kind of thing once, you can do it again.
It also seems to be that the backlash from the fans has been really minimal; they seem to have taken to the idea of Floor singing with us really well, so there was no problem.
Back when we split with Tarja I thought about Floor as a replacement, I think Tuomas did too, but After Forever were doing quite well, they were all friends, and so we didn’t have the heart to ask her. This time around we first needed someone that could finish the tour with us, and so we thought about calling her. As the tour went on we realized that we really didn’t need to fix something that wasn’t broken, and just needed to find the proper time to ask her to join us permanently.

MB: Going into Endless Forms Most Beautiful; how do you feel it compares to Imaginaerum. I felt that it had a lot of Danny Elfman vibes in it..
Marco: You might be right in that…
The attitude of doing a lot of versatile things and trying a lot of styles, well, that was already there in Imaginaerum. I feel that this time around, however, the songs, the music itself, is more compacted, in the sense that although it’s still very cinematic at times, there’s more of a band-vibe. This is the result of how we rehearsed and arranged everything during the 6 weeks we had for it; it was a very open-minded, “free for all” situation. If somebody had an idea they could just present it, and we’d try things out; the way in which we put the structures together was very democratic. We found ourselves sticking to the essentials and dropping all the useless stuff.
Another different thing in recording this album was that from the rehearsals we moved straight on into recording the album, because we built a studio in the same place we rehearsed. This also managed to transfer this energetic “band vibe” into the album.

MB: How was that process? I’ve heard about a “summer camp experience”…
Marco: That was a big part of it; we did really long days, a lot of thinking, listening and talking about what we were doing. With this energy that we had going on it was all really painless; we were doing things until late in the evening, then when someone got tired we’d just go out, light up the campfire, warm up the sauna, jump into the lake, talk about all kinds of things, and listen to some different kinds of music. Some guys would drink a lot of beer and… [laughs] well, it was a really good and relaxing time for everyone.

MB: An interesting episode of the recording process was the appearance of Richard Dawkins. He’s not the kind of guy that I would have expected would show up to a metal recording. How did that end up happening?
Marco: There are these evolutionary wonders that are, well, pretty evident in some of the lyrics. Tuomas had been reading Dawkins‘ books for quite some time already, and since there was stuff he was already writing about, he sent Richard a handwritten letter, and he replied within a couple of weeks. He thought this sounded interesting, even though he had never heard about the band before.
So far, although Richard has done a lot of public appearances, in the entertainment business he had only been once in The Simpsons…  and now he’s on a Nightwish album, so it’s a quote a nice honor.

MB: Recording was done in Finland and London, right?
Marco: In London we worked with the London Symphony Orchestra (well, a big part of it), the Metro Voices Choir, and people who were doing different kinds of percussions and children choirs. Almost all the band parts were recorded at “the summer camp”, so that was quite well thought-of already.
When Tuomas has these orchestral things he also has them first as an electronic demo, and so when you’re playing in the band you know how to behave before the orchestras are actually added.

MB: You came from Tarot, a very straighforward heavy metal band, and moved to this very cinematic, larger than-life project (particularly so in the last few years). How was it for you to switch from this direct approach to this other style? Because I’m guessing we won’t be seeing Tarot with a children’s choir anytime soon.
MI: Probably not! [laughs] We did do a couple of shows with a real choir, but it was just for a couple of summer festivals. As musical styles go though, I’m no stranger to either approach; I’m a big fan of 70’s hard rock and prog rock, and so I like these more  unorthodox song structures since they give you a lot of freedom to express yourself just the way you want to. This is the most important thing for me when making music.

MB: I was sad to see that your voice isn’t as prominent in Endless Forms Most Beautiful as it was in previous albums.
Marco: There are only a few lead pieces with my voice, but no whole songs. A lot of people commented that I wasn’t singing that much, which although is true in the surface, if you listen to the choruses you’ll see that Floor is doing the leads while I’m doing the harmonies.
If we talk about the amount of singing, there’s probably more in this album than ever before, but it’s just not so apparent.

MB: Would you have preferred to sing more?
Marco: I don’t really think in those terms. I like singing, of course, so I have no problem if there’s a song where it fits, but this time around I felt the songs sounded better the way they are now. My attitude about the band is that, whatever we do, we have to first serve the song, and then serve the band.
With Floor we actually found out, while we were still on tour, that when we put these harmonies together we have a really powerful mix. The same when we do things in unison. They sound quite impressive.

MB: í‰lan, the first single of this album, was leaked before the release. You were all very disappointed about it, obviously; do you think that nowadays this is just inevitable?
MB: There’s a very big chance that it will happen, yes, but there’s always the hope that it won’t. You plan things in a certain way, so that they will have a really big impact; you manage to create an expectation which will be fulfilled for everyone at the same time… like a goddamn little Christmas! But then somebody, who doesn’t really care about it at all, who doesn’t give a shit about any of that, or who doesn’t respect the people’s expectations, or our expectations, goes and leaks it… yeah, it’s a disappointment.

MB: It’s happening to everyone, sadly.
Marco: You still hope that people will actually learn to actually care about things. This is a thing that is planned for quite a lot of people, so it’s not just my disappoint, but that of a lot of people.If there’s one thing that is causing trouble all around the world it’s the innate greed that we all have; that if we are able to take something that nobody else has… Take the case of Crimea in Ukraine, or anything to do with extreme religious or political regimes, it’s all about getting the money and power, getting stuff, from people, without basically giving anything good back. It’s a sorry attitude.

MB: But considering the limited amount of people who got it, and that our promos are watermarked, you should be able to pinpoint who did the leak anyway, right?
Marco: Whenever you have more than two people together you can’t keep secrets, and so these things always find a way.

MB: This also goes back to a big change in the music industry that has happened in the last few years. During the recording of Endless Forms Most Beautiful there were a lot of “studio updates” and “trailers”, things that bands just didn’t do before. Nowadays it seems like bands see a need to stay connected to their fans, maybe to stay relevant or in order to not be forgotten, amid all the bands out there.
Marco: The competition is really hard, so that has changed things. In my opinion, we could have done less trailers, making ofs and all that; however, at the same time, this is something that we do so that we can have control, because the people with whom we did them are familiar to us. We don’t have to go through anybody else in order to do them, so I think it’s a good way to present the band because we have total control of what it says and what it gives out from us, especially when it shows us as we are.

MB: Do you feel that now there’s just too much pressure on bands to do this kind of thing?
Marco: It’s just a sign of the times. I’d be pleased if you could keep things mysterious.
It’s also about competition and survival; you want to market your things as best as possible. At the same time, however, I think that we have a really great and loyal fanbase, so I’m not even sure that we really needed to do these things.

MB: I understand that there is probably some “pressure” or “advice” from the label regarding doing these things.
Marco: Well, as long as we are paying for the album ourselves, we don’t have to cave in to the rules of mainstream music; we don’t have to take any instructions from record labels regarding how to present the music. As long as we have that luxury, I stay out of the marketing side.
The music business, booking tours, etc., is a logistical hazard. If I tried to control all of that I’d just go mad.

MB: Did you try to do it with Tarot?
Marco: There was a time when I was responsible for booking some buses, making sure that people were on schedule, etc. I got fed up within a year; I’m not going back to that. Everything changes day by day; there’s always chaos, and nothing stays the same from one day to another. It’s a tremendous mental pressure to be working with that load. I have the greatest possible respect for tour managers, and I’d never do that myself.

MB: You’re not known for putting crazy things on your rider?
Marco: Nah… Whenever possible, I just like to have various fruits, salads and yogurt every day. [laughs]

MB: Since you mentioned the issue of tours being chaotic… something that I see a lot is the absolute insanity that you often get at your hotels with your fans, trying to get close to you etc. How was it for you when you started with Nightwish, and suddenly encountered this? For Anette Olzon things were apparently pretty crazy when she joined.
Marco: When I joined Century Child was coming out at the end of spring, and so we just went in and did summer festivals. I was flying into places where I was in front of huge crowds, and I thought it was cool. Then we did our first tour together, which was in South America… and there people are wild. Security people are making sure you can get to your van, and you have fans yelling and banging on the windows of your van… it was a weird feeling to be suddenly inside of that thing.
I wasn’t really scared of that though; it just showed that those people were really enthusiastic about what we do, and that’s just great. It’s a band making music, presenting it to the fans, and them buying the albums, coming to the shows… we are able to provide an escape from mundane things to people, which is important. I have a lot of respect for the fans as well, because it’s all about this interaction between what we provide for them, and what they provide for us. This whole thing would be impossible without them.

MB: And considering the size of the band, how has it been for you to juggle your position in Nightwish with your own family life?
Marco: Well, I’m no wonder for my kids [laughs] I think that now that they’re getting to their teens they’re trying to keep a lid on the fact that their dad is a “rock star”. It’s not a big deal for them. When I’m at home I just try to make sure there’s food in the fridge and clean laundry.

MB: But do you still get stopped in Finland when people recognize you?
Marco: Sometimes, but it’s not a big thing in my hometown. People are used to me, which is a really good thing, because I wouldn’t like to be a small-town celebrity. I like to live my life as it is, and then there’s this hellraiser side of me which I let loose when I get on stage.

MB: Speaking of raising hell… it’s been a while since we saw any new material from Tarot, are we going to see anything new, or is it just impossible because of Nightwish?
Marco: It’s not impossible…. during the break that we had with Nightwish we were supposed to make a new album; we were able to lay down a couple of demos, some riffs, some lyrics… but there was just too much going on for many people in Tarot. A couple of them have their own jobs, musical or otherwise, and so the timing didn’t work.
Maybe by the end of 2016, when things with Nightwish start to wind down, we’ll have to get together and start working on those unfinished songs. I think that there’s a lot of good stuff there as well, so I hope we can make it.

MB: I certainly hope so! Thank you very much for your time, and see you on tour.
Marco: Thank you!

[Serena]

Nightwish on a new road
 
New York’s famous Times Square is crowed. “Hi Tuomas, good luck for the show” is heard a few times among the crowd in plain Finnish.
“I didn’t know these well-wishers but it feels good”, Tuomas Holopainen, the front man of Nightwish, smiles.
The non-stopping flow of people takes effect eventually.
“I have to get back to the hotel. New York is an amazing city, but its pulse beats so frequently, that I sometimes need some peace with a good book for example”, Tuomas, who just bought the newest book by his favorite author Patrick Rotfuss, says.
Tuomas definitely needs a moment of calm, since the first show of the world tour promoting the new Endless Forms Most Beautiful is tonight. A few thousand people can fit into the elegant Hammerstein Ballroom, which serves as the concert venue. It’s quite uncommon that Tuomas isn’t really nervous, even though it is an extremely important show in the heart of one of the world’s most famous metropolitans. 
“Troy Donockley (a band member) did a trick based on hypnosis to me in Los Angeles on 2012 before the first show of a world tour. I don’t’ know exactly what happened during those twenty minutes, but after that experience I haven’t been nervous before a concert”, Tuomas tells while walking to the hotel.
 
Feeling weird
 
After a few hours the members of Nightwish and a group of technicians have moved inside the Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th street. The band has seen the ambitious set for the first time in all of its glory and a successful sound check is done.
Before the show the band withdraws to the peace of backstage. There you can easily sense the good atmosphere in the Nightwish-family. The musicians enjoy being together and none of them retreats to solitude – some years ago the situation was exactly the opposite. When the artists expecting the show get excited about a game of dice, there’s no end to the cheerful stories.
“The feeling within the band and the crew is really great at the moment – we older members in Nightwish feel probably as good as in the best moments with Tarja (Turunen). Of course Anette’s (Olzon) era had good moments too”, Tuomas says.
The band’s original drummer Jukka Nevalainen also sits in the dressing room with others, he was forced to step down due to insomnia at least for this tour. He has arrived to New York to follow his beloved band’s first show of the new tour – and the first gig of all time without him.
“Feels weird, really weird”, Nevalainen admits.
“The silver lining was that our old friend Kai Hahto agreed to take Jukka’s place with a fast pace. Without him our plans would’ve had to been rescheduled”, Tuomas tells.
 
A boiling hall
 
About three hours later the grand hall in Hammerstein Ballroom is boiling since Nightwish’s debut performance for the new tour has come to its final moments. The curve of the visually magnificent show has been carefully planned: new material, old classics, peaceful moments and heavy songs. 
The ambitious arsenal of light blinks for the last time and the volume raised by the last note of ‘Last Ride of the Day’ is felt in the deepest parts of your body. The fans reaching for the stage are smiling and crying – they know they have witnessed an unforgettable concert that has now ended.
The main stars of the evening are also touched as they line up in front the audience, which is screaming on the top of its lungs. Tuomas looks at his bandmates, a satisfied grin settles on his face. Then Nightwish takes a deep bow, before withdrawing backstage.
The band’s manager Toni Peiju has been watching the show from the audience’s side. The man has a wide smile on his face as the lights in the hall dims.
“The local promoter just notified us that the next six shows are sold out and a lot of other shows are filling up nicely.”
 
All pieces together
 
After the almost two-hour show team Nightwish is coming down from the adrenaline high backstage. Bassist-singer Marco Hietala falls on the sofa and takes a deep breath. Guitarist Emppu Vuorinen slaps a high-five with Kai Hahto, who just finished his first Nightwish show. The drummer gave his all and is covered with sweat, as are the other musicians.
The days before the over one and a half year long world tour have been filled with excitement, but now the pieces have fallen into the right places. The bands playing is seamless and the set list turned out to work from the start. Or at least almost.
“Hey, should we play Everdream for example instead of Nemo?”
The question is asked by singer Floor Jansen, who just came from the shower and has changed her performance outfit for a black hoody and grey jeans. After a while everyone agreed with Floor’s suggestion and Everdream is decided to add to the set soon.
“Nemo is one of our most well-known songs but the band is indeed a little tired of playing it”, Hietala tells.
 
An open discussion
 
Tuomas return to the singer’s suggestion later inside the tour bus. Nightwish’s mobile home for the next six weeks, the American way cozy bus has just left for the next destination, Philadelphia lies a few hours ahead.
“Nightwish has famously had its own challenges in the past. However now we are on a good road, since the discussion atmosphere is on a whole new level than before. Floor’s change suggestion is one example. We are now able talk about anything openly and constructively and no one takes the comments too personally. I’m not offended is someone points out that a white coat may not be the perfect stage outfit. And Floor doesn’t take it the wrong way if I ask her to reconsider something she said between songs.”
Tuomas has noticed in the past years though that talking doesn’t necessarily solve the problems. 
“Sometimes it can mess up the situation even more. We have of course talked within the band earlier too, but it is no use when the opposite side doesn’t want to listen.”
What kind of a Nightwish-boss are you nowadays?
“I’m in no way a strict boss or a control freak. I really don’t decide everything even though some people seem to think that”, Tuomas huffs and continues.
“For example business and money.. I don’t want to know anything about that side!”
 
Here we go again?
 
Then Tuomas fixes his eyes on the floor of the tour bus and ponders awhile. Soon the musician tells that the turbulence behind, mainly the severe break ups with Tarja Turunen and Anette Olzon, pops into his mind occasionally.
“In a way I’m constantly on my toes. I’m definitely not feeling carefree and confident that now everything will be perfect forever, let’s conquer the world and have some fun on the side.”
So the traumatic experiences of the past haven’t been all forgotten.
“A feeling is affected so easily. If I hear only one unkind word from the band, crew or someone close to me, I immediately get this ‘help, what’s going to happen now’-feeling”, Tuomas says.
“I can for example notice that our other manager Ewo Pohjola is stressed and I immediately start to think, don’t break yourself good man. Or Floor can in passing say that the bed on the bus is a little too narrow. Then I think, is it starting again?”
Does in annoy you, having these thoughts?
“Not really annoy.. There are good sides to it, not leaving things to brood but getting them out in the open immediately. I have consciously refined this ‘all out, right away’-side of myself.”
 
The memories won’t go away
 
The firing of the original singer Tarja Turunen in autumn 2005 haven’t left Nightwish, or especially Tuomas, entirely alone. An open dismissal letter after ending a successful world tour in the Hartwall Arena is something that Nightwish wouldn’t do today. 
“I still don’t regret the decision to fire Tarja, because we didn’t have a future together. Things were absolutely awful. In the end the atmosphere in the band was so distressed that we couldn’t keep our heads cool and think. We were like cornered and wounded animals, who had to do something, anything, to change that awful feeling. It is fair to admit though that the way we handled Tarja’s firing was too vile”, Tuomas says.
Was Nightwish near breaking up then, at end of 2005?
“It was surely the worst time in the band’s history but we didn’t even consider throwing in the towel. In the middle of hardship some kind of unexplainable pride filled us, this band doesn’t deserve an ending like this. It simply wouldn’t have been right.”
 
New light in life
 
Ten years after these hard times Nightwish is more popular than ever before. Endless Forms Most Beautiful has collected praising critiques and chart positions around the world and many fans consider it the band’s best release. At least as many have already praised Floor Jansen as the best vocalist in the band’s history.
“Floor deserves every possible applause. She learned our songs super quickly and joined the band in a very hard moment in 2012, in the middle of a North-America tour, when collaboration between the band and Anette became impossible due to disagreements. Floor saved that tour with sovereign way and she has never disappointed us later on.”
Floor Jansen was named an official member in Nightwish in the autumn 2013, at the same time as multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley.
“Some people become spirit friends right away. This happened to me and Troy upon a time and he has since influenced me and Nightwish a lot.”
The most apparent evidence of Tuomas’ words is Endless Forms Most Beautiful, praising for example the accomplishments of science, where the previous Imaginaerum sought more influence from fantasy and imagination. Nightwish dares to speak out about things it considers important and asked evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins to appear on the album, not being satisfied to only entertain.
“The current Tuomas wouldn’t write texts that are for example on the Oceanborn or Wismaster- albums. My way of thinking has clearly changed with time and this can be heard in our songs. In fact everything that has happened the last couple of years has affected me greatly. In a way a new light shines inside me.”
 
The latest scandal
 
Yes, indeed, Richard Dawkins. When Nightwish announced that the British evolutionary biologist would visit on the album last autumn, the reception was varied. Some declared to love the band even more, other were returning already bought concert tickets. The reason for the flood of opinions was that Dawkins is known to have a sceptic view on religions.
“Like Marco Hietala has appropriately pointed out: even the wild stunts rock bands pull seem to cause no reactions anymore. Well, ask a popularizer of science to visit an album and weird things will start to happen”, Tuomas sneers.
How did it make you feel when just the announcement about Dawkins’ appearance made some fans burn all the Nightwish-albums they had collected over the years?
“Actually I think only one loud person destroyed his/her albums, but of course these wild stunts find wings and huge dimensions. We of course anticipated that Dawkins’ visit would stir up strong feelings for and against, but that didn’t affect our plans at all. Let’s make this clear: Nightwish could not get a more fitting and greater guest than Richard Dawkins.”
Then Tuomas smiles, once again. Somewhere in the distance shines Philadelphia, where the band is meant to perform in front of a sold-out audience. The most successful North-American tour in Nightwish’s history has begun. 
 

[Serena]

Setlist San Francisco

Amaranth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oJuKwDFRHY

[Serena]

Making of 17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03BIZKW9jSA

[Serena]

Setlist Las Vegas

Dark Chest Of Wonders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQUFYVCgFHU

[Serena]

Setlist Los Angeles

Greatest Show On Earth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx0fq-adwzU

[Serena]

Sitting down and chatting with Nightwish's jack-of-all-trades Tuomas Holopainen would be something straight out of my dreams as a kid first getting into power and symphonic metal. When I first got the opportunity, a surge of excitement and nervousness came over me, but after a few days of thinking about the things I'd ask, I graciously accepted this opportunity. Tuomas was a very friendly guy, making for extremely easy conversation. We discussed the current tour, the new album Endless Forms Most Beautiful, all topped off with a follow-up on the controversial remarks of Floor Jansen in a recent interview.

On behalf of myself and Metal Wani, thank you so much for sitting down with me for this interview. I see that some pizza just arrived so I don't want to take too much of your time!

(laughs) Oh not it's quite alright. You can't imagine the amount of free time that you actually have on tour, honestly.


So what is it that you do with your time?

Loads of good books, movies, long walks, and some tourism along the way. Went to see a film yesterday in Nebraska, the horror flick, Unfriended, it was quite good. I like the original idea that it has. It was all on a computer screen, nothing else!


And you guys have been on tour for a couple weeks now? How have the fans been reacting to hearing some of Endless Forms Most Beautiful live?

They seem to like it. We enjoy playing it! It's always like when you have a new album out and play the new songs, people seem to just listen to them more. And then when you play the old classics, they just go mental! And that's always the case, and how it has been on this tour as well. And as a band, it is always nice to play something new and different, not the songs that you have played four or five hundred times.


And you've been sharing the stage with Sabaton and Delain, how has that been so far?

I think it is the best possible combo you can have, I love both of them! Delain is an all time favorite of mine, and Sabaton is one of the best bands to come out in the past ten years in the metal scene. We, musically, kind of sail in the same waters but with our own unique boat, so it is a good combo for the audience as well. They are really nice people as well. No complaints there!


The US doesn't get bands like Nightwish around here too often. Especially through states like Iowa, where I grew up. Bands really tend to skip over that whole part of the country. So how was the last show you played on Sunday, in Iowa?

First time ever in Iowa! And you could see and feel the enthusiasm of the people, around 2,000 of them there. It was just totally crazy, even though it was a Sunday night.


Yeah they just really don't see bands like Nightwish around those parts.

Well that's what they told us! And you could totally just feel it in the atmosphere there. But I also got to meet up with my host family from my year as an exchange student in Kansas, 23 years ago. The mother and the brother came out to see me there. I haven't seen them for 17 years, so that was quite the moment as well. We got to spend a couple of hours together before the show, and a little bit after the show, talk about nostalgia.


Wow! How was the adjustment for you from Europe to Kansas?

(laughs) I loved it! But I was only 15 and here for a year, but it really feels like a distant dream at the moment, but no I was actually there in high school.


Alright, so the new album Endless Forms Most Beautiful, it's cracked the US Top 40, and has already sold more copies than Imaginaerum already, so I am sure you guys look at this album with just as much pride as any previous releases?

Oh yeah we sure do! Now I refuse to answer 'Is this the best album' or 'What is your favorite album' it's just not really relevant, because all of our albums reflect the time that the band was at the time the album was made. I feel equally proud of all of the albums including the new one.


With the addition of Floor, at least when I listen to the new material it seems like it is Nightwish re-energized, with a lot of strength and confidence, and brings about a new power, do you agree?

There was something going on on the album that was lacking a little bit, before Jansen, and I think the main reason for that is that we spent a lot of time in rehearsal with the whole band together. We could just go over the songs again and again with the whole band, and get that organic vibe of playing together, and we were able to capture that atmosphere into the album. I really think that is the biggest difference.


Did the rehearsing together test everyone musically, bouncing ideas off of each other constantly?

Absolutely, yeah. Musically, and emotionally as well.


I really want to talk about “The Greatest Show on Earth”, as I think it is one of Nightwish's strongest moments, musically, as it is so massive, theatrical, and just gorgeous. You have never really written and epic like that before right?

Definitely not on that scale. It clocks to 24 minutes. And the way I personally see the album is that you have nine support acts, an interlude, and then the real band hits. So the first nine songs are supporting, then you have the “The Eyes of Sharbat Gula”, and then the main act. And it really works, dramatically. But yeah it would be the proudest achievement that I have ever done. It's just, I remember the moment I got the idea. Evolution, planet Earth, I mean, could we actually do a song on the evolution of planet Earth from the beginning to the distant future? Could we really use the animal sound effects, the formation of the Earth, and the coldness of space? Then imagine what the world may sound like in fifty million years, after mankind has vanished, and I was just so thrilled, like absolutely this is the best idea ever!

And originally, I think the song was 35-40 minutes long and we had to rearrange it to be more compact, but it really really works. I am so proud of that result. And of course the icing on the cake is Richard Dawkins, that he actually agreed to come and talk on top of that!


How was it working with Richard Dawkins? He is such a legend, I couldn't even imagine!

The ultimate fan boy moment for me. I already had one with Don Rosa on my solo thing [Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge]. When we went to Oxford last October, and I saw him through the studio window, I mean my heart was just beating so hard. But he was really polite, like your stereotypic English Gentleman. But what really flattered me the most was the fact that he put so much effort in the reciting. He didn't just come to the studio and read the words, he actually made markings and asked me questions like 'How would you like this to be emphasized?' so he put a lot of heart into it as well.

And we met again a couple of months ago in London, as we did a couple interviews together. I got a chance to play him “The Greatest Show on Earth” for the first time, and he seemed sincerely impressed. It was something else.


Back to your tour, you have a show coming up in British Columbia at the Orpheum. You guys are recording it though, so is that for a new live DVD?

We haven't set any concrete plans yet, but we are going to film a few shows here and there on this upcoming tour, then decide what to do with it. There isn't going to be a live DVD release in the near future, but we are collecting stuff so we can do something with it in the future.


There was an interview with Floor Jansen posted by Owais Nabi, of Metal Nation Radio and Metal Wani a couple weeks ago at this point. It went viral online, both in agreement and disagreement with her, and I just wanted your opinion on the matter. In this interview, she really stressed the dislike for being called a female-fronted band.
Yeah, yeah, well it is a weird categorization isn't it? Female fronted metal, I mean why emphasize that. I mean, I am fine with symphonic metal! To emphasize female fronted, it has a bad ring to it, so I have to agree with her.


So would describing Nightwish as female-fronted symphonic metal would be okay? Or is it still too limiting?

(laughs) I mean, I would just leave the female or the male out of it. Would there be like a male-fronted band? It is just silly categorizing the music in that way!


And Nightwish is always full of surprises, but is there anything that we can expect from you in the near future? Anything new and exciting for you?

Absolutely yes! But it wouldn't be so exciting and surprising if I told you (laughs). But yeah, we have some plans! We pretty much know what we are going to be doing until 2021 to 2022, so some really interesting stuff happening for sure.


Alright! So Metal Wani, the website I work for, is based out of India. They would kill me if I didn't ask you, is there any plans of Nightwish going to India?

Well there have been many occasions in the past years that we almost got there. But for some reason, it was always cancelled. It is not really up to us, it's the booking agent, but they are talking about it. Again, because we are going to have shows in the far East, Australia, Japan, so I would love to be able to go. It is my favourite cousine in the world! Curry! For a vegetarian, it is just easy and I love it.

[Serena]

No matter your Metal affiliation, you should appreciate a hard-working band, and NIGHTWISH is definitely one of such. I mean, the Finns survived two singer-changes and, in fact, came out stronger with the latest LP “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” being a powerful piece of evidence. Currently NIGHTWISH are on US soil and a couple of hours before their Chicago show, METAL KAOZ met Tuomas Holopainen and had the following most interesting discussion.



Hi Tuomas, it’s really nice seeing you again. First of all, how is Jukka doing? How his treatment is going?
He is much, much better. We are still in contact all the time because he is also taking care of the band’s business and such. He seems like a much happier guy and he is under different treatments, so we need to give him a few years and see what happens. He was in the New York show actually.

That’s great but how hard is for him watching you play live and not participating?
It is really hard but we were really glad that he came. We had a party backstage and all that. I can only imagine how it feels like because Jukka might be the most enthusiastic person of all of us regarding touring.

Yeah, but health comes first…
Of course, absolutely.

Does this mean that you will use Kai Hahto as long as it takes?
Well, at least till the end of this tour. But Jukka is still a member of NIGHTWISH as it is written in the album’s booklet.

Great, so how were the first North US shows?
Hmm, I guess it was as you would expect after 18 months of not doing any shows, so there was a little bit of a rough start but still all the shows have been good and we are getting better and better. For me, yesterday’s show [April 17th, Cleveland] was really good. You just have to find that healthy routine so that you don’t have to think about everything all the time.

Is it tough switching gears from being in the studio and being on tour?
Yeah, it’s a huge step; for example, I had a really funny blackout and couldn’t remember how the song “Nemo” goes in the rehearsals. I mean, the song started and I froze having absolutely no idea what to play. And I have played that song like 500 times (laughs).

Oh my, I guess changing also time zones has something to do with this; your biological clock goes crazy…
Exactly, but at the moment is really good and we are truly enjoying this.

Awesome, so let me go on with the rest of my questions; when did you actually make your mind that Floor would be the next singer for NIGHTWISH?
Oh, it was during the spring of 2013, I think; Floor joined us in the middle of the American tour leg during the Fall of 2012 and at that time it was like survival machine on wheels. We were trying to complete the shows and eventually we noticed that there is definitely chemistry with her and also that she is a wonderful person and a wonderful singer. Then we popped the big question to her and she said yes.

What was her contribution in the making of the new album?
Well, she wasn’t involved in the songwriting or in the lyrics process; it was all about interpretation and arrangements but she brought a lot in and, in fact, she was with us from day one during the rehearsals singing along. Actually, the material was arranged according to the vocals which, in a way, is the most important part when it comes writing a song.

Is your song-writing being affected when there is a new singer in the band?
Not at all but it is a bit easier when you have a certain voice in mind and write songs that fit to it. But when it comes to the method of the songwriting, I’ll say it hasn’t changed at all during the years.

I guess when you have a singer that can do more, so then you can push the music accordingly.
Well, I am the luckiest songwriter on earth having all these people around me who can sing and play practically everything; female and male voices. It is a liberating feeling working with these people.

I was referring to Floor who has a voice that can sing Metal and also Opera.
Yes, you are right; Floor is a very versatile singer.

NIGHTWISH have also another new member, Troy Donockley; so how did this addition come up?
I met Troy in 2007 when he came to record some pipes for the “Dark Passion Play” album and it just clicked immediately. He is a wonderful guy with a huge charisma and fills up the room with light, and he is always smiling. He can play practically anything; keyboards, guitars and he sings as well.  Then, he joined us for the entire ‘Imaginareum’ tour in every single show, so we figured that he was as much as a band member as a band member can be, so why not make this official and join NIGHTWISH.

Can we ‘blame’ him for all the Irish/Celtic finishing touches in the new album that, in fact, I first noticed in “The Life And Times Of Scrooge”.
Well, he’s not actually the one to blame because everybody in the band is huge fan of Celtic music, these sonicscapes. It’s very similar to Finnish Folk music; there is a certain atmosphere that really clicks between British and Finnish music so it just felt like a natural thing to do. But it’s also very important that we don’t overdo it, so that we don’t become like a Folk Metal band – nothing wrong with that; I like all those as well – but we have a different identity. To bring on the pipes and the low whistles, the bouzouki here and there, it really spices up the album.

Yeah, it fits. So, what about the main theme of the new album? You tackle a rather rough subject – at least, here in the States…
Yeah, I didn’t realize it that it would be such a delicate issue, but obviously it is. Well, it had to be done and that’s was how I felt. It is such an inspiring theme and NIGHTWISH has always been about escapism and fantasy, so I thought it would be a lovely idea to explore the other end of the spectrum and do a more realistic-thematic album about the wonders of Science and the natural world has to offer us.

So, are you getting questions like these, I mean do they ask you actually about your beliefs and stuff about God?
Yes, some people do (laughs).

And you have Richard Dawkins, so when did he come in the creation of the album?
I wrote him a letter a bit over a year ago, in the beginning of 2014, and he actually replied me immediately via email, saying “hello, this is Richard Dawkins, I got your letter, thank you very much, I’ve never ever heard of NIGHTWISH but I went to the internet and listened some of the stuff and I like it very much”.

You got a new fan!
(laughs) Yeah, it’s fantastic! Then we went to Oxford to record his parts, it took about one hour and that’s it. Wonderful guy, a real gentleman. He has the brain of a size of a football field.

Wow! And you choose, I don’t know how you did it, a great cover artwork that has a lot of symbolisms, right? I mean, we see the DNA double helix in the center and it fans out with all the animals and whatnot. So, how do you understand this? Is there an end on this or this DNA or the evolution of life will go on forever?
I don’t know if it will go on forever, who knows what kind of a disaster will happen, but I just think I find it’s the most poetic and beautiful fact in the world that we are all made of the same stuff, the same DNA. We’re cousins to each other, to our neighbor’s dog and to the lettuce that we had for breakfast. We share the same DNA, and if you go back in time, far enough, you’ll always find a common ancestor, [pointing towards us] you and me, you and me, me and the banana tree outside. You have to go back to a billion years, but still, it exists. Many people find it some condescending or diminishing the human value enough, but to me it’s just the most beautiful thing ever.

It’s the other way around.
It’s the other way around, absolutely. There is nothing to be afraid of that. You know, we have evolved, we are evolving, we are all cousins.

Hopefully, we’re evolving and getting better (laughs).
Yeah, I sure hope so (laughs). That’s a good point!

And you have the track “The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula”; first of all, why did you chose to make it an instrumental and not add lyrics to that? Or did you leave the actual image to speak for itself?
I tried to write lyrics and I couldn’t – I have to be honest here. I didn’t get it right. The thematics of this song is so important and current that you really need to nail the lyrics, and I just turned out of ideas. And then it was actually Troy who came to me and said “let’s make it an instrumental –it gives much more room for imagination and it works better”. It’s more effective that way. But to do a song about children at war these days it’s just really difficult.

What can you write?
What can you write, yeah! But I’m really happy that Troy came up with that suggestion because it truly works.

And then you have also “The Greatest Show On Earth” which is the longest NIGHTWISH song so far. Is it true that the original version was longer?
Yeah, when I wrote it, it was like 35 minutes originally. I mean, from such a theme you can do three albums if you want it. But we wanted to make it approachable song and not extend that much.

And there is an almost soundtrack feeling atmosphere coming up in times during listening to the album, so how the work you did with the “Imaginareum” movie and even with “The Life And Times Of Scrooge” has evolved your songwriting?
Everything evolves, how beautiful is that (laughs)? I think the biggest criticism I’ve got for the new album is that it recycles stuff – whatever that means. But it’s the same songwriters, and many of the same band members, so of course it’s bound to sound a bit like the previous albums. And I really fancy the idea of taking the songs to a different level without losing the band’s identity. So that you hear it’s NIGHTWISH from song one but there are also some new surprises that you’ve never heard before. It’s gradual evolution.

We need the bands to evolve with ourselves, I mean, we grow up so do the bands, and we need to grow up together at some point.
Exactly, and the most important thing is just to do the kind of music that you want to do – it really is simple as that. Make it sound like how you want it to sound, make it sound so that it gives you goosebumps when you play it – just be happy about it yourself. Don’t think about anything else, don’t follow the trends – that’s all it takes.

To us, the fans that is, if a band is happy with what it’s doing, then we’re happy too.
Exactly. If it sounds sincere, even if I don’t like someone’s music, I don’t have to listen to it, but still I respect it.

So, considering the experience you had from the “Imaginareum” movie, do you have in mind to do it again?
No, if you thought music business was difficult, complicated and a total circus, then try movie business (laughs)!

I have no idea (laughs). But would you like to, is the question?
I’d like to do a score to a film someday – that is a dream of mine.

Do you have any particular movie  type?
Just something that is interesting – maybe not about a romantic comedy, but anything from drama to action to fantasy to nature documentary.

What about “The Life And Times Of Scrooge”? Can we expect a second one?
No, I don’t think so.

You made me look for my old comic books with that, you know!
Yeah? That was so much fun to do! I just had to get it out of my system. And I’m really happy with the result.

So, after this tour, you’re heading to Europe again and then I saw a date for Montreal, Canada in October, so does this mean that you’re planning a second North US round?
Yes, definitely, at some point in 2016.

Are you planning to revisit the same towns or you’re gonna go to places you’re not gonna play during this leg?
I think as many different cities as possible. It’s not truly up to us, it’s always the booking agent who decides that stuff.

Considering that today’s show is sold out, you know that many fans didn’t find a ticket, so do you see the band returning to Chicago in the second leg?
I honestly don’t know. But at least, we’re gonna be nearby, somewhere.

Thank you, Tuomas for taking the time to talk to us during such a busy day for you.
Thank you, guys, see you inside in a couple of hours!

[Serena]

Setlist Tempe

Sleeping Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I11R0EfpC4g

[Serena]

Setlist El Paso

í‰lan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3R1MKdrSso

[Serena]

Staff writer Carl Sederholm recently sat down with Tuomas Holopainen, keyboard player of Nightwish, on their stop in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 22, 2015. Here's a transcript of their discussion.


SoT: The last time you played in Salt Lake City was also the last show Nightwish played with Anette Olzon. I don't want to get into any private stuff, but are there any memories from that performance you'd like to share with our readers?
TH: Let's just say that I have very vivid memories of that show for sure [laughter].
SoT: [Laugter] I had to ask since we're here in Salt Lake City!
TH: It's a historic city for us in that sense. At that point, the band was just a survival machine on wheels and trying to get the shows done. Thanks to Floor, we were able to pull it off without canceling a single show.
SoT: Wow. That's great. Your current tour, with Sabaton and Delain, has been going for about two weeks now. How are things going so far? What kinds of things might fans expect on this tour?
TH: Getting better and better. All the shows have been good, but until about two weeks ago, we hadn't done a single show in 18 months so the routine wasn't quite there, with all the excitement and enthusiasm. It's really getting together day by day.
SoT: Do you like life on the road?
TH: I love the cycles. I couldn't do this all the time, the same way that I couldn't be in the studio all the time. But the fact that you get to spend first a year at home, in peace, writing the songs, then six months in the rehearsal room in the studio and then a year and a half on the road and then starting all over again. It's like having the four seasons.
SoT: The current album, Endless Forms Most Beautiful includes "The Greatest Show on Earth," one of the band's longest recorded tracks. How much of that song are you going to play?
TH: So far we have been playing the two middle chapters of the song for about ten minutes, less than half of the whole thing. The end part is just ambience and that kind of stuff so it wouldn't really work live. It would be an ambitious thing to do the whole thing from beginning to end at some point but right now we are just doing the middle, the band sections of the song.
SoT: I've always been impressed with the number of literary influences in your music. "The Poet and the Pendulum," for example, brings to mind Poe's story "The Pit and the Pendulum." What's the connection to Edgar Allan Poe for you?

TH: I'm a fantasy and horror freak. Poe is one of the best. "The Pit and the Pendulum" is one of my all time favorite novels. I just loved the wordplay of "The Poet and the Pendulum." When I was writing that song, I was going through the most terrible time in my life because of what was going on with the band and elsewhere. Right now, it feels really awkward listening to that song, especially playing that song, since I'm not that person any more. But I just fancied the idea of killing myself in a song, in a concrete way. In the lyrics, it even says in the lyrics that "Tuomas was buried...." Now it feels really weird to listen to that song, but at that time it felt like the ultimate catharsis that I had to do. I imagined myself being on an altar with the pendulum coming down like in the novel—and that's where the song was born.

SoT: On the current album, you have a track entitled "Edema Ruh," a reference to the traveling band of entertainers in Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read.

TH: I would have to agree. Also, the sequel The Wise Man's Fear is even better. I can't wait for the third one. For me, it might just be the best fantasy story ever. The Lord of the Rings has always been the story for me, but I think this comes really, really, damn close. The guy's amazing. His words are like music. The way he describes the characters brings them alive. It's so beautiful. I'm out of words. The Edema Ruh—maybe Nightwish is like a modern-day Edema Ruh, going from city to city to perform and then move on. About two or three weeks ago, I actually got an email from Patrick Rothfuss saying "thanks" and "It's an honor." I send him the CD and he said that he liked it—it's awesome. Maybe we'll meet at some point.
SoT: That would be fun. I think he's pretty available. He signs books all the time.
TH: We were pretty close to where he lives in Wisconsin. He couldn't make it to the show. Maybe on the next leg. It's just the feeling of worlds colliding because I get to meet my biggest heroes. First was Don Rosa with my solo album, then it was Richard Dawkins with the current album, and then Patrick Rothfuss. It's like—"Wow, what's going on?"
SoT: It's good to have heroes. They inspire us! I didn't mention that I'm a teacher and that I write academic articles about people like Stephen King. I also teach courses in science fiction and horror.
TH: Wow. Stephen King would be one of my top three as well, when it comes to horror writers. He and Edgar Allan Poe.
SoT: You have referenced Stephen King in your music. Especially The Dark Tower.
TH: I love it. The first chapter of "The Poet and the Pendulum" is called "White Lands of Empathica" and that's where it came from.
SoT: Do you also like works like The Shining?
TH: I love The Shining and Misery. Actually, my all-time favorite is The Talisman, written with Peter Straub, more of an adventure story than a horror story. Yeah, that would be my number one, The Dark Tower for sure.
SoT: I really liked the track called "My Walden" off of the new album. I especially liked the line "I do not wish to evade the world / Yet I will forever build my own" because it reminded me of Thoreau's own sense that his time at Walden pond was not so much a hermitage as an attempt to learn how to live deliberately. What are your comments about Thoreau and his time at Walden Pond? Walden is not about being a hermit, it's about learning how to live and then going back out to live.
TH: Absolutely. That's the whole essence of the song and that's how I felt when I read Walden for the first time, too. I, as a person, am very optimistic. I just can't take the "this world sucks," everything's dark and rotten. I just want to escape. The world is a beautiful place. It's what we make of it. That's why I don't want to evade the world. It's beautiful. But will still have my Walden, my own Walden. Everybody should. Stop the complaining and do something about it—to put it bluntly. I know it's not so easy for everybody, but...
SoT: We work our own spot in life.
TH: I know so many people who are miserable with their lives and they're just too lazy to do anything about it even though they have the tools to do it, just thinking this is it and there's nothing more.
SoT: I listen to a lot of different bands and attend a lot of shows. Nightwish is a positive band that discusses the beautiful, both in the lyrics and through the music. A lot of black metal bands, for example, are quite negative. I like it, but it's often about the grotesque, the ugly, or the disturbing. What are your thoughts about that?
TH: There's nothing wrong with that. I used to play in a black metal band and I still have a very dark side inside of me but like I said I'm an optimist about most of the things in the world. I've heard many people say that Nightwish is definitely the most positive metal band on the planet. I take that as a compliment.
SoT: I think you should! The interior artwork for Endless Forms Most Beautiful is very beautiful. Is it the same person who did the cover? Were they given any direction as to what the band was looking for?
TH: Yeah. It's the same guy called Toxic Angel that has done all of our artworks since 2006. For some of the songs, I had a very clear impression of what I wanted the artwork to look like—like the cover or "Edema Ruh," for example. Then I gave him the demos of the songs and the lyrics, saying that, for example, the song "Our Decades in the Sun" or "Weak Fantasy," just come up with something, how you feel, how you hear the song.
SoT: You've always been interested in movie soundtracks, especially the work of Hans Zimmer.
TH: He was the first one.
SoT: What were some of the musical influences for this new album?
TH: It's a funny fact that during the year and a half that went into making this album, I bought two albums. I just can't listen to music when I create. My mind just wanders somewhere else immediately. I couldn't say that there's any concrete inspiration when it comes to music, what influenced this particular album. Throughout the year, it all goes in and somehow all comes out. You can definitely hear that I am a Hans Zimmer fan in many of the riffs, or James Newton Howard, a big hero of mine.
SoT: Do you ever listen to minimalism, like Philip Glass?
TH: Philip Glass is wonderful. Michael Nyman, just wonderful. This is just my personal thing, but I love grand music. Maybe that doesn't translate into English but in Finnish it sounds good.
SoT: Grand music; that makes sense to me.

TH: It's not imprisoned by any genre. It can be metal or jazz or pop or anything, but grand. I think Nightwish, Philip Glass, Hans Zimmer, they are all grand music.

SoT: When I discovered Philip Glass, I couldn't get enough.
TH: It's wonderful, those arpeggios. Troy Donockley, the pipe player, is a huge fan. He was the one who introduced me to Philip Glass. I just found out about him three or four years ago.

SoT: Troy is a new member of the band now.
TH: He's an official member now. He plays the Uillean pipes, tin whistle, bouzouki, does a bit of singing.
SoT: As I listen to Nightwish, I think a lot about storytelling and the wonder of storytelling, the way humans tell stories to make sense of their lives. How is writing music a form of storytelling?
TH: Well, music is the universal language. People might have a story in their heads, just listening to an instrumental piece. You don't need words. That's the beauty of music. There's an interesting example on this album, the track called "The Eyes of Sharbat Gula," which is a song about children in war, a very current theme. I tried to write lyrics for that song for weeks, but just couldn't nail it, it was pretentious or wrong. I thought, "Why not make this an instrumental?" People will know what's going on. The atmosphere is there, the Middle East. It definitely worked.
SoT: The album title makes reference to a beautiful paragraph from Darwin's The Origin of Species. There's also a reverence for the beautiful there. I loved the part of "endless forms," the way that life is made up who knows how many things—endless forms. And they are "most beautiful."
TH: I was really struggling with the album's name. I knew that there were certain themes: Praise for the wonders of the natural world, evolution, love—all that kind of stuff. But how to bring it all together in an album title? And then I remembered, hold on, the classic quote from The Origin of Species. I still have the shivers, it's so perfect. I immediately called the other band members—what do you think about this? The best album title ever!
SoT: Thank you!
Thanks to the good folks at Nuclear Blast as well as Roger Smith who made this interview possible!
Carl Sederholm

[Serena]

Setlist Dallas

The Poet and The Pendulum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk8E7uXqGn8

[Serena]

Setlist Houston

Alpenglow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdu14zR6mY8

[Serena]

Endless Forms Most Beautiful Lyric Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb1p8fm7Ag