Villetastic's Journals

Just a bit about today

My first real journal about me, and my life.. My day was fun, i celebrated fathers
day with my grandparents! it was fun, we had a weird talk with my cousin and nephew about sex.. hahahah.. and dick sizes.. i dont know how we came to it, but according to my cousin a dick between 15 and 20 cm is a normal one.. if its bigger than its BIG.. hahaha OMG it was to funny... further nothing much happend, oh i passed my exams, thats great.. my grandpa is gettting old, he forgets a lot and cant remember much and all that.. the weather was nice, the sun was shining..

i heared that an old neighbour was ill, she used to have breast cancer..but it came back.. it sucks.. its was the mohter of a boy in my class.. he is very kind and i know his mother.. i hate cancer..

next week on sunday i got this party with my grandparents.. they are married for 40 years than, if i am correct.. should be fun.. lots of food.. goodie i can weight! i should loose it instead of gaining.. haha but who cares anyway ;)

oh just wanted to add, that i am putting more stuff on my page than just HIM.. HIM aint the only 1 i love ;) they are my 1st and only love but i got other loves to ;) hehe.. its complicated.. hahaha. no not really ;) lol just take a look in my gallery's if you want :))

interview ville

May 28, 2006

Years of hard work have launched Finlandâ�™s HIM from a band with a modest cult following in the United States into the mainstream. With some help perhaps from their â�œHeartagramâ� logo, HIM has become a household name among hard rock and metal fans. At the bandâ�™s stop at the 2006 HFStival in Columbia, Md., frontman Ville Valo spoke to Jason Price of Live-Metal.net about the band's song writing process, the status of the band's next album, the struggles of touring in the United States and more. In the end, Valo squashes the solo career rumors and discovers that all roads lead to Black Sabbath.

Live-Metal: What is the biggest misconception about HIM?

Ville Valo: That we are miserable bastards. A lot of people think that we play really melancholy music, people think that we are really miserable. Actually, you know, I think that it is a very cathartic thing. You get your shit into the music and you can be a happy person outside of it, and eat ice cream and listen to the birds sing! [laughs] And watch Jim Carrey movies.

Are you a big fan of Jim Carrey?

No, I hate him. No, I hate comedies. [laughs]

How do you feel that you have evolved as a band through the years?

It is hard to say how we have evolved because I have known the bass player and the guitar player since I was nine years old. So we have grown up together and we were playing in different bands. When we started out we were kids and now we are getting into our mid-life, our mid-life crisis type of thing happening [laughs]. You know the more you do, the better you get, hopefully!

How did the â�œHeartagramâ� logo, so heavily associated with the band, come to be?

Let's see. I am turning 30, so it was like, about nine years and seven months ago when I turned twenty. I always draw things, so I was drawing and waiting for the rest of the guys to come to my apartment with kegs of beer and getting ready to start celebrating me turning into a man, so closer to one, and I just drew it down. I have always loved Led Zeppelin, their four symbols on their fourth album and Rob Zombie and White Zombie's visuals and stuff like that. I always wanted to make a symbol for our band, and then we got it.

You have had a slow build in the United States. As you have toured the U.S. for the past few years, how has touring changed you?

Well to be brutally frank, touring in the States is a pain in the ass every now and then because the travel is really, really heavy, especially on this tour. We just flew in from Seattle, tomorrow we are flying to New Orleans, so it is like zig zag, zig zag, zig zag. The distances are so long compared to Europe. Europe is a lot easier. It is like maybe 200 miles a night. You have a bit more time to hang out and sleep better and stuff like that. This is heavy duty traveling all the time. With Dark Light being the first album properly released here, we have been doing some press for it and it's being played on the radio now, thank God. Of course it has changed the vibe. A lot more people know who we are.

What was the biggest challenge in making Dark Light?

In making an album, there are always a lot of little tiny challenges. On Dark Light, I think that the biggest challenge was to try and sing the background vocals while they were shooting a Playboy video at the same spot where we were recording. It was pretty hard because all we could see was naked ladies running about so it was really hard to concentrate.

Understandably! How long did it take to write the album?

I write constantly, so it may take two months to record and a month to mix it. I write all the time, so maybe four years. I usually write a lot of stuff that is not necessarily ready and we start working on it later on. We are not one of those bands that would go into a pre-production stage and write everything there. A lot of American bands, for example, do it.

What is the typical song-writing process for HIM?

I have a hangover and sit down on my bed, I have an acoustic guitar and start strumming and pretending that I am Neil Young. Then we put on the distortion pedals and we rape the song. That's what we do!

How many songs will you normally write in preparation for an album?

Only the good ones. I hate songwriters that write 100 songs for an album and pick up the 10 best, because it is a fucking waste of time. We try and write the stuff that feels really good and we are sure that we want to record it. So if there are 12 tracks on an album, maybe 14 all together.

After listening to HIM, what do you want people to walk away with?

Walk away with the understanding that all roads lead to Black Sabbath in the realm of rock n' roll.

For those how haven't seen HIM live, how would you describe it?

Umm ... We are like a very miserable version of the Backstreet Boys.

You used to do a cover of the Backstreet Boys.

Back in the day we did, yeah. Actually we played "Larger Than Life" at a couple of festivals. We wanted to piss off some goth fans. It was pretty funny to see guys like that know the chorus and be singing and dancing along to it.

What are some of your favorite songs to play live?

Well that is the good thing about being in this band. It differs from day to day because at some places people prefer some songs and when you are playing live it is supposed to be an interaction thing happening between the crowd and the band. So it keeps on changing everyday. That is the only reason to do it or it would be boring.

Do you get a different energy from playing a small club versus a bigger venue?

Well you know, thank God, we use so many strobe lights and heavy lights that I can't see shit nowadays anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I just see the three first rows.

Your music translates very well acoustically. Any plans for a possible future acoustic release?

No, well, no. Umm. Fucking hell, no. I think that there are so many good acts doing great acoustic stuff now and our forte is doing what we do, so not necessarily. Maybe we will incorporate a bit more of acoustic sections in our music in the future, but no, it would be boring. I hated the "Unplugged" series.

Have you started working on your next album?

Yeah. We have about eight songs that I am working on at the particular moment.

So you have been writing while on the road?

Yeah, I carry my guitar with me, so I try to read and write and do everything as much as possible.

What does the future hold for HIM as a band? I have heard that you have contemplated some solo work in the future.

Well, no, no no. I have a few more Pink Floyd-ish things that I have been writing in the past, but we will probably incorporate that into HIM's music, as well. Because at the end of the day when I start writing a song, it always ends up being on our album.

What do you think about the state of rock music today?

I think that the state of rock music is really good. I think there are a lot of good bands that we have had the pleasure of touring with, like a band from Seattle called Aiden on this tour and they're great. Kill Hannah's new album is really good. The Strokes new album is really good, the latest one. I think that there is a lot of good happening, but people think that rock is dead. But it has never went away.

You guys have been on the road for a while now, and toured relentlessly. How has life on the road affected you and your music?

The more you tour, the more liberating it becomes. You don't think about the technical aspect of it anymore. You just have fun. It is a bit more loose, and the hangovers are worse. That is what it does to you! [laughs]

Any stories from your life on the road that you might want to share?

Plenty, but most of it is very X-rated. [laughs] You know, the normal stuff, just watch Spinal Tap and it has all happened to everybody who has played in a rock band and been touring.

Have you ever had any "Spinal Tap" moments onstage?

We, you know, I am always losing myself. I never do soundchecks, so I never know where the stage is, so I always keep on fucking that up. I always walk in the wrong direction. We've had most of it. We never had the cocoons where our bass player couldn't get out and we never had Stonehenge. The rest is very close. [laughs]

What was the first album that you bought?

The year was '84 or '85 it was Animalize by KISS. I still have the vinyl.

What about the last album you bought?

The She Wants Revenge album.

Aside from that, what else are you listening to?

I am listening to Killing Joke and Kill Hannah and everything that starts with a "Kill." I don't listen to a lot of music. I think that nowadays the best music is books. So I am reading a lot of Chuck Palahniuk. I think that is more inspiring than listening to a lot of rock bands or pop bands or whatever. And Damian Marley.

And finally, when do you think Chinese Democracy will be released?

You know, hopefully never. I haven't heard the songs that leaked onto the Internet, but somebody told me that they were shit. I think that they should either do a reunion or you should call it a day.

Is there anything else youâ�™d like to add?

Ummm ... No! [laughs]

interview ville

HIM are back on the scene with their fifth record "Dark Light". Frontman Ville Valo showed up in Hamburg/Germany which he describes as a city comparable to "London Soho meets Helsinki" and took some time for a little interview.

Now with the new record label, with the success in Great Britain, with increasing success in the States life seems to become even more stressful for you than it has already been before. How do you manage? Do you like this life?

It's good fun. I really consider it to be very helpful for us that we spent ten years of practising like little baby steps rather than having it all at one goal. So actually the band has been ready for this. I think that album is very good and you can hear an album like that anywhere nowadays. It's not goth, it's not metal - it's somewhere in between lots of things.

In the album title "Dark Light" we find again this contradiction - at least it's a contradiction at first glance like we had in "Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights", "Love Metal" and "Razorblade Romance". Seems as if you like those opposites that fit together in a deeper senseâ�¦

Surprise, surpriseâ�¦ (laughs). But we didn't take that title just because of this contradiction. It's the first album coming officially out in the States, Canada and Japan. So it's good to have something that describes the music very well and the whole vibe. The entire album is about light at the end of a tunnel. It's physically impossible to have dark light which I like, you just cannot have dark light. Also my name last name Valo means light. I wrote this song without thinking about it and then the guys were laughing because "dark" translated in Finnish also means a bit loony, a bit crazy.

Last year you said the next record should be something totally different. It is a bit different but the word "totally" doesn't really fit. Of course, it's typical HIM - I mean it's the same band, song structures are more complex seen as a whole and maybe there are a bit more sing-a-long-chorusesâ�¦ - do you agree?

You can never be "totally different" because as you said it's still the same people doing the songwriting and then of course, people's playing affects the sound and we are still the same but for us it actually is pretty different. It is a lot more textured, a bit more back to Razorblade Romance - big melodies, big choruses and sing-along which I always liked. It is always the same: You have done some stuff and you wanna do something different the next album. We did Razorblade Romance, then I ended up doing the more singer-songwriter, moodier record "Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights" which was way too poppy for us. When we started touring we didn't realize it because before we were in a studio and there you don't realize things. Then we really wanted to rock out and that didn't work with that album. So that's the reason why we did "Love Metal" which is probably the most rocking album we have done with "Soul on fire" and stuff. The new material is always reflected on what you've just done. We didn't want to be any rougher than "Love Metal" because there is so many good aggressive bands and we still have that romantic sight. So we wanted to somehow use all the elements from all the albums: have the 80s vibe and the sing-along thing of "Razorblade Romance", have the mood in it of the first one, maybe the melodic aspect of "Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlight" and the riffs of "Love Metal".

There is this line in the last song "Night-Side of Eden": "We are forever crucified to a dream." Which dream is yours?

My dream which I am crucified to? Becoming a better person - day by day. It happens everywhere when adults or the world outside you pressures you to become something you don't want to be, you are like ass-fucked, you are like raped with that dream in your head and you can never get away from it. When your social environment decides for yourself, that's bad. That's what the song is about.

There is this song "Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly" and somehow I immediately thought of Wayne Hussey's hymn "Butterfly On A Wheel". When listening to your song it sounded quite different but there is a bit 80s touch in it...

The guitar riff is actually really The Mission I think. Tim Palmer, our producer, did all the classic The Mission albums. So he uses similar techniques and we wanted to do that on purpose. I love The Mission, The Cult, Jimmy Page - so hopefully it's a bit of all of that in that song.

You escaped for 41/2 months from Finnish winter to record and produce the album in the States. You could totally focus on your music, the all-day-life was far away. Will you do it again this way?

Yeah, probably all the other albums after this one. It was the longest trip I have ever been away from home. We did the same thing with "Razorblade Romance". We went to the countryside of Wales in Great Britain back then but it wasn't that long. The basic idea in Wales and this time was to be away from home so that you don't have to take care of everyday stuff. You are just there to make music. If you do that eight hours a day without thinking the normal stuff it's worth 16 hours.

There is a huge difference between Finland in winter and California at the same time. What is it that makes that place so comfortable to work there for you?

In Finland we don't have any residential places where the band could have stayed together all the time. We would have had to take trains or taxis to get there every day and that takes time and energy. For me California is really good for working. Somehow it's the only place on earth that mellows me out. I hate New York for example, it is too fast and too hectic. There is not a second of piece. L.A. is very peaceful, they keep on smiling, saying hello, good morning, good afternoon. I really like the vibe there. It's very easy what enables my brain to focus on the music. I don't know so many people there which is cool. I know bar hoppers. It's cool to have a couple of phone numbers when you go there so you feel like you can always call somebody when you are there but you can be alone when you want. You can always make the choice for yourself.

You've seen so many places, now you lived in the States for a while - is your hometown Helsinki still your favourite place and something you really call home?

Yes, of course. It is nice to travel because that also makes you respect your home a bit more, you no the differences. It's nice to go back. I don't wanna move out from there. Maybe a small cabin on the hills of Black Denver, in Colorado. There are beautiful places. The good thing about L.A. is that you can go to the beach. You drive two hours and you can even do snowboarding. There are a couple of mountains.

So did you?

No, I don't snowboard, I don't swim. But it's nice to have the possibility. If one day you wake up and wanna snowboard you can do it. I still have the possibility. That's the same as with doing furniture in your house. I believe in space. I'm not talking about minimalism, I'm talking about the fact that you don't necessarily have to fill everything out. And you don't necessarily have to do everything. It is nice to know that there is the possibility of doing something. That's how I see it.

Ville Valo interview

The interview is older, u might know it but I'll post it anyway. It's for Artmania Festival.

A few hours ahead H.I.Mâ�™s first Australian show, just after flying in from Japan, Ville took the time to send a message to the devoted Romanian fans:

"Keep patient - only a few months and weâ�™ll be there!"

Wednesday, March 22, Brisbane

Hey, Ville how is Australia today?

Iâ�™ve been actually sleeping because of the time difference. I had terrible jet lags and we travelled so much that I havenâ�™t done anythingâ�¦but we are playing a gig later on today so, weâ�™ll see...

I heard itâ�™s all sold outâ�¦

Yeah, it is! Thatâ�™s very cool! We are playing here for the first time and thatâ�™s very exciting indeed.

So it had to be the â�œDark Lightâ� for HIM to finally come to Romania, where fans are screaming for a H.I.M concert for years now. How is it to play for the first time in a new country in general and in Romania in this case?

It is always exciting especially when it comes to Romania, thatâ�™s very exciting because of the setting, itâ�™s an old city and a lot of old culture and stuff like that. Hopefully weâ�™ll have time to see around and spend a bit more time there rather than just fly in and out. This gig is going to be really cool.

What do you think about the idea of playing in a medieval city in Transylvania, to a Festival which celebrates the Finnish culture?

(Laughs) This is a hard question! To be honest with you I havenâ�™t been thinking about that yet. Iâ�™ve seen several pictures of the city and we are probably flying in there in a few weeks to check the city out before we get all the details for the actual festival. We want to build a special stage because itâ�™s such a cool settingâ�¦ So, I think itâ�™s going to be a one life time kind of a thing! So we are really looking forward to it.

Since the release of Dark Light, HIM has been relentlessly touring the world, are you happy with the reaction of the public to the new album?

It has been fairly okay. We still havenâ�™t been touring the entire world. We are still going to play in the UK and stuff like that. So thinks seem to be fine and of course things can always be better but I am really happy they arenâ�™t worse.

The second single from the album, â�œKilling Lonelinessâ� has just been released and the story in the video deals with finding a short happiness in a virtual world. Whose idea was it?

It was like a bandâ�™s idea but, of course we are not directors so we let the director write the script but we had certain ideas about the performance. We are really happy with the setting and with the set up and all the background art that worked out pretty well.

Do you think this is the backlash of modern culture and the â�œBe a winnerâ� concept where personal life is left behind and people loose touch with the inner selves?

I think loneliness has always been there. I donâ�™t thinks that the modern world would be any worse than it was before. But you know that video is just about people killing loneliness without drugs or bad behaviour.

Ville do you still see life through pinkish lenses? What would you say to those people from the metal scene that state that time for romance is long gone and buried?

Very gentle, show them the middle finger. You know, the beauty about being in this modern world is that there is space for all kinds of opinions and all kinds of angles towards life in general. So let them do what they do, we do what we do.

Each and every of your albums are different and have a strong personality of their own, but still each song bears the unmatched HIM flavour. Whatâ�™s the secret of it?

Well, we are pretty slowly getting better songwriters. We donâ�™t want to repeat exactly what weâ�™ve done before but everybody in the band has a very strong idea about what they do and how their personality are as musicians so thatâ�™s something we definitely donâ�™t want to take away from the music but rather enhance it and make it more clear by each and every album, so I think that can be one of the reasons.

How do you feel about your music touching so many people from different countries, ages and social backgrounds? What do you think itâ�™s the main element in your music that draws so many people into Love Metal?

It could be that there is so little especially hard rock music with big melodies nowadays and with big emotions, sentimentality and melancholy. People like to listen to sad music all around the world and I think thatâ�™s a beautiful think that we can be a part of it.

HIM is a band for which the visual aspect has an important part, from the elegant heartagram to the covers of the albums and to the videos which highlight in a beautiful fashion the idea or the message of the song. Having studied the arts helps you have an aesthetic vision of the music?

I havenâ�™t been studied arts that much. You know itâ�™s more about studying everything that you see, and Iâ�™ve been a music fan since a little kid and I always loved the vinyl cover art work and I always loved moviesâ�¦ I think a lot of bands nowadays donâ�™t use visuals enough. Itâ�™s nice to give people something hopefully special and hopefully something different, thatâ�™s what weâ�™ve been working on. And rather, you know being influenced by movie posters than album covers.

And how does music and poetry interact for you in the writing process?

Well letâ�™s say that itâ�™s a lot easier to write the music and the melodies. The lyrics usually come in last because itâ�™s very hard to explain in words certain sentiments. I think bit by bit I am getting better at it and I try to read as much as possible to get influences from all around the world and from different sorts of writers. I look at it as a natural development which happens and each time you write a song itâ�™s a different kind of process.

Well, the result is fascinating, congratulations!

Well, thank you!

What would be your message to the Romanian fans to keep them waiting until they will see in Sibiu, on next July 15?

(Laughs) I think is to keep up being patient and remember to wear your ear plugs because we are pretty loud as a band. You know, we are really excited about the whole thing as well, so we have to be as a band very patient and itâ�™s not that far away anyway. Itâ�™s only a few months and weâ�™ll be there. Hopefully the day is going to be beautiful and we will be able to please everybody with our plan.

So, you will shake up the gothic ghosts of the cityâ�¦

Yeah, fair enough. That sounds goodâ�¦

Ok, thank you very much Ville! And see you soon in Sibiu.

You take care.

VILLE VALO TALKS ABOUT HIS BREAK UP (months ago)

VILLE VALO TALKS ABOUT HIS BREAK UP

â�œThe heart is put in the closetâ�
VILLE VALO TALKS ABOUT HIS BREAK UP

â�œLove is madnessâ�
Broken up with Jonna Nygren, Ville Valos year has been dark and tough

HIMs figure-head Ville Valo sits cross legged on the floor in the dressing room of Provinssirock. The rest of the band lays on sofas, behind them a successful gig for 25000 listeners. Just a few hours earlier Ville Valo gave Ilta Sanomat an interview from the tobacco room of his hotel.
Valo must me the most routined Finnish rockstar. Even now he answered the questions openly and in a good mood. He didn't complain about tiredness from the time difference, although just a few days ago he came back after a long American tour.
How do you cope, the same rotation has gone on after the new record for almost two years?
-Pretty good, mostly because I know the summer will be a little more easy, Valo answers
The near week HIM does festival gigs around Europe. The weeks are free, but Valo has things to do
-I have to write songs, say hi to mom and dad, do festivals and take care of myself with reading and bathing, Valo lists
Also, moving takes time. Valo recently bought a historical tower house from Helsinki's Munkkiniemi.
-There at least are no neighbours to do injustice to, he laughs refering to last winters hullabaloo-news. Valo had a fight with his neighbours in Eira, and the police put him in jail. The thing has been agreed on, and the singer blames no one but himself.
-I haven't talked about this a lot, because it was just me being a jerk. I was tired, stressed out, and then I did a stupid thing. It was completely my fault. I asked for forgiveness and we agreed about it together.
A year ago Ville Valo got engaged to Jonna Nygren in Ruisrock. The couple who had been together for a long time tattooed eachothers initials to their fingers and Valo insisted to Ilta Sanoma's to know â�œwhere his heart belongsâ�.
In the spring came the surprising break up news.
-I don't know what the situation is at the moment. It's hard to take care of your relationship if in two years you are away for one and a half. I last saw that lovely dame the day before this. I've been working so hard, Valo tells.
-Lately, the heart has been put in the closet, and work has been done. Soon it'll be taken out of the closet and we'll see how it beats. Love is madness, you can't put it in doses. It either surges over or under.
Valo says the year has been dark and tough. Misfortunes have happened enough in his near circle.
His friends have died and gotten very sick, and many couples have broken up.
-This is a challenge: some super astrologer should look in what position the stars have been. Negative things have happened more than ever. Not necessarily to me, but it has pulled my own wings to the ground for a while.
HIM will start working on the new album next year. Gigs they have to at least November. In America the band does a Halloween tour warming up for example Papa Roach and Lost Prophets. Valo gets to concentrate in the new songs after that.
-There really hasn't been time yet to work them. But I have read a fucking lot and gotten a lot of good ideas.
It seems the new record will be in the stores in next years November, when Valo himself turns 31.
So this year Ville Hermanni Valo will face the full thirty. It doesn't cause a crisis â�“ at least not more than usually.
-Life as a musician doesn't run in weekly cycles. And I have had a crisis every year.

thanks to: faithfulll.....:)

+ another translation:

Jonna Nygren, ex-fiance, was also there, and Ville was happy to see her in good condition. The couple broke up in spring and their single state hasn`t changed at the fest.
- Of course, we are close but we are not together anymore (we can`t breathe the same air), - Ville says. Let`s say I don` t have a happy intimate relationship at the moment. I don`t give up but I didn`t have time for the proper relationship recently. If the stars are friendly to me then why not? Compared to ordinary life rock life is very unstable.
- It`s a game with your eyes shut. But you can always throw a hook and catch some fish, - Ville smiles. Grass is never greener on the other side but you always want smth that you can`t get.

NEW TRANSLATIONS!!!!!

Jonna at Provinssirock with her male friend (And Seiska Translations)

Thanks Tiina!

Jonna came to the back stage with a young man. Same man has supported Jonna during her rehab.

Seiska thing by Manda

Oh come on, it's just one crappy pic. It can be interpreted in millions of ways. This is as low journalism as the recent article in Seiska magazine: There was a couple of paparazzi pics taken of Jonna on the 14th on June and even the precise time was there: around 5 p m. In the pics she was walking down the streets of Helsinki and well, looked a bit distracted, but that can be anything. Like being a little tired after working a night-shift in a bar or stuff like that. But then, the whole article had two pages space and headline " Jonna hortoili kadulla!" meaning "Jonna was wandering around the streets!" with text "Jonna was being stared at by other people". You can read between the lines that they mean "what is wrong with this woman, she's probably using drugs again, see the distract look in her eye! and drinking on that time of the day! she's definetly not doing well...". They also claim that she sat alone in a bar at the same Ville was with his friends in the bar only one block away. "Why wasn't Jonna invited" the text screams.

But that Katso thing surely explains alot about the gig at Provinssi. "We all have a lot of problems back home", said Kaasu.

part 2

Goth or Scandinavian melancholy?
The subject matter though, has retained all its spleen, making me wonder where Villeâ�™s perpetual musings on love and death actually come from. The landscape of loversâ�™ tombstones, angels crying blood and spiritual murder present in the lyrics brings to mind gothic literature classics like ETA Hoffman or Sheridan Le Fanu rather than the heavy metal fantasies of hell and the apocalypse.
- I think it is more about the Finnish folk tradition I got from my mother's milk, claims Ville. That is all there, and some Finnish writers are so overtly melancholic and gloomy that their writings become a celebration of gloominess. My parents also listened a lot to (Finnish singer/athlete/actor with a strong sentimental streak) Tapio Rautavaara. I got subjected to all this at the same time I was into the Rolling Stones. Him is what came out.
But the melancholy present in the music of Him is not something only the Finns should be proud of, if we are to believe Ville. Him share their particular â�œSlavonic melancholyâ� with the rest of Scandinavia.
- You can hear it in all different sorts of bands. The Cardigans' new album, for instance, sounds really American, in a Neil Young-sort of way. Still, it has this intangible melancholia that an American band could never do. I donâ�™t know what it is, some particular Scandinavian wistfulness. Itâ�™s positive thing, not something we should run away from.

Him drummer played with Kent members
Him, indeed, does not fear the big feelings. Despair, hope, desire and disgust are described in words so serious and laden with clichÃ© that they rise beyond clichÃ© and become something else.
- The songs tell the story of what a powerful force love can be, says Ville. People are still asking us what love metal is, so this time we decided to show them once and for all with this album. This is what love metal is about. For instance, when I write â�œWe are like the living deadâ�, Iâ�™m talking about how love can blind you and turn you into the walking dead, a puppet. And love is the master of puppets, see?
The last playful metal reference is just one in an endless string of nods to various artists from Depeche Mode through WASP to Type O Negative and Roky Ericson. Facts sift through the flow: Ville is apparently a big fan of reggae music and their drummer Gas Lipstick hails from Eskilstuna, Sweden where he used to play in bands with members of Kent.
The name issue that Him was having with an American experimental dub outfit of the same name - leading to a temporary sex change for Villeâ�™s band in the US when the name was changed to Her - seems to be sorted out. Expensive videos starring American movie stars are in rotation. After a bit of a stand still following the release of â�Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlightsâ�, Him seem to be on a roll again.
It is high time. After all, there are oceans to be crossed.

some info part 1

A man whose name means light has brought dark romance from distant Scandinavia into orderly European homes everywhere. We sent our partly Finnish journalist Matiias Huss to find out more about Finlandâ�™s biggest rock star and Him poster boy Ville Valo. He spoke to Release about money, music and melancholia. And of course, love.

No autograph assaults in Stockholm
If I were meeting Ville Valo in Hamburg or Berlin, there would in all probability be crowds of fans camping outside the record company building. In Stockholm, where the interview takes place, he has no such problems. The major papers havenâ�™t grasped the significance of his presence yet, even if the rock magazines are slowly catching on. Sweden may well be one of the last places in Europe where Ville Valo can still go shopping for milk without being assaulted for autographs. My first sight of him, leafing through a thick biography on Iggy Pop between interviews, is a tell-tale sign of his encyclopedic knowledge of rockâ�™nâ�™roll trivia. His last name, Valo, means light, but in the world of Him, darkness is prominent.
- I couldnâ�™t fathom anyone singing about his or her breakfast, butterflies, or something like that to our kind of music. If there is light, there is also darkness. The heartagram is a symbol for that divide.

So Him is about dualism. Darkness and light, love and death. Life is perpetually divided, and so is the general public, at least when it comes to Him. The band has found an enormous audience, not the least part consisting of young girls in Germany and middle Europe, many of them from the gothic scene. While that audience has been very happy with the romantically morbid output of the Finnish gloom troop, Him have witnessed the disapproval of the musical underground with every record sold following the incredible sales figures of "Razorblade Romance": almost one million copies to this day. Numerous reviewers, including ones from Release, have treated Him very harshly with accusations of cynical commercialism in their musical production.
But thatâ�™s not how it works, is it?
- This band was formed because of Black Sabbath, says Ville Valo, mildly irritated. We were inspired by Kiss, Iron Maiden and all those bands. They were all mainstream bands that sold shitloads of records. Of course we dreamed of being like them, maybe go to Hollywood one day or something. But when we make a record, we have no idea if it is going to sell or not. We have never, ever had any marketing people involved in the making of our music. We make the record, and then the marketing people hopefully manage to sell it. If it sells, is it our fault?
Of course it is their fault. There are a number of inescapable facts that set Him apart from the anonymous, toiling hords of Scandinavian metal bands and take them into the sphere of popular interest. First, occultism, vampires and other sub-cultural trappings donâ�™t seem to interest them much. Secondly, their music is very accessible, stylistically diverse and melodic with clear, strong vocals instead of hellish grunts. Third, and most importantly:
- We donâ�™t have enough of those really tight, black leather pants! explains Ville.
Well, that might be an explanation... Still, the anger from the musical underground seems to be due largely to the following facts: Ville Valo looks too good, his band uses trappings of the metal scene but sometimes leans musically towards Bon Jovi, and sells too many records to people who normally wouldnâ�™t buy a metal album. Is there a teeny tiny bit of jealousy I sense here?
- We obviously want people to buy our albums and play live in as many places as we can. I think it's just fabulous that teenage girls like our music. I mean, if I hadnâ�™t heard Kiss in my teens I wouldnâ�™t even be doing this. I really donâ�™t see the problem.

part 2

As mentioned earlier, HIM are finally making their way down to Australia for the very first time, which Valo hopes will live up to both his and fans expectations.

â�œThatâ�™s super exciting. We have a couple of friends down there, and weâ�™re hoping to meet up with them. Weâ�™ve heard a lot of great stories about Australia, and because weâ�™ve never been down there before, weâ�™re all really looking forward to this tour. I can only hope that we have some time off. I think weâ�™re doing a promotional day in Sydney, and another in Melbourne as well, so thereâ�™s the possibility of having a bit of time off to walk around, buy myself a great didgeridoo and go to a pub to try out a few beers.â�

Another thing Valo is hoping before hitting Australian shores is for is his band to actually feel well enough to comfortably play on stage without having to duck off stage due to sickness.

â�œPaananen (MigÃ¨) has been really suffering from a stomach flu in recent times, so heâ�™s been having the shits and vomiting the whole time. Weâ�™re supposed to be playing a show tonight, so weâ�™re hoping that heâ�™s feeling a little better by then. When you have a proper stomach flu, it means that you canâ�™t do shit. Well actually, having said that, it means you literally can! (Laughs) The shit really does literally hit the fan when you have a sick member of the band with you out on tour, but weâ�™re hoping that he feels better soon.â�

Apart from the six track live D.V.D. that accompanied the limited edition version of their greatest hits package â�˜And Love Said No - The Greatest Hits 1997 â�“ 2004â�™ and their full length D.V.D. â�˜Love Metal Archives Vol.1â�™ (Released in 2005), few in Australia have an idea of what to expect when HIM take to the stage. But as Valo points out, HIM sound nothing like their polished studio output.

â�œImage wise, we have a great lighting technician and chandeliers on the stage. So itâ�™s sort of moody, yet funny on the stage at the same time. But live, weâ�™re really loud, and a lot more gritty sounding than what weâ�™re like on our albums. Thereâ�™s a fair bit of improvisation happening too, so we tend to move about a bit too. We tend to look like little tiny monkeys in a cage, but sound like gorillas having the shits! (Laughs) Thatâ�™s the only way I can put it right now. Iâ�™ll let you know when I have a better answer to your question. Weâ�™re a very live band, and I think that weâ�™re simply a lot more energetic live than what we sound like on our albums. Thatâ�™s actually what weâ�™re hoping to catch for our next album. We want to go a little more in the direction of how we sound live on stage, which is a bit more adrenaline fuelled, and a little more up-tempo sounding. We donâ�™t necessarily want to sound any sexier, but definitely hotter.â�

As talk turns towards their next album, I questioned Valo about reports that HIM still had quite a few songs left over from the â�˜Dark Lightâ�™ sessions, and their plans to release them as another album before the end of the year.

â�œI havenâ�™t heard about that. Wow. To be brutally frank, we didnâ�™t have any left over songs from the last recording sessions. All the fillers and killers are on the album. We never record any more than what we need for the album. There are a lot of bands that do that though. They will go into the studio and record forty tracks and pick out the best dozen and compile them together, but we never do that. We would rather work on the stuff that we like, rather than spend a lot of time on the stuff that we hate, or think is sub-standard. Iâ�™ve been working on some new material in recent times, but because weâ�™ve been constantly on tour, weâ�™ve havenâ�™t really had the time to sit down, go to the rehearsal studio and demo that shit out. So itâ�™s going to be a while before we have a new album ready to be released. Itâ�™s still going to take a while because Iâ�™m still waiting for the concept, that one song, that one idea that will determine the feel or the theme for the next album. I have some ideas and bits and pieces, but weâ�™re not that desperate to get into the studio just yet! (Laughs) In the past, I believe the band was more than happy with me having written all the stuff before heading into the studio, but I donâ�™t fucking like that anymore. Our next album will be more of a group effort, and the only way we can make that happen is when we have finished touring and head into the rehearsal room. It tends to re-energises everybody and bring out ideas. So any prospect of a new album is still some way off really.â�

And a long way off it is too, as HIM plan to continue hitting the road for at least the rest of the 2006.

â�œFucking hell, itâ�™s never ending. After our Australian tour, weâ�™re flying over to New Zealand, followed by a trip to L.A., where weâ�™ll at least have a week and a half off. In mid April, weâ�™re heading off to the U.K. and Ireland to do about ten shows, followed by a couple of extra shows in North America. We then plan to spend the summer in Europe doing the festivals, with plans to return to the U.S. and play our first shows in South America. So basically itâ�™s going to be constant touring until the end of the year. We donâ�™t have a great deal of time off planned for 2006, but at least we managed to get most of December 2005 off. All I did was write some new songs and just try to get back to a normal life with my fiancÃ©e (Jonna Nygren). Doing normal things like washing the dishes and shopping for toilet paper is hard to do when youâ�™ve been out on the road for a long time, so it was quite an adjustment to make for about a month. But then all hell broke loose once again, and we weâ�™re back out on the road. I guess the only way I can only describe my way of life is that itâ�™s very Dali-esque. Being a musician is a very Dali-esque existence.â� [END]

interview

Having already firmly established a huge following throughout Europe with the release of four full length albums (1997â�™s â�˜Greatest Lovesongs Vol.666â�™, 1999â�™s â�˜Razorblade Romanceâ�™, 2001â�™s â�˜Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlightsâ�™ and 2003â�™s â�˜Love Metalâ�™), a greatest hits set (2004â�™s â�˜And Love Said No - The Greatest Hits 1997 â�“ 2004â�™) and a countless number of singles along the way, Finnish melodic gothic rock act HIM (Who are vocalist/songwriter/founder Ville Hermanni Valo, guitarist Mikko Viljami â�˜Lindeâ�™ Lindstrom, bassist Mikko â�˜MigÃ¨ Amourâ�™ Paananen, keyboardist Jani â�˜Burton Emersonâ�™ Purttinen and drummer Mikka â�˜Gas Lipstickâ�™ Karppinen) have finally set their sites further, and at the tail end of September 2005, offered themselves up to a wider international audience for the first time with their internationally released fifth album â�˜Dark Lightâ�™.

While on tour with The Rasmus and Negative, I caught up with a freshly woken up and very tired (And admittedly verbally challenged) Ville Valo in Milan (Spain), who was more than happy to talk about the bandâ�™s recently completed North American tour, their upcoming tour of Australia, speculation surrounding reports of a new album due sometime before the end of 2006 and the success of â�˜Dark Lightâ�™ outside of their core European fan base.

â�œâ�˜Dark Lightâ�™ has been doing really well. Weâ�™re very happy with the album. Itâ�™s shipped nearly four hundred thousand copies in the U.S. alone, which is great for us because itâ�™s our first official release over there. England has also done well too, so itâ�™s been really good. Itâ�™s selling more than â�˜Love Metalâ�™, but then thatâ�™s not hard considering that with that album we never did any real promotion or tour behind it in the U.S., and it was only available as an import only. And for a band such as ourselves, we have to tour so that people know that we exist and know that we are around. We have the tendency to kick peoples asses in a good way when weâ�™re having a good show, which has helped us build up such a big fan base. I think we finally managed to do that with â�˜Dark Lightâ�™ in the U.S. We really havenâ�™t had the chance to sit down and relax and enjoy the fruit of our labour because weâ�™ve been touring all the time, but itâ�™s not something that worries us. Weâ�™re just happy to tour.â�

Although knowing full well that â�˜Dark Lightâ�™ was going to be HIMâ�™s first official release internationally, Valo insists that the album wasnâ�™t shaped or influenced to cater to a certain market.

â�œ(After a lot of thought) I think we all felt like kids in a candy store. Of course it gave us high hopes knowing we were getting the album officially released outside of Europe, and giving us the opportunity to find better promoters in countries such as Australia, Canada and South America. Basically it gave us half of the world to explore. I think that was as far as those influences came into the equation, because musically, â�˜Dark Lightâ�™ is still very much a HIM album as anything else weâ�™ve done in the past, only a little different.â�Wasting little time since the release of â�˜Dark Lightâ�™, HIM has constantly been on the road to support its release, and most notably in the U.S.

â�œWe started touring in North America at the start of October last year, and continued right through to the end of November. So we did forty gigs over that period, without so much as a day off in that time. The tour was everything we hoped it would be. It was really good. Most of the gigs were sold out, and the new songs seems to strike a chord in a very positive way, so we weâ�™re pretty happy with the tour. It wasnâ�™t out first time touring North America, but it was by far the most extensive tour we had ever done there. When we toured in the past, it was nothing more than a string of dates that stretched out to a total of fifteen shows at a time. Normally we did the west coast, and then the east coast. This time around, we played some of the places in the middle as well. It was all pretty exciting, especially being in Texas for the first time. We managed to visit The Alamo, and that was really cool.â�

While the historic significance about The Alamo (Or otherwise known as Mission San Antonio De Valero) is an important part of American history, Valoâ�™s reasons behind seeing the monument first hand wasnâ�™t for cultural reasons exclusively.

â�œOh it wasnâ�™t because of the Texan Revolution! We just wanted to see where Ozzy Osbourne pissed, and then got arrested for soon afterwards. Itâ�™s a Mecca for us! (Laughs) If anyone in the band was interested in its history, that would have to be Purttinen (Burton). Heâ�™s always waking up early in the morning so that he can have a walk around the cities weâ�™re in. The only thing I care for is bookshops and bars. Iâ�™m very simple. Give me a good book, and eight pints and Iâ�™ll be happy.â�

A little known fact in regards to HIM tours is that the band has always played as a headlining act, and never a support.

â�œYouâ�™re right, we always headline. We never play a support slot. Thatâ�™s an unspoken rule that we have had within the band since day one. The reason for that is that a lot of bands that tend to start out as a support act tend to stay a support act throughout their whole career. If youâ�™re not careful, itâ�™s so easy to become a constant support and sustain that title without moving up. Thereâ�™s a lot of bands that just stay as a support, and thatâ�™s something that weâ�™ve never wanted. We would rather play in front of twenty people, and still headline than play a supporting role to another band. We never consciously decided to do this from the start, but weâ�™ve always felt that itâ�™s something that we have to do. Itâ�™s purely based around word of mouth and having fans spread the word for us. We recently had Finch and Skindred supporting us here in the U.S., and they went down pretty well. But I would have to say that so far, the best package weâ�™ve had to date was the Monster Magnet and Melissa Auf Der Maur back in November 2004. Auf Der Maur was really cool, and I am a huge fucking fan of Monster Magnet. Theyâ�™re one of the great inspirations for HIM. 1995â�™s â�˜Dopes To Infinityâ�™ is one of my favourite rock albums of all time. So it felt really weird to actually headline over one of my favourite bands. So, in a case like that, I always like to call them co-headliners. Itâ�™s not simply because theyâ�™ve been around longer than us, but also because you have to be really nice to the other bands because you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. It could very well be the case that we have to support them one day! (Laughs)â�

interview

eFestivals caught up with rock band HIM at Rock City on their U.K tour for a little chat. Frontman Ville Valo kindly took time out of his schedule to speak to us.

The first time I caught you live was at Download last year, you blew the audience away. Is there much difference between playing to a festival crowd and playing to a club crowd?

Ville:There's a lot of difference in the way that when a band play a club show, the people are there to just see that band, where as at a festival the audience are usually wasted and aren't just there to see one band. They are usually there to hang out with friends as well as checking out the new bands. The mood is pretty different, and even backstage it is a different atmosphere- there is more of the family reunion type of atmosphere?

Did you get to see any of the other bands at Download?

Ville:No, it was terrible hassle, because the previous night we were playing Madrid around midnight, and we had about an hours worth of sleep, then we had to be on the plane, straight to the gig, and then to London for some promotion stuff, we got to see a bit of Marilyn Manson on the T.V screens backstage.

How do you feel about downloading music of the internet?

Ville:I actually donâ�™t know, without statistics how can you tell? The problem is that it is causing record companies to plough money into artistes like Britney Spears and Madonna, because they know they will make their money back, and so it is making it more restrictive for new artistes.

Do you actually get to do a full sound check at festivals?

Ville:We usually just line check, it doesnâ�™t really matter because we have had the same crew for such a long time now, but there is always technical hassles, but when you have better slots you get to do a more thorough sound check in the morning, but I never do, I donâ�™t want to wake up that early.

How do you think your current album â�˜Love Metalâ�™ is going down with the audiences?

Ville:On this tour, itâ�™s going down really well because the album is our biggest so far in the U.K. But itâ�™s different from place to place! Some countries like the older stuff more.

Are you still playing tracks spanning throughout your entire career?

Ville:Yes, we do stuff from most of our albums. We still do the cover version of â�˜Wicked Gameâ�™ and some of the older material like â�˜Poison Girlâ�™.

Are there any venues that you would still like to play at?

Ville:We havenâ�™t properly toured America, Canada, Australia or Japan, so thereâ�™s lots of places still to go to, we are in no hurry.

Kerrang have really took a shining to you, do you think they might be building you up to knock you down?

Ville:I think if we keep on doing good music and people like us and they buy the magazine because we are in the magazine then they cant basically hate us hopefully.

What music do you listen to when on the road?

Ville:I like to listen to mellow stuff on the road like Travis, as we are constantly surrounded by rock music on tour and so its nice listening to mellow stuff. Obviously back at home I listen to a lot more rock music.

If there was one song you could have written that has been written by another artist, which one would you have liked to have written?

Ville:Not really, its great that people have written beautiful songs that keep me going as a songwriter- it would be great to be able to write a song like â�˜Love me tenderâ�™ but there are lots of songs that are classics which I admire.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Ville:Itâ�™s been pretty busy for us. We really havenâ�™t had a proper vacation in the last three years. Usually we go to the pub during breaks whilst recording.

Have you recorded any material for your next album?

Ville:Well we just recorded two tracks for our compilation album thatâ�™s coming out on march 15th. We recorded Neil Diamonds â�˜Solitary Manâ�™ and one of our own tracks. It seems that we will be going into the studio again in October to record the next album, I have got ideas for about thirteen songs.

When you was younger did you have the illusion that if you are in a rock band, it would mean endless nights of sex, drugs and rock n roll?

Ville:We started playing music from an early age and so we wasnâ�™t really aware of that side of it, the weird thing is the more successful you get the more free booze and drugs you get, they should be given to the bands who donâ�™t have the money. We have never been a druggy band, we have always been dating, we have always had our girlfriends at home, and we have been 95% faithful, weâ�™ve made mistakes, but have suffered for our sins.

It is quite expensive to go on tour at this level, so why do you do it?

Ville:Just for the fun of it, if you donâ�™t tour you are fucked, rock is all about touring and taking the music to the people rather than expecting the people to come to the band. Sometimes itâ�™s horrible, and sometimes its beautiful, I can tolerate all the bad moments for all those little moments of sheer beauty.

Villetastic's Journals

Just a bit about today

interview ville

interview ville

Ville Valo interview

The interview is older, u might know it but I'll post it anyway. It's for Artmania Festival.A few hours ahead H.I.Mâ�™s first Australian show, just after flying in from Japan, Ville took the time to send a message to the devoted Romanian fans:

VILLE VALO TALKS ABOUT HIS BREAK UP (months ago)

VILLE VALO TALKS ABOUT HIS BREAK UP

part 2

some info part 1

part 2

interview

interview

The interview is older, u might know it but I'll post it anyway. It's for Artmania Festival.

A few hours ahead H.I.Mâ�™s first Australian show, just after flying in from Japan, Ville took the time to send a message to the devoted Romanian fans: