June 8, 2008
"The black carbon fiber cello. Yes, well," says Perttu Kivilaakso. "I no longer play that one."
Paavo Lötjönen chuckles. "It was..." he makes a V with his hands, "crushed by a large truck. It looked like this."
"It was in pieces," says Perttu.
"Where was that?" Paavo asks.
"Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam" says Perttu.
"We have bad luck at Schiphol," says Paavo.
I like cellos, I like carbon, and I like fibers, so my curiosity about carbon fiber cellos is preordained and I have been on a quest to get my hands on one and draw a bow across its strings and see what it feels like and how it sounds.
Being a fan, I already have Apocalyptica tickets. Then I notice on a website that Perttu plays a carbon fiber cello, so I ask his management whether I could meet him while he is in Vienna and interview his cello. I am honest, I tell them it is for a blog. I call it a website, but I give them the URL. I don't get my hopes up. To my surprise, they readily agree.
My next surprise comes when I arrive backstage on the afternoon before the concert and everyone is nice to me. It turns out Eicca Toppinen, the founder of the band, is a big fan of metamorphosism! "We of course all understand it, being intellectuals," he says, shaking my hand.
Actually, I just made that up. He is busy brushing his hair when I arrive. The guy is a walking Wella ad. Talk about hair. They ought to get a shampoo company to sponsor them. Both he and Perttu do the hair thing in concert, the headbanging hair whip thing?
Eicca is busy brushing his hair and the fourth man, the quiet one with dark glasses, the John Entwistle only with cello one, the one whose name isn't on the website, the one I have no pictures of, is practicing classical licks on a cello from the 1700s because, as they tell me later, he has an orchestral audition coming up.
That leaves Perttu Kivilaakso, who happens to be the one I wanted to see in the first place, and Paavo Lötjönen (pronounced "Paavo Lötjönen"). They march into an interview room with three or four of their cellos and a bunch of other shit and we get to work. If you ever happen to be someone who knows very little about rock music and equally little about cellos but have to interview someone about those subjects? I highly recommend these two. They practically interview themselves, in a nice way.
Perttu is a tall, slender young man with some fancy dye work in his hair, black fingernails on his left hand and a can of Red Bull connected to a vein in his arm by IV drip. When he pronounces the word "knife" he doesn't let the letter "K" go to waste.
Paavo is a bit shorter, stockier, athletic, with short black hair and a little thing growing on his chin. Maybe he's more hyper than Perttu, maybe he just got more sleep.
In great detail and in perfect English they tell me more about cellos and their use in heavy metal music than I could have hoped for. I am now an expert. They show me their cellos, they tell me which rosins they use, they explain their pickups and their earplugs and why they use new Chinese cellos.
Basically, new Chinese cellos are cheap. When a baggage truck runs over one at Schiphol Airport, they merely laugh derisively and say, "Schiphol is as hard on cellos as we are." They also use piezo pickups on the bridge of the cello, so the actual sound of the cello played acoustically is not that important, since they don't use microphones. "We use a wireless system so we can move around on stage without tripping over cords," Paavo explains. "We're sitting down at the beginning of the set, but then we start moving around quite a bit."
They display the cellos. "Look," Paavo says, opening the first hard case. "Eicca's is the oldest, it's a few years old." All the varnish is worn off the back, and every corner that can be broken off is. More varnish is worn off the front, where they use sandpaper to remove rosin. Paavo proudly shows me the sandpaper. "We are hard on cellos," he says. They are hard on everything. He showed me the carbon fiber spike on the otherwise wooden cello. "These are good. They are very light, and very strong, but Eicca broke one."
Many of the bows they use are also carbon fiber. "I broke one on stage once," Perttu says. "The luthiers back in Finland said that was impossible, but it wasn't."
They break a lot of strings too. Half the cello strings sold in Finland every year are sold to Apocalyptica. Paavo grins. "The luthiers love us. We give them a lot of business."
They unpack their bows. Perttu takes out a carbon fiber bow that is just shredded. "This is what they look like at the end of the set," he says. They use double bass rosin on their bows for rock songs, and cello rosin on different bows, sometimes wood, for the ballads they play. I get some double bass rosin on my hand somehow. That stuff is like glue. "It is good for the attack," Paavo says. He demonstrates, playing something on the cello. "Wow," I think. "That sounds just like Apocalyptica." Then, you know, duh. He hands me the cello and the bow. I play a little. I sound like shit, but the cello just roars with that sticky rosin. You can practically pluck the strings with it, the attack is just amazing. Sounds a bit rough on the "A" string, but the lower strings just growl.
Paavo opens another case. "We also have a blue cello." They had a sponsor on their German tour, who asked them to paint a cello blue and play a few numbers on it. "I asked all the luthiers I could find, but none of them would paint a cello blue," he says. "Then I asked all the guitar makers I knew, but they all refused. Finally one gave me a number to call." It turned out to be the number of an automotive paint shop. Paavo masked the cello and they sprayed it with car paint. He grinned as he told me the story. "It's a Chinese cello, too. This used to be yours, didn't it?"
Perttu nods. "Yes, the neck was broken off and when we had it repaired it was better than before."
"Where was it broken?" asks Paavo.
"Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam" Perttu says. "We've lost three there."
Paavo plays some more and talks about technique. "We play a lot of fifths," he said, demonstrating. "so it looks like we have bad technique, but for fifths you have to play like this." He holds his fingers flat across the strings and plays two at a time.
Their bowing technique is different, too, with a stiffer wrist. "if you have a relaxed wrist, your arm gets very tired by the end of a set."
Perttu shows me the bridge on one of the cellos. It has a slightly different shape than an average cello bridge. "The A string must be closer to the fingerboard, and the other strings a bit higher, because of how we play."
Paavo takes out some yellow foam things and explains how they work. They are ear plugs and earphones at the same time, allowing them to hear themselves and cutting out noise at the same time. "It is the only way to play in tune," he explains. "And I have no problem with tinnitus." The sound engineer can adjust the volume and "location" of all the musicians. "In the earphones, Eicca is on my right, Perttu is on my left, the drums are behind me and all the other stuff we have on tape is about here." He waves his hands above and behind his head.
They tell me they no longer take their cellos into the cabin when they fly. After spending about $100,000 buying tickets for their instruments, they decided it would be cheaper to put them in baggage and replace the ones that break. "It's a big savings," Paavo says.
"As long as we avoid Schiphol," Perttu says.
Finally my time runs out. As they pack everything up, Paavo and Perttu say they like to play classical music when they're not on tour. They're all classically trained. Perttu, the son of a cellist, plays in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo, whose parents are both musicians, plays somewhere else.
When you're playing a cello, Perttu tells me, the most important thing, more important than the sound of the cello, he says, is the sound in your head you're trying to produce. He says he tries to replicate the human voice. He's a big opera fan.
April 12, 2005
Posted on 06/08/2008 2:16 PM Comments (4)
May 1, 2008
Sex Doom & Love Metal
HIM is on a role. Late last year Venus doom came out, the sixth studio record of the Fins. Since 29 of April Digital versatile doom is in the stores. It’s the first concert registration of the band. As far as the chain-smoking front man Ville Valo is concerned, that live album shouldn’t have existed. “Most of the times you only get a lame copy of a good song on live albums.”
Venus Doom sounds a bit harder then the pervious albums. Why did you choose this heavier sound?
Why not? Our last album “Dark Light” had a lot of keyboard melodies. The record was very melodious and poppy. That was then. It can never be our intention to shamelessly copy a previous album. That’s why we gave our keyboard player a little less work this time around. Looking back on it, I think DL was more of a pop record then a rock one. That’s why VD sounds harder. You know, we always fight out a battle. Every time we try to find a balance between rock and pop. This time the guitar plays a bigger part. Every track on VD is written on an acoustic guitar. There are still poppy edges on every song, but the hard guitar wall camouflages that.
How did the rest of the band react to the thought of making a guitar orientated record?
The guitarist was happy, hehe. Look, the main reason we got the keyboard is to create an atmosphere and to enhance moods. It never really was our intention of composing full tracks on that thing. Like I said before, with every album we try out our boundaries and new stuff. It isn’t our intention to continue on the success of a previous album. Experimenting keeps us sharp. Everyone inside the band does his FF best to play every song as best as possible and eventually we choose the version that we like the best as a band. Every time we try different angles to get the best album possible. You can’t change the base of a song. That always stays the same, so a verse, a refrain and so on. But in the filling of a track you can get out your creativity. That’s why we try all different stuff and are ffing around most of the time… That’s the core of HIM.
There are a few long tracks on VD, beside the short “Song or suicide”, which barely lasts a minute. How did the track list come to be?
You know, in the seventies it was common to put short, strange songs onto an album. Most of the time between heavy songs. It’s fun to give some variation. It gives some air if, after all those monstrous, long and breathtaking anthems there suddenly is a compact song. Black Sabbath was a master in that en the ingenious thing was that all their albums had a coherent atmosphere, despite the length of their songs. I always admired that and that’s why I wanted to try it at least once. The acoustic “song or suicide” is between bombastic songs as Sleepwalking past hope and cyanide sun, there is a lot happening in those songs and we do expect a lot of our listeners. By suddenly changing the atmosphere and dynamics, you create a tension en diversion. Just like Sabbath did, so we’ve been very old school. On this album our appreciation for DOOM metal stands out more and that’s how you should see VD as a tribute to that genre.
What is the idea behind VD?
Venus, the goddess of love and doom as in damnation. Life consists of good and bad, light and dark, opposites. That’s what I want to carry out with this band. I’m a great fan of poets like Charles Bukowski, who describe the dark, humoristic side of mankind. I’m not into religion or politics, I’m purely interested in the human flaws and the way we deal with that. So that’s what I write about, as well as the less good thoughts that come with the territory. It’s like therapy for me. Venus Doom says who we are as a band. We are attracted by opposites, just like every person really. Everyone has a dark streak. And off course a light side. As a band we make melancholic rock about love with a dark edge.
By singing so melodramatic about love you do stand out in the macho metal scene.
A lot of bands hate us. Look, in metal it’s mainly about an angry image. We don’t p lay that game. What we do is more on an erotic level. More bands do that, think Manowar. But what they do is gay. Some people get what HIM is about, while others will never get us. Metal is a funny genre. A lot of bands do everything to look as though as possible. They scowl on pictures, get tattoos and bluntly only love one kind of music. I think I speak for everyone in this band, if I say that we like all kinds of music. Pop, rock, reggae en metal: we suck it all in. We get our inspiration from everywhere and blend that into the bands sound. Further I think you don’t have to take yourself that serious. Not as a person, nor as a musician. I’m the singer/songwriter and front man of this band, so the sign of HIM. On one side it helps me, but I’m not a fan of one nightstands. I like to know people before I take it to the next level. The whole sexsymbol is one big joke. We all decided I was gonna be the face of the band. When we just started it seemed easier to put one face on the cover then all five off us. It makes it recognizable. Besides, I mostly do the interviews myself so I am the face of the band. My band mates think that’s ok. They don’t need to be in the spotlight.
Digital versatile doom is the first live DVD of HIM. What can we expect?
The thing has to be finished in April. At the moment we are brainstorming what has to be on it. We only have a limited space, so a lot of songs will have to be cut back. With the DVD is also a live cd. The concert was taped last September in the Orpheum theatre in LA. Our management has been bothering us for a live-release for ages, so finally we gave in. The first tour-DVD of HIM is a fact. But well, I can’t complain because the gig went fine, and the venue was great. We played old and new songs. I gave a long interview for the DVD. I talked about lots of stuff: the realization of our old videos, the course of the band and the writing of songs. It’s been a while since that got taped, so I can’t go into detail what exactly I talked about. I do think there is look behind the scenes. Something like that…
That doesn’t sound very enthusiastic.
Oh well. Concert registrations don’t interest me that much. I rather listen to a studio record, because it just sounds better. A lot of live records aren’t even live. You just buy a record where a band is jamming and were they put some audience sounds on top of it. There are some good live albums out there off course. Thin lizzy and Motorhead recorded some good gigs. My absolute favourite is iron maidens live after death. But that’s about it for me. Most of the times, what has been recorded in a studio sounds so much stronger then what a band plays on stage. Mainly you get a faint version of a good song.
In a previous interview you told that you got a panic attack and subsided into depression after recording ended. How did that happen?
Now, depression is a big word… After recording I went straight into rehab. I had a problem with alcohol. We always were a party band that went drinking after a gig or recording. In the tour bus a lot of alcohol flowed. Eventually it broke me down. I was drinking too often and too much. My body got addicted to the stuff and eventual I couldn’t live with out it. At a certain point I visited a doctor and he said that I would get a liver condition if I continued drinking. That woke me up and that’s why I kicked my addiction. Well not quit true, coffee is my new addiction. But I am doing better now, I totally quit. I’m not having any troubles with staying clean. Oddly enough, I don’t miss he alcohol one bit. I feel a lot fitter. I really was in bad shape. Right before releasing VD my then girlfriend broke things off, so that wasn’t helping. I tried to drink away my pain. But all the misery came in the same time. Every day became hell, a drag. Alcohol was the only light I had. Sounds heavy doesn’t it? But well remember this; we are a heavy-metal band. Hehe.
(Frank van de Ven – Up Magazine 2008)
HIM + Paradise Lost
Ville Valo, lead singer of HIM, is hot. That much is clear in a sold out Paradiso. When the charismatic Fin wanders on stage like he’s taking a stroll in the park, the air is filled with screams. The mainly female public doesn’t stop cheering the singer on, who barely gets over the noise. He can’t be understood between the songs, except for some unclear chatting. Valo doesn’t seem to care. Smiling widely he receives the gifts that are thrown to his head. Stuffed animals, panties (absorb the sweat as good as a towel) and love letters. A chain-smoking and careless Valo brings his set list to an end, where mainly tracks as Venus doom and the inevitable Join Me make a steaming venue.
And although HIM never gives the impression of working hard for their money, the show was worth it's money. One hit after another and the band found a good balance between old and new stuff. Nobody seems to care that Valo sings off key regularly and that their isn’t much happening on stage. Paradise Lost is a beautiful opening act, well opening act… Paradise Lost easily blow away the main act, with a professional show and excellent instrument control. Unfortunately they don’t have an icon like Valo among them.
(Frank van de Ven – Up Magazine)
Posted on 05/01/2008 5:39 AM Comments (6)
April 18, 2008
B.
I hate it how you sneaked your way into my life! I never wanted you in it! People warned me about you, time after time! I always said that I will never let you come near me!
I finally reached an acceptable weight, and then you showed up, just because of that 1 kilogram I never seemed to lose. I hate you!!!
I hate that I can never enjoy holidays, birthdays and vacations anymore because you are fucking it up for me! I hate it that you make nervous when I check out the menu in a restaurant, because every time I eat ‘bad’ food, I’m only aloud to eat ‘bad’ food because you make me to! I hate the fact that you make me feel lousy and every time I look into a mirror I feel disgusted about myself! You make me feel like I never will accomplish anything, not with my job or a love life! I feel like a loser, and it’s your fault!!! Your fault, because every time when things seem to go right, YOU show up! I hate you!!!
Why are you doing this to me?! I don’t deserve this! I wanna be happy, I wanna enjoy food without feeling guilty afterwards! I don’t want to act sneaky towards other people when it comes to food. I don’t wanna go to the supermarket anymore and buy junk food. I don’t want to lie awake at night, because I’m afraid my heart will stop beating! I don’t wanna take medication anymore because my bloodwork is not o.k. ! You made me sick!!! I hate you!!!
I want you gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! I don’t want you to screw up my life! I only life once, and you will not destroy that for me! I deserve to be happy!
Posted on 04/18/2008 11:11 AM Comments (4)
January 16, 2008
Hello again lovelies. How are you? Hopefully well.
Well, this time I thought of writing something a bit different, so I decided to write a memo of yesterday's meeting/gathering/whatever... I use the European clock because I am from Finland.
It is not too cold, yet very grey and foggy, a smelly Wednesday morning in a little known suburb of Helsinki. This is a typical area of factories: gas, broken glass, graffiti everywhere: an abandoned bicycle lies on the ground; someone has stolen it's rubbers. This slightly frozen asphalt jungle awaits what the new day brings. So does this old building, where bands can bring their instruments and play - I mean play music - and also play like children play. The building is, anyhow, quite far from the Hilton standard (actually pretty fucking far from it, but it doesn't bother, only increases that certain anxiety level one should have while working on this kind of stuff. Maybe it's a positive thing).
Clock: 09:45: nothing happens. Clock: 09:57: nothing happens. Practice room number xxx... Silence. Clock: 10:00: rehearsals are marked to begin. Clock: 10:07: no lifesigns. 10:13: Paavo arrives. Little bit sweaty, cleaning his glasses, searching out sparkling water to satisfy his thirst. "Ach so, again I'm the first one, and most likely will be the last, like always..." Paavo is very energic, and diligent. Clock: 10:18: Paavo goes to toilet.10.22: Eicca arrives. "Oh - you're all alone. Sorry I'm a bit late. I took the wrong hard drive with me. I realized half-way that I had the one where I keep my lullabies. I made a new song yesterday. It is called 'A song'" he explains.
Paavo listens to the ipod as Eicca looks for sparkling water."Is coffee already ready? Paavo puts his thumb up.10:26: Mikko arrives."I went into this shop to buy new drumsticks because I realized that I have only broken ones, but the shop wasn't open yet. And then I realized that I din't have any money with me, so I asked them to send the bill to you, Eicca." "Good morning. How kind of you, where is the sparkling water? Is coffee ready?" Paavo puts his thumb up and takes off the headphones. "Hey, I listened to song number 13 -you remember the fast one that goes like... tadam-tam, tadam-tam, didudidu, tadam... Yes,that one? How about if it would go instead of didudidu-didudi, instead?" "Hmm... I didn't think of that possibility yet. Could work though. Let's try!"
10:33: Perttu arrives. "Damn it. I couldn't get up from bed and..." Eh,we are not interested of your excuses... This is already the third time you are late, so tomorrow is your turn to vacuum the whole room!" "NO! But..." "No excuses." "But... I don't even vacuum-clean my home!" Paavo continues: "...but since we all were late today, you don't have to massage our backs this time." "Okay, I will try to wake up better then in future." (Behind Perttu's back, the others give doubtful glances). "Is coffee ready?" Paavo notices that the can is already empty, and a bit resigned leaves the room to get more water.10:45: the flavour of new coffee fills the room. "Did you see yesterday the program about black holes?" Perttu asks. No response."It is so cool, unbelievable that those things exist, but I don't get how they work." "I guess no one really does. How could it be possible for a material to disappear?" "But surely we have one black hole in here," Eicca begins to tease. "Please, guys. No!" Perttu weeps.
10:53: "About this didudi," Paavo says."I think it's a good idea," says Perttu. "You don't even know what we're talking about!" "No, but i decided to be positive and optimistic today." "Well, look in the mirror. On a scale of 1-7, how positive do you look? Oh we don't have a mirror, but believe me, you look like shit!" Mikko praises. "Thanks. When was the last time you shaved?" Perttu tries to strike back. "Ah! Don't you know that these whiskers are in style at the moment. You should really follow what's happening on streets." "I don't have time for that, all my spare time is spent watching historical or astronomical documentaries." "Yes... And believe me, that's exactly how you look!"
Now we come to the point of the day's first "must be censored" scene... 11:13: "didudii"...a cello makes a sound. Paavo plays the "didudii". "Yeah, that's good!" Perttu continues. "You haven't heard the entire song yet!" "True. I just want to be difficult." 11:15: Paavo puts the cello away and joins the others who have found some cookies. Mikko also brought a newspaper and they are reading it silently. 11:18: "Didudii" soughs Perttu. 11:19: "OK. Let's listen to 'The Song'" Eicca says and goes to the toilet. 11:21: "Didudii," whistles Perttu. 11:22: Very loud music can be heard, fast beat, d-minor, quite dark. Paavo plays along with the CD. Now it comes...didudii...song ends. "Yes. It is a good opportunity. Tthen Mikko begins to write a textmessage, Perttu opens the window and lights a cigarette, Paavo begins to read a slalom magazine, Eicca lifts weights. 11:36: Four men sit behind their instruments, looking stupid, as if someone would have something to say. "Okay, what did we do yesterday?" asks Eicca. "Well, actually pretty much nothing," Mikko answers,"nor the day before..." Silence... "Let's play song number 3 once, that we all know." Mikko is lively - almost..." Perttu mutters. 11:43: "I am so tired! More coffee!"
11:59: "Have you heard the new muse-album, it's amazing!" Mikko is lively. "True!" Paavo jumps into the conversation and follows a long 7minutes analysis of what kind of chords and effects they are using. Eicca calls to the manager. Perttu smokes. 12:06: "I am so hungry, let's go to get something to eat," Paavo suggests. 12:24: Boys are back. 12:37: Food is in the stomach. 12:52: Everybody visited the toilets and ate crackers as deserts. 12:53: Song number 9 begins."I think this could be still faster." "No,much slower in my opinion." "Why? Can't you play it faster?" "Not yet, since i haven't had time to..." "No excuses, let's play!" "Faster!" 13:19: "Yeah! That was good!" Perttu screams and looks like a washed dog. "Good! There's still some hope for you as well... But not much..."
What follows is the next "must-be-cencored"-scene. 13:49: "Do we have any candy left?" Mikko asks. Mikko is a candy-monster. 14:01: "Should we still play something?" Paavo asks. Funny...because so far we played maybe thirty minutes during four hours. Says Eicca: "That's the way it goes." Says Perttu: "Goes what?" "Well, if this is not going any faster, then I'm going home, because i have another life, too," says Paavo, a little bit irritated. The final result: "When was the last time I said that I love you guys?" Perttu asks. Surprised silence. "You know, I need to share my feelings, because life is so unpredictable, and you never know what the next corner brings, and it's better to express your emotions than suffocate them..." "I think it was yesterday... Or maybe the day before...Yes, Monday, yes...Yes, you told us many times...It is good to know how deeply you care." Eicca whispers: "You guys are so important to me, I don't know what I would do with out you three." Perttu cries the tears of a dragon. He hugs everybody. Paavo's heart melts too."I love you, my friend, my brother, and don't forget that!" Mikko shouts: "And they lived happily ever after!" Eicca encourages, "Yes! Come, my brothers! Let's create a beautiful sound together! Let's play "The song"! Happily they take their instruments and Mikko counts the beat in, but nothing happens."Perttu, you should begin the song!" "Ah! This is the didudidu didudii." "Whatever...ok, ok...didudii...tadam tadam...dum dum..." It's going to be good, if Perttu will just play the same song as us. Another try, everybody! Make the changes.
15:13: Cookies and coffee!
15:20: "But truly, let's not fall into despair! Hope remains while the company is true." "Oh, you saw that movie too?" "What movie?" "Oh, the movie...sure." "What was the point?" "...that we should not give up now that we are so far." "Yes, we are pretty f***ing far from far" Eicca growls. "What do we already have? Ten, thirteen, fourteen songs?" Mikko counts. "Yes, but we need more." "What do you think of the dum-dum after the didudii?" asks Paavo suddenly. "How about damdum?" Perttu offers. "NO! That sounds so silly!" Eicca laughs. "I still doubt the whole idea of didudii," says Mikko. "Do we need that passage at all?" Perttu gets angry again. "No, come on, look into the mirror! Oh, we don't have it...
15:54: Peace and love! "Ok guys, I have to go soon, so what shall wedo next?" Mikko asks. "Let's drink beer," Paavo suggests. "Good idea!" Eicca is in. "But not with you," Paavo continues. "I want to go skiing. Let's meet after one week," Mikko decides. "I want to go with you to Lapland" Perttu says to Paavo."I don't want you to come with me," says Paavo. Another word-war between two mights. Paavo smiles widely and Perttu gives him a big hug. Mikko feels tears on he's cheeks because he is so touched by how much two people can enjoy each other's company.
16:28: "We can rest for a while and come back tomorrow," Eicca says, "So no sleepy days?" Perttu is disappointed. "Look at the bright side, an evening with lots of work, a night without sleep, or dreams of didudii...didudidu. What did we decide? I don't remember anymore" Mikko says. "I think we didn't decide anything" Paavo remembers. "Let's think about it next week" Eicca says, "What about tomorrow?" Perttu asks. A new day... The door is opened, the electricity is switched off, the sound of a lock can be heard, and the room is empty and silent again.
18:08: The last musician has left the building. The scene ends with a close up of the broken bike and the distant drone of a car engine. The bus passes just in front of their noses - Perttu and Mikko - as they stand in a hard rain with nothing more to say than..."didudii!"
Cheers lovelies
Perttu
Posted on 01/16/2008 11:45 AM Comments (4)
|
|
