@=@= Nightwish ------ inteview, biography, discography, photos, news
FUTURE STYLE
Tarja Turunen (vocals), Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards), Marco Hietala (bass and vocals), Erno Vuorinen 'Emppu' (guitar). Jukka Nevalainen (drums and percussion)
|
| . |
.
|
|
|
Nightwish members profiles
|
|
| . |
. |
|
 Name: Tarja Turunen
Date of birth: 17th of August 1977
Place of residence: Helsinki, Finland
E-mail: Tarja's mailbox is full! Please don't send her any more e-mail while she is on tour!
Hobbies: Music is both my work and my hobby.
Musical background: I started singing with the help of my teacher and took private piano lessons when I was in lower grades of the basic school. When I was in the upper grades of the basic school I started playing flute in a music college. After the upper grades I started music high school in Savonlinna with classical singing and music theater as my major. Then I went to Sibelius Academy to study church music. At the moment I am specializing in classical singing.
Favorite...
Food: Chicken
Drink: Dry, gentle red wine
Movie: The Gladiator
Music: All kind of music from classical to hard rock
Director: Ridley Scott
TV-program: I don't watch TV a lot, but I watch the news and best movies on the weekend
Actor/Actress: Russell Crowe
Book: RT
Author: Mika Waltari
Band: It's hard to name the best one. There's a lot of good bands.
Album: Gladiator soundtrack
Song: Von ewiger Liebe by Brahms
Season: Spring
Nightwish best gig: Our South-American tour as a whole
Best gig you have seen: The opera Norma in Colón´s theater in Buenos Aires. The band was REALLY good!!! huh...
Worst nightmare: That I wake up in the morning being mute!
Place you'd like to go: Exotic, small island somewhere far, far away. No tourism, no Finns. Only silence.
Life philosophy: Smile :)
 Name: Tuomas Holopainen
Date of birth: 25th of December 1976
Place of residence: Kitee, Finland
E-mail
Hobbies: Music, movies, hiking, travelling
Musical background: I started playing piano when I was eight. At the age of nine I started playing clarinet and to study music theory in college of music from where I also got a diploma. I’ve played saxophone in a jazz band and a clarinet in a brass band. Keyboards have been my instrument since the age of 16 and I have played in various bands, for example Nattvindens Gråt.
Favorite...
Food: Mexican, Sushi
Drink: Coffee
Movies: Braveheart, Sleepy Hollow, Gladiator
Director: James Cameron
TV-program: MacGyver
Actor/Actress: Morgan Freeman
Book: Lord Of The Rings
Author: J.R.R Tolkien, Stephen King
Music: Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Sonata Arctica, Vangelis, Rhapsody, Pantera, Children Of Bodom
Album: Gladiator soundtrack
Song: Walking In The Air by Howard Blake
Season: Winter
Nightwish best gig: Sao Paulo, July 2000
Best gig you have seen: Metallica/Guns'n Roses in Kansas City in autumn '92
Worst nightmare: Spiders
Place you'd like to go: Africa
Life philosophy: The Road Goes Ever On
Instruments: Different models of Korg
 Name: Marco Hietala
Date of birth: 14th of January 1966
Place of residence: Helsinki, Finland
E-mail: No e-mail
Hobbies: Scifi, fantasy & horrorbooks, computergames & movies
Musical background: Bass & guitar about 20 years. I've been a songwriter for all that time also (music & lyrics). I've studied musical theory, singing & classical guitar for about 4 years. Bands: Tarot, Sinergy, Metal Gods (covergroup), Conquest. I also have 5 years of experience in studio engineering.
Favorite...
Food: Finnish sausage called "lenkki"
Drink: Finnish beer called "karhu"
Movie: The whole Star Wars series. I hope that the lord of the rings will take the first place soon.
Director: Too many for me to decide
TV-program: Babylon 5
Actor/Actress: Don't have one
Book: I have thousands of books, so this is a hard desicion. The lord of the rings again.
Author: Obviously Tolkien. I'm actually more of a scifi guy and at that side I'm really into works of David Brin, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge and Greg Bear just to name a few.
Band: Way, way too many good ones. From early Sabbath, Purple, Rainbow stuff to Pantera, Soundgarden and an occasional soft spot for Kate Bush and Tori Amos.
Album: It changes from time to time. I've been listening Thin Lizzy's Live'n'dangerous a lot lately.
Song: Maybe... Gates of Babylon from Rainbow
Season: Summer! There's nothing romantic being a frost covered viking in scandinavia. IT'S COLD!
Nightwish best gig: Playing with Tarot after Twisted sister at the Rantarock-festival 1986
Best gig you have seen: Judas Priest in Helsinki icehall. Think it was 1986 also.
Worst nightmare: Losing my creativity.
Place you'd like to go: To another star, Moon, Mars, anything goes. Hey, you green guys! Abduct me!
Life philosophy: Perrrkkkele
Instruments: Warwick Infinity bass, Kramer Forum 1 bass, Warwick Pro-tube IX amp.
 Name: Erno Vuorinen 'Emppu'
Date of birth: 24th of June 1978
Place of residence: Kerava, Finland
E-mail
Hobbies: Just hanging around
Musical background: I started playing guitar when I was 12 as a private study. Since then I’ve played in various bands.
Favorite...
Food: Beef in a cognac sauce
Drink: Beer
Movie: The Enemy of the State was pretty good.
Director: I have no favourite director.
TV-program: I don't watch any TV show regularly.
Actor/Actress: Sandra "Bulldog"
Book: 1001 positions
Author: I don't read much. Actually I don't read at all.
Band: Yölintu. Heh.. there are many.
Album: There's a lot of good ones. It's hard to name the best one.
Song: There are many, but I just listened to I want out by Helloween and it is always really good.
Season: Late summer/early fall
Nightwish best gig: Ilosaarirock '99
Best gig you have seen: There are many. One that comes to mind is a gig by Stratovarious in Jyväskylä about three years ago.
Worst nightmare: A duet with Tuomas in front of thousands of people
Place you'd like to go: Egypt
Life philosophy: Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll... eh.
Instruments: Guitar (ESP)
 Name: Jukka Nevalainen
Date of birth: 21st of April 1978
Place of residence: Joensuu, Finland
E-mail
Hobbies: Swimming, badminton, jogging and music
Musical background: I started playing drums when I was in fifth grade but for the first five years I was able to practise only half an hour per week because I didn’t have any place to play in. I’ve played in various bands which have been from different genres.
Favorite...
Food: Vegetable gratin
Drink: With food I drink milk and when I´m not eating I drink Vodka with light lemonades
Movies: Gladiator
Director: Ridley Scott
TV-program: The Simpsons and Men Behaving Badly
Actor/Actress: Russell Crowe
Book: Dragons Of Autumn Twilight
Author: Margaret Weis and David Eddings
Band: Dream Theater, Stratovarius
Album: Gladiator -soundtrack, Dream Theater: Images & Words
Song: Whole Gladiator -soundtrack, Black Diamond by Stratovarius, Eden by Sarah Brightman
Season: Summer
Nightwish best gig: Sao Paulo 2000
Best gig you have seen: Dream Theater in Helsinki at March 2000
Worst nightmare: Basic-pattern made Hip-Hop/Rap/Soul-music
Place you'd like to go: Egypt
Life philosophy: Live every day as if it was your whole life
Instruments: Tama Starclassic drums, Paiste cymbals, Pro Mark sticks and Remo drumheads
-Jukka drumset
Source: Nightwish website
Pictures from Spinefarm Records
|
| . |
|
|
|
| . |
.
|
|
The idea of Nightwish was "born" in July 1996 at midnight when Tuomas was spending a night with his friends around a campfire. The first three songs, which were acoustic mood music, were recorded between October and December 1996. At that time the band had three members: Tuomas, Tarja and Emppu.
We wanted to try what the music would sound like if drums were added (Jukka came to the band) and an electric guitar was used instead of an acoustic one. After a couple of weeks of training we went to studio in April 1997. At that time we recorded seven songs which can be found on the limited edition of the album Angels Fall First.
In May 1997 Nightwish signed a recording contract with Spinefarm for two records. In August Nightwish went to the studio and recorded four new songs. Before the release of Angels Fall First, a single called The Carpenter was released and at its best it was number eight on the official singles chart in Finland. Angels fall first was released in early November and it was at its best number 31 on the official album chart in Finland.
Nightwish played their first gig in Kitee on the 31st December 1997. After that Nightwish played only seven gigs in the following winter because Jukka and Emppu were in the army and Tarja was busy with her studies. Nightwish and Spinefarm extended the contract to include three records instead of two.
In April 1998 the filming of the first video, The Carpenter, started. It was ready in early May and was played in Jyrki. Tuomas and Tarja were also interviewed in that show (this happened in late May). In the following summer the bassist Sami Vänskä joined the band. During the summer songs for the new record were rehearsed and the band went to studio in early August. The recordings were finished in late October. On November 13th, Nightwish played a gig in Kitee of which a video for Sacrament of Wilderness was filmed. A single of that song was released on November 26th and the new record called Oceanborn was released on December 7th.
Everybody was surprised by the success of Oceanborn. It went up to fifth place on the official Finnish album chart and the single Sacrament of Wilderness was the number one on singles chart for weeks. In winter 1999 Nightwish played a lot of gigs all around the country for three months and played also in the Lista chart show program. In spring Oceanborn was released outside of Finland. In May the band started to play gigs again and toured the country for two and a half months playing in almost all of the big rock festivals. At the same time the single Sleeping Sun was recorded, which was written for the eclipse in Germany. In august the single was released in Germany and it also included the songs Walking in the Air, Swanheart and Angels Fall First. In Germany alone the single sold 15.000 copies in one month. In august Nightwish learned that Oceanborn and Sacrament of Wilderness had sold gold. At the same time it was confirmed that Nightwish would do a European tour of 26 gigs with a German band called Rage.
In early 2000 the band entered the studio again for the recordings of our third album. A welcome interruption to the repetitive studio work came when we took part in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Sleepwalker. Nightwish cleared the first round of the qualification but the final position was second despite an overwhelming win in the public televoting.
The new album, Wishmaster, was released in May and the Wishmaster Tour started from Kitee, the home town of the band. After the show the band received gold discs for the album Oceanborn and the singles Sacrament of Wilderness, Walking in the Air and Sleeping Sun. Wishmaster went straight to number 1 on the Finnish album charts and stayed on the pole position for three weeks. In those three weeks it also reached the gold disc mark. Wishmaster was approved by both the fans and the media and it was named the album of the month by the German magazine Rock Hard in their issue 6/2000, past the long-awaited new releases by Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
Wishmaster also debuted in the national German charts at No. 21 and No. 66 in France! The "Wishmaster World Tour", which started from Kitee, continued first to the big festivals in Finland and then to South America in July 2000. The three-week tour in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama & Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences so far. This was followed by successful shows at Wacken Open Air, Biebop Metal Fest and the first headliner European tour with Sinergy & Eternal Tears Of Sorrow. In November Nightwish also played two shows in Montreal, Canada.
The next project of Nightwish included the making of a full-length concert DVD & VHS with a limited live album (only for Finland). The concert was performed in Tampere on the 29th of December 2000. The material was released in April 2001 in Finland and worldwide during the summer of 2001. At the end of the show Nightwish were given platinum discs for "Wishmaster" and gold discs for the single "Deep Silent Complete"!!!
In March 2001 Nightwish entered the studio again to record their version of Gary Moore`s classic "Over The Hills And Far Away", with 2 new songs and a remake of Angels Fall First's "Astral Romance". The Finnish release for this EP was in June 2001. The german (Drakkar) version of "Over The Hills And Far Away" includes 6 live tracks in addition to the 4 unreleased songs.
Nightwish has also extended the record deal with Spinefarm Records with one full-length album, which is scheduled for summer 2002.
Video for the track "Over the Hills and Far Away", which had rapidly sold platinum in Finland as a mini-CD, was shot in August 2001 in Finland. Tour in Finland the same year ended in Nivala, and Nightwish was close to disbanding. Tuomas went hiking and gathering his thoughts in Lappland, some changes had to be done in order for Nightwish to be able to continue. According to his own words, Tuomas wanted to end the band due to prolonged disagreements within the band.
Luckily, that didn`t happen. But something happened, a lot in fact. Sami Vänskä, who`d been with them since Oceanborn, had to leave. Marco Hietala, known from Tarot and Sinergy, promised to step in as a replacement for the next album and tour. King Foo Entertainment became their new booking agency, and long-time friend and colleaque Ewo Rytkönen was to become their manager. To celebrate the "new beginning", the first official shop for fan-products, Nightwish-shop, was opened on band`s homepage on November 24th 2001, a month before Christmas. Recording of the next album Century Child started in January 2002.
The beginning of 2002 brought Nightwish good news, in comparison to previous rough times. As a band and as individual musicians they were voted to the top on many domestic-and foreign magazine`s reader`s polls. Fans had not abandoned them after the changes, on the contrary. Ever Dream, the first single from forthcoming album, went gold in Finland within 2 days. At the same time Nightwish announced they would take a break as soon as the "Century Child World Tour 2002"would be over, Tarja would finish her educations in Germany during the break. That announcement brought up all kinds of speculations among fans. Sami leaving the previous Fall, now a break that would last a year…
Century Child came out in May 2002 and made a sales record, selling gold in Finland within 2 hours! Within two weeks it sold platinum(30 000 copies) and continued selling rapidly. At the same time Nightwish held the top-position in both singles-and album charts, their first time ever. Foreign countries responded, too: in Germany Century Child went straight to number 5 and in Austria number 15, those being the band`s highest positions abroad so far. In July Nightwish toured cuccessfully in South America, nearly all gigs sold out. In Brazil the first edition of Century Child was sold out in one day, and the successful European tour that year didn`t went unnoticed by booking agencies. Many European gigs came live on the internet, needless to say the connections were often jammed. At it`s most nearly 10 000 fans were trying to follow the live feed. Having sold astonishing 59 000 copies in Finland, Century Child was the country`s 2nd best selling album in 2002. The first visit to Sweden took place 2002 in November, 16th, in Fryshuset, Stockholm. The break started in late 2002, and sure enough there was no rest for the guys. Jukka played with Sethian and Bitch Driven, Tuomas with Sethian, For My Pain…and Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Emppu played with Altar and Marco with Tarot. All in all the break wasn`t to last nearly a year, back on the road…
The beginning of 2003 saw more good results in reader`s polls of various magazines, and a studio was booked in order to start recording the next album, planned to be released the next year. Happenings also at the home-front: Jukka and his girlfriend Satu had a daughter, Luna, on March 11th 2003. Nightwish received their first double-platinum award for Century Child, having sold 60 000. The band performed mostly abroad in 2003, the only gig in Finland was at RMJ 2003 on June 20th. The second visit to Sweden took place at the sold out "Gates of Metal"-festival in Hultsfred. During 2003 the forthcomind DVD-documentary "End of Innocence" was being put together, and it`s release was postponed a few times due to huge amount of material. In May 2003 Tarja Turunen announced that she had secretly gotten married a few months earlier, and would be moving back to Finland.
The DVD "End of Innocence" was finally released on October 6th 2003, and at that point Nightwish had already started recording the next album. Their fifth album "Once" would be the most important release in the history of Nightwish. Meanwhile, Finland`s President Tarja Halonen had also taken note of Nightwish`s achievements and invited Tarja Turunen and her husband Marcelo Cabuli to the annual independence-day party held at the presidential residence. Tarja`s dress was voted as the most beautiful dress that evening.
Before the Christmas of 2003 Nightwish auctioned their "Century Child World Tour"-backdrop, and donated the money in full for charity. The outcome was 1750 EUR, and was given to Parikanniemi`s Children`s home in Ristiina on December 2003. The funds were handed out by Tarja Turunen, Michael "Big Tini" Leipold from Germany became the new proud owner of the backdrop.
The year 2004 was eagerly expected by both the fans and the band. Exhausting studio-sessions took their toll both physically and mentally. The actual recording took place at the Phoenix-studios in London, the same studio and with the same orchestra(The Academy of St.Martins in the Field) that Howard Shore used for writing the score for "The Lord of the Rings"-trilogy. Orchestral-and qhoral arrangements were written by Pip Williams, who has produced f.ex.Status Quo and Uriah Heep. Big time, great expectations!
"Nemo" was the first single released off the forthcoming album, and a big-budget video was made. The director was Antti Jokinen, who had previously worked with f.ex.Shania Twain and Eminem. With the new album Nightwish had some changes with the recording contract, and the new material was released by Nuclear Blast. Good old Spinefarm Records would still handle the distribution in Finland. Nuclear Blast spent a considerable amount of money marketing "Once", especially in Germany. Pictures of Nightwish and Once were splattered all over the television-channels, subways, buses and streets, and the press wasn`t forgotten either. Every german will know Nightwish by now.
"Once" went gold in Finland on it`s day of release, as did the single "Nemo". Nightwish will start a world Tour of 150 concerts in all continents, the tour will last until the end of year 2005. This tour will be the biggest in the history of Nightwish so far.
Source: Nightwish website
|
| . |
. |
|
.
|
| . |
Nightwish selected DISCOGRAPHY |
| . |
ONCE (album, 2004)
END OF INNOCENCE - DVD (2003)
- "End Of Innocence" documentary
- "4th of July in Norway" live footage
- Summer Breeze 2002 live footage
- Music videos
- MTV Brazil Interview
- Photo gallery
CENTURY CHILD (album, 2002)
OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY (ep, 2001)
FROM WISHES TO ETERNITY - (album DVD/VHS/CD 2001)
WISHMASTER (2000)
OCEANBORN (1998)
ANGELS FALL FIRST (1997)
|
| . |
Nightwish |
|
|
.
|
| . |
|
.
|
Matthew: When you originally began planning the album Once did you envision the orchestra playing such a large role compared to your last few albums?
Tuomas Holopainen: " Yes I did actually, and I think it turned out to be a real advantage in a way, because, already at the very early stage of the songwriting process I knew there was going to be an orchestra playing in these songs. So…I really kind of like blended in the orchestra, because it’s there from the start. It’s like the sixth member of the band that’s playing. For example if I compare that with Metallica’s S&M album I think there’s a huge difference because you can really hear that the Metallica songs were done without ever thinking about the orchestra being in there. When I listen to that album I kind of find those two playing in total separate things…but uh, that’s not the case with out album, the orchestra really blends in nicely."
Source: www.revelationz.net, by Matthew
What are your main musical influences ?
Tuomas Holopainen: "We all have our own influences as much as I am a true metal head, but we all listen to such a wide variety of things from old to new. I don’t think that there is much influence as far as the style of music we play, and where our ideas for songs come from, we simply play and if it sounds good we use it. "
Marco Hietala: "A large variety of stuff. We are all metal heads and freaks in some way but then again everyone has gone different in some way. I remember when I was young my brother brought round this Black Sabbath MASTERS OF REALITY LP that he had borrowed off his friend, and we where listening and thinking what the fuck is this!, this is great!
Source: www.shakenstir.co.uk
Rockpages.gr: Do you think that those other bands with female vocals, like Lacuna Coil or After Forever follow your steps ?
Tuomas Holopainen: " I don’t know. Don’t forget that The Gathering or Theatre of Tragedy were before us. Also, Within Temptation started at the same time with us."
Source: www.rockpages.gr , by George Anasontzis and Sakis Nikas.
Luxi Lahtinen: Did you have to do any compromises for ONCE as far as your vocals are concerned? I mean, did some of your thoughts and visions about some vocal parts differ from those what Tuomas had originally been thinking for some certain songs ?
Tarja Turunen: " He-he... now when you are asking this, there's one song on the album which caused some serious conversation between him and me. That song in question was'The Siren'. There's some chanting parts in that song that, believe me or not, have been done by me, ha-ha!! Both Tuomas and me were thinking that this song missed something; something that could be sort of reflect some Middle Eastern vibes musically. Then I started, kind of like for my own fun, imitate some Eastern type of signing which I had never done in my life before, kind of my own speaking voice yelling to Tuomas: 'Hey Tuomas, what if I sang this way...'. And right from that very second Tuomas commanded me: 'That's EXACTLY what this song really needs...!! Now where the hell is a tape recorder... and microphone, etc!', ha-hah! So that Eastern type of part turned out very improvised and spontaneous way for that particular song and I'm actually quite surprised myself that I was capable of creating that type of thing for it like out from nowhere. I guess many people may not even realize that it's actually me behind that voice when they get a chance to hear the song. I really am very proud of that specific part myself. "
Source: www.metal-rules.com, by Luxi Lahtinen
|
advanced technologic sound magazine
2005 February issue 134
|
){kind=link}