Post by Nikki*Nightwishes on Oct 20, 2011 10:11:04 GMT
here is what Tuomas had to say when interviewed by Riff Magazine:
here is the link to the extract Click Here
"Imaginaerum" "Much More Positive" Album Than "Dark Passion Play"
Nightwish Mainman Says 'Imaginaerum' Is A 'Much More Positive' Album Than 'Dark Passion Play' - Oct. 18, 2011
Kristian of Denmark's Metalized magazine recently conducted an interview with keyboardist/main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen of Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers Nightwish. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
On how Nightwish's new album, "Imaginaerum", compares to its predecessor, 2007's "Dark Passion Play":
Tuomas: "This album is much more positive than 'Dark Passion Play'. On the other hand, I dislike the word 'positive.' For me, the album is basically a celebration of life and existence, but this celebration also includes a lot of darkness, sorrow and melancholy. There is a lot more light at the end of the tunnel this time compared to the last album. It is also about fantasy, beauty and love, even though I'm not trying to be a love guru or anything."
Metalized: Has your outlook on life maybe changed since "Dark Passion Play"?
Tuomas: "Yes, I think it has, with help from the works of Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. The purgatory we went through after all the hassle in 2005 has really opened new worlds for me. Reading some of this literature has really opened my mind. In a way, I have gotten this sense of oneness, and that everything is connected."
Metalized: This interconnectedness and unity was really what Walt Whitman was all about…
Tuomas: "Yes, and I am finally beginning to understand what he means by it, and it is a really comforting thought. Everything happens for a reason, and what is all this talk of good and evil, vice and virtue. He is totally right."
Metalized: What is so comforting about this oneness?
Tuomas: "Just the philosophy that everything is part of the same. Everything in this cosmos is made of the same onehundred-and-something basic elements. The fundamental love is so unconditional and wordless. I am not speaking about love between two people, or love for some God. I just feel that it is in everything, and that is so comforting."
Metalized: This might be a bit personal, but perhaps you don't feel so much like a bird in a golden cage anymore?
Tuomas: "Yes, that is very precisely put, because I did four years ago, but perhaps not so much anymore. At least the cage is open. Maybe I'm still in there, but the door is open."
On the songwriting process for "Imaginaerum":
Tuomas: "Before I ever wrote the first song, I had the idea that we would make 12 music videos with one plot that would become one long story, but the original ideas was not to have any actors or dialogue, just the band and some animations. I had a real clear vision and story for each of these videos — one in a smoky jazz club, another with a living snow man, all these different themes. Then I introduced the idea to Stobe [Harju, director], and he agreed that it was a great idea. When I had written all the songs and played the demo, he said at once that we had to make a full-length movie. So this idea of making a dramatic Hollywood movie is all his. We have already heard some comments that this is just an egoistic story about us. This is not at all an autobiographical movie, it is just a movie about the power and strength of imagination, memories and forgiveness. Those are the basic themes, but since it is a NIGHTWISH movie, there has to be these references, and the main characters are called Tom, Anne, Markus and so on. Stobe has done a wonderful job when it comes to making coherent story that still incorporates the original themes and ideas I had. He just wrote the story around these things. On Wednesday I fly to Montreal where we shoot the movie, and I really look forward to seeing the setup, the scenes and the costumes and everything. The shooting actually starts tomorrow, and they have 18 days to do it."
Metalized: As you said the movie is not autobiographical, and the story is all Stobe's. Still, all these references will make some people draw conclusions about you and think if this might be the ultimate truth about Tuomas Holopainen. How do you feel knowing that people will do that?
Tuomas: "They are free to do so; there is nothing I can do about it. I understand Stobe's point that this is a Nightwish movie, and that there has to be some references to the band. Still, the main character is 75 years old; how could he be me?"
Metalized: Yes, but still it will make people think of you. The main character is a songwriter called Tom and all that. Doesn't it make you feel naked in a way, and how do you feel knowing that it will make people draw some conclusions that you maybe never intended?
Tuomas: "For a long time I disagreed with the director about calling the main character Tom. I thought it was a bit naive. But he insisted on making these references, and I get the point. I still want people to understand that it wasn't our idea. I even told him that I didn't want the band in the story of the movie apart from the small band clips. Again he insisted that we have these little parts in the movie. I even have one line."
Metalized: You have often said that you are the kind of songwriter who can't finish a song unless you have some idea of feeling of the song….
Tuomas: "I can't just sit down and jam, that's the problem. It doesn't work for me. If I just sit down and try to come up with something that sounds good. I need a theme or a feeling to begin with."
Metalized: OK, so what I wonder if it changed something for you, or maybe even helped you, knowing that all these songs would be turned into different movies as you thought at the time.
Tuomas: "It was pretty much the same as always. Before I have also always had a specific idea before I wrote the individual song, but this time it was even more concrete because I had 12 ideas to begin with. For example, 'Storytime' is about the flight with a snowman, and I imagined this five minute long video in my head. Then I thought about how this woild sound, and then this melody came to me."
Metalized: Things get ever more ambitious. This time we have a movie. Do you feel like you have to beat yourself every time?
Tuomas: "Very strongly, yes. You want to challenge yourself and do something different. It should be more and more every time. It makes it all so much more fun. I don't want to get bored making the same album again and again, and all of us like to play with new ideas. It is very fun to try and come up with new artistic moves and go in depth with that, challenging yourself and the fans. "
Metalized: Pip Williams does so much more than just conduct your music for an orchestra. Could you briefly describe his role, also on "Imaginaerum"?
Tuomas: "Yes, he does much more than just write down my thoughts. He has a lot of different ideas for the individual songs, and he is an invaluable guy. What happened was that we made the demo last summer, where I had a lot of orchestral arrangements with keyboards. I sent the demo to him, and then we talked with each other at least 1-3 times a day over the next four months, just throwing ideas back and forth. He said, 'We need this obo part here' and I said 'Yes, but it should be here,' and so on. He contributed with a lot of his own ideas. For example, the C part in 'Scaretale', the circus part, which I could never have imagined."
Metalized: So the orchestral arrangements are much of a Holopainen/Williams collaborative effort?
Tuomas: "I would say that it is pretty much fifty-fifty. Something very important is that I want the orchestra to sound as a keyboard I could play if I had 10 hands. I don't want it to be everywhere just because it is cool to have an orchestra. It is very important that it fits and is a part of the big sound. I don't want it to sound too artistic or too fake."
Metalized: Anette [Olzon, vocals] is an established part of the band now, and she has been in the band for several years. On "Dark Passion Play" she came in after the songs were written. Has it made a difference on "Imaginaerum" that you maybe know her vocal style better?
Tuomas: "Definitely, and at least I can hear that. I knew what her strengths were and what her weaknesses were, and then I just tried to avoid those. We have also toured together for two years, and known each other for five years, so there was a much more relaxed feeling when she came to the studio to sing. It was completely different. A funny thing is that 50-60% of all vocals, both Anette and Marco [Hietala], is from the demo more than a year ago. We recorded the demo at the summer camp in a small room and just said 'sing it like you want.' It took her three days, and we were all blown away, we were like, 'What is happening here?' Six months later we went to the studio and did all the vocals again, and thought that this is good, but something is missing. That's why we ended up using the demo, and the same applies to Marco. It is about the magic of the first take, and that there is no pressure on you when you're recording a demo. When you say that you have to do your best there is some pressure on you. She had also just broken a rib when we went to the studio, and I don't think she had recovered completely."
Metalized: Did she contribute with some vocal lines or melodies of her own this time?
Tuomas: "The original idea was that she would join our summer camp for both months and then go through all the arrangements, but then she got pregnant, and she stayed at home. So no, she didn't contribute so much of her own. Her job was the interpretation. Hopefully we can work closer together the next time."
Metalized: Speaking of strengths and weaknesses, what do you think her strengths are?
Tuomas: "I know her scale now, and what part of the scale she sounds best. I think she is best in the lower end. You can really hear that on 'The Crow, The Owl And The Dove', for example. Her improvisational skills are really good. What you hear at the end of 'Storytime' is all her own. This whoa-whoa thing. It is a very Swedish thing, like ABBA or ROXETTE or something."
Metalized: Both you and Anette were quite open about the fact that there was a lot of stress within the band in 2008, I think it was. In your mind, what was the most important factor behind that situation?
Tuomas: "I'd say that there was just one big reason, and that was the tour schedule. It was hard for everyone, but especially for her because she was under a lot of pressure constantly. Almost everyone collapsed at some point. It was very stupid of us and the booking agents. No one really thought about it. We were just so excited with a new album and a new singer. Let's do this, we thought. People just started falling apart. Her, other bandmembers, some of the technicians. Everyone was constantly worried about Anette, how is she handling it, how are our fans treating her, are we gonna get shot on stage?"
Metalized: Was it also maybe because she really didn't know what she was getting into back then?
Tuomas: "No, she didn't, and she also admitted that after a few months. She herself said, 'I'm sorry, I just didn't know that it was like this, and I don't know if I can go through with this. I am doing my best, but this is too hard.' How could she know? She made it, and I give her a big plus for that. The lowpoint was that show in South America in 2008 where she broke down and left the stage."
Metalized: Was there something from the audience that night?
Tuomas: "Yeah, on the first line there was maybe 5-10 people doing like this [not-so-polite hand gesture] and waving 'Tarja' signs. That was the lowpoint, and then it slowly got better."
Metalized: I think that there has been a shift in your lyrical style from the first albums to the later ones, from "Oceanborn"/"Wishmaster" era and onwards. The later lyrics are maybe more direct and more personal. Were you trying to do something different on the earlier albums?
Tuomas: "It has always been about writing the diary of my life and what interests me. 'Oceanborn' and 'Wishmaster' were more fantasy-oriented, and 'Dark Passion Play' and 'Imaginaerum' are very personal, especially 'Dark Passion Play'."
Metalized: Is also maybe just because you are more comfortable being personal than you were back then?
Tuomas: "Yeah, that is right. The songs are just born from moments of fascination. For example 'Turn Loose The Sawns' was born from the moments when I was visiting my grandfather when he died in just ten minutes, and my grandmother was just lying next to him, just caressing him and saying 'goodbye my love' and 'see you.' It was an incredibly emotional moment, they were both over ninety. What she did was check his teeth and warm his toes, and it is also in the lyrics of the song. It thought that it was so beautiful and weird at the same time. It really gave me the shivers. I had never seen a dead person before. It is moments like these the sings are born from."
Metalized: Do you ever wonder what you will when NIGHTWISH is over, no matter if it will be in 10 or 30 years?
Tuomas: "I sometimes do, yes. I have my dreams. I am sure that I will make music for the rest of my life in some way. Maybe it will be music for other artists. I would love to write a book some day. Something involving creativity. I also had this dream of opening a sort of wilderness camp, where you could take Japanese tourists hiking or something. That's the kinda thing I would do, if I didn't have music."
Post: Carlos Cardoso
Source: Blabbermouth
Nightwish Mainman Says 'Imaginaerum' Is A 'Much More Positive' Album Than 'Dark Passion Play' - Oct. 18, 2011
Kristian of Denmark's Metalized magazine recently conducted an interview with keyboardist/main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen of Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers Nightwish. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
On how Nightwish's new album, "Imaginaerum", compares to its predecessor, 2007's "Dark Passion Play":
Tuomas: "This album is much more positive than 'Dark Passion Play'. On the other hand, I dislike the word 'positive.' For me, the album is basically a celebration of life and existence, but this celebration also includes a lot of darkness, sorrow and melancholy. There is a lot more light at the end of the tunnel this time compared to the last album. It is also about fantasy, beauty and love, even though I'm not trying to be a love guru or anything."
Metalized: Has your outlook on life maybe changed since "Dark Passion Play"?
Tuomas: "Yes, I think it has, with help from the works of Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. The purgatory we went through after all the hassle in 2005 has really opened new worlds for me. Reading some of this literature has really opened my mind. In a way, I have gotten this sense of oneness, and that everything is connected."
Metalized: This interconnectedness and unity was really what Walt Whitman was all about…
Tuomas: "Yes, and I am finally beginning to understand what he means by it, and it is a really comforting thought. Everything happens for a reason, and what is all this talk of good and evil, vice and virtue. He is totally right."
Metalized: What is so comforting about this oneness?
Tuomas: "Just the philosophy that everything is part of the same. Everything in this cosmos is made of the same onehundred-and-something basic elements. The fundamental love is so unconditional and wordless. I am not speaking about love between two people, or love for some God. I just feel that it is in everything, and that is so comforting."
Metalized: This might be a bit personal, but perhaps you don't feel so much like a bird in a golden cage anymore?
Tuomas: "Yes, that is very precisely put, because I did four years ago, but perhaps not so much anymore. At least the cage is open. Maybe I'm still in there, but the door is open."
On the songwriting process for "Imaginaerum":
Tuomas: "Before I ever wrote the first song, I had the idea that we would make 12 music videos with one plot that would become one long story, but the original ideas was not to have any actors or dialogue, just the band and some animations. I had a real clear vision and story for each of these videos — one in a smoky jazz club, another with a living snow man, all these different themes. Then I introduced the idea to Stobe [Harju, director], and he agreed that it was a great idea. When I had written all the songs and played the demo, he said at once that we had to make a full-length movie. So this idea of making a dramatic Hollywood movie is all his. We have already heard some comments that this is just an egoistic story about us. This is not at all an autobiographical movie, it is just a movie about the power and strength of imagination, memories and forgiveness. Those are the basic themes, but since it is a NIGHTWISH movie, there has to be these references, and the main characters are called Tom, Anne, Markus and so on. Stobe has done a wonderful job when it comes to making coherent story that still incorporates the original themes and ideas I had. He just wrote the story around these things. On Wednesday I fly to Montreal where we shoot the movie, and I really look forward to seeing the setup, the scenes and the costumes and everything. The shooting actually starts tomorrow, and they have 18 days to do it."
Metalized: As you said the movie is not autobiographical, and the story is all Stobe's. Still, all these references will make some people draw conclusions about you and think if this might be the ultimate truth about Tuomas Holopainen. How do you feel knowing that people will do that?
Tuomas: "They are free to do so; there is nothing I can do about it. I understand Stobe's point that this is a Nightwish movie, and that there has to be some references to the band. Still, the main character is 75 years old; how could he be me?"
Metalized: Yes, but still it will make people think of you. The main character is a songwriter called Tom and all that. Doesn't it make you feel naked in a way, and how do you feel knowing that it will make people draw some conclusions that you maybe never intended?
Tuomas: "For a long time I disagreed with the director about calling the main character Tom. I thought it was a bit naive. But he insisted on making these references, and I get the point. I still want people to understand that it wasn't our idea. I even told him that I didn't want the band in the story of the movie apart from the small band clips. Again he insisted that we have these little parts in the movie. I even have one line."
Metalized: You have often said that you are the kind of songwriter who can't finish a song unless you have some idea of feeling of the song….
Tuomas: "I can't just sit down and jam, that's the problem. It doesn't work for me. If I just sit down and try to come up with something that sounds good. I need a theme or a feeling to begin with."
Metalized: OK, so what I wonder if it changed something for you, or maybe even helped you, knowing that all these songs would be turned into different movies as you thought at the time.
Tuomas: "It was pretty much the same as always. Before I have also always had a specific idea before I wrote the individual song, but this time it was even more concrete because I had 12 ideas to begin with. For example, 'Storytime' is about the flight with a snowman, and I imagined this five minute long video in my head. Then I thought about how this woild sound, and then this melody came to me."
Metalized: Things get ever more ambitious. This time we have a movie. Do you feel like you have to beat yourself every time?
Tuomas: "Very strongly, yes. You want to challenge yourself and do something different. It should be more and more every time. It makes it all so much more fun. I don't want to get bored making the same album again and again, and all of us like to play with new ideas. It is very fun to try and come up with new artistic moves and go in depth with that, challenging yourself and the fans. "
Metalized: Pip Williams does so much more than just conduct your music for an orchestra. Could you briefly describe his role, also on "Imaginaerum"?
Tuomas: "Yes, he does much more than just write down my thoughts. He has a lot of different ideas for the individual songs, and he is an invaluable guy. What happened was that we made the demo last summer, where I had a lot of orchestral arrangements with keyboards. I sent the demo to him, and then we talked with each other at least 1-3 times a day over the next four months, just throwing ideas back and forth. He said, 'We need this obo part here' and I said 'Yes, but it should be here,' and so on. He contributed with a lot of his own ideas. For example, the C part in 'Scaretale', the circus part, which I could never have imagined."
Metalized: So the orchestral arrangements are much of a Holopainen/Williams collaborative effort?
Tuomas: "I would say that it is pretty much fifty-fifty. Something very important is that I want the orchestra to sound as a keyboard I could play if I had 10 hands. I don't want it to be everywhere just because it is cool to have an orchestra. It is very important that it fits and is a part of the big sound. I don't want it to sound too artistic or too fake."
Metalized: Anette [Olzon, vocals] is an established part of the band now, and she has been in the band for several years. On "Dark Passion Play" she came in after the songs were written. Has it made a difference on "Imaginaerum" that you maybe know her vocal style better?
Tuomas: "Definitely, and at least I can hear that. I knew what her strengths were and what her weaknesses were, and then I just tried to avoid those. We have also toured together for two years, and known each other for five years, so there was a much more relaxed feeling when she came to the studio to sing. It was completely different. A funny thing is that 50-60% of all vocals, both Anette and Marco [Hietala], is from the demo more than a year ago. We recorded the demo at the summer camp in a small room and just said 'sing it like you want.' It took her three days, and we were all blown away, we were like, 'What is happening here?' Six months later we went to the studio and did all the vocals again, and thought that this is good, but something is missing. That's why we ended up using the demo, and the same applies to Marco. It is about the magic of the first take, and that there is no pressure on you when you're recording a demo. When you say that you have to do your best there is some pressure on you. She had also just broken a rib when we went to the studio, and I don't think she had recovered completely."
Metalized: Did she contribute with some vocal lines or melodies of her own this time?
Tuomas: "The original idea was that she would join our summer camp for both months and then go through all the arrangements, but then she got pregnant, and she stayed at home. So no, she didn't contribute so much of her own. Her job was the interpretation. Hopefully we can work closer together the next time."
Metalized: Speaking of strengths and weaknesses, what do you think her strengths are?
Tuomas: "I know her scale now, and what part of the scale she sounds best. I think she is best in the lower end. You can really hear that on 'The Crow, The Owl And The Dove', for example. Her improvisational skills are really good. What you hear at the end of 'Storytime' is all her own. This whoa-whoa thing. It is a very Swedish thing, like ABBA or ROXETTE or something."
Metalized: Both you and Anette were quite open about the fact that there was a lot of stress within the band in 2008, I think it was. In your mind, what was the most important factor behind that situation?
Tuomas: "I'd say that there was just one big reason, and that was the tour schedule. It was hard for everyone, but especially for her because she was under a lot of pressure constantly. Almost everyone collapsed at some point. It was very stupid of us and the booking agents. No one really thought about it. We were just so excited with a new album and a new singer. Let's do this, we thought. People just started falling apart. Her, other bandmembers, some of the technicians. Everyone was constantly worried about Anette, how is she handling it, how are our fans treating her, are we gonna get shot on stage?"
Metalized: Was it also maybe because she really didn't know what she was getting into back then?
Tuomas: "No, she didn't, and she also admitted that after a few months. She herself said, 'I'm sorry, I just didn't know that it was like this, and I don't know if I can go through with this. I am doing my best, but this is too hard.' How could she know? She made it, and I give her a big plus for that. The lowpoint was that show in South America in 2008 where she broke down and left the stage."
Metalized: Was there something from the audience that night?
Tuomas: "Yeah, on the first line there was maybe 5-10 people doing like this [not-so-polite hand gesture] and waving 'Tarja' signs. That was the lowpoint, and then it slowly got better."
Metalized: I think that there has been a shift in your lyrical style from the first albums to the later ones, from "Oceanborn"/"Wishmaster" era and onwards. The later lyrics are maybe more direct and more personal. Were you trying to do something different on the earlier albums?
Tuomas: "It has always been about writing the diary of my life and what interests me. 'Oceanborn' and 'Wishmaster' were more fantasy-oriented, and 'Dark Passion Play' and 'Imaginaerum' are very personal, especially 'Dark Passion Play'."
Metalized: Is also maybe just because you are more comfortable being personal than you were back then?
Tuomas: "Yeah, that is right. The songs are just born from moments of fascination. For example 'Turn Loose The Sawns' was born from the moments when I was visiting my grandfather when he died in just ten minutes, and my grandmother was just lying next to him, just caressing him and saying 'goodbye my love' and 'see you.' It was an incredibly emotional moment, they were both over ninety. What she did was check his teeth and warm his toes, and it is also in the lyrics of the song. It thought that it was so beautiful and weird at the same time. It really gave me the shivers. I had never seen a dead person before. It is moments like these the sings are born from."
Metalized: Do you ever wonder what you will when NIGHTWISH is over, no matter if it will be in 10 or 30 years?
Tuomas: "I sometimes do, yes. I have my dreams. I am sure that I will make music for the rest of my life in some way. Maybe it will be music for other artists. I would love to write a book some day. Something involving creativity. I also had this dream of opening a sort of wilderness camp, where you could take Japanese tourists hiking or something. That's the kinda thing I would do, if I didn't have music."
Post: Carlos Cardoso
Source: Blabbermouth
here is the link to the extract Click Here
