Metalfan Interview 15/06/2006

Subject: Metalfan Interview 15/06/2006 Mon 12 Nov 2007 - 6:28

Would any of you lovely Romanians be willing to translate?

Ville Hermanni Valo este un personaj charismatic. Nu-mi place muzica lui, cu exceptia catorva cover-uri (cel dupa Johnny Cash cel mai mult). Lui Cynyc cred ca nu-i place nici macar atat. Totusi am stat amandoi intr-o discutie care ar fi trebuit sa dureze 5 minute si care s-a transformat intr-una de 10, si asta pentru ca nu mai era timp. Noi am mai fi continuat conversatia cel putin inca pe atat. Sigur, aveti tot dreptul sa ne considerati fraieri sau usor „de facut din vorbe”. Va spun totusi ca n-am devenit fani HIM, ci ne-am reinnoit convingerea ca trupa are o strategie comerciala (bine pusa la punct). Dar avem consolarea ca in spatele ei se afla oameni simpatici, pentru ca nici basistul Mige, celalalt interlocutor al nostru, nu e de lepadat.
Transcrierea n-o sa poata reda toata starea conversatiei. Ambii interlocutori au fost volubili, ne-au oferit locuri comode si ceva de baut, cu un chip amabil care spunea „prietene”. Am acceptat o bere la 330ml, cea mai mica spaga posibila . Pe tot parcursul discutiei au ascultat atent, dadeau din cap (cunoasteti, stilul american). Ei si-au jucat rolul, noi am incercat sa ne facem treaba. Acum, cand transcriu, imi dau seama ca mai erau intrebari incomode de pus; dar timpul limitat ne-a jucat feste. Cum ar veni, tradare sa fie, dar s-o stiti si voi... Si inca o chestie: unde vedeti „dracu”, e de fapt „fuck”. N-am vrut sa fim Irina Nistor, dar aveti voi imaginatie suficienta...
Metalfan: Metalul e in general asociat cu lucruri intunecate, sumbre. Voi veniti din Finlanda, iar cultura voastra este, din cate stim noi...
Ville: Mai intunecata...
Metalfan: Mai putin la lumina soarelui, mai mult la lumina lunii, ca sa folosesc o metafora. Totusi, voi veniti cu acest „love metal”, care e o perturbare in categorie.
Ville&Mige (rad, protesteaza): Oh, oh, oh...
Metalfan: Nu e o perturbare?
Mige: Petrurbatori... asta suntem... perturbatori...
Ville: Stii, bateristul nostru e din Suedia, iar familia mea, din partea mamei, vine din Ungaria, asa ca asta ar fi un motiv pentru care facem chestia asta. Nu suntem finalndezi get-beget.
Metalfan. Perfect.... Dar (ranjet) totusi multi oameni, inclusiv noi, pana sa va ascultam cu atentie (pufnim in ras), au zis: „La dracu, asta nu e trupa de metal!” Poate suntem noi prea cliseisti in ceea ce priveste metalul (ranjet)...
Ville: Oh, da...
Metalfan: Toti au zis: „Asta e o trupa de goth!”. Puteti contra-argumenta sau va doare in...
Ville: Pana la un punct, ne doare in... Noi am inceput sa cantam si am infiintat trupa asta datorita pasiunii noastre pentru Black Sabbath, si nu poti fi mai metal de atat, cel putin daca vorbim de originile metalului. Dar, pe de alta parte, tututor ne place Elvis Presley (iar eu il iubesc). Era rock’n’roll, dar avea si o parte sentimentala, avea un balans fantastic. Asa ca am vrut sa mixam aceste doua stiluri, asta e motivul...
Metalfan: Si eu il iubesc pe Elvis, dar asta nu ne califica drept necro (la oha)... fagi sau???
Ville&Mige (rad): Nu fagi!!! ...aaa... fili
Metalfan (ranjet): ...fili...
Ville: Stii, cei mai multi dintre artistii pe care ii iubesc sunt morti, asa ca... (rade)... dar, sa fim seriosi, cand vad o poza cu Elvis nu mi se scoala. Iar ca sa fiu necrofag ar trebui sa mananc morti, asa ca mai asteptam... Nu sunt pregatit pentru asta. (rade)
Metalfan: Ati fost in trupa inca de la inceput. Cum credeti ca a evoluat grupul? Puteti folosi metafora darwinistica: intai pesti, dupa aia...
Mige: Nu i-as spune exact evolutie...
Metalfan: Involutie, ma rog...
Mige: Cred ca e mai degraba degenerare, mi-ar placea sa cred asta, pentru ca muzica rock’n’roll se refera mai degraba la decadere si moarte; asa ca nu putem spune daca e vorba de evolutie sau de faptul ca am capatat experienta.
Ville: Noi credem in Adam si Eva...
Mige: Iar eu personal m-as catara inapoi in copac!
Ville: Din perspectiva darwinistica, suntem veriga lipsa. Nimeni nu stie unde dracu’ s-a dus si ce dracu a facut, asa ca mi se pare o descriere foarte exacta a noastra (rade).

Metalfan: Mda, mi s-a parut mie ca sunati foarte ne-comercial(ranjet). Acum vorbind cu voi, mi se pare ca sunati FOARTE ne-comercial...
Mige: Ma surprinde treaba asta.
Ville: De ce crezi asta?
Metalfan: Poate pentru ca vindeti atat de mult... (radem)
Ville: Haide, haide... Offff! Haide, suntem fani Black Sabbath, chiar suntem. Multe trupe din rock-ul actual spun ca fac ceva nou, ca inventeaza o categorie noua; dar noi am tot spus, de la inceputurile noastre, ca suntem pur si simplu un indicator „Catre Black Sabbath”. Vrem ca toti pustii astia sa invete muzica buna, nu rahaturi techno gen Crazy Frog.
Metalfan: Da, lucrul asta ajuta la progresul muzicii. Totusi, ma surprinde faptul ca doi tipi deosebiti ca voi au vandut in halul asta in State – cu ultimul album.
Ville: Da, ne-am descurcat binisor; dar acolo e un tip pe nume Bam Magera, de la MTV, care ne-a ajutat foarte mult; e un mare fan al nostru, ne-a regizat si niste clipuri si a vorbit foarte mult despre noi la radio, creandu-ne o baza de fani acolo. Si acest album a fost primul opus lansat cum trebuie in State, iar succesul ne-a surprins si pe noi. Suntem aproape de un disc de aur, am vandut aproape jumatate de milion de exemplare, asa ca... e bine. Dar am asteptat aproape 10 ani sa ajungem la acest nivel, deci...
Metalfan: Deci vreti sa va imbogatiti!
Ville: Au, au...!
Metalfan: Nu e o acuzatie...
Ville: Muzica e o afacere ciudata, pentru ca, daca ai succes timp de un an, s-ar putea sa nu mai ai succes in urmatorii 30 de ani, asa ca tebuie sa economisesti bani, sa-i pui la banca.
Metalfan: Dar pana acum, daca nu ma insel, ati avut succes timp cativa ani.
Ville: Da, cu vreo cateva albume...
Metalfan: M-am asteptat sa spui „mai mult decat cativa ani”, ar fi fost mai corect.
Ville: Ei bine, sunt fericit ca eu si Mige am inceput sa cantam cand eram pusti, aveam vreo 7-8 ani. Si ne-a luat aproape 15 ani ca sa ne putem achita facturile din castigurile de muzicieni, asa ca suntem foarte bucurosi ca putem trai din muzica si avem timp sa compunem.
Metalfan: Da, am si eu prieteni din copilarie, de la 4 ani si pana la 30, cat am acum...
Ville: Deci de fapt ai 57! (rade)

Metalfan Interview 15/06/2006 Him%20ville

Metalfan: De kile... poate (Ville rade sceptic, am 80 - n.r.). Deci, ma intreb, cum boabele astea crescute intr-o pastaie de la 5 la 30 de ani inca se inteleg foarte bine. Care dracu’ e spilul cu prietenii din copilarie? Te intelegi intotdeauna atat de bine... pana mori, cred.
Ville: Treaba e ca nimeni n-are pretentii, pentru ca toata lumea stie cine esti, fara sa ai nevoie de studii la facultate sau chestii din astea.Mige: Cred ca anumite tipuri de oameni se intalnesc pur si simplu... E vorba de miros, de feromoni.
Metalfan: Chiar si intre barbati?!
Mige: Isuse!!(Radem toti)
Metalfan: Am auzit ca viitorul vostru album va fi mai agresiv. In primul rand: e adevarat sau nu? Iar daca e adevarat, ne veti canta ceva din el in seara asta?
Ville: Suntem in turneu din luna octombrie a anului trecut, asa ca n-am prea avut timp sa repetam melodii noi, vom canta un mix de piese vechi. Da, materialul nou e mai... violent, s-ar putea spune. Dar ideea noastra e sa facem un album apropiat de Led Zeppelin III; vom avea piese foarte acustice si piese mai dure. N-am mai facut asta pana acum; dinamica noului album va fi cu adevarat impresionanta, va fi foarte dura, apoi foarte moale, „dulce”.
Metalfan (catre Mige): Tu ce crezi despre chestia asta?
Mige: Imi convine, am mare nevoie de terapie pentru controlul agresivitatii, imi voi canaliza furia ca sa ma transporte in locuri unde ne-am mai ajuns pana acum...
Metalfan: M-as da un pic mai in spate... (radem)
Mige: Nu, nu, nu... Vorbeam despre muzica acum; am exagerat, n-ai de ce sa te temi de mine vreo 5 ani de-acum incolo.
Metalfan: Avem o intrebare-cliseu, si n-o sa scapati de ea. Unde va vedeti peste 10 ani? Tot cantand rock’n’roll? Sau nu va vedeti niciunde?
Ville: Da, nu ne vedem niciunde, vom disparea pur si simplu (zambeste). Vom fi o stea cazatoare, ca Spinal Tap (ranjet). Hm... in 10 ani... sa speram ca inca vom canta cu trupa. N-am nici un fel de planuri, ne lasam in voia sortii, sunt multe lucruri care se pot schimba si nu stim daca vom mai avea sucees peste 10 ani. Deci, sper ca parintii mei sa mai fie in viata (zambeste).
Metalfan: Multumim mult.
Ville: Multumim.

Subject: Re: Metalfan Interview 15/06/2006 Mon 12 Nov 2007 - 14:47

of course darling.i'll start right away and post the translation tonight.i still have some classes so you'll have to wait a little bit.
by the way, the interview is from JULY 15th, 2006...when they came to Romania for their first concert.

Ville Hermanni Valo is a very charismatic character. I don't usually listen to his music, except for maybe a few covers [the one after Johnny Cash i like the best - me: Solitary Man ] . And I think Cynyc doesn't even listen at all. Even so, we both attended a conversation that should normally have been 5 minutes long, but it lasted 10, and that because there wasn't any time left. We wouldn't have minded talking to them at least 10 more. Of course, you're in all your right to think little of us, that we’re easy to convince through talking. But we haven’t turned into HIM fans, although we did become more aware of the strong commercial strategy that the band has; a band formed by people who know what they mean, charismatic, both of them, Mige and Ville.

There’s no method of writing to express the general feeling of the conversation. Both of them were kind, offering us comfortable seats and drinks, as if we would have all been old friends. We accepted a beer, the minimum bribe.

During the entire conversation they listened carefully, nodding (American style). They played their part, we tried to do our job. Now, when writing this, I realise how many more uncomfortable questions there were to ask; but the limited time played tricks on us. It can be called betrayal, but as long as you know too…[they’re referring here to time, that betrayed them] And another thing: you see, here, “dracu”(the hell – “ce dracu’ “ – in Romanian, the expression used for “fuck” ) means “fuck”. You’ll know it when you see it.

Metalfan: Metal is generally associated with the dark, hidden world. You guys come from Finland, and you’re culture is, as of what we know...

Ville: Darker....

Metalfan: Less in the sunlight and more in the moonlight, to use a metaphor. Anyway, you invented this „love metal”, which comes as somewhat of an anomaly..

Ville&Mige (laughing, shaking their heads): Oh, oh, oh...
Metalfan: It isn’t an anomaly?

Mige: Anomalies...so that’s what we are now…?

Ville: You know, our drummer comes from Sweden, and my family, from my mother’s side, comes from Hungary; so that would be a reason to do all this. We’re not 100% Finnish.

Metalfan: Perfect… But..(smiling) quite a lot of people, including us, until listening to your material attentively(we burst into laughter), said: “oh, what the hell, this isn’t metal!”. Maybe we’re too much into clichés ..

Ville: Oh, maybe so..

Metalhead:Everyone said :”This is a goth band”. Now you can choose to say why not, or say that you don’t give a …

Ville: Up to a point, yes, we don’t give a fuck. We started playing and founded this band because of our passion for Black Sabbath, and you can’t get more metal than that, at least when talking of metal and its origins. But on the other side, we all like Elvis Presley - I personally love him. It was rock’n’roll with a sensitive side, making it fantastically balanced. So what we wanted was to mix these two styles, so this would be the reason…

Metalfan: I love Elvis too, but doesn’t that make us …necrofags? or?

Ville&Mige(laughing): Not fags! Uhm… [ persons who f**k corpses ]

Ville: You know, most of the artists I love are dead , so…(laughs)…but let’s be serious, I’m not sexually attracted to Elvis, and being what you said, would mean I f**k corpses, so you’ll have to wait. I’m not quite ready for that. (laughs)

Metalfan: (to Mige)You were in the band from the beginning. How do you think it has evolved? You can use the Darwin metaphor: first there were fish , and then…

Mige: I wouldn’t call it evolution…

Metalfan: Involution, whatever…

Mige: In my opinion it’s more of a degeneration, I’d like to think it is, because rock’n’roll is more about decline and death; so we can’t really say if we evolved or just gained experience.

Ville: We believe in Adam and Eve…

Mige: And personally, I’d climb back up that tree!

Ville: from a darwinistic point of view, we are the missing link. Nobody knows what the hell happened or what they’ve fucking done, so it seems to me as a very exact description of us.(laughs)

Metalfan: well, I had a feeling that you sounded very non-commercial(smile).Now, speaking to you guys, I realise you sound VERY non-commercial…

Mige: That surprises me.

Ville: Why are you saying that?

Metalfan: Because of your well thought commercial strategy.

Ville: Oh come on…We’re Black Sabbath fans, we really are! A lot of rock bands say that they’re doing something new, inventing a new category; but we’ve said it over and over, ever since the beginning, that we’re just a sign to “Black Sabbath”. We want these kids to grow up on good music, not techno shit like Crazy Frog.

Metalfan: Yeah, that helps music progress. Still, it surprises me that two special guys like you have gone gold in the US – with Dark Light.

Ville: Yes, we did really well; but you know, there’s a guy named Bam Margera, from MTV, that helped us a lot; he’s a big fan, he directed some of our videos and he talks about us a lot on his radio station, creating a fan base for us there. This was the first album that we properly released in the States, and the success surprised us as well. We’re close to a golden disc; we sold about half a million copies so… it’s really good. But we had to wait 10 years to get to this point so…

Metalfan: So you’re on the road to riches!

Ville: Uhm...!

Metalfan: It’s not an accusation…

Ville: Music is an awkward business, because if you’re successful for one year, you might not be successful in the next 30, so you always have to save your money, put them in safe keeping.

Metalfan: But until this point, you’ve been successful for years...

Ville: Yeah, with some of our albums…

Metalfan: I was expecting you to say “we were more successful than that”, it would’ve been the fair way of putting it.

Ville: Well, I’m happy that me and Mige started singing as kids, 7-8 years old. It took us almost 15 years to be able to pay our bills from singing, so we’re happy that we can live by music, and still have time to compose other songs.

Metalfan: Yes, i also have friends from my childhood, since we were 4 and until reaching 30, my age today….

Ville: You’ve actually got 57! (laughs)

Metalfan: Kilos ....(Ville laughs, I actually have 80 kilos).So, I’m wondering what’s with childhood friends, how can these friendships last this long…until one dies, i believe…

Ville: Thing is, they don’t expect more than you can give, than you are. They know who you are, without needing college diplomas or things like that.

Mige: I think people like that just meet one another… It’s the smell, feromones.

Metalfan: Between men?!

Mige: Jesus!(everyone laughs)

Metalfan: I’ve heard that your next album is going to be more aggressive. First of all: is that true? And if it is, will you be singing some new songs tonight?

Ville: We’re touring since October, last year, so we really haven’t had time to rehearse new songs, so we’ll play a mix of old songs. Yeah, the new material is a little more… aggressive. But we want to make an album that’s closer to Led Zeppelin III; we’re going to have very acoustic and tough songs. We haven’t done anything like this before; the dynamics are going to be really impressive, aggressive, and then really “soft and sweet”.

Metalfan: (to Mige) What’s your opinion?

Mige: Works for me, I need therapy for controlling my anger and getting to places I’ve never been before…

Metalfan: So we should back off a little…(laughter)

Mige: No, no... I was referring to music; i exaggerated, you shouldn’t fear me for 5 years from now on.

Metalfan: Now for another cliché question. How do you portray yourselves in 10 years?

Ville: We can’t portray ourselves, we’ll just disappear(smile). We’ll be like a falling star, like Spinal Tap. Uhm…in 10 years… I hope we’ll still be performing. We haven’t got plans, we’re just leaving fate do its thing. There are many things that can change and we don’t know exactly if we’ll still be successful then. So I hope my parents will be still alive (smiles).

Metalfan: Thank you very much.

Ville: Thank you.