CloseUp Magazine interview

Ville Valo drinks like a pig when Close-up meets him. He is grey as ash in the face and his whole body is shaking?

Or maybe not?

The decadent lifestyle has finally caught up with the great rock-romantic. In his most open-hearted interview ever, HIMs vocalist tells us why he spent 49.000 dollars on getting back on his feet.



Ville Valo looked like a total mess the last time we met, on New Year뭩 Day in Helsinki . The dutiful singer had hosted the festival Helldone and was struggling to stay awake. He wanted to sleep but found himself swigging beer with an inquisitive Swedish journalist put together the cover article to Close-Up .

Tired but hopeful he said:

- I actually feel really excited about 2007. Last year was tough, this is going to be good.

The 11th of July, the day before HIM opens for Metallica in Stockholm he says:

- It뭩 been a very interesting year. For sure.

The 30-year old vocalist뭩 flight from Oslo is delayed and I have had two hours to drink two beers on a terrace at the Maria square in Stockholm . Ville is sitting at a table near the bar and in front of him he has a cup of coffee?! It wouldn뭪 be remarkable if it wasn뭪 for the fact that he has, for the dozen times I have met him he has been holding a beer in his hand, no matter the time of the day.

- I don뭪 drink. Let뭩 go up to my room and Ill tell you what happened.

When we arrive he offers me any choice of alcoholic beverage from the mini bar and takes a bottle of water for himself. The conversation I was expecting to be about 밮enus Doom?that is released September 19th takes a different turn. To say the least.

-I drank so much shit and puked blood. I couldn뭪 sleep for more than two hours in a row without drinking four Stella Artois . I was unbelievably stressed out after the album was done. When the mixing was done I thought I would get some time off. But no. There were listening sessions, meetings, meetings, meetings?I kept drinking more and more. When I then went to a doctor in Los Angeles she said that I would get a failure if I didn뭪 go to the E.R. or a rehabilitation centre. So I went to a rehab centre in Malibu . I was there for 28 days.

When was this?

-I have been sober for seven and a half weeks, including those 28 days. I came out about two weeks ago ?I think?! It feels like it뭩 been forever because so much has happened. We were so rock뭤뭨oll that we had video-meetings with the record company while I was in rehab, which was cool. It was a placed called Promises, it was more towards the fancy sort.

Do the name sound familiar? Promise has been all over the press for the last six month after Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan have been treated there (without any noticeable result). Among many other celebrities that made Promises more popular than Betty Ford are Charlie Sheen, Ben Affleck, Selma Blair, Tim Allen, Christian Slater and Diana Ross. Looking at www.promises.com you can compare it to a luxurious resort of the kind that stays a dream to a normal worker.

How much did it cost?

- 49.000 dollars for a month, Ville laughs. I didn뭪 get any discount. But it was worth it.

Is it deductible?

- I don뭪 now. We are trying to find that out because it is so much money. I hope my company can pay it. I don뭪 have that much money myself and in that case I will have to take a loan.

You must have that kind of money yourself?

- No no, not in my bank account. My company has money. I have money for expenses like Dimmu Borgir뭩 last album, he smiles. It was good to go there. There wasn뭪 any other option because I am bad at saying no. By that I don뭪 mean to alcohol and drugs but to work. There were more and more shit, more meetings every day and I kept drinking more and was stressing myself.

- I hadn뭪 eaten or drinking anything for f week and a half, after almost a two year booze. Or a booze꿢lmost always drinking I would say. A couple of pints every day꿵r four to eight꿵r more like six to ten. It wasn뭪 for me but I couldn뭪 stop on my own because I had no medicines. At the rehab centre they gave me Libirium for four to five days and some sleeping pills. After that I felt pretty good.

What effect did Libirium have?

- I got rid of the shaking. I was shaking like a leaf, it was really bad. Obviously you shake a lot after drinking socially for many years and then drinking heavily and just give it up like that, he says and snaps his fingers.



When you were at the doctor and she gave you the alternatives E.R. or rehab?

- She explained that my calium level in my blood was so low that it was pretty serious, Ville interrupts me before I have time to rephrase the question. I told her 밒 don뭪 have time. I have to give interviews?which was true. I checked my blood status and she was very concerned. Then I told myself I wanted to admit myself to rehab 뱋r I don뭪 have time to rest? If I am in Los Angeles or Helsinki there is no way I can lock the door, turn off my cell and do nothing because there is always something happening in the world of music. It뭩 either an extremely important interview or an extremely important decision that has to be made.

- It took brick walls, 49.000 dollars and a cell phone taken away from me to make me stay at the same place for the first time in 15 years. I met a lot of wonderful people with different backgrounds. It was nice just to read and I got a tan in Malibu . Not bad. However, after the first two weeks I got bored. So next tome I will settle with 밺etox? of course after a 뱑etox? he says as a reference to the latest album of Turbonegro which is lying on a dresser in the room.

Before you saw the doctor, did you ever consider rehab?

- I had thought about it for more than a year but there were songs to be written and an album to be recorded. Usually you find yourself with a sense of emptiness when a record is made. You spend so much time as well as physical and emotional energy on working with the songs, getting everything done, taking care of details around which studio to use, where the shit should be mixed and who뭩 going to do the album cover?/font>

- When all this is over you are completely empty inside. It뭩 like having a laxative IV ?there is nothing left inside you. That is usually the worst moment. When you have thing to do you stretch your limits and can go out party a lot. I drank a bottle of red wine to be able to get out of bed. It is sick, but I couldn뭪 stop because I had to work.



Promises use the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous with instructions on how to get well, step by step. Several of these steps refer to god and a higher power. That really doesn뭪 feel like Ville Valo.

- You were given a survey where you where suppose to answer the question: - What effect did the treatment have on your spirituality??My answer: 밡othing, because I am a full-blown Scandinavian, pagan-worshipping Satanist rock뭤뭨oller?

How did they react at Promises?

- They never got back to me... This was when I checked out. Nice people though. The staff was amazing and they told amazing stories. It was a very supportive atmosphere. They said it뭩 one of the least AA-based programs. According to what I have heard it is softer in Europe , but over there the meetings take place in churches. It is not too Christian but I still don뭪 like to visit the church. I don뭪 believe there is a higher power that leads you away from alcohol. If you are that week꿌 was even thinking of quitting smoking. When I chose to leave the alcohol behind I might as well stop everything I am addicted to.

- It is about the power of will. If I can뭪 handle the booze I shouldn뭪 be f*cking drinking. It took a long time until I realized that. I could handle it for long, longer than most people. But when the shit hit the fan, it poured shit!

Did you get up in front of a lot of people and say: Hi, my name is Ville and I am an alcoholic?

- Yes, I laughed and said. I am a f*cking drunk!?They have a prayer that you are suppose to take part in: 밎od, grab me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change blab la blas Instead I said: Ozzy, grab me the serenity or ?Black Sabbath, grab me the serenity

- I dont know what it뭩 like in Sweden but in Finland we have this worker-pride. You work your way through the problems. For me it is about pride, that I shouldnt mess up the amazing position I have reached from playing music from the age of seven-eight. I don뭪 want to ruin that because I like a beverage with the colour of piss. My only vice now is water, cigarettes and coffee. But I feel good. I like being sober. My plan is to be sober until September next year to be able to do all the promotion and touring for the new album. I sleep better and I sing better.

- We have laughed about it being a good career move for me to be doing all the promotion sober. Then when I start writing again I start drinking and we make room for admitting me in rehab in the budget for the next record. That will be the cycle from now on!

That sounds like a strange thing coming from someone just out of rehab. Don뭪 you have to stay sober for the rest of your life?

- No. A lot of people just go to the rehab centre for detox and then go straight to a bar. I don뭪 want to do that because I don뭪 want to disappoint the band, the record company, my parents, Seppo or anyone else. It is nice to be able to spend time with people sober, I have no problem with that. I like taking things too far- Doing that with the drinking has made even the thought of beer making me feel sick. I had gotten really swollen, my face was grey, was constantly shaking and having panic attacks. I self-medicated with alcohol when I really should have stopped. But there was no time because I had to work all the time.

- I had agoraphobia and was scared of stepping out of the door and being on public places. It was really bad and was because of the bad hung overs. I confused the hung overs for depression and got depressed from all the drinking. It made my serotonin and sugar levels low, which affects your general condition.

- It was a good experience. I have a new hole in my belt. Not because of the weight loss but because I am gained one experience. I say as a joke that I love anthropological experiments and I myself am the guinea pig.

You don뭪 see yourself as an alcoholic?

- Hell no! I don뭪 believe, as they teach it, that alcoholism is a disease - it is a way of life. We are Scandinavians and we drink. I have had a hell of a fun time but reached a point where the fun turned into a nightmare. It didn뭪 last. It isn뭪 nice when you have to have six pints of beer and then AFTER that get out of bed still hung over , because you drank so much. I was testing my limits, not consciously but unconsciously. But I had to take a break.

- If I felt like drinking I would do it right now. It is about feeling proud of your work. I didn뭪 want to ruin the whole band thing. It was the music that got me the ridiculous amounts of beer. I didn뭪 become a musician because I wanted alcohol but because I love Black Sabbath. Rather sober and boring than ruining everything because of drinking.

His gets darker and flashes.

I can뭪 f*cking stand all the wining from Alcoholic Anonymous or old rockers that have been abused as children! Everyone is so god damn negative. Whether you have been abused it뭩 up to the individual themselves. There are many drug addicts and alcoholics who뭭e never been used, that are from rich families and have had a blast. It happens to all types of people but you have to turn it into something positive. I have 15 years of incredible f*cking parties behind me, which is more the many people have during their whole life time?I look forward to more, but this time remember more of it. We will see what happens. I don뭪 want to make a pact with myself. Its like jerking off.

Do you go to AA-meetings?

- No, to me it뭩 a question of pride. If I can뭪 handle this on my own I am screwed. I have to take a piss?

The DELUXE room at ABBA-Benny뭩 hotel doesn뭪 only have an amazing view over the Maria Square , through a large window you can see what is happening in the toilet. Very kinky. Ville explains from the toilet that the sound of a waterfall is a result of him drinking huge amounts of water, coffee and Red Bull. When he sits down in the armchair he immediately picks up where he left off.

- At the rehab centre you had your own counsellor that you met with alone. What she saw at my worst problem was that I am horribly bad at saying no, to work and such. I said 밒 want a day off, that would be nice?and she said 밶sk for it? It was a damn hard thing to do, it took me five minutes before I could do it. I often get the feeling that I am letting people down because there is always something you can do to improve things for the band.

You take on to much, it was obvious at new years when you tried to hard to please everyone.

- It has worked fine the last couple of years but I hit the wall because of that. It was a nice experience and I wouldn뭪 change a thing looking back. It is good to shit blood, it is good to puke blood, it is good to see how far you can push yourself physically. I have no problems with that and here I am now drinking shitty water.

A couple of hours before we meet up I see a filmed interview on Youtube made by the German magazine Sonic Seducer on the 20th of may, right before the singer went to Promises. One girl has written a comment about his mumbling barely present performance. 밒 can뭪 believe this is Ville Valo. It can뭪 be. How horrible...the things he said to. Don뭪 let this be Ville Valo.?/font>

- I was hung over, had drunk maybe a six-pack and had 10 interviews to do. I just wanted to sleep the buzz off. I should have just said 밒 am ill, leave me alone? But it is so hard to say 뱊o I can뭪 do this?when people have travelled from all over the world and spent a lot of money. It is a problem when you can뭪 say 밒 can뭪 do this right now?and I am the only one from the band there. In the end it was very instructive. I think you have the right to screw up, that is the only way to learn. That is why I wanted to go to rehab. I was one of few people there who was there by free will. I wanted to go there because I knew it was taking its toll on my work and my art.

When you were there alone?/font>

- Among many other people, Ville points out fast.

뀉.did you ever reflect on what happened in life and on the future?

- I don뭪 give a shit about that stuff! The positive overshadows the negative. I don뭪 believe any person뭩 life is easy. Mediocre drabness and the grey every-day life are worse than animalistic party behaviour because it kills your soul. My brain still works fairly well.

Ville lights up another one of many cigarettes this time almost in a defiant way. If he had been a Disney character smoke would have been coming out of his ears.

- Something I thought a lot about in rehab was the ban of smoking. You can no longer smoke in the pub and I stopped drinking around the same time as it was instated in Finland . It뭩 being instated everywhere now, which is sick. The only reason as to why I can뭪 quit is that there is a punk rocker in me. I hate the fact that somebody is telling me 뱘ou can뭪 smoke? Some fat, frigid bitch started this because she hadn뭪 been f*cked in thirty years!

- I don뭪 get why you can뭪 have a place where everyone, including the bartender, wants to smoke. You don뭪 have to go there if you don뭪 want to. I understand why restaurants where you eat have a ban against smoking. The funny thing is that in some countries it is ok to smoke pot. What kind of message does that send the kids? That it is ok to smoke PCP, crack and weed but not cigarettes? And at the same time the authorities make millions on tobacco taxes. It is ridiculous.



Two days at home in Helsinki is what he got between the stay in Los Angeles and the Metallica gigs. Ville came back to a house basically turned upside down. The trace and evidence after many parties was everywhere. He brought the beer bottles in the fridge to HIM뭆 place of rehearsal, the expensive bottles of Brandy that he got for his 30th birthday were left untouched at home though.

- If someone comes to visit and wants something to their coffee they can have brandy. Also, my will power will be tested, he accentuates. When I got out of rehab I personally asked the staff of Sunset Marquis to remove all alcohol from the mini bar. Though now I feel that if I am that fucking week that I have to wake up in the middle of the night just because I am so depressed?There is no reason for me to be that depressed. If the alcohol controls me so much that I have to open a really expensive bottle of a mini-bottle of vodka to be happy I see myself as a failure.

- You know how they say that should never go back to the old environment when you come out of rehab. I felt instinctively; 밫o hell with that! I work in bars, that is what I do? I spend hang out with bands and everyone drinks or what ever the hell they do. Everywhere in the world there are a lot of drugs, but people can do whatever they want ?I don뭪 care.

You are the first person I have talked to that has come out of rehab with this attitude. Usually they are converted, delivered and god knows what.

- There are so many different degrees of 밶ddiction?or weaknesses of some sort. If that makes people feel good, fine. If I quit smoking people can smoke their ass off around me. I don뭪 care, it is their bodies and their choice. I live to drink, it뭩 freaking fun, but my physic can뭪 take that right now.

By the way, how did they others in the band find out that you were in rehab? Did you call them?

- No, Seppo did. I didn뭪 want to talk to anyone. They took my cell phone. There were visiting hours in the weekends, but the first two weeks I didn뭪 want anyone to come there. I just wanted to sober up, not be some shaking Ozzy Osboure-figure that has a bad day. I wanted to be alone and sort out my mind first. Besides, I wanted to prove to the other guys that I could work on the outside. I had been out a couple of weeks and had been working on the cover without drinking or doing anything stupid until I met them. I뭗 rather be able to show some physical evidence then talking shit. As you know I am good at talking shit.

Laughing, Ville excuses himself to go out in the hallway to get some coffee from the machine. Once he뭩 back he continues before he has even sat down:

- I told Seppo: Tell everyone what has happened? I뭗 rather meet them face to face them talking to them over a crappy phone line with a ten hour time difference while being at that place. What would my parents think? It was nice to finally meet them. I told them what had happened and they were very supportive. He who waits gets rewarded.



Did you try to bring in any new rules of behaviour?

- No, Seppo on the other hand tried to start with a few of those stuff, but I said 밼*ck no? Mige barely drinks at all, Burton and Linde drink every now and then and Gas gets hammered once a week.

- We have discussed the forthcoming tour. What we might do is to have a bus for the band and one for the crew, but it뭩 going to be a bit calmer on the band bus. You can drink as much as you want but not have huge parties and blow the speakers with Slayer at three o뭖lock in the morning. Seppo will be coming with us to some shows and he has to be able to work and talk on the phone. But we will smoke and there will be drinking everywhere. No rules, they make me blush and feel disabled. That is something I feel that I am not, disabled in terms of alcohol but maybe in other ways?/font>

It is completely different from for example in the case of Metallica where no alcohol is allowed near James Hetfield.

- They thing is that we don뭪 know how bad it was for him. It is hard to know how it was for Scott (Weiland) of Velvet Revolver or Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers, how they took it. We are not inside their heads. Everyone is telling all about their abuse. If you look up a rock magazine from this decennium, particularly the last two years, there is a lit of artists opening up and whining about their childhood. I guess that is a nice subject, but I have always though rock뭤뭨oll is about praise. You may have had problems, but deal with them! Problems are there to be solved, not to live with. I can뭪 stand it, having that disability. It뭩 like walking around with a sprained ankle that is a constant reminder of your injury.

Ville is making fun of himself and ascertains that he was stupid enough to face the choice of heart failure or rehab, but smart enough to choose rehab. The he looks back:

- When we started the band in 1997 I was on Antabuse. I wasn뭪 drinking so much back then but I quit. When you are on tour there are endless parties and it뭩 easier to kill the boredom if you drink. And us Scandinavians can drink. I am not complaining because I have had such f*cking fun times. I still do. I just ordered a new guitar that is waiting for me in Helsinki when I get back in two days. I want to play music and see what it feels like. My hands aren뭪 shaking anymore, so I can play acoustic guitar way better. It뭩 a bit like starting over.

Did anyone, like your parents, try to get you to admit yourself to rehab before?

- No, because I have been working so hard. When the album was done I was a wreck. We did three shows in England that sucked. We hadn뭪 been touring in over a year and I was so f*cking nervous before the concerts, because I have a tendency to forget lyrics. What I did then was to keep drinking to calm my nerves and I was drunk on stage ?again.

- Then I forget even more lyrics and almost panic and worry about forgetting the next line. I think Barbara Streisand had the same problem. She didnt perform live in 20 years after she screwed up on one song and I think she was on something at that time. You end up in a bad circle and wonder if ill I miss the next text too?

- The third gig in England was really good. The first one was horrible for me personally and the second was better but still really bad. In a situation like that it is easy, for me anyway, to try and calm your nerves with booze. I should have done the opposite, but there was no time. If you daily meal is eight beers you cant; just quit like that, its; a physical impossibility. You have to wind down first.



A lot of legendary singers have a variegated day to day condition to say the least. That Ozzy nowadays is like a damaged crow is well known, like the fact that James Hetfield most days is a shadow of his past self. Even George Michael told the other day about his voice problems and that he cant hit the notes he use to.

Ville Valo who is a lot younger than these veterans has subjected to some criticism about his live-singing.

-The voice changes, it is a weird muscle. I can no longer do King Diamond screams. On the other hand I can sing more roughly high than before and can also reach lower notes. The voice changes by life itself, no matter if you smoke or drink. But I wouldn뭪 mind sounding like Mark Lanegan in a few years. I love deep, rough and characteristic vocalists.

- How much you are on tour effects the voice too. Now we are lowering it a half a note live, which makes everything a bit heavier and I am not balancing but having that eleventh Spinal Tap-step as a margin. It seems to be working well, especially with the new material, but its hard to say since we havent toured.

- Usually you rehearse and your voice sounds good, which lasts for the first three concerts- Then it gets worse just to suddenly change again and get stronger after ten gigs. It changes and gets more full and powerful. Take someone like Rob Halford ?he can뭪 do some of the older songs. A lot of the great singers have never taken a song lesson, so the have probably ruined their umbilical cords. But from that they have developed their own distinct style, unlike the classically trained singers.

Up to the 3rd of September HIM will be in the United States to do the Project Revolution Tour with among Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance among others. When the bands Swedish fans will get to see the band isnt set yet. Ville himself is hoping for a big Scandinavian tour , the first one since 2002, next spring. It depends on how HIMs sixth album will do and how big the demand is, especially in the U.S.



V;enus Doom?was recorded in the Finnvox studio in Helsinki . Co-producer was Hiili Hiilesma , Finland greatest heavy metal producer that worked with the band as early as on the debut-EP ?66 ways to love:Prologue?in 1996 and the following Greatest lovesongs vol.666? He also handled the sound on Love Metal?that was mixed by Tim Palmer. He later worked on D;ark Light?and has had the main responsibility for the new album.

- You can; call this a rehab album because I did the main part when I was drunk. Or more like trying to cure my hang over. So I would call this album a pick-me-up album.

- I don뭪 know why but for some reason 밮enus Doom?gives me the vibes of 밨itual de lo habitual?by Jane Addiction?That piece is colourful, a lot is going on and you can hear that influence here and that influence there, but its; still hard to categorize it.

As for HIM this is an adventurous piece of work with a different image of sound.

- We have made straight four minute songs so many times with different productions. It felt more natural to do something more dirty and organic but still have a good production so it wouldnt sound like an Ulver-demo.

Last winter you used My Bloody Valentine as a reference. Not much of that happened.

- No. 밄leed well?was one of the first songs that I wrote and it뭩 character was different at first: some really heavy guitar riffs but with a very soft singing. But then the other songs started to influence it, which made it change. The enthusiasm of the band makes the songs go a certain way and that takes the other songs 뱖ith them? and they change. That what happened.

밄leed well? the only song on the album that has so personal lyrics that Ville doesn뭪 want to get talk about it, is a solo act that was recorded in LA while the mixing was going on.

- I wrote it in my home and tried to arrange it for HIM as a band, but it only turned out semi-good. Instead I did it myself in my Chateau Marmont-bungalow and then added the singing. Tim Palmer played acoustic guitar. You can hear the cars going by on Sunset Avenue and a chair scratching against the floor.

- Black Sabbath has the acoustic instrumental act Sabbath bloody Sabbath?and Led Zeppelin had folk music jams on their third album. I thought that an acoustic act in the middle would make an already dynamic and diversified album more colourful. A lot of people would expect an acoustic intro followed by a loud guitar riff, but I like that nothing?happens.



Killing Jokes ?Pandemonium?/Master of Puppets? early Paradise lost and My dying Bride and Type O Negative are being lifted up as inspirations. More surprising is it that Ville in an MTV-interview a few months ago said that 밠astodon and Machine Head had just made their ultimate work?in a way that made it look like there were musical points of touch with these bands.

- That is not what I meant, he emphasizes. That was just some of the stuff I was listening to just then, even if you can뭪 hear it on the album. But it has influenced me as much as Buddy Wailers 밄lackheart man? Just because I am listening to Darkthrones 밃 blaze in the northern sky?doesn뭪 mean that the next album will be black metal. But it뭩 an influence, like everything else I am listening to.

- I met the guys in Mastodon two years ago. I love Mastodon, not so much for the music as for the attitude the band has brought in to the genre. These guys have been touring their ass off, are wonderful people, are awesome live and do something different. The same thing with Machine Head, who lost a lot of popularity but came back and is now called an 밿con band? There is something youthful about theses bands that I don뭪 see in many hard constellations.

Before you went to rehab you were asked if 밮enus Doom?is possibly will scare away the wide teenage fan base in the US that 밆ark Light?gave you. Your answer was: 밊uck 멷m!?How would you express it now that you are sober?

- Fuck 멷m! When we rehearse we fart, we make up some Black Sabbath riff and giggle like school boys about the idea of making the music even more like Black Sabbath. It is about having fun with the music and creativity. It would be awful if we considered it as a job. That everyone is smiling and laughing in our rehearsal room is all that matters and everyone else can go to hell.

- Of course we are hoping for a continuous success and we are not trying to push anyone away, but we wouldn뭪 be able to exist if we started to think about what people want to hear. We don뭪 know what they want to hear. Hopefully something good that surprises them in a positive way and make them forget their every-day-life for a moment.

About Black Sabbath, their spirit is really noticeable in 뱇ove in cold blood? It starts with a guitar riff that succeeds to catch the very essence of the sound of Tony Iommi during the era of Ronnie James-Dio.

-That was one of the first riffs I wrote to the album and I had Cathedral뭩 ?Hopkins (the witchfinder general)?in my mind. First we were going to let Lee (Dorrian) do some of his 뱖hoaaa, whoaaa?screams but that never happened. It뭩 cool that you think it뭩 sounds like Black Sabbath. I don뭪 myself because of the drums. I listen more to the whole image of sound then just one thing.

밚ike a movie teaser??that is how the title track is described. It was one of the last songs written for the album and when the piece developed HIM wanted it to contain every aspect of the album.

밮enus Doom?also borrowed the sound of a fountain orgasm from a porn movie. Try hearing that if you can?/font>

-The fountain orgasm comes right before the first chorus in the right speaker while I am screaming in the left. It sounded to dirty so we had to lower it. Without the visual image it sound like one shitty fountain.

And the text is ?drum roll- a love declaration to love. About the same as the following 밚ove in cold blood?/font>

- It뭩 about relationships turning people into animals. The emotional chaos makes you so alike an animal as you can get and you are almost walking on all four ?which you might be depending on your preferences.



You have said that 뱇yrics wise it is an album about me losing a relationship and then actually regaining it to lose it again?

- I was probably talking crap, he says and smiles crookedly. To me it뭩 more of a 밽etting up off the floor?album. To use the music as a crutch to be able to walk. Sad things controlled me to some extent. Through the music I could let go of them and value them when they were on paper and in the music. It뭩 hard to see yourself in the mirror sometimes. You know what I mean.

Sure, I usually wake up and think :봎y god, another bad hair day?

Ville laughs.

- In an existential level life can however be hard and depressing. Even if you have no reason to be depressed it뭩 hanging over you like a cloud. Every person have a different way of getting rid of it but I make my living on it so I don뭪 want to get rid of that cloud completely. I am holding that cloud in a leash.

- It뭩 been an action filled year since I뭢 no longer seeing Jonna. You can hear that melancholic desperation on the album, it뭩 really 밺oomy and gloomy?sometimes.

A lot on the album revolves around your relationship with Jonna, doesn뭪 it?

- Not all of it. It뭩 more about myself than about that particular relationship. And it뭩 a combination of different things that I have heard. Things that people think about that they shouldn뭪 be thinking about. Self-therapy in a way. I wouldn뭪 say any specific song is devoted to her꿲aybe 밅yanide Sun? I usually don뭪 write songs about a person.

Ville Valo and Jonna Nygren broke off their engagement in the spring 2006 but kept being together. When we met at new years he described it as a roller coaster relationship.

When the album was being written you and Jonna were still a couple. Did you think that you could make it through?

- Of course. My drinking probably came in the way a bit. I worked too much and didn뭪 spend enough time with her. Then there were a lot of other things that I don뭪 want to talk about because they are too personal.

- I have hidden a lot of it in the lyrics in a way that only I can see without even the others in the band do. It뭩 my way of handling it. An important lesson I learned in Malibu is to understand the old saying 밳ou have to take care of yourself before you can help others? That is true about me and was true about me. I want to be able to take care of my band, hang out with the other guys and feel proud of what we have accomplished so far and what we will accomplish in the future.

- If I had focused on partying, writing songs, do concerts and having a relationship everyone of these thing would suffer. I must limit myself to a few of them and the music is something I have had since before I ever had a relationship. I don뭪 want to risk losing or compromising with the music because of my f*cking love life, partying or my fascination over books.

밣assions Killing Floor?/span> was the first track we heard from 밮enus Doom?and it was presented on the 밫ransformers?soundtrack. The chorus, without the lyrics, were written as early as 1998 and the main riff in 2001. Ville has said before that HIM doesn뭪 throw around like forty ideas for an album and the ideas for songs that don뭪 feel perfect are out the door fast.

- Yes and no. I don뭪 record riffs on tape and reuse them. The brain is a funny thing because it remembers things that are almost ten years old. Suddenly it hits you: 밆amn, I have this thing that I made up a long time ago, wonder if it fits here?

- On 밣assion뭩 Killing Floor?there is a couple of amazing lines 뱈y heart뭩 a graveyard baby/And to evil we make love on our passion뭩 killing floor?/i>. People are their meanest to the people they love the most. That뭩 a very natural thing to a lot of people, why, I don뭪 know. There are so many expectations of you that you can뭪 act like a maniac or an animal but in a relationship you are basically allowed to act like that and blow off steam.

In your line of work you can basically act like a wild animal and it뭩 considered totally fine.

- Yes, but you still try to maintain some kind of dignity. In close relationships with close friends I am probably the meanest. A lot are because you are allowed to blow up, puke negativity and shed a few tears with the ones who knows you best. It뭩 also easy that this is a way to kill the relationship, if it shows that this is all you do and nothing positive.

The first single 밙iss of dawn?is different from the norm since it뭩 dedicated to a special person.

- When we were recording 밆ark Light?in Los Angeles I hung out with a young, aspiring musician. We had a blast together and became good friends. One night when we were on tour ?a promo-trip- I got a phone call from his girlfriend who told me that he had taken his own life. I felt bad, was sad and frustrated. One of his friends made a picture of him in Photoshop with angel wings, a guitar around his neck and a cigarette in his mouth. He liked HIM뭆 music and below the picture a lyric by u sis printed. It뭩 in a frame on a window-sill in my house. I thought he would appreciate it I made a tribute to the fun times we had together rather than being mad and frustrated about what he had done. When it comes around it was his decision, He was a young tortured artist.

It뭩 easy to see the connection to 밪ong or suicide?

- The folk music singer Julee Sill, who died from an overdose in 1979, was dating someone or having a bad relationship, which apparently reminded me of mine. She said it was either 뱒ong or suicide? which meant she either had to write a song about her life and that situation or commit suicide. I thought it sounded amazing and it뭩 also SOS for short. It suited the album and my mood. 밒 heal my wounds with grief/And dream of you and weep myself alive?/i>. From an existential point on view it뭩 good to feel bad so you know you actually exist.



In October last year Ville spent two and a half weeks in Finnish Lapland. He didn뭪 get as much work done as he would have hoped but came back with at least 밅yanide Sun?and 밪leepwalking past hope? These songs strike a melancholic note that pushes the album eve further down the depth.

- How honest can you be without losing the humorous aspect? You have to be able to laugh at yourself when you cry. That is how I look upon life. The situation can always be worse. In the middle of 밪leepwalking past hope?there is a Dario Argento-like horror-part where I sing really low 밒 gave up long ago?/i>. I think that is the best line of the album. What else van you say? ?/b>Painting love with crimson flow/Ran out of blood and hope so I paint you no more?/i>. It뭩 tricky and childish but true.

Crimson is a word you like to use.

- You are thinking about 밄ehind the crimson door? I have used the word three times in sixty songs, which isn뭪 a lot.

Crimson is not a 뱇ove? 밾e?or 뱒he?

- It sounds good and is a nice colour.

Where you a fan of Crimson Glory?

- Uh꿳o! It hit me that Sentenced have done an album called 밅rimson?and I thought 밒 should use that? In many lyrics love and relationships are ventilated but I like to take it a step further: 밒 gave up the whole idea of love/Because I ran out of blood and hope?/i>. That is like putting down love which I have done for the first time in a long time. I can뭪 f*cking stand relationships! I will fall in love again some day ?as I am being aware of every night when I am alone in my hotel room! After singing about tortured love for six albums its nice to take a break for a few sentences.



밪leepwalking past hope?/span> is the sharpest and most bold work that HIM has accomplished so far in their career. The almost ten minute long journey is depressing but really sharp and contains a Kirk Hammet-guitar figure as well as an unexpected bass solo. Musical is the word.

- It뭩 a stepping towards something new. I like that we placed it at the middle of the album instead of the end, which most bands would have done, Ville says.

- This is our first record that I feel is an album. I didn뭪 know this when we began but when everything was mixed and I listened to it from the beginning to the end it sounded really good. The album has a good flow, something we haven뭪 had before even if we thought we did. The songs complete each other. After a low, more demanding piece like 밪leepwalking past hope?there is 밆ead lovers lane?that is a more straight rock뭤뭨oll song. It뭩 just as important and deep as 밪leepwalking past hope?but also a nice complement.

With 밆ead lovers lane?as a starting-point Ville is gazing forward.

- If you can let the past imprison you the energy you need for tomorrow can easily be sucked out of you. A lot of people live in the past. Me too, from time to time. It뭩 good to learn from your mistakes, but many people are scared of trying new things because the failed with something prior.

666 kroner it says on a credit card receipt that Ville pulls out with a child뭩 excitement .The bill from yesterday뭩 diabolic purchase in a heavy metal record store in Oslo landed on 666 Norwegian kroner. For that amount he got the Swedish black metal project Abruptum뭩 ambient swan singing 밅asus Luciferi? Darkthrones 밃 blaze in the northern sky? the re-edition of Napalm Death뭩 grindcore classic 밪cum?and Dimmu Borgir뭩 밒n sorte diaboli?

- The cover looks cool, but I haven뭪 listened to the album yet he says about the latest work by Dimmu Borgir. I didn뭪 like 밪piritual black dimensions? something happened there then. But 밇nthrone darkness triumphant?was an era making album for me. I used to listen to that and Cradle Of Filth뭩 밆usk and her embrace?all the time.

The most musicians on tour are carrying around laptops, are constantly connected and play music on their mp3-players. Ville Valo doesn뭪 own a computer and Ipod is a strange concept to him. Instead he litters cd:s around him and on the table there is another handful of records: Broken Social Scene-vocalist Feist뭩 celebrated album 밫he reminder? melancholic Interpol뭩 밢ur love to admire? Bleeding Trough뭩 밫he truth? two versions of Turbonegro뭩 밨etox?and Dead can dance-vocalist Lisa Gerrard뭩 second solo album 밫he silver tree? Being the bookworm that he is there are also a number of books lying around. About 밣lato and a Platypus walk into a bar:Understanding philosophy through jokes?he says 밿t뭩 pretty good? Then he pick뭩 it up and read on it and bursts out:

- Bah, the book is crap! I only bought it because it seemed weird and hard to grasp.

The biography of Pulitzer Prize-winner Kenneth Silverman 밇dgar A. Poe: Mournful and neverending remembrance?gets a better judgment as well as Sylvia Plath뭩 밫he Glass Jar?

- The woman in the book goes crazy. Two weeks after the book was published Plath committed suicide.

The highest recommendation receives: anything by Augusten Burroughs and. After reading 밆ry?and 밨unning with scissors?he has now started on 밠agical thing?

- Burroughs is a homosexual writer whose artistic mother put him in the apartment of her psychiatrist for him to grow up there. The psychiatrist and he뭩 family were crazy too and that뭩 were Burroughs grew up. He later ended up in the commercial business in New York and became an alcoholic and crack addict. He writes in an honest way with a lot of humour about his experiences. It뭩 fun, laughable and crazy all at once. He always writes about himself and it뭩 hard to know what in it that is fiction but he writes in such a cool way that I can뭪 complain.

The conversation has lasted for almost four hours and it뭩 almost past midnight. Before I leave I take the opportunity to look at Ville Valo뭩 passport.

-It뭩 taken in a Turkish store in Berlin in 2005.

Jesus! With the sides of his head shaved, his hair combed sleekly back and a thin mustachio he looks like the generalisation image of a German neo-Nazi.

- I look very strange, the photo doesn뭪 look like me at all. Perhaps I am a neo-Nazi, I just haven뭪 discovered that side of me yet, he says with a grin.

Then, the singer yawns and I come to think of the new years revolution he didn뭪 make because he knew he wouldn뭪 keep it: to be a good boy and go to bed early.

- Now I keep track on what time it is and calculates how much sleep I might need to have a good voice the next day.

That, boys and girls, you never thought you would hear from the great rock뭤뭨oll-romantic Ville Valo.

Quote :

The most musicians on tour are carrying around laptops, are constantly connected and play music on their mp3-players. Ville Valo doesn't own a computer and Ipod is a strange concept to him.

mmm....

yes, he said in an interview that the boys play chess on a laptop nowdays, but he is not that connected to this things

it's a little hard to believe that he of all people doesn't surf the internet...but then, i guess it's ok to say that to keep his cover

I remember him saying once he has an id on the official forum, and he is there a guy that doesn't like the band , but he only enters when he goes to visit his brother... and if I remember right, he also said that Midge is also there, and he is a "new fan" that doesn't know anything about ...

keep your eyes out everybody they could be anywhere