Tuomas Holopainen

[Fugazi]

A few items revealed in a recent interview to a French magazine:

Tuomas has finished or is about to finish writing a book which should be ready in a year or so. I'm crossing fingers for an autobiography, although it's probably not one. But I suppose there's a little insight into Tuomas' in every one of his works.

Also, the new Auri album should be ready in about 2 months (not sure when exactly the interview was made though).

[Fugazi]

Just for fun, here's a short bio from the official NW web site, back in 1999.

 

Name: Tuomas Holopainen
Date of birth: 25.12.1976
Place of residence: Kitee

E-mail: tuomas@nightwish.com
Hobbies: Music, movies, hiking and collecting Disney stuff.
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. I still play as a session musician in Darkwoods My Betrothed and Furthest Shore.

Favorite...
food: Freshly-baked rye bread.
Favorite drink: Coffey.
movies: Braveheart, Dances with the wolves and T2.
director: Steven Spielberg
tv-program: MacGyver
actor/actress: Morgan Freeman
book: Lord Of The Rings
author: J.R.R Tolkien
music: From the "heavy" section, Rhapsody, 3rd And The Mortal and My Dying Bride. From the "floating" section, Kitaro, Vangelis and Enya.
album: Kitaro : Kojiki
song: H. blake : Walking In The Air
season: Winter

Our best gig: Tammerfest 7.7.99
Best gig you have seen: Metallica/Guns'n Roses in Kansas City in autumn '92
Worst nightmare:  Everything that has something to do with spiders.
Place you'd like to go: Africa
Life philosophy: The Road Goes Ever On

Instruments: Different models of Korg.

[Fugazi]

There was an interview recently where Tuomas mentioned a treasure map with goals or dreams drawn as islands. This was mentioned before, in a rare insight into in his personal life, from back in 2016.

https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/tuomas-holopainen-raottaa-uutuuskirjassa-avioliittoaan-johanna-kurkelan-kanssa-paljastaa-parin-yhteisen-haaveen/6150136#gs.613q3m

Tuomas Holopainen tells about his marriage to Johanna Kurkela in a new book - reveals a couple's shared dream

Published 11/3/2016

Nightwish's leader Tuomas Holopainen has never talked about his life with the popular singer star Johanna Kurkela before.

Nightwish's keyboardist and songwriter, Tuomas Holopainen, who turns 40 next Christmas, has rarely spoken in public about his marriage to singer Johanna Kurkela, 31. The couple married in October 2015.

Holopainen talks about Kurkela and the boundaries of publicity in the new book "Rock Stars - life behind the scenes" written by Heta Hyttinen (Readme.fi, 2016).

- Yes, being publicly known can influence one's life a lot. When my marriage with Johanna came to light we were contacted by the press, but we told them politely that we will not comment on our private lives. That has happened, but let it be left to it. And no one has written anything about it since, Holopainen states in the book.

- But the fact that this job involves giving interviews is a lot of fun for me - talking about the band and the music and where the songs came from. Whenever I do interviews, I think about the reader and what it would be interesting to know about it. It’s a pin to tell some new facts that I didn’t talk about or throw in even the fact that we’ve bought a horse, Holopainen says.

In the book, Holopainen defines where his boundaries go.

- My absolute limit is that no one ever comes to our house to do an interview or take pictures of our house. We never give joint interviews and don’t talk about our relationship in any magazine.

In the book, the Nightwish front man tells about one of his and Kurkela's New Year's traditions.

- Every four years, Johanna and I have been making a treasure map on our bedroom wall for four years. It has a continent to start from and then there are different islands to reach. Once upon a time there was a Scrooge McDuck record, there was an island about having Richard Dawkins on a record, then there was our own movie... These islands have disappeared, they have been conquered, Holopainen says.

Holopainen's future plans include writing his own book.

- Now, for example, my own book is on this year's map, and in fact a contract has already been offered for it. It will come with short fictional short stories, a dozen of which are now ready, and the publisher said they are very viable.

There are even deeper islands on the map of Holopainen and Kurkela.

- There are islands on that map that are a little deeper, such as finding mental balance, and there was the horse we have now. With it, you now have to learn to do all sorts of fun, like at Christmas a sleigh ride from the stable home and back. And one island was conquered again when we bought a motorhome that we have been dreaming of for a long time. It is intended to travel around Europe and Scandinavia.

The couple also dreams of making music together.

- And we both have a big dream that we would make a record together sometime. With the McDuck project, we realized that making music together was really nice and it was a really fruitful project.

Holopainen and Kurkela have hardly commented on their relationship. In February 2014, Holopainen told an interview with the French magazine Nightwish about the album, which was born as part of his project The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, with which Kurkela sings.

- I have lived at the same address as her for five years, so it was natural to ask her. She is also a big Don Rosa fan, Holopainen explained Kurkela's presence on the record at the time.

Kurkela's voice is heard on the song Song of Myself from Nightwish's Imaginaerum album (2011). Holopainen, in turn, wrote for Kurkela's album "Hyvästi Dolores Haze" (2010), a song called "Satojen merien näkijä".

---

Except for the last one, all the quotes from Heta Hyttinen's Rock Stars - Life Behind the Scenes (Readme.fi, 2016).

[Mape]

On 12/14/2020 at 7:10 AM, Fugazi said:

Tuomas has finished or is about to finish writing a book which should be ready in a year or so. I'm crossing fingers for an autobiography, although it's probably not one.

It's not an autobiography, but a collection of short stories. Dark fantasy & science fiction. As far as I know, it still remains unfinished, as Tuomas had very little interest to create much of anything during the mandatory covid pause. The extent of what I know about it is I have read one of the short stories and I know who illustrates the book.

[Fugazi]

6 hours ago, Mape said:

It's not an autobiography, but a collection of short stories. Dark fantasy & science fiction. As far as I know, it still remains unfinished, as Tuomas had very little interest to create much of anything during the mandatory covid pause. The extent of what I know about it is I have read one of the short stories and I know who illustrates the book.

Thanks! I'm sorry to hear that the book is not going to be released anytime soon, I had the feeling it was almost a done deal. Short stories sound interesting, I hope it will see the light of day eventually. I could even imagine a concept work merging literature and music, a bit like Charlotte Wessels' novella The Deviant Hearts.

[Mape]

There is a publishing deal done for it (Like Publishing), so it definitely will be out sooner or later.

[Fugazi]

I didn't know 'A Lifetime Of Adventure' was ever performed live. 👀 I can't figure out from this video who's playing the piano but it's probably not Tuomas.

[Fugazi]

Something different, this American book reviewer on YouTube talks about the greeting card he received from Tuomas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkSBgdP8Jdw

[Fugazi]

A quick mention here, one of Tuomas' former bands, For My Pain is regrouping for live shows and also new music in 2024. Tuomas in not involved this time however. The band had been inactive for almost 20 years!

https://tuonelamagazine.com/finnish-gothic-metal-supergroup-for-my-pain-reunite-after-20-years/