2006: Interview with Tuomas & Jukka

[Fugazi]

I'm allowing myself to copy this interview as it may be on the verge of extinction. The Ever Dream (German) Fanclub doesn't seem to be active these days and their archives (Nightwish Bibliotheca) are in a state of disrepair.

 

Ever Dream Fanclub: Interview with Tuomas & Jukka (2006-04-24)

https://web.archive.org/web/20200609172422/http://www.en.nightwish-bibliotheca.com/article.php?id=92

 

Bramblerose: Does the cover have a symbolic meaning for you? Why is the hear split by a lightning. Is there more behind this? Did Markus Mayer create it again and if not, who did it?

Tuomas: It was a different artist this time - a finnish guy called Toxic Angel and I think the symbolism is pretty obvious on the cover.

Bramblerose: Do you think the “End of an Era” DVD is more professional than for example “From Wishes to Eternity”? What do you think about the DVD’s quality in general.

Jukka: At least I hope so it’s more professionally. We just saw it a few weeks ago for the first time and it’s looking real good. And the quality of filming and the quality of sound is way better than on “From Wishes to Eternity”.

Tuomas: Are you coming to the cinema tonight?

Us: Yes.

Tuomas: Then you see it there for the first time…

Bramblerose: How was it to be on stage with Mr. John Two Hawkes and did the performances meet your expectations?

Tuomas: Oh absolutely it was. I mean in a way it is the highlight of the concert part of the DVD because it is something so unique, it was the first time and very probably the last time that we ever performed this song live. And it was really worth all the trouble and he did an exceptional job and it was a highlight for him as well. I heard him telling me that it was like the best experience in his life when it comes to music, playing in front of 11000 people and all that, so. And I also think that he got the best applauds of all they were clapping their hands together throughout the whole song and everything, so it was really nice that the Finnish people appreciated him that way.

Bramblerose: According to a newspaper article the name „End of an Era“ has already been chosen a while before the last concert took place. Why did you choose the title that early?

Tuomas: Again in very obvious reasons and Marco actually was the one who came up with the idea for the name because we were thinking about the name for the DVD, I couldn’t make up anything and then just Marco called me one day and “What about ‘End of an Era’?” And it’s perfect.

Bramblerose: Will the book be published or are there still some problems to solve? When will it be published?

Jukka: It will be coming out in Finnish in 11th of May and actually it is not our release, we were just being interviewed for the book and it’s made by the writer Mape Ollila and it’s published by publishers and we don’t actually have pretty much nothing to do with the release itself.

Tuomas: Yeah this is something I really wanna emphasize that this book is written by a separate author, so we are just like one interviewed guys among the others and you know financially we don’t get anything from the book. It’s just like…

Jukka: … just a story written by …
Tuomas: … by an author

Jukka: a person outside the band about the band’s career so far.

Bramblerose: Many fans wondered why you didn’t part from Tarja in quiet, so they want to know why you published that letter instead of just writing that Tarja is not in the band anymore because of difficulties within the band?

Tuomas: Can you imagine how many times we would have needed to explain “Why?” after that so the whole idea behind doing it the way we did it was that it was clear once and for all why this whole thing happened so if it was only that “OK, she separated from the band, that’s it” you know you can just imagine all the rumours, all the speculations, questions we would still be doing dozens of interviews every week answering why why why.

Jukka: And also one thing is that all four of us wanted to be there when it’s given to Tarja and you know after that particular show in Hartwell Arena there wouldn’t have been any moment that all the five us would have been at the same place at the same time so we needed to do it that way.

Bramblerose: Did you expect that such a huge split would go through the community?

Tuomas: What do you mean?

Lonnie: That there is a Tarja area and a guys area…

Jukka: We thought already that there is a separation between the fans, some fans go on the Tarja side, some go on our side. You know it’s normal. That’s the way it goes. And I guess a lot of people started to understand both views for the separation.

Tuomas: Yeah and there’s a whole a bunch of people who are taking this very healthy approach towards the whole thing which is that it is not of my business, I don’t know the details so I don’t comment and that’s the way it should be also.

Bramblerose: Is there already a candidate you like to have as the new singer?

Tuomas: Yeah about 450 of them. That is the amount of demos that we have gotten so far and there are still like 10-20 coming each day, so still checking, absolutely nothing has been decided.

Bramblerose: So is it really difficult for you?

Tuomas: Not difficult, actually it’s been a lot of fun…

Jukka: There has been a few ones already but we don’t want to do any final decision until the end of summer or in fall because we are not in a hurry at all.

Tuomas: And it seems like all the people around us, around the band are in much more pressure than the band itself about the whole letter. It’s been really clear from the start that things are gonna go OK and we’re gonna find her in no hurry, not time but everybody around us is “who is she, who is she, is it going to continue, what’s happening, what’s happening.” It’s OK.

Bramblerose: On your website we could read that the new singer must „look good“. Within the community this has been criticized a lot. Why did you put this as a criterium.

Jukka: We knew it would come.

Tuomas: Yeah that’s one of the funniest topics I’ve ever read in the forum: “I never could have believed that the guys are so superficial as to have any emphasize on the looks of the singer.” Come on, it’s all about like the visual side of this world, it’s really important.

Jukka: She don’t need to be like a model or anything just a bit personal looking woman who is sure about herself.

Tuomas: Charisma is the most important thing. We are not looking for a model or a playboy girl or anything like that.

Bramblerose: So you also read in the forum?

Tuomas: Yeah I read it every now and then. I didn’t read for like 5 months after the thing, I just didn’t wanna go there. During the last month or so I have been going there.

Bramblerose: When will you definitely start to work on the new album and when will it be published?

Jukka: We start to rehearse and arrange the songs in the beginning of June and actually I just got a week ago the demotape from the new songs from Tuomas. Now listening to it and then go rehearsing on the beginning of June and on the beginning of September we will start to record the drums.

Tuomas: So basically all the songs are done they just need to be rehearsed and arranged. All the studios are booked and everything is going according to the schedule.

Bramblerose: Will there be a long World Tour again as you did for “Once”? Will the USA see more of Nightwish now?

Jukka: At least this is our plan.

Tuomas: Definitely. There is a lot of like missed opportunities in that continent but still hold our minds so maybe we’ll remedy that after the next album. That’s really the plan.

Bramblerose: Jukka, You've said you're a vegetarian. How do you get such an amazing body and not eat meat? Do you work out in a gym? Are you even a vegan?

Jukka: Actually I work out because I have an office in my home and I bought just weights. It’s a nice break from writing computer and sending out invoices, go to the gym and doing some workout. Maybe it comes from the drumming you know playing one and a half hours every day is quite a hard job. It definitely need to show – I hope.

Bramblerose: In what way do you think fatherhood has changed you the most?

Jukka: That’s a good question. Has it? (to Tuomas) Maybe you see it better, seeing everything beside me. I don’t know I think it hasn’t changed me that much. I am quite stupid crazy.

Tuomas: I don’t think so either.

Bramblerose: So do you spend a lot of time with your child.

Jukka: Yeah now that I am home all the time. And that is the best part of this break being together with the family.

Tuomas: Doing a job like this is I imagine, I wouldn’t know but it’s really really hard for persons with a family but what I have seen of course it’s sometimes hard sometimes more easy but he has a very I’d like to think understanding family also, so.

Jukka: Yeah. I have to give credit for my wife. She has taken it very very well. You just need to cope with it being away from home for one month and then being back home you just need to take everything out of the time that you can be at home.

Bramblerose: Why are you now called Julius on the band's website?

Jukka: I actually read that topic on the forum. It’s amazing that such a big thing came out of it. That is the nickname Ewo gave me on the Once tour – in first it was Julius Montecarlo. There is no story behind it. He just started to call me that name. When we were playing in Los Angeles and I definitely fell in love with Venice Beach, it was changed into Julius Venice Beach and at some point it was shorten just to Julius and that’s the way half the people are calling me nowadays and half the people still call me Jukka. My real name is still Jukka. I don’t know, it’s just a nickname among the others and in this moment it’s called Julius.

Tuomas: It’s amazing how people are taking everything so serious.

Jukka: Small little things like nicknames.

Bramblerose: Tuomas, have you kept in touch with your host family in the States? Did you enjoy your stay in the States back then or was America, in and of itself, more of a disappointment for you (compared to what you thought/heard it would be like)?

Tuomas: Definitely not a disappointment . No matter what the world thinks about America at the moment. I still really love the country , I love the people there . The rotten part of that continent is totally somewhere else than among the ordinary people. I love that country very much and I keep in touch with the host family maybe once a month, once every two months we send emails and stuff like that.

Bramblerose: Do you have any new plans to participate with For My Pain or any other side projects in the near future?

Tuomas: We were supposed to go to the studio with For my Pain actually this spring, right now but because the other guys were busy for example with the new Eternal Tears of Sorrow album; we had to postpone it until the end of this year so I guess something like 10 songs have already been made but I don’t know for sure. If everything goes as planned we should go to the studio at the end of the year.

Bramblerose: Thanks a lot and do you have any last words for your fans?

Tuomas: Just… there is always… I am quoting Timo Rautiainen at the moment: there is always so many things in the world that you need to take really really seriously so everything that is going on and what you see just take it easy and enjoy your life. And that is what we are doing too.

Bramblerose: Thank You!

Tuomas & Jukka: Thanks.