alternative-zine.com

ראיונות

Nightwish
ראיון עם: Marco Hietala מלהקת Nightwish
2004-05-21

Q: Hi Marco! I understood that the new single, Nemo, is certified gold in Finland!

A: Yes it is, it reached gold in a week, and we’re very proud of this, I mean, the bless the child single did the same thing, but its still overwhelming when it happens,

Q: Tell me about the new record, and the process of making it.

A: well, Toumas started writing last year already, while we where doing festivals, he recorded most of the stuff on an eight track, and gave us the CDs, after our shows in 2003 we had some new material already, and we started to work on it, by than we knew we wanted some heavy orchestration, and we decided on the parts that will be orchestrated, we wanted a really good, sharp sound, so it took some time, it was not an east mix after that, we did the drums in finnvox studios, and then started to record the guitars and bass,



Q: I understood you used a whole orchestra in the recording, tell us about that experience.

A: well, it was Miko Karmila who told us about a guy called Pete Williams, who is really good for the orchestra parts, Toumas flew to London to do the orchestra, it was a large orchestra, of which participated 52 musicians, it wasn’t cheap, of course, but it was worth it, all of the prior recording wee done during march, then we did the orchestra parts, and then the mix,

Q: did you sing again on the record, as you did in the last one?

A: yes, after finishing the first bits we discussed what parts should I sing this time, there are shorter singing parts for me this time, but more of them over the album, I was new on the band in the last album, and this time I had more to say about when and how should I sing, there is even one song in which I wrote all of my vocal parts, something which Toumas usually does.

Q: Did you work with the same sound team?

A: yes we did, there's no point of changing a winning team, and Mikko knows us so well by know, he practically lives in the studio, all in all it’s a very comfortable recording environment for us.

Q: Did the label back you on all these different, expensive recording procedures?

A: well, the truth is we paid for most things ourselves, we wanted the real orchestra because it sounds fuller, and more dynamic than doing keyboard orchestration, and since we really thought it would contribute the album, we decided to cover the expenses ourselves, of course Its somewhat of a risk, but we felt much better with the reign in our hands, besides that if we now sell a good amount of albums, then our profits will be relatively higher, so it’s a risk we were willing to take,

Q: now, apart from being bass player in nightwish, you are also the vocalist of another finish band, called Tarot, How do you manage playing with the two bands?

A: well, lately there's much more activity with nightwish than in tarot, so tarot do not get to do too many shows, we towards the summer I'll get to play some shows with tarot, there was actually a time in which I had to fly very night so I could do both bands, hopefully sometime soon I'll get a chance to work on a new tarot album.

Q: could you tell me about the history of Tarot?

A: well, Tarot is a band which I share with my brother, Zack, just about when I started singing, around the age of 13, Zack is a guitarist and has played in many bands back then, we stared playing together, we were about 17 at the time, the band didn’t exist continually, we actually had breaks of approximately 5 years between records, but we never really broke up officially, and not so long ago we put out an album,

Q: how did you get to be in Nightwish?

A: I got a phone from Nightwish's manager, saying they need a bass player, at the time I was living like a hundred meter from their place, and I knew toumas since he was working in Spinefarm, and we also did a tour together while I was playing with synergy, so we went at it, and at the time he was thinking of incorporating male vocals into the music, he was thinking about Tony, from Sonata Arctica, but then he heard that I could sing as well, and a few days afterwards he got back to me, and told me I had the job.

Q: what are the band's plans for the coming weeks?

A: well,, we plan to do a release party for the new album in two weeks, and then we'll probably have to do some playback shows for the Finland television, which I hate, but are necessary, and then were planning a US and Canada tour, rest for a week, and then most of Europe, then south America, then we hope to do some shows in new Zeeland, Australia, and Japan.

Q: any chance of seeing the band in Israel?

A: well, we are planning to do some shows in Greece and maybe turkey during the summer, but that's up to our booking agency,
Hey, I have two kids to take care off, so I'll need some break sometime!

Q: well, thank you for talking to me, Marco, and good luck with the new album!


Alon Miasnikov
 
blog comments powered by Disqus