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APOCALYPTICA
Munich, Tonhalle 09.04.2005

“Big future plans”

Suiciderock: What kind of musical background do you have and how important is music for your life?
Paavo: You know, we all play cello since we were little kids, so we played instruments all our lives. Basically it was classical music in the beginning, but already from the early ages we were big fans of metal music, that´s one of the reasons why we started to play metallica covers in the begininng and why we are here. For me it´s not easy to say how important music is for my life, because it´s a very big part of it. It has always been, I´ve never choosen it. My parents are professional musicians, my grandparents as well, Perttus parents are professional musicians, so it is natural that we play some instruments too.

Suiciderock: Do you know what your old music teachers think about your success? Are you still in contact with some of them?
Paavo: Yes I am. You know, they all have different opinions about rock music, some of them like it, some don´t. But most of them persuade what we are doing. I finished my studies already in 1996, so it´s quite a long time ago.

Suiciderock: Since “Reflections” you work with drums and percussions. How came that change?
Paavo: We already had some percussion stuff before, because we wanted it to be more rhythmical, but was more like creating an ambiente and more space for the music. But when we were composing and re-produceing the Reflections album, we thought these songs were pretty rhythmical and needed drums. We tried it and it worked quite good. So here we are.

Suiciderock: What´s the story behind the song “Bittersweet”? Whose idea was it and why did you choose Ville Valo and Lauri Ylönen for it?
Paavo: We have known Ville and Lauri for a long time, over ten years. First time Ville was singing with us in 1996 and we always were thinking that one day we will do something together. We all have been very busy. It´s always difficult to find the right time for everyone. The original idea was to have one song with Ville and one Song with Lauri. When Ville heard about it he immediately got the idea to find a nice song for a duet for two men, because there are not many duets like that, and it would be wonderful to do a story about one girl who is loved by two men. So Ville and Lauri are both singing to the same woman. Ville could get her, but he doesn´t want anymore, and Lauri would definately want her, but he can´t.

Suiciderock: Do you really like the collaboration of these two voices, or was it just something to sell more singles, as HIM and The Rasmus are pretty famous and it was clear that most of their fans would buy it?
Paavo: No no, we have known each other for a very long time and have pretty much in common with those guys. HIM had their first live performance, or maybe their second, in front of the same audience and in the same show as we had our first live performance. When we had our first TV show, The Rasmus were playing in the same TV show. It was also their first one.

Suiciderock: How did they get you up on the ceiling in the video of “Bittersweet”?
Paavo: They secured us with a normal climbing hitch and just got us up. If you ever tried to hang head down for five minutes, you think your head is gonna to explode. I liked the whole idea, because I like climbing and stuff like that. It was fun for me, but for Perttu it was a new thing and he fainted. He totally lost his control. It was also strange to play just the opposite way. If you play cello normally, you can use the waight and gravity, but in the opposite way you got pushed by everything and it´s really a weird feeling. But it was great fun.

Suiciderock: With your new single “Life Burns” you have another song with Lauri Ylönen. What´s the story behind doing that one?
Paavo: Well, we had some demo songs, and we told Lauri to choose one. He choose that special song and did the lyrics for it. But it was already composed before. Of course he arranged the melody a bit for his lyrics. At “Bittersweet” Ville and Lauri also joined the arrangeing and composing of the song, so it was a different process.

Suiciderock: Where does your inspiration come from?
Paavo: From common life, washing dishes, beautiful girls, beer drinking....from a lot of things. Joyfull moments, happy moments, actually from every day life. You know, if you are sad, you´re writing a sad song, if you feel good, you write a nice song. I can´t answer that question clearly.

Suiciderock: Do you practise a lot when you are not on tour?
Paavo: We should practise a bit more, but we do. I try to practise every day, but sometimes I am to busy to do it. When we are on tour I try to practise at least one hour alone, and one hour at the soundcheck. And then we have nearly two hours show, so it´s about four hours every day. It´s pretty hard. My arms are too tired already after this 8 weeks on tour. I would need a couple of days rest. It´s a feeling like after a boxing fight.

Suiciderock: Because of all that touring you got to know a lot of different cities and countries. Any favourites? Any culture that impressed you most so far?
Paavo: Which city is this?
Suiciderock: Munich, Germany.
Paavo: During this tour I haven´t seen many cities, just venues somewhere in the factory area. Sometimes we have time to go around and have a look, but mostly the days are packed with so many things to do, so we don´t have much time for tourist things. Normally after the soundcheck I used to go jogging, that´s a good way for me to see the area around the venue. But what are my favourite places? Maybe Innsbruck, because I love mountains.

Suiciderock: You go skiing?
Paavo: Yes, I am a big fan of it. I worked as a skiing instructor in Finland too.

Suiciderock: With all that touring and working, is there enough time for family life?
Paavo: I have a wife and a 1 1/2 year old son. I miss them a lot while being on tour. This year will be very hard because we will have about 150 shows and since january I have been only 4 days at home. It´s quite hard.

Suiciderock: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Paavo: What a question. Maybe you can tell me yours first.
Suiciderock: Well, sunshine and friends. That´s pretty close to it.
Paavo: That sounds good to me. Maybe first in the morning being on top of a mountain, skiing, great snow, and a happy smiling wife waiting for me down the hill with my son and some food to eat. And in the afternoon I would go to the beach for surfing with a perfect 10m/sec wind. Yeah, that´s it for sure.

Suiciderock: What are your future plans for Apocalyptica?
Paavo: We will finish that tour within one week and than we have a few shows in France and start another European Tour in May. End of this may tour will be Rock am Ring / Rock im Park, and after that we play nearly every weekend at some festival. In autum we go back to the United States. We just were there a few weeks ago and we will do one North American and one South American tour. In spring we will play a few more gigs in Russia and other places and after that maybe again some festivals. Then we will have a long break and record a new album. That´s the plan.
Suiciderock: Wow, that´s really a big plan.
Paavo: Yeah it is. And of course it´s also our plan to survive that.
Suiciderock: Hopefully you do.

Suiciderock: Groupies: Pain or Pleasure?
Paavo: Groupies? Well, I don´t call them groupies. There are fans who are nice, and some who are not so nice. But most fans are very nice.