Euro-Rock Radio
/10.06.2009/

Interview with Ville Valo

CA = CelticAngel (Kelly)
VV = Ville Valo

CA: Ok everybody this is the time you’ve been waiting for, so everyone in the chat room calm down. Ville thank you very much for doing this for us tonight.
VV: Very great pleasure. Bright bright morning from Helsinki. Yeah. Thanks for having me.
CA: Oh you are welcome any time of course.
VV: Oh fantastic. Sounds like a proper relationship. I gotta move over in the bed now. *laughs*
CA: *laughs* Oh don’t tell me your talking to us from your bed again. You were doing that at Heartagram Day too.
VV: Oh ok well you know, I have a, you know, my short term memory is kind of F’d. My fascination towards canabis when I was younger. so I guess that I um I’m repeating exactly the same things that I have before and you’ve got to forgive me it’s 4am and I’ve been watching Twin Peaks for about six hours I’m kinda all bobbed up.
CA: That’s okay we’ll forgive you.
VV: Ah thank you. Excuses excuse, it’s excellent you know. Blame everything on Twin Peaks and David Lynch.
CA: I’m going to get right in to what everyone is dying to know. They are desperate for news on the new album.
VV: Sure.
CA: So I guess let’s start off with - can you tell us when and where you’re going to record it?
VV: Oh it’s going to happen in LA hopefully in the beginning, in august we’re gonna be in the studios I was thinking of flying in before and hanging out for a couple of days and hooking up with Matt, the fella that’s going to produce the album. Matt Squire’s his name. And um you know it’s just uh, I, met him a few months ago and we had a blast you know he’s the same age as me has the same reference points. He loves Depeche Mode, he loves Bad Brains. He’s originally from DC and you know he just appreciates a lot of the same stuff that I do and he has that youthful energy we need after being touring for several years. We’re a lot older than we should be we’re old and worn out so it’s useful to have somebody to kick our butts.
CA: So I was looking him to just see some other stuff he’s done, he’s worked with umTaking Back Sunday and The Used…
VV: Yeah he’s done a lot of poppy stuff you know I’ve had the opportunity of hearing a bit of the new Used stuff and that sounds incredible and it’s a great great album you should definitely get it when it comes out. Should be out sometime during in June or July. It’s a really, you know it sounds massive and some of the stuff he’s been working on has been fairly, what should I call it, emoish which isn’t necessarily my cup of tea but uh he’s big on melodies and I’m big on melodies and he’s big on melancholy and obviously I am to so uh we just had a blast. I met him for the first time and we talked about U2 and Depeche Mode for three hours. We didn’t talk about HIM or the possibility of working together at all. It’s actually a great way of geting to know somebdy and talking about Brian Eno and how he came up with all the crazy sounds for With or Without You and stuff like that.
CA: Excellent.
VV: Yeah good fun.
CA: Can you tell us a little bit about what the new album is going to sound like? You said before a bit punkish. We still doing that?
VV: *laughs* That keeps changing every day. It’s probably gonna be dub reggae now we’re gonna mix in kingston things like that. Um now we have been rehearsing for a bit more and we’ve wrote up some demos um… I guess… somewhere between Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly, Funeral of Hearts and Right Here In My Arms those are good references. It’s pretty 80s it’s really direct, straight forward and very sing a long.
CA: Oh awesome.
VV: Or you know at least I hope there’s someone that wants to sing a long in the world. I will be singing a long to it in the shower but it’s just a bit mroe direct. Last time around we were talking about the fact that Venus Doom was a pretty doomy and heavy one with long songs and this time I wanted to edit this one down and make it really punchy and quick and in your face. The album hasn’t been done yet its not - we haven’t entered the studio yet so it’s tough to say but according to the demos it’s just um, I’m really giddy, really excited about it. I probably don’t sound like that at he moment but it’s…
CA: *laughs* It’s four in the morning you’re allowed to not sound giddy.
VV: Well yeah you know back in the day I was super excited at this time in the hour but you know I’m a single guy now a days and I don’t drink so there’s no reason to be excited - *laughs* on any level!
CA: *laughs* Yeah okay whatever.
VV: *laughs* Yes whatever indeed.
*laughter from both*
CA: Oh lord okay now see you got me all off track.
VV: Yes? *laughs* Well that occassionally happen.
CA: Album name do you have any kind of a working title or any ideas yet?
VV: Yeah well you know it’s um.. I was rotating a couple of things in my head but it’s going to be called SCREAMWORKS: Love in Theory and Practice.
CA: That’s different.
VV: Oh you know it’s kind of that dark humor we have in our music and then it kind of explains lyrically and melodicly and musicaly what it’s all about. You know about the screams of excstacy and the screams of pain can easily entwine and it’s hard to tell the difference occassionally and that’s how it is at least in my love life *laughs* in my solo love life. You know - yeah I don’t want to tell you the joke about the guys who listen to Coldplay and how they masturbate but uh check it out on the internet.
CA: *laughs* Oh but now you have to tell us cuz you mentioned it!
VV: No I can’t because I’m always - I’m the worst at telling jokes cuz I always give the punchline first so there’s no reasaon for me to do that.
CA: Okay everyone listening in the chat go look that up and come back and tell us.
VV: Yeah but you’re probably not going to find that on their official website.
CA: Yeah probably not.
*laughing*
CA: Ok what else can you tell us…
VV: About Coldplay? *laughter*
CA: No not about coldplay *laughter*
VV: Golden showers are yellow.
*more laughter*
CA: No not about Coldplay about the album.
VV: Oh ok fair enough. Well you know we’ve been at the rehearsal place you know every day and we’ve got what 11 or 12 songs now and hopefully it’ll be 15 for the album but… what do you want to know? I haven’t been going out at all I’ve been back home strumming the acoustic guitar writing lyrics down working on pro tools and Linde has been picking me up to go to rehearsals every other day and that’s been my life for the past five months.
CA: You’re not going to any summer festivals and stuff over there.
VV: Nah I just don’t have the time. You know there’s Faith No More they’re playng Helsinki I guess in a week or something like that and I never got the opportunity of seeing them so maybe I’ll go and check that out, but um… I just stay at home and concentrate on clicking the mouse and editing Gas’s shitty drum playing. Nah it’s not that bad but it could be better *laughs*
CA: Everything could always be better.
VV: Yeah exactly it seems that his drum sticks are a bit slippery from all the diaper changes.
CA: Well he’s a dad now you gotta give him some slack.
VV: Well yeah he’s getting used to it but say last week.. actually this is God’s honest truth - we were at the rehearsal spot what was it like two weeks ago and we were wondering what’s that smell and we were trying to figure it out you know it really really dirtied the whole rehearsal place and there’s a lot of old kinds of musical instruments there and everything and it smelled like poop and after like 45 minutes Gas figured out that - for some reason he’d stopped by with the baby, changed the diapers and left the diapers on our couch at the rehearsal space and so um…
CA: Oh no!
VV: So he’s kinda like learning he doesn’t know how to seperate rock n roll from babies. Yet. I’m not sure that’s a good introduction for the baby in the realm of rock n roll at that early age. I think the baby’s going to be definitely really, really traumataiszed by that. You know. Going to haunt her forever.
CA: Awww. Um do you have an idea of when it’s going to be possibly released?
VV: Well we’re trying to get it out on Valentine’s. That’s the idea. Seems logical - we go into the studio in August, it’ll take August, September….
CA: I’m sorry… let me interrupt you one second..
VV: Sure.
CA: I lost my stream which has been happening recently…
VV: Feel free.
*fixes the radio stream and while we’re doing that Ville said it was ghosts that cut the stream*
CA: Alright we’re back.
VV: Oh good! Excellent! Talking about the release date weren’t we?
CA: Yes.
VV: Yes Valentine’s Valentine’s… Valentine’s was kinda my idea since you know it’s easy to remember. When you’re talking about dates. Valentine’s day is the same everywhere in the world so we’ll start recording early August finish up recording and mixing hopefully before Halloween and then hopefully figure out the cover art work and master the album and hopefuly get the chance to talk to some journalist and people about how good we are for a change and um and we’ll see like .. I guess Valentine’s seems proper and we’ll have the time to do everything, you know shoot a video, you know whatever we need to get done. So that sounds good. For us at least. My idea is to - from now on is to release everything each and every Valentines and on my next Valentine’s.. that’d be so easy for people to remember it’s like oh my God it’s happening again.
CA: This is true.
VV: And it’d be great becasue basiaclly we’d have our deadlines until.. we’re dead. We’d know exactly what we’re gonna be up to you know the year 2027 but we’ll see about that.
CA: Of course things always change and I guess it depends on the record label too. Venus Doom got pushed back a lot from when they were saying the first date it was going to be release and then it got pushed back didn’t it? Or am I totally remembering wrong.
VV: Oh I don’t know I think the album just sucked.
CA: *laughs* No it didn’t!
VV: Nah occassionally it does happen especially if you’re getting something out in the summer. There’s a lot of summer releases and we’re not that well known. The label doens’t want to release an album the same week say Metallica is releasing an album. Because obviously that kind of major super well known act is going to take, you know, everyone’s eyes are going to be lookign at them. So we’re tyring to pick the perfect time of year when nothing’s coming out that we might stand a chance of being recgonized for who we are. It’s sad but it’s true.
CA: Well you have a lot of very dedicated fans…
VV: Well you know hopefully we still do and we’ll see what happens after the album comes out (laughs) It’s not going to be that much different, you know, it’s going to be instantly recognizable I just think it’s going to be more, not poppy I dont’ want to say poppy but more direct. More synthy, less piano and less strings more 80s vibe. We just you know all those old school 80s influences that’s a nastalgia thing for us. That’s the new thing for us at this point in time.
CA: Alright.
*pauses to think and ville starts humming and making CA laugh*
VV: Yes? Yes? I’m all yours.
*laughs*
CA: Um what - is there anything in particular that you’re most excited about the new album?
VV: Well um I guess getting the whole thing done. It’s been fairly exciting you know. It’s been, I was a bit worried about the fact that I started working on a lot of music sober and that the lack of the Jim Morrison thing, being out of my head, would make it tougher to finish that stuff or make it lack in artistic arty farty quality which it actually doesn’t so - you know it’s been kind of diary based so it’s very direct. It’s like, my way of viewing the world is saying the simplest things as complicated as possible. Thats what I’m up to lyrically and uh that’s been a challenge so I’m just hoping that it turns out to be - I’m just nervous about the whole thing. It’s like being nervous before a date or something like that. I’m just nervous. We’ll see. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach, they started in like January and it doesn’t go away.
CA: Well I promise you that there are a lot of people very excited about it and anxious for it to come out.
VV: Yeah well you know take the pity on us.
CA: *laughs* It’s not pity!
VV: Well well! that remains to be seen!
*laughs*
VV: No no you know everyone in the band is super happy and that’s kind of rare. As well. Everyone is feeling very good and we’ve actually never rehearsed as much as we have these past couple of months - it’s been like 12 hour rehearsals. And you know you can’t smoke in pubs anymore so there’s no reason to drink etiher so we just spending time on all the songs and, um, you know they’re just three and a half minute songs anyway so there’s not a lot to talk about. They have a chorus and they have a verse and they have, maybe some of them have a pre-chorus and they have a middle section that can be called middle eight or a bridge and maybe some (not sure of the name here) rip off 80s heavy metal guitar in between and then it’s double chorus and end so you know, it’s not rocket science.
CA: Yeah but it’ still fun to talk about and all the fans are excited about it.
VV: Well you know I’m excited about it too but I just wish that the album would done as soon as possible and poeple would get to hear it and that’s a good time to start speculating whether it’s good or not and whether all the work has been worth it or not. Otherwise we’re gonna you know curl up in a ball and eat loads of ice cream (can’t make this part out) and watch Rock of Love.
CA: *laughs* Oh god.
VV: *laughs* Yeah we got into those series while touring the States last time around and, uh, that’s the common thing we share with the rest of the guys. You know morbid fascination to watch Brett Michales *laughs*
CA: See I can’t even watch that.
VV: Well you know yeah you should use that as an interregation method as a torture device next time around *laughs*
CA: Ok well I know it’s very very early where you are so I’ll let you go so you can get some sleep.
VV: Well yeah it’s only what 4:25 I got what like 8 episodes to watch before I’m done with Twin Peaks.
CA: Oh are you going to watch all that tonight.
VV: No no I gotta sleep a bit in between but I like to watch a seris in one go. I watched the whole of, what was it, Six Feet Under in three days so that was like 14 hour days. So I like that once you get in the mood it helps with writing and helps with getting in the mood for the songs and stuff like that and what’s better than Twin Peaks for stuff like that.
CA: Ok well hang on one second here and I’ll get them back onto some music and once again a big thank you from everybody because I’ve gotten several requests from people…
VV: Well hey thank you. For you know for doing everything you do. You know it’s an honor to be a part of this whole opperation.
CA: Well thank you. Ok one second let me get them back on some music and first off that was Ville and we’re going to put you over to some Circle of Fear so here you go.
VV: oooooooo