Interview with Ville Valo in Cologne
/04.06.2008/

Hier noch mal mit Ville Valo von HIM. So Ville…
- Oh my god…
Can you please tell us where did you grow up and in what kind of circumstances did you grow up?
- In circumstances…Ah, oh well, I grew up in a place called Oulunkylla in Helsinki. It is suburb of Helsinki. And, my dad drove taxi for living, and my mom, she was working for the city-council, or something like that. Very basic: I went to school…
Were you a trouble kid or geek?
- Ahh… Both… if you can be both. You know, I was fighting a lot, but then at the end of a day I got pretty good grades. So, I was ok. Kind of, half bad.
Hehe. And are your parents proud of you right now?
- Ohm, I haven’t asked them lately, but yeah, I guess so. So…You know, my daddy told me – do whatever you want with your life but don’t, please don’t, start driving taxi. So I haven’t. I use them a lot.
Ok, so it was successful career, obviously.
- Well, you know…
Because you didn’t drive taxi.
- They’re pretty happy. It’s all good.
Do you still keep in contact regularly?
- Hm. Yeah, my dad works, he’s got a sex-shop. And it’s about ten minutes…
He’s got a sex-shop?
- Yeah, I used to work there too. He lives about 10 minutes drive-away from where I am, and then, my ma lives… they’re still together…she works about 10 minutes away… Helsinki is a tiny city, so everybody’s close, so…
Was inspiring to work in the sex-shop?
- Ahm, depending on level. It was sexually very inspiring. As young kid, I had the keys to the shop, I had the possibility of, you know, (???) all the merchandise. So obviously, it was good.
So, what’s your favourite sex toy?
- They’ve been changing over the years and I haven’t been in proper relationship, you know, so…in ages. So, I haven’t shoved any plastic things up anybody’s bodily cavities. So, I wouldn’t know, to be honest with you. I don’t know what’s goi… They’ re inventing new stuff a-all the time. And I can’t keep on track, I can’t keep on track.
But you liked to?
- Ah, let’s say, it would be, at first, it would be probably nicer just to have somebody to hold hands with. So, I’m not going to the Finnish Helsinki night-life, holding a massive (???) in my left hand and a fag in the other.
It might be kinda rude, yeah.
- Aeh… let’s say, it would attract the attention of people, I don’t think that would be the thing spending the rest of my life with.
So what kind of type of woman do you prefer?
- Ehm, preferably a woman. Yeah. That would be a good start. I’m not big on she-males.
Did you have any experience with it?
- With she-males?
Yeah.
- No, but the Thai-boys can look really really pretty, and looks can be really deceiving. I’ve heard a lot of stories form filthy tourists, going over to Thailand and waking up the next morning and wondering what the hell they’ve been up to. But… no preferences. No, I don’t know. As long as it’s really she, and we can connect on some level, whatever it might be: sense of humor or knowledge on sex-toys, whatever. It doesn’t really matter.
So, you consider yourself a romantic person?
- Aaahhhhhh… yyyeah… well…I don’t know… romantic in a sense that I do care about people and I do like to spend with people. I’ve never been very into one-night stands or whatever.
So, you don’t like groupies or do you?
- Well, I can’t really remember, you know, that’s the problem. Usually, if you tend to party after a gig, and you end up sleeping with somebody, you usually do not remember about it the next day, if the party’s been good. And then, that also means that the amount of intoxicants you’ve ingested, usually it does effect your libido, as well. So, usually the sex is not good. So, ahm, I’ve never been sober and had the opportunity of exploiting any youngsters.
Hyhyhy.
- Not yet.
And, are you vain?
- Vain?
Yeah.
- I guess, everybody is vain. ehm-mm-hhmm-niam-niam… No… I don’t know. hmhm. Vain, considering… Vanity. Turhamaisus in Finnish. Ehm. When needed I am vain. I’m not necessarily vain about what I wear, or I do have to have a bottle of (??) or I won’t perform. Vanity is something that you have to have which is not essential for your inner well-being. Maybe.
Ok. But is does bother you when you read bad-critics?
- Oh, well, thank god, most of them are written in German and my German is really bad, so. I can’t really get them. It’s out manager translating them really badly and just saying that “yeah, that was a fantastic review”. So, we’re good and safe.
Why are they mostly in German? Do you think that the German press doesn’t like you?
- No, I just made that up. I could have said Spanish or Russian or whatever. You know, I like good journalism. I try to read a lot of magazines and a lot of books as well. And, constructive criticism is fantastic; it’s great because there’s always things you can do better. But then again, if it’s just a personal thing, personal vendetta, if somebody’s… if somebody, let’s say, would hate the band why would he or she write a review on that band. That’s being nasty, I guess, in advance. You should have somebody with a bit more open mind to, maybe, to listen to the record, or whatever. We’ve had a really good response, usually. We haven’t had really really bad reviews. Besides, once in Germany, I can’t remember what it was all about, but I got pretty pissed. He was somehow saying that our music really is as substantial as a cheeseburger.
Ok. That hurts. I can imagine.
- Oh, not to Gas, cause Gas was heavily into cheeseburgers at that time. But the problem was the fact that we do spend a lot of time and we do spend a lot of blood sweat and tears and fears and beers. It’s a complicated thing, since it’s our passion and our hobby that’s kinda turning into way of life, and at the same time it gets the bread on the table. So, it’s got a lot of good and a lot of evil in the same thing.
Talking about hobbies, which other hobbies besides music do you have?
- Well, I don’t really. I don’t have the time. I’m interested in gardening, but gardening is a tough job. It’s a very different art form. There’s zillions of plants, and zillions of ways to take care of them, and I don’t know anything about it. I’m fascinated about it. And then… you know, I read. But that’s kinda work at the same time, I’m getting inspired. But… no proper hobbies. I don’t have time for it. We’re traveling so much, so, basically I’m just traveling with a lot of books.
Mhm. Do you remember the best or your worst show so far?
- Well, they’re probably the same. You know, the best and the worst, you know- this usually means something really extreme. There’s couple of months I’ve been highly intoxicated stumbling around the stage. That’s kinda bad and very good at the same time. It’s good to test your limits. But, then again, I guess the worst gigs are the ones where you don’t have any response and, you know, you’re just trying your best or whatever, and it just doesn’t work. Or, the whole band is just too tired after too much of traveling, or whatever, just had a fight, and nothing works. At times, stuff like that happens. But thank god not on (??) and that happens very very rarely. And…You know, the best gigs… you know, it’s like… it’s like doing too much ecstasy without having a hangover.
Ok, hy.
- That’s how it feels. You feel one with a lot of people, you feel happy, and you feel giddy. And you set it on levels that just boom in your head when everything works. It’s just a fascinating thing, when you’re very concentrated on the thing as well, and it takes a lot of concentration and a bit of memory as well, and then when you see it working, it’s great…
It makes you happy.
- Yeah, it’s like…it’s sports, in a way. You’re not competing against anybody else besides yourself, maybe. But still, it’s… you have to be in a fairly good mental and physical shape, and to be able to pull it of in a good way. But, it remains to be scene. It’s stupid talking about best and, or for me it’s stupid to talk about best or worst gigs, as we’re playing one tonight, and I don’t how that’s gonna go.
We’re gonna see.
- Yeah, we’re gonna go down in flames.
So, (???)
- Well, let’s just hope for the best. But, you know, there’s a lot of gigs that the band considered to be really bad and then a lot of people who really liked it. And then, like really bad shows for the band and a lot of great reviews. And then quite the opposite. So, who’s the one to decide, at the end of the day, what’s a good gig and what’s a bad gig. You know, if it makes some people happy that’s better than none.

Transcription by La Murka