Suosikki
/November/2008/

"Ville The Hippo"

"Moto Moto is a lewd hippopotamus, with a one track mind. He's straightforward and amorous, and doesn't try to hide it", Ville laughs. In the original version Moto Moto's voice is provided by Will I Am from the Black Eyes Peas, Ville used his interpretation as a reference. He was surprised by how similar their voices are. Moto Moto always speaks "on beat", Ville sees his style of speaking as half-singing and "rhytmic following". One could imagine that for a scrawny man, portraying a big almost Barry White-like male hippo would feel challenging, but Ville found his inner hippo easily. "I found myself channeling Moto Moto, who chases. I wouldn't be surprised at all if I've sometimes used similar phrases at some night club and failed completely", Ville reveals. Moto Moto has something from the behavior of rock-cock and some narcissic streaks. He's not far away from the world Valo lives in. Ville, who grew on cartoons, settled for this role, cheerefly gasping. "After hearing the character's name, that he's a hippo and having read his first lines, I thought that he was such a fun character that I happily tried out for the part. It felt like a once in a lifetime-thing. I got excited and hoped that my performance went well."

Ville didn't prepare much for the role. He asked for tips from his old acquaintance, actor Antti Reinilta, but didn't watch any documentaries or read anything about hippos. He didn't even watch the first Madagascar until after he was done with his voice work. "You just have to jump into these things and go with the flow. There's no point in preparing too much or waiting for something. If everyone is enjoying themselves and everything works, that's great, and if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world", Ville says, thinking of when he accepted the part. The technical part of doing voice work is very similar to recording music. Ville was put in an isolation booth with a microphone. The movie was playing at the same time. There was a director and a recording supervisor who gave instructions just like a producer in a studio. "We'll see what kind of critique the character gets, but of course, these kinds of things are interesting to do", Ville answers when asked about the chance of him participating in a third Madagascar movie.

Ville has been asked a few times to take part in movies, but it doesn't interest him. "It would feel weird to pretend being someone I'm not." But he quickly adds that his motto is "Never say never" and you could catch a glimpse of Ville in Jackass 2. Could be, that he'll participate in his good friend Bam Margera's new movie that hasn't been started yet. Ville rarely goes to the movies. He wants to protect his ears from unnecessary noice and doesn't like that the volume is always so loud that you need to wear ear plugs. He'd rather enjoy watching movies at home in his own living room and at home you can go to the refrigerator or the bathroom during the movie. There's also plenty of time to watch movies while on the tour bus. Ville never reads movies' back covers, he just goes with his gut feeling. At times he can watch four movies in a night, and then there can be months when he doesn't have time to watch any at all. He things that you get involved in a different way when you watch something for many hours in a row. He'll gladly watch tv-shows in one sitting. "That way you can really get sucked into the world of tv. My record is watching 62 episodes of "Six Feet Under" in three days." Ville likes comedies, but avoids westerns and war movies. Some favorites are "The Proposition" written by Nick Cave, the "Oldboy"-triology, old Chaplin-movies, "Zombie ja Kummitusjuna" (a Finnish movie) and "A Beautiful Mind". Rambo has also been an enjoyment lately.

HIM have been on a break this fall, but are slowly starting to get active again. Ville is going to California in the near future to meet with their record company. The band is heading back to the studio at the beginning of next year and we might see a new album next fall. Ville has already written new songs. HIM will be playing at Tavastia in Helsinki for the tenth time this New Year's Eve. Although it's a celebration, there will be no special effects. "The most important things are the atmosphere and crowd. It can be both good and bad, having our parents and a lot of relatives there. It's a different kind of performance and there's no need for any rousing effect. It's our way of saying thanks for the past year and wishing for a happy new year." Something new, is that HIM will hit the road before their show on New Year's Eve. Helldone Festival, featuring HIM, KYPCK and 45 Degree Woman starts with shows in Oulo on December 29th and in Tampere on December 30th. "Many have come from the north to see our New Year's gig. So we figured that this year we'll turn the tables and go visit them instead."

Translated by nathalie89, from Valo Daily