Linde Interview from Daniel Lioneye UK Street Team (Unofficial)
/december 2010/
What guitar equipment did you use to achieve the heavy sound on Volume II?
- Linde used his basic setup, and his Gibson SG as usual.
What are your plans for Christmas and New Year, and what are your wishes for 2011?
- Linde will be spending Christmas with his parents in Finland, and for New Years, as there is no Helldone (which he said felt really weird) he said he would probably just get really pissed and pass out somewhere. Hopes and wishes for 2011 are mostly focussed on the tour with Cradle of Filth going well.
You have been using Gibson SG's since the start, what would it mean to you to get your own signature copy?
- Linde said this would be a dream come true, and was in fact offered a signature guitar with another brand (I'm fairly sure it was Epiphone, but SOMEONE *cough*Andy*cough* :p didn't write it down.) but turned it down, as they weren't a brand he used. Also I'm fairly sure he said that they were 'shit'.
Are there songs from the earlier albums you miss playing with HIM? And what are your favourite songs to play live?
- Linde said he'd love to play things such as For You and Our Diabolikal Rapture live (Which I said I'd adore to hear live) but it was hard to play these live as they're in a different tuning to most of the other songs that commonly get played live. With regards to favourite songs to play live, Linde said he loved playing the whole of Volume II, and that it felt great.
What's it like meeting fans who truly love you and look up to you?
- Linde said that the fans were always close to his heart, and that it was always great to see poeple who appreciate the music that the bands make.
Will we ever see the Double Neck SG again that you used on Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights?
- According to Linde this was more of a show off move, and was actually really quite hard to play, as it was too heavy and kept tipping when he tried to play it.
Are you looking forward to the US tour with Cradle? Do you know if you'll be visiting the UK next year to play? Will meet and greets be available?
- Linde's answer to all of these was yes. He said that there'd be a HIM meeting in the new year so that a schedule could be worked out.
Is it odd not having Ville and Gas around?
- Linde chose his words very carefully here (I said it was one of those questions you have to answer delicately) and said it was different. It's good to have a break, he said, from smelling each others farts.
What happened in these dreadlock nightmares of yours?
- Linde explained that he often had nightmares that he'd cut his dreads off, and woke up and panicked and felt for them. At this point I piped up that I often had a dream that my teeth were falling out, and Linde told me he often had this dream too, and that it supposedly meant you were going to be rich.
(I think) Santa is bringing me a Gibson SG for Christmas, to honor you, Linde. I've recently started naming my guitars, what should I name this one?
- Linde's immediate response here was 'Iggy.' <3
Thanks to Boner Boy a.k.a Andy Slade for asking the final question that Andrew Ross a.k.a Exotic Andre sent us, which was:
Megaani would like Mige's number, do you think you could give it to her?
- At this point I headbutted the table, and Linde VERY sweetly said that he was sorry but he couldn't give out numbers. Then Rach gave Linde the birthday card I'd gotten for Mige and I died all over again.
Will you play anything from The King of Rock n Roll on the tour?
- Lioneye only have a 35 minute set each night, so they're aiming to play as many songs as they can, but bearing in mind that Volume II is around 34 minutes long, they'll try and squeeze some old songs in, but they're not sure yet.
Is there a book/painting/singer/song that has impressed and inspired you so much you'd recommend it to anyone?
- Linde said that Strapping Young Lad and Iggy Pop had always been huge heros and inspirations to him.
What made you decide to put your dreads in? Did you ever imagine you'd have them this many years and that they'd grow so long?
- Linde said his hair was in really bad condition and really flyaway (at which point Rach and I both said we thought his hair always looked gorgeous), so one day, on the plane back to Helsinki, Mige and Ville put the dreads in for him and he decided he'd keep them. He never thought he'd have them this long or that they'd grow so long.