Die deutsche Kosmetik-Industrie jubelt - endlich ist es auch den Männern
gestattet, tief in die Make-Up-Töpfchen ihrer Freundinnen zu langen.
Auslöser für die männliche Emanzipation ist Ville Valo,
Frontmann der finnischen
Rock-Formation HIM, die seit Ende letzten Jahres eine Renaissance des
Androgynen
in Deutschland auslöst.
Plötzlich war er mit seinem Video zu "Join Me" auf der deutschen
Mattscheibe, zart, jungfräulich, feminin und anscheinend geschlechtslos.
Da war er, der Treffer mitten in die Herzen zahlreicher Mädchen. Das
Styling und der Glamour
waren zwar nicht neu, regte doch schon in den 70ern Ziggy Stardust
aka David Bowie die Phantasien der im Grunde doch unschlüssigen Damenwelt
an, aber in Zeiten lebloser Fast Food-Produktionen wird Valos Botschaft
gerne angenommen.
Auch musikalisch und textlich treffen HIM den Geist der Zielgruppe:
romantische Goth-Rock-Melodien gepaart mit Liebesschwüren und ausgeschmückten
Todesphantasien.
Bereits mit 8 Jahren sah Ville seine Lebenslaufbahn in klaren Lettern
vor sich geschrieben - ein Leben als Rockstar. Den Ausschlag gab für
ihn damals ein Video von KISS-Frontmann Gene Simmons, so wollte auch er
werden. Ein Bass musste her und nach endlosem Gebettel bei den Eltern erhielt
der kleine Ville einen gebrauchten Bass und einen kleinen Verstärker.
Seinen Lebensunterhalt verdiente er neben der Musik dann zunächst
im Sexshop seines Vaters.
HIM (die Abkürzung des ursprünglichen Namens ''His Infernal
Majesty'') wurde 1995 in Helsinki von Ville Hermanni Valo (Gesang), Mikko
Paananen (Bass), Juhana Rantala (Schlagzeug), Mikko Lindström (Gitarre)
und Antto Melasniemi (Keyboard) gegründet. Wie die meisten Rock'n'Roll-Musiker
haben auch HIM den üblichen Werdegang einer Rock-Band durchlaufen:
Proben, erste Live-Performances, ein Demo produzieren und an einschlägige
Medien und Plattenfirmen schicken. Damit hatten HIM zunächst keinen
Erfolg, erst das zweite Demo, das bereits eine 'Wicked Game'-Version enthielt,
brachte den Deal mit der finnischen BMG. ''666 Ways To Love: Prologue'',
die erste EP erschien 1996 und enthielt vier
Songs: ''Stigmata Diaboli'', ''Wicked Game'', ''Dark Secret Love''
und ''The Heartless''. Die Coverversion des Chris Isaak-Hits ''Wicked Game''
brachte die ersten Charterfolge für HIM in Finnland. Zu diesem Song
wurde dann auch ein
Videoclip produziert, der auch für die Promotion in Deutschland
verwendet wurde. 1997 folgte die EP ''When Love and Death Embrace'' und
1998 die EP ''Your Sweet Six Six Six'' (plus ''Beginning Of The End''),
die beide Platzierungen in den
finnischen Top Ten erreichten. Das ebenfalls 1998 veröffentlichte
Debütalbum ''Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666'' wurde schon im Herbst vergoldet,
mehr als 20.000 Einheiten fanden in Finnland einen neuen Besitzer. Weitere
nationale Auszeichnungen gab es kurz danach: Den ''Emma Award'' in der
Kategorie ''newcomer of the year'', und Ende November den ''Jyrki Video
Award'' für ''When Love And Death Embrace'', den zweiten HIM-Videoclip,
der in Finnland produziert wurde.
Nachdem HIM in Finnland bereits zu Superstars avanciert waren, tastete
man sich im 1998 auf den überregionalen, vor allem aber den deutschen
Markt vor. Zwei wichtige Gigs in Deutschland (im Vorprogramm von Sisters
Of Mercy und das
''Crossing All Over''-Festival in Bochum) machten deutsche Rock-Fans
und einschlägige Medien auf die Band aufmerksam. Vor der Headliner-Tour
wurde Keyboarder Antto durch Juska alias Zoltan alias ''The Dog'' und Drummer
Juhana
Rantala durch Gas Lipstick ersetzt, der Rest der Besetzung änderte
die Künstlernamen, und so ganz kann jetzt kaum jemand noch nachvollziehen,
wer wirklich von Beginn an dabei war und wer nicht.
Der absolute Durchbruch gelang ihnen in Deutschland allerdings erst
mit ihrer Single ''Join Me [In Death]'', ein Beitrag zu Roland Emmerichs
Film ''The 13th Floor''. Anfang Januar 2000 war es dann soweit, der Song
schoss auf Platz 1 der deutschen
Charts, und die Musik-Sender MTV und VIVA nahmen ihn in ihre Heavy
Rotation auf. Ihre Konzerte sind ausverkauft, und Medien von der Teenager-Postille
Bravo bis hin zum Fachblatt Rockhard stimmen Lobgesänge auf die Finnen
an.
(C: Doc Rock 2000)
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Interview mit Ville Valo vom 28.01.02 in Helsinki / Finnland ( =>
Transkription eines Video - Interviews):
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
V: What do I like to do in my spare time...mmh I like to sleep, unfortunately
it’s impossible because of all this promotion...this is torture...basically
to bath and read good books and you know, ... high culture is my hobby....
Q: Is an acoustic guitar part of your luggage when you travel?
V: Well, nowadays it is...or usually I just purchased for the German
tour I just bought myself a really cool Gibson guitar, which is like
the same sort of a model that Elvis Presley used to play. Yeah, I do! I
have this sort of Johnny Cash fixation, so I do tend to carry around with
me...and a laptop for internet porn.
Q: Between the five with you in your band. Will you all choose different
holiday locations?
V: Basically, I had my last holiday in `91...we had like two weeks
off basically in Rome on tour, but yeah we do ...Gas is going to watch
some hockeymatches in the United States of America, Linde and Migé
just went to Nepal (Kathmandu) and I don’t know where Burton goes. He is
a mystery man, so don’t have a clue.
Q: Are you gonna have a holiday soon?
V: No! I have a mission to accomplish. To record a new album. So, I
don’t have any time to have any holidays. Unfortunately...this is my holiday.
Q: You are nominated for the German Echo-Award in 2002. What do you
think about getting an award in general?
V: Well, if you get an award which is presented to you by Iggy Pop
then it is really cool. But otherwise I don’t really care...but it is nice
when the viewers sort of like ...they give their calls and it’s a viewer’s
choice thing. That’s cool. But when there is like a some celebraties like
just picking one band or artist out of a million that‘s pretty sick to
my opinion.
Q: What about the German Echo-Award, which one is it?
V: which one is it...I don’t have the clue about the Echos.
It might be that we got one...but I have really really bad memory nowadays.
I smoked to much hash when I was younger. You shouldn’t be doing
that. It’s very, very bad for the shortterm memory. But ECHO, well that’s
the sort of like very critically acclaimed thing. Well, that’s cool- you
know- we get free flights to Germany, free booze and get hang around
with a bunch of models and the record company is offering us cocaine- that‘s
cool...
Q: Where do you plan to be in five years time?
V: Five years then I’m gonna be 30...so if I am to maintain a status
being a legend I have to die when I’m 27 so let’s see what happens, but....30,
ähm...hopefully fishing in Marocco. A couple of my friends are doing
that. It supposed to be really good.
Q: What motivates you?
V: Well, my motivation... it’s just music. It’s an obsession anyway
just gotta do it...so...it’s a drug. It’s a badthing- you know- basically
I’m hooked.
Q: The Music motivates you?
V: Yeah, basically yeah. A lot of things motivates me: Cars, Mc Donald’s,
ähm...what else...arts in general.
Mc Donald’s is art. Mc Donald’s is also murder. Meat is murder. Remember
that.
10) Q: Is the break the only opportunity to keep HIM alive?
V: Well, to keep us alive...we would...you’ll never know how long a
band is going to be together. You know we are five different personalities.
Gas is like the overbloated fat fellow who’s trying to lose some weight
now which is cool. But everybody is so different in the band so it’s hard
- you know- hard to keep the whole thing going on. Yeah, we write
new songs and we are feeling very, very good about the next album which
we gonna hopefully record in next autumn and release early next year.You
know, shortterm plans. It’s better that way, you know.
11) Q: Are there any songideas for the next album already and if so
in what direction are you heading with HIM?
V: It is hard to say before you go into the studio...and there is a
producer and - you know- different sort of equipment which we are
using. It’s always pretty weird, because you just turn one knob and it’s
going to be totally different. So you never know in advance, but hopefully
it’s going to be a bit rougher. That’s what we are going to do with the
album anyway. Basically I consider the first three albums to be sort of
like a trilogy and now we have to start from the beginning again. You know,
to start to like a sort of like create something new totally and not just
to continue the boring chapters which are already written. So, hopefully
it’s going to be a bit more Stooges and you know...Or basically we check
out the Billboard-Charts and you know what...whoever is top of the charts
we usually try to rip off from them or copy them. It is much possible.
So, hopefully it’s not gonna be a Ricky Martin this year...
12.) Q: What qualities should be on the next HIM album if you compare
it with the „Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights“?
V: What qualities? What qualities...well,...
13.)Q: Will it remind? Will it be a continuous process developed from
the...?
V: No. That’s basically what I just told you- you know- ...in a sense
that I consider that... We are doing albums... You know, basically
„Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights“ is a good album, but we can’t
continue in that sense, because in that way because it is pretty
mainstream. We...of course we want to be part of mainstream . We want to
have loads of money and loads of Echo-Awards , but we are no hookers,
so -you know- just trying to do what feels best in the moment.
14.) Q: Did the album-tour-album-tour cycle harm your creativity personally?
V: Now, album, tour, album, tour...-cycle.Yeah, it does because we
don’t have any time, you know. That’s basically what happened with „Deep
Shadows & Brilliant Highlights“ and that’s one of the reasons I’m not
100 % satisfied with that. But it’s a cool album anyway...but it’s a different
thing. Personally... artistically I like our first album the best, because
we had loads of time to develop the music there, because that was the first
thing we worked together for about five years before. So, you can...you
know cycle things around in your mind and try to, you know, be better every
day. This is the reason for the break that we wanna really like to
concentrate on the music. This is our fourth album and it’s an important
one.
15.) Q: How long is this break for?
V: I‘ m not sure actually. Our plan basically at the moment with this
break is that...Migé and Linde they went to Nepal to have their
holidays- you know- . Everybody is taking it easy, because everybody in
the band was really frustrated after the tour, because we like continuously
worked for about three years. Not having like a couple of days off every
now and then, but really doing that tour-album-tour-album thing, so after
„Razorblade Romance“ so...what was the question...?
15.) Q: Did the stress in the past harm the band atmosphere?
V: The stress in them...well, we’re never stressed out as a band,
you know ...completely. There’s people in the band who are continuosely
feeling good. For example Gas. He is a happy personality. He is the one
to keep us alive, you know, in many ways, because he’s rather big . So
if we would be stressed out because of starvation he would be a good sort
of like a prey for us. He is a multitalented person in that sense...
16) Q: What changes have you made in your personal life that you are
the most proud of?
V: mmmhhh....ähmmm...Well, I haven’t changed so much in the past
couple of years. I don’t know I haven’t made any conscious- you know- changes
. Well, maybe I’m trying to take it a bit more relaxed- you know-
nowadays. Not working my ass of – you know- meeting my friends and playing
pool and playing chess... I don’t have to be write music all the time or
stresssing me about that. So, that’s basically one of the changes....probably.
17.) Q: What have you learned from the last HIM record?
V: That you should...the big lesson we learned making „Deep Shadows
& Brilliant Highlights“ was that we learned that we are not supposed
to be hookers for the industry. And we are not supposed to be having a
sort of family mentality with the record company people. There is a couple
of personalities which we worked closely with ...who have been there from
...äh since the beginning ...then there was loads of like...too many
cooks. Telling their own opinions. Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s
got one except Noman (?!??!). That’s why they are so big .
18.)Q: What would be the result if you decide the songwriting process
for the next album right now?
V: If I had...??? I’m constantly – you know- constantly at the moment
I’m working on new stuff, so ...there’s a couple of songs I wrote last
year, but most of it... I‘m working on most of it now. I don’t know- you
know- it’s gotta be a bit different. Lyrically & musically, but it’s
still gonna be the same. Those same three chords – you know- trying to
rip off „Wicked Game“ over and over again. You know, that‘s our mission.
19.) Q: How long is Ville Valo able to relax from songwriting?
V: I just lost a girlfriend and I bought myself a guitar which is like
the substitute for the particular person. I basically sleep with the guitar
....and there is couple of holes in there...as well, so...whatever...so,
basically it’s impossible to take a break there. No, every... like a couple
of hours everyday. So, basically- you know- I wake up start playing guitar,
search for some funny sexsites from the internet and then I go and play
some pool and drink a couple of beers and then I start all over again.
That’s what I do.
20.) Q: So is it that like for example breaking up with the girlfriend
will that affect your music – the way you write songs?
V: Oh, it’s hard to say. Everyday life affects the whole thing, you
know. In everybodies‘ lifes, whatever they‘re doing of course it affects
the mood and stuff like that. Now it’s getting pretty dark here in Finland.
Well, it’s been dark for a while so probably it’s going to be a very doomish
and very gloomy and very gothic...the record which I‘m going to do.
I don’t know, you know...let’s see. But Migé and Linde they still
don’t want to wear any black clothes, so that’s a problem for a gothic
imagery. And Linde and Gas are too fat to be Goths. Overfat Vampyres...that’s
what I call them.
21.) Q: How would your best friend describe you?
V: All my best friends basically call me a cunt. That’s probably the
best way to describe it. I’m egocentrical...and alcoholic...and a very
boring personality with no sense of humour at all.
22.) Q: And would you like to say something for all the fans?
V: Hello people...äh...ich liebe dich...tschüss!
(C: taken from http://www.him-music.de; Februar 2002)
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