Interviews

Interview With Timo Kotipelto

2002/11

So Timo tell me, by staying away from the band for so much time did it helped to come back with a new appetite for work?

 

The album is titled “Elements Part I”, so I trust there's a part II coming?

 

Are “Elements” concepts albums?

 

So why the titles part I and part II, they sound like concepts.

 

Surprisingly enough the new album is a bit different than the previous ones. I would like you to tell me why did you decided to change a bit and what are the differences?

 

Do you think that part II is going to be even more different?

 

I think that the hardest part when changing a bit your style is to keep all the basic stud, so that people recognize that it's Stratovarius playing, and yet add new stuff into the style. How hard was it to manage this?

 

So what comes next for the band, touring?

 

Why is that?

 

Do you think that in between recording and touring with Stratovarius you're going to find the time and do a second solo album?

 

Are you writing any music for Stratovarius?

 

They didn't like them?

 

Isn't there a problem, I mean the guy seems to have a big ego.

 

You know I was just curious, because now that you have released your solo album I know that you can write some very good music.

 

So now you've got songs for how many solo albums?

 

From what you are saying it looks like you wanted to release an album, more to get it out of you, but do you think that by releasing a good album actually, you have added more weight on your shoulders, more work for you to do?

 

Your first solo album was a concept one, dealing with Egypt. I would like to know why you decided to go for that story.

 

Do you think that a concept album would fit with the music of Stratovarius?

 

Have you ever talked about it?

 

Do you actually have any ideas about your next album, if it's going to be a concept album or something?

 

You know when Timo Tolki released his personal album last year everybody was surprised because it was completely different than anything he had done in the past. So have you ever thought to do something that will absolutely surprise everybody? Like a jazz album or something?

 

Don't be so sure about that?

 

Well I don't know. I know I would surprise all the metal fans and I don't really want to surprise any one. But I know it would be interesting for me, well probably all the metal fans will not like it so much, so I don't know. Maybe I will do a concept album about Greek history and sing in jazz styles and everybody will say “what the fuck is this?” (Laughs)It's good that you mentioned jazz because when I was studying vocals I had to sing some jazz standards and stuff, back then I didn't like it so much, but I had to do it. But I think that my voice is a little flexible and I can do stuff like that. Actually you are the only one I have ever told that. I told Jann that maybe it would be interesting to do a piano and vocals just thing and do all the jazz standards and record them just for us. I am not a jazz singer but then again I would like to try and do something different. But then again I don't think that it would be very wise, or even interesting to release it.I was actually thinking about it myself, about a month ago, but probably there won't going to be any concept, it's a pain in the ass to do the lyrics. The problem is that when you are writing a concept album, you have to decide the order of the songs and then the story should go in the right way. It's very, very difficult. Because if you place all the similar songs together then it sounds a little bit boring, so it's very difficult. But I am not saying that I won't do it.I guess that the reason he hasn't composed a concept album yet is that when he is composing he has already the title of the song and then he is composing the song for this title. This is different than the way I work. I write the music first and then later add the lyrics and the titles, of course I might have some demo names, but they are not the final. I think that this might be the thing why there hasn't been any concept album yet.Of course, it would perfectly fit. But then again Timo didn't want to do it up until now, so maybe in the future.Actually I was always very interested in history. Even when I was in school I was always better in history than in music, if you consider the numbers, the grades, I was given by my teachers. It started actually three or four years ago when I started reading more books about the Egyptian history and mythology and then I even went to Egypt with my parents and my girlfriend, two years ago or something, to get the feeling. Of course there was not enough time to see everything because it's a very big country and there are so many things to see, but when I started thinking about the idea to compose my own album, I thought that it had to be different than Stratovarius and we never had any real concept albums with Stratovarius. We have some fantasy lyrics in the band but not so many, most are about our personal lives or nature, so I thought that now I have the chance to write some fantasy lyrics. But then again I thought that it might be a bit boring for the fans to read lyrics like some fantasy book, so I decided to mix also some facts in between and develop this kind of story. It explains how the religion was born, how the world was born, and the way Egyptians believe it happened. There's actually some history in the lyrics and not only fantasy. You know when I finished the album I thought that “fuck, I'm done with Egypt”, because I read about 30 books to make the concept.Well one thing is for sure. I never believed it would be so much work when I did the first album, I mean so much work. I had to find the band and then I had to book the studio and record my vocals myself. It took a lot of time to record it and listen to it and then listen to it again and... But it's a good question. Of course when you are releasing your first album, nobody is expecting anything from you. Probably you don't have any pressure at all, but then if somebody likes it then it's natural for the people to believe that the next one is going to be better. But then again I have good chances that the next one will be better, because now I know how to do it, so I don't have to take extra stress from everything else, it's just the songs and I have some good melodies that's for sure.Oh I don't know. To be honest I was really surprised with the reactions of the press and the fans for my first solo album, because they seem to really like it. It didn't sell this much but I was happy just to be able to do it. But now people are always asking when I am going to do the next one, so I guess it's only a matter of time. It takes a lot of time to create everything and then record it and mix it.Well, thank you. But my kind of music is not exactly fitting with the kind of music Stratovarius is playing. Like I said, we have a producer and it's up to him to decide the songs that will make it to the albums.I wouldn't say that he has such a big ego. The point is that he has the vision, without him there wouldn't be Stratovarius, so... He is the producer and I know that things wouldn't work out if there were five guys in the band deciding what we are going to do. But I know what you mean and that's why it was so important for me to do an album of my own. Now I don't have to compose anything for Stratovarius.Probably they were a little bit different, because Timo Tolki is the producer, he is the main guy and it's up to him to decide which songs make it to the albums and which not.Well I did try some things but they didn't go through, let's put it this way. (Laughs)I'd like that, but first of all Stratovarius are my number one priority. I don't want my own thing to interfere with the guys. I hope that I am going to have some time by the end of next year and start recording and then continue later on, but I don't know yet. The songs are almost ready for the next album, not the lyrics but the music. Maybe I'll release another album by the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005, let's see.Well, we were very tired. Actually on the last tour we were supposed to finish the tour earlier, but then our record label had the idea to play more shows in France and we had to add nine more shows in France and it was too much. Then we played some more shows in Eastern European countries and we were very tired, but the last show in Athens was very good. Anyway. After we finish with Europe we will go in Japan in June and then we have the summer festivals. After the festivals the plan is to go to South America for a tour there.Yes, we are going to start in March from Helsinki and then in Scandinavia and all over Europe. Right now the plan is that we are going to finish the tour in Athens. Also on the “Infinite” tour we played the last show in Athens, because we wanted to have a good show at the end, because we have played not so good shows before and we wanted to finish with a good one.I believe that if we haven't this break that we talked earlier this would not have been possible. I think that during this break we found new ideas, but of course if you liked our music in the past, you'll find all the basic elements there. Those things have to be there and if we change them, then we are not playing our music anymore, it's something else. I think that the break brought a new perspective to the band and the music we play.Like I said it's hard to say yet. Might be a bit heavier, a little more simple and a little more metal but it's hard to say. Personally I think that the change was needed. Of course if you compare “Infinite” to our first album, called “Fright Night”, there are of course some similarities but you can't say that we've been repeating ourselves because there are many differences.First of all I have to say that I agree with you, because the album is a little bit different. You know the more albums you do there's always people who are going to say that you guys are repeating yourselves, but then if you change your music there are people telling you that you changed too much. Of course we tried to find some new things in the music, of course some of the songs are longer, more symphonic and more epic, there are much more orchestral parts in the songs than in the past, but then again there are in the album some of the fastest songs we've ever played and “Son Of The Vagabond” is one of the heavier songs we've ever played.It's a good name, isn't it? Actually it's also because they were composed and recorded at the same time. At least I know that “Elements Part I” is not a concept album. There are just different themes and that's it. I think that the only link between the two albums is that they were composed at the same time. Actually on the second part there isn't any song titled “Elements” or anything, even though there is one on the first part. The music is probably a little bit different but it's hard to comment on the second part because it's not mixed yet, but the impression the other guys had is that it's gonna be heavier. Of course I know the songs, I've got the vision in my mind but I haven't heard them live.No they are not.Yes, it's actually almost recorded. I didn't record any vocals yet, I am supposed to do that next January and there are still some guitar solos missing, but all the drums, keyboards and bass are recorded. The plan is to release the album on January of 2004, one year after.For sure man. Of course when we decided that we're gonna have this break it was at the end of 2000 after some extensive touring and we've been very, very tired. We've been releasing albums almost every year and we also had a lot of touring, recording, rehearsing and everything and we were tired, so it was like an easy solution to have this break. Of course you never know if the fans will wait because it's almost three years since the last studio album. It's a long time of course, but then again we needed the break from the band. Timo did his solo album and I did mine, so I wasn't away from music but only from Stratovarius. Then when we got together again, last March, it was like some old friends were back together again. So it was definitely worth.