Interviews

1. First off, I would like to say thank you for allowing me to step into the dark depths of Tacere. As for my first question; do you guys consider yourself one of your favourite bands?
K: I would have to say that, yes I do. I think that if you don’t like the music that you’re playing, then it’s a really bad situation…

H: I love Tacere’s music – naturally. Yet I consider it as a huge part of my job, so I wouldn’t say Tacere is one of my favourite bands, but an absolute dream job. My relationship with Tacere’s music is quite passionate.

2. Helena , your vocals are just so outstanding; I really enjoy your singing. Have you had any vocal lessons or are you just naturally talented?


H: Why thank you very much! It’s always nice to hear people actually appreciate my part in Tacere too, with Karri’s music being so brilliant and his skills in composing so very interesting.. : Answering your question, I might say a little bit of both. I do study classical singing (have done it quite a many years now), but as you can clearly hear from the record, I do not use classical singing style in our music that much. Of course it helps when doing some choir parts, or when playing with some more gothic styles in the songs, but normally I love to use my “own” voice, being the more rocking and down to earth kind of. I’m also very interested in learning to use my voice in many different styles – and of course developing my skills in all of them. One can never be ready: and that’s the fun of it.

3. Can you give me a complete rundown of the methods you all used to create this album, Beautiful Darkness?

K: Do you mean methods of composing or methods of recording etc.? If we’re talking about composing and stuff, then it’s a complex issue. And that is because there are a lot of really old songs on the album and I really can’t remember what my working methods have been when I’ve originally written them… But generally I create melodies and harmonies inside my head and then compile them into complete songs… I usually do almost the whole composing project in my head, and then I lay it out and try it on the piano or something…

But all of this varies somewhat. Sometimes I can create songs by picking up my acoustic guitar and just strumming along and finding some great stuff through improvising like that. And sometimes I might have a complete song finished inside my head without even touching any instrument. Usually it’s in the middle of those two opposites. And about 2/3 of the time I do the music first and then add the lyrics, and about 1/3 of the time I do the lyrics first.

H: I’ll tell you something about the recording progress. It was very hectic and it lasted too long, so please think twice before you start making a record. One can lose one’s health in the progress... Yes, I mean both physical and mental.


4. Phantasm is such a great song, though it seems like every other band writes songs coursing around Phantoms. In Phantasm, the lyrics really catch my attention; is this song about anyone?

K: Yes, metal is full of clichés *laughing*. No the song is not about anyone, it’s fiction all the way.

H: Hey, you’re not supposed to reveal that to the readers! *laughing* Of course it’s about Karri’s long dead cousins evil step-mothers little red headed daughter only 12 years old. Just kidding… I wouldn’t hope that kind of a life for anyone, with the “I see dead people” –thingy always lurking beneath.


5. Deep Tears of Tragedy is such a great song; it’s full of heavy guitar riffs, heavy vocals, and gentle vocals which all even out the song very well. In scenario, if another band had created this song, would you listen and buy their album?

K: Yeah I think I would like it enough to buy it… I think it’s one of the best songs in our album.


H: Of course it depends on the artist/band making it… If for example someone like Eminem would have done DTOT, I probably wouldn’t have trusted the entire album to be as good as the title song.

6. Helena , I am sure people compare you to a lot of famous women in metal, from Europe to the US . But if you had to, who would you most compare your style of singing to: Tarja Turunen, Amy Lee, or Cristina Scabbia?


H: Oh f***, this is a hard one! As I mentioned earlier, I love doing Many kinds of styles. The most flattering situation for me would be if people would reckon me skilled in every aspect of my voice, and think that I can sing in whatever style I feel like, and still sound if not good, at least tolerable.

Well ok… If I really Had to choose from those three, I’d probably want to be compared to Cristina.. I feel she hasn’t showed us all that’s in her yet – she might still have something nice and fresh to complement the listeners with.

7. How important are music videos for Tacere?

K: Well we’ve only just made that one video, so it’s difficult to estimate how important they will be to us. I think that when time goes by they’ll come more important as we grow into a “bigger” band. I myself am a very visual person so I also like visual adds to music. So if it were up to me every song should have a music video. The coolest thing would be to do a semi-long movie which would be kind of a music video for a whole full-length CD album. I don’t think any label will ever give us the money to do this, but that would be something I would really like to try with some project some day.


8. What do you hope to gain most from the album, Beautiful Darkness?

K: I just hope that people will like the album and that they will get something out of our music.

H: It would also be very nice if the word Nightwish would gradually disappear from the album reviews… What I mean is, that people would carry out the stuff Karri just wrote about: Really listen to Beautiful Darkness – not only once or twice, but with time and heart in it. The rest will happen by itself. (For me it’s really easy to trust our music, really.)

9. Can you tell some of the biggest highlights this band has seen throughout its existence?

K: For me, touring with Anathema has been the highlight of our career for now. Also I was honoured when I visited MTV Headbanger’s Ball with Helena.

H: If I skip the (for me) everlasting moment when I was recognized for the first time by a very young and cute fan girl in some ladies room in some restaurant, it must be the mini-tour with Anathema. My god, those guys knew how to have a good time. Really, it was a blast.

K: Yeah, Hails to the Cavanaugh brothers, we salute you!

10. What would you like for your fans to gain from listening to your music?


K: I hope that our music would evoke feelings in people. That’s the main objective when I create music, I want to make people feel things – to feel alive.

H: Crying or laughing after a twelve hour oppressive anxiety can be very releasing. If a song, or only one small theme or part in a song, or the mood in the music can start up that kind of a process in someone’s bad-day, I’m very pleased.

11. In scenario, you've just been asked by the following bands to tour with them on their next major tour. Which would you deny and which would you accept?


- Nightwish (with their new singer):

- Lacuna Coil:

- Evanescence:

- Flyleaf:

K: I prefer that Tacere would tour with a band that is not labeled as a female vocals band because we don't want Tacere to be labeled so narrowly. But if it was a possibility to tour with such a big band like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil or Evanescence the promotional value would be so high that we would certainly accept touring with any one of them. BUT if touring with Lacuna coil would mean touring under a tour name like "the hottest chicks in metal" (like the most recent Lacuna coil US tour) or something like that, we would probably have to decline, because that kind of sexist objectifying branding would totally trivialize the meaning of our music. Flyleaf I've never heard of so I don't know if we would say yes or no.

H: Karri, I’m going to have to play Flyleaf to you sometimes. We’d say a strong yes to that proposition. :

K: You do that, you both got me very interested now - what is that band? The name sounds like some sort of a post-grunge emo-rock/punk band… At least I’ll bet all my money on that it’s an American band is it? I can tell that just by the name.

12: All right, now as for the final question; and you guys have to really lay it down for me with this one. What would you like for your fans to know about you that no one else knows about?

K: Ohh… You mean about Tacere or in general? It would be impossible to tell our fans something about Tacere that no one else knows, because at least I would know the thing I was telling anyway wouldn’t I? Hehe… But in general, maybe our fans would deserve to know the meaning of life! *laughing*

H: Sometimes people see their idols somehow on a pedastol or something… I guess I’d like our fans to know we’re normal people; yes, just like you guys; with our everyday problems. Knowing the meaning of life would be cooler, though. Wasn’t it 64 or something like that? Ha ha ha…


Thank you for taking time to do this interview with me and Finnish Men In Music, it's much appreciated.