Interviews

29.8.2007 12:15

The figurehead of Nightwish Tuomas Holopainen's favourite place above all is Lapland and hiking there. Tuomas is a travel freak who goes around the world both at work and during his free time. His first trip abroad was to Hamburg when he was nine years old.

The thanks for the travel spark goes to my parents. They paid for one trip aboard a year for me. Hamburg was the first one.

On his travels Tuomas experiences things through music but he doesn't go to traditional rock places or concerts.

-I seek experiences on my trips. If I need to relax I stay home or go to my cottage and stare at the fire, Tuomas says.

Kitee

Every single Nightwish song was born at Kitee. Kitee is the scenery of my soul, a home, but also a great place to visit. You see surprisingly many metal heads in the streets. They come there for a kind of a pilgrimage. Foreigners visit my parents' yard often. My parents are one of the the friendliest people on Earth.

Lapland in Finland

-To me it's the world's most important tourist destination. I have been hiking there for at least once a year ever since my boy scout days. Due to the lack of time I won't be able to do it this year and I really don't know whether I'm going to survive it. Our hiking guild consists of Timo Rautiainen and Tony Kakko.

Kansas City, the United States

-I've only spent five hours there but they were the most important ones in my life. There was a shared Metallica and Guns'n' Roses gig there at the Arrowhead stadium in September 17th 1992. It was a mind-blower for a 15-year-old and it shaped things I've done afterwards in my life a lot. Before that I had hated Heavy Metal.

Hanga Roa, Easter Island

-By far the strangest place I've ever been to. The whole island seems to have fallen out of space right in the middle of nowhere. I was sitting on a volcano crater, wild horses were running everywhere and I was looking at the vast sea. The main melody of Ocean Soul started to play in my head.

Disneyland, Anaheim & Disney World, Orlando

-I've been to both four times. I like Disney World better because there's more to see, but one of the best gigs of our career we've had in Disneyland. It's a dream come true when I can play heavy in front of the Disneyland gates. You can get past the shallowness and into the fairytale world if you want to.

 London, Great Britain

London is one of my favourite places in Europe. In 2004 we recorded there with the symphony orchestra for the first time and the second time this year when we were making the orchestral parts of Dark Passion Play -album in Abbey Road studios. I spent eight days in Abbey Road and each one of those days was absolutely wonderful.

Sydney, Australia

-My favourite big city. The most charming metropolis in the world. The Sydney harbour-area with it's Opera houses and bridges is the most beautiful part of a metropolis. It's really confusing that as a country person I like some town so much. We had a great gig in Sydney but the greatest day off of the band was spent there. We sat at a terrace in front of the Opera house and ate alligator, kangaroo and oysters.

Khal Sok, Thailand

-The hike to the Khal Sok natoinal park with a local Indiana Jones was memorable experience. After the trek we sat by the river, there were awfully lot of monkeys there. Art, the host of the lodging, played our Wishmaster-album for the rest of the night. Nightwish was playing in the middle of a jungle on full blast for hours in row.

Honolulu, Hawaii

-I performed my diving license there. I ended up in the middle of a pack of dolphins ten metres underwater. It was like music in complete silence. I've never experienced anything so beautiful.

Mount Sinai, Egypt 

-Moses got the Commandments on Sinai. I walked to the top of the mountain from a nearby monastery the same path Moses once used. There is a small monastery and Moses' cave on the top. It felt terribly bad that there was a souvenir shop above the cave. It felt like desecration. Otherwise it was a wonderful experience both mentally and physically. 

 
(Reporter: Merja Asikainen)

Translated by Berende from the Nightwish Discussion Board