TIMO TOLKKI Says STRATOVARIUS' Decision To Carry On Without Him Was 'Morally Wrong'

Iron Maiden Argentina FC recently conducted an interview with Finnish musician/producer Timo Tolkki (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE, STRATOVARIUS). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Iron Maiden Argentina FC: What can you us advance [about] "Trinity" [the forthcoming third and final album from Tolkki's post-STRATOVARIUS band REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE]? There are differences between "Trinity" and the first two discs of the band?

Tolkki: "Trinity" is more straightforward and not so progressive and it is more power metal-orientated. To me. Everybody hears music in a different way and everybody is right, too. After doing this for more than 20 years, I have stopped trying to analyze and categorize or even explain music. To me, it is just pure emotion. Nothing to do with technique. Even if I am mixing a very complicated song with a very big mixing desk and huge amount of effects, I never think on technical terms but emotionally. What emotion I can achieve or which emotion/emotions the particular song has. The connection of emotions and music is yet to be realized. I even came to Buenos Aires to hold a seminar about the subject one year ago.

Iron Maiden Argentina FC: What did lead you to taking the decision to dissolve REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE?

Tolkki: The reason is very simple. In three years we played not a single show because nobody was interested. It was starting to get evident that this could not continue anymore because a band cannot exist without a direct contact with its fans. So this really was the reason. Musically speaking, maybe I was trying a bit too hard to sound like who I am not. I am not sure. I don’t really analyze music that much as I said. But I am proud of "Age Of Aquarius" album. I think it really has a lot of emotion in it, albeit dark, but also some hope. There always is hope.

Iron Maiden Argentina FC: Why finally did you choose to yield the rights on the catalogue and STRATOVARIUS's name to your ex-companions?

Tolkki: Well the reason was that when I decided to leave STRATOVARIUS, I had my reasons and I had been thinking about the for over a year already. So I did have very rational reasons for leaving. What I could not even imagine in my wildest dreams was that they would continue the band without me with the same name. Continue, yes, but to call it STRATOVARIUS, that was the problem I had. I never brought myself forward in STRATOVARIUS as a guitar hero or something. I was always one of the guys although I wrote 95% of the songs and produced the albums. I always said that if [Timo] Kotipelto [vocals], Jens [Johansson, keyboards] or Jörg [Michael, drums] leaves the band, it cannot be called STRATOVARIUS anymore. So therefore I think that decision was morally wrong. And my life philosophy is perhaps a bit different than some other people's so when I hear they will continue as STRATOVARIUS, and I owned the name and had contracts with all the musicians, instead of taking them to court, I did the reverse. I gave them everything. Because I really thought, and I continue to think, that the decision to call it STRATOVARIUS without me is morally wrong and I have always stood up for what I believe is right. So I thought, have it all then.

Read the entire interview from Iron Maiden Argentina FC.