"For forty years the rainbow shall not appear; for forty years it shall be seen every day. The parched earth shall wax drier every day, and a great flood when it shall appear" Nostradamus Century I:17

Current most popular Finnish metal act vocalist Timo Kotipelto, kindly answered to my questions about how Stratovarius had progressed within the last years and other variated topics. The way I see it, this is one of the three or four bands with a higher status and most solid reputation in the European metal scene nowadays... Musical line traced on "Episode" or "Visions" albums is a good reference for explaining this success.
Crossing the continent at the present moment with "Visions 1997 tour" (1st time they are headliners for a whole tour of this magnitude as far as I know) shows with german outfit Elegy opening are harvesting a warm response. Next stop will be South America around November, something which gives us a more accurate idea about how good results Stratovarius gets year after year worldwide. More than just visions...

Moi, nice to talk to you Timo, how's life going there in Helsinki at the moment?
Very good! The summer's been very hot (I think the hottest summer of the century). So I've enjoyed the weather, done some sports, spent some holiday and at the moment I'm preparing myself for the tour.

Sounds good indeed... see what has happened this summer for instance in Central Europe: It was very sad to see those terrible floods pushing thousands of people out from their homelands, don't you think?
Yeah, I've seen the news. If this hasn't got anything to do with the thinning ozone layer or other human activity then it might be just a coincident, I'm just wondering. It's like a complete turn around in weather, I mean it was raining snow when we were supposed to play in Granada and a very warm day in Finland...

I remember the show you mention at the Barbarians Festival, which sadly had to be cancelled by the way... yes, that was not normal at all for such a place as Granada. Could you tell us a little in more detail about how you prepare yourself for a tour like this forthcoming one which will cross Europe from side to side?
I have done more singing lately, you know that the vocal cords are muscles like any other muscles and have to be trained. I've also done a lot of sports (gym, mountain biking with Jari [Kainulainen, bassist]) and Jari and I even bought rollerskates so that we could do some sports during the tour.

I see... Jörg [Michael, drummer] is also a soccer freak I've heard... :-) Anyway back to music, months after the release of "Visions", are you satisfied with the response it has accomplished worldwide?
Yes I am. Actually a little bit surprised with the good response and sale figures. We've on the charts in many countries (we are still on the charts in Finland after almost 4 months! And it's close to going gold here!).

Excellent news... I heard you were even 4th on the official TOP 40 list in Finland, isn't it? That's remarkable yes...
We are still wondering how it is possible... :-) But it seems that metal is coming back at least in Finland!

When an album as "Episode" receives so positive reviews and comments at all levels, perhaps part of Stratovarius fans could have thought it would be difficult to mantain such a quality level on the new album. Do you think this was somehow present in your minds when you started working on "Visions"?
In a way, yes. We were so pleased to "Episode" that we though "how can we make a better one?" but I think it was quite easy because we had very good new songs and did a lot of touring. So the band is a lot of tighter after all the gigs we did. I think "Visions" is even better than "Episode"!

Don't you think it's a difficult task to stay coherent with one's career or musical path and trying to keep at the same time innovative, not sounding redundant, etc? In which direction you'd say Stratovarius will try to progress on the next years?
The next album will (surprisingly...) be Stratovarius style of album. When we start to make the next album we don't actually think what kind of a album it should be. We just make songs and record them and afterwards we might think "okay, it's heavier, lighter, faster or slower". We don't think what sells and what not. I think with the last two albums we have find our own style and we are going to stay loyal to that style. Of course it's very hard if you think about it too much.

Yes, that's what I was mainly trying to say: After those two albums you mentioned, of a grand solidness and with their own personality, perhaps a dilemma like "will the new one sound somehow repetitive in relation to them?" could appear... but anyway, if this formula is working so well for Stratovarius I also to tend to think that way: Better staying loyal to that style than giving an eventual blind step...
I agree! We have some some sad examples around...

Talking again about "Episode", it included a 40 piece male/female choir plus a string orchestra of 20 players. On "Visions" there is not this kind of complex choir/orchestral arrangements. Did you have any particular reason for that or it simply came up this way randomly?
Basically the songs didn't need any big choirs of orchestras. That's why we didn't use any. It's always what the song needs. We don't use choirs just because it looks cool to print on the sleeve "we did this and this". Maybe for the next album we will use them again, maybe not.

The budget for recording "Visions" was still higher than for "Episode", is that correct?
Actually it was less or the same, not more.

I remember on a conversation with Timo Tolkki [guitarist], he told me one of his personal aspirations was composing something with a more direct approach to those choral/orchestrated musical areas. For instance, he commented to me how much he enjoyed Therion "Theli" album because of its perfection on this subject. What's your opinion about all this?
I don't know about him, but our music is kind of a symphonic so there is a chance to do some orhestrated things. But again there is no need to fit in an orhestra if the song does not need it.

If I'm not wrong, Jörg and Jens [Johansson, keyboardist] usually spend most part of the year outside Finland, in Dörtmund and New York respectively. Does this somehow affect to the band when trying to keep a regular contact, especially in the early stages of preparing a new album, pre-production etc, or you use normal means for communicating or exchanging materials by mail or whatever?
Of course it is harder than for some other bands. But these guys are the best possible musicians for us so it's the only way. It's true that we don't rehearse much. Only a week before the recordings and a couple of days before the tours. But we don't need so much rehearsing because we have played the songs while doing the albums and we don't need so much of a personal rehearsing.
When we start making the new album we send a drum machine demo to Jörg and Jens and then we make a real demo with the guys. Just before the recordings start we rehearse some days with Jörg and that's about it.

Would you agree if I'd say that with "Visions" Stratovarius has achieved to sound more cohesionated than ever as a whole band?
I would and I will.

I personally think that particulary Jens' contribution on this last album has been more exceptional and notable than ever. Being as he is one of the top keyboardists in the scene without a doubt, do you think his integration on the band bringing new ideas has increased in relation to "Episode"?
You are right! When we started doing songs for "Episode" we didn't know who would play the drums or the keyboards for the album. Then we got Jörg and Jens. But for "Visions" we knew it would be the same guys so we let them do more of their own things. And we also mixed the keyboards a little bit more on the top.

In my opinion that was a wise move: Very few keyboardists could contribute to enrich the sound of an established band, as Stratovarius is, the way Jens is able to... for instance, the other day I had the chance of seeing an old 1985 Malmsteen japanesse live videotape (best Jeff Scott Soto era, etc) and it was quite amazing seeing Jens performance... 12 years ago. A bit younger then :-) but this is a good sample of what an incredible experience and musical education he has I think... he's also a very funny character, right?
Yeah, almost too funny... :-) It's always nice to see him again. He has no worries just music!

Talking about yourself as a vocalist, which singers of any genre you remember helped you at the beginning of your career to pulish your own style?
I think there're some good singers like Ronnie James Dio, Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson and David Coverdale... I favor singer with a clean voice and good sense of melody. As performers Ronnie and Bruce are brilliant.

Before joining Stratovarius in "Fourth Dimension" album, what kind of musical activities or bands you were involved with?
I had a local band back in the central Finland where I was born. The music was a little bit heavier than Strato's but melodic with high pitch vocals.

Apart from being a professional musician, have you worked in other kind of stable jobs before?
Not really, I've been working some time in a local radio, but that's about it.

I see... Talking about this, correct me if I'm wrong, but in Finland there's only one metal radio show broadcasted for all the nation, the one conducted by Klaus Flaming. Could this fact give even more relevance to your long presence on charts there?
It's true. "Metalliliitto" is the only real metal show here! Klaus is a very nice guy and has been supporting us a lot! There is actually another metal show which is mainly ment for swedish speakers living in Finland. But "Metalliliitto" (Metalunion) is the BEST! One finnish music show in television called "Jyrki" has shown our videos maybe two times, but that's about it. Radios still don't play our music because they've got their fucking playlists!

That's the way it is, yes... what regards Stratovarius official Fan Club, "Legions of the Twilight World", it has an intense activity which contributes in great part to promote Stratovarius worldwide, keeping in touch with people who perhaps have had not the chance of seeing Stratovarius on stage yet or with band newcomers for example... Have you noticed since its creation this bigger and bigger response in terms of popularity I just mentioned?
Yes I have. We have more and more fans joining in! We don't want to make money with our fanclub that's why we try to keep the annual fee as low as possible (20$). Our fanclub members can join the lottery and the lucky winners can meet the band during the tour. If it's possible we always try to talk with our fans, but sometime it's so busy schedule that it's quite hard.

What comes to your mind when you hear the name of "Sibelius"?
A very good finnish composer. The song "Finlandia" is superb!

And when you hear the name of "Maarit"?
A typical finnish name for a girl. What else?

Gotcha Timo! :-) What about Maarit Hurmerinta the famous finnish singer?
I actually thought that you might think about her but was not sure! Yes, she's very good. Who do you know about her, she's not so popular?

[Tape tradings are a blessing sometimes :-) particularly for this kind of material not easy to find outside the artist's original country...]
How do you personally see the European metal panorama nowadays?
It's been down a few years but hopefully it's coming back! At least we are doing better year by year. It's still very hard because there's so many lousy techno bands around and the media is supporting that kind of a music.

Yes, that's a fact... I think there should be room for every genre in the media, but it's a shame when one compares the portion of repercussion power metal or more progressive music takes in relation to those trendy acts you pointed, right... Japan is usually a good reference for a metal band, when judging musical quality I mean... There media seems to have a more objective approach to what honest and good music truly is, don't you think?
I agree. Japanese people are very much into good music and musicianship.

Do you have any other artistic interest apart from the strictly musical? Painting, literature, etc...
Well I read a lot of history books and some sci-fi books.

Now that you mention history books, did you give a hand to document the passages about Nostradamus prophecies from "Visions" perhaps?
Actually not. I read it after Timo wrote the lyrics. Right now I'm into Roman history.

I see... well, thanks a lot for your interest Timo. All the best.
Thanks Martin, all the best to your readers and our fans! See you on tour!

See you on tour, sure! By the way Timo, when we will see you taking part on that "tango singing" contest? :-)
Maybe next year! Just kidding :-) Maybe I will sing the songs one octave higher and with a lot more volume!

[E-mail]
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[Legions of the Twilight World (Official Fan Club) P.O. Box 145, 00532 Helsinki, Finland]
[Fax - (732) 767-1616]

Thank you very much to Terhi Keskitalo (Strato Official FC) for her undying support and all her help in putting this interview.