Stratovarius picks up the pace

The Stratovarius guys canīt sit at home and just spin their thumbs, so their working pace is mind-boggling. They have just

released a double live album, which was recorded on the European tour last fall and they already have time scheduled for

the recordings of the next studio album. The album is due next fall.

 

Itīs once again time to check how these metal dogs are doing. We get to meet Timo Tolkki, the Enlightened. We will learn

what is caipirinha and we will also hear why it is not advisable to drink white and red wine simultaneously.

 

Stratovarius double live "Visions of Europe" was recorded last autumn in Milan and Athens. The set list follows closely the

bandīs live set, all the songs have been taken from the last three Stratovarius albums. Unfortunately they didnīt choose to

include the wild stage version of Finnish folk song "Säkkijärven Polkka" that they use to shred outside Finland.

 

Their latest studion album "Visions" was released last spring so Stratovariusī working pace is murderous. The businessmen i.e.

the record label reps have been moping that the records should not be released at so rapid pace. The band says that they donīt

want to sit at home and spin their thumbs. Itīs much more fun to make albums and play gigs.

 

Stratovariusī vocalist Timo Kotipelto levels with me and tells that he doesnīt expect the live album to sell a lot.

Concert albums are always directed to the true fans who want to reminisce the show they saw. Of course live albums bear

some interest also for the people who canīt attend the shows. Stratovarius have some fans in the United States,

where the band has never played.

 

Donīt think that Stratovarius is going to slow down after releasing the live disc. This May theyīre going to the studio to record the

follow-up to "Visions" The guys have the ideas for 16 songs ready, so there definitely isnīt any kind of shortage on material.

The album is supposed to be released next October. The band thinks that musically the new album is closer to "Episode" than "Visions",

but it will definitely be the Stratovarius you know. Somethingīs up with the touring plans as well. When German drummer Jörg Michael

and Jens Johansson, the keyboardist who lives in New York will arrive to complete their jobs in the studio, there will be a chance

to play a few shows in Finland. In the summer Stratovarius will play festivals both in Finland and abroad. At the Dynamo festival in

the Netherlands Stratovarius will play the same stage with the original Black Sabbath line-up.

"It takes place in the last weekend of May. There will be three stages, thereīs an alternative stage, then thereīs some pussy-stage

and a metal stage.", describes Kotipelto.

 

ENLIGHTENMENT

 

Timo Tolkki arrives a little late for our meeting, so Kotipelto has the opportunity to let us know that itīs the new and enlightened

Tolkki who is coming and he is to be taken cautiously. When Tolkki appears, the first thing he says is that he canīt talk

anymore, he has been thinking way too deep things lately. Maybe the situation will get better as spring brings itīs hurries.

 

"Itīs so great to get to play again.", Tolkki smiles. "But when our domestic Swede Jens arrives in Finland, I definitely wonīt

let him stay at our house anymore. I canīt watch that. On the other hand he is one of the most balanced persons I know but there

is something weird about him. Maybe he actually is very intelligent and decides to cover his brightness with all sorts of stupidity.

Then again, he may be that stupid for real."

 

"Canīt someone be intelligently stupid?", asks Kotipelto. Sure can. Anyway, on Stratovariusī homepages Jens states his hobbies

to be pisswalking, embroidery and vandalism. When you take into account Stratovariusī hard working pace, numerous shows,

pretty rapidly released albums and their popularity abroad, it is strange that there hasnīt been a Stratovarius video.

When will there be such a thing? A porn video?", asks Tolkki. "Sure, it might be the right time for a video too. The band gets

bigger and bigger and our market is already quite big. The fans have that deep longing. For a video. And us too. But I canīt

say anything about any schedule concerning a video, our contract will end after our next studio release. Itīs not a secret that

weīre thinking about changing labels. I have never signed a deal for more than three albums. So, after this album we can

do whatever we want. Sure, weīre happy with Noise, itīs all about money. If Noise wishes to keep us, they will have to pay

accordingly."

 

"Weīre not in a hurry although the decision about the record label has to be made by the end of this year. We will just play metal

and occasionally get drunk and...Enlighten ourselves? "Whatīs this deal with enlightenment?", asks Tolkki. "Iīve only just

begun to search for something. I didnīt find it in religion. I am sort of happy about that. I can respect a person who believes

in God if he can respect the fact that I donīt share that faith." "Actually this is the first time in my life when I donīt have to worry

about anything. You see, we have a manager. Iīm just sitting here wondering what should I do next."

 

Stratovarius has hired themselves a German manager who has worked with drummer Jörg Michael earlier. Tolkki highlights that the

manager only negotiates and isnīt allowed to make any decisions by himself. Thatīs the final revenge to the Germans, a Finn gets to

say the final word.

 

Now Jörg Michaelīs status in Stratovarius has been settled as well.He has been playing in several bands in the last couple of years,

but now that too, is over. "I went to Germany to have a chat with Jörg.", explains Tolkki. "I was worried because Jörg played in all

sorts of metal bands. I told him to choose between Stratovareius and all of those other bands, I was pissed of beacuse every

interviewer asked me whether Jörg is a regular member of the band or not. I told them that the only regular member is my leg.

Not that itīs that important but weīre in a position where our fans identify themselves to us, to the different personalities in the band.

If Jörg keeps on playing in every goddamn band and his mug appears in several bandsī albums, itīs not good for the band.

The drummer is a big element in Stratovarius."

 

"Jörg took this very well. He pondered for a while which of all these bands would be the best option and chose us. He will play

a couple more of Running Wild gigs, but after that he will have no activities outside Stratovarius."

 

RAKING UP THE VOTES

 

In Soundi magazineīs annual poll Stratovarius piled up a fine amount of votes. The readers voted Timo Tolkki for the best musician

in Finland. Stratovarius was the fourth in the bands category, Timo Kotipelto was the fourth on the vocalists lists and even bassist

Jari Kainulainen got some votes in the playersī category. "I think itīs nothing short of fair that Tolkki finally got the attention he deserves.",

says Timo Kotipelto. "Jari is also damn pleased, as a bassist, that he made it to the list."

 

"We have no boundaries in this band right now, everyone can play what he wants.", Tolkki says. "Of course it feels great to have

such a success on the poll, I have to admit that. I would never have believed this would happen when I started playing the guitar.

Some force has driven me through the years to write more songs and Iīve never given up, Iīve just written more and more of songs,

beaten my head to wall some more. Sure, it took a few years."

 

"I think the important thing in that poll is not that Timo and I got so high rankings in our individual categories, but that the

band had such a success.", notes Kotipelto. "Sure, itīs cool when one or two guys are put on a pedestal, but the most significant

thing is that our band and our album have received so much positive feedback. One interesting thing in that poll is that we were the

number one band of the Finnish bands who sing in English."

 

Stratovarius has been a huge success in foreign polls too. In Italy two metal magazines elected Stratovarius as the band of the year

and another number one ranking came from Greece. So it should be no surprise that Startovarius has been invited to play the

Gods of Metal festival in Milan. Stratovarius has been placed in a good position at the festival, which takes place at a stadium of

25.000 seats. They will play after such names as Helloween and Gamma Ray and only Pantera and Black Sabbath will play after

Stratovarius.

 

"Weīve never made any evening tabloid headlines with these things.", says Tolkki. "In Finland the so called stars make such headlines

- hereīs where the old Tolkki comes into picture - about things they havenīt done yet. Fortunately theyīve been more silent lately,

even Miisa works at a kiosk in Turku. What sort of future do you predict for Linda Lampenius? "Linda is a tough broad, she has

figured out that sex is a huge power. As long as thereīs sex, you can make money all the while. Linda even sacrificed her

boyfriend to that. Everything can be arranged when you arenīt too particular about how you use your thangs. I donīt know how

far Linda has gotten with her thang, the album she made in Finland profoundly sucks. Those Casio keyboard bases are just awful.

She may be a good classical violinist, but sheīs just a copy of Vanessa Mae, she even plays the same frigging songs. Maybe Linda

is easy to market with her blonde Scandinavian looks. Big hooters and knickers flash. She might sell even more albums if she played

totally in the nude."

 

Tolkki admit that it wouldnīt harm Stratovarius if they agreed to be a bit more of a product, but thatīs not something that becomes

the nature of a Finnish male. Of course Stratovarius has an image as well, but it hasnīt been constructed on purpose. Itīs true that

the boys in the band have to ponder about how many times to change your socks in a week, but you canīt sell music with clothes.

At least not metal.

 

Straovarius doesnīt even pretend that they canīt think about the commercial side of the business. They have their gear endorsements

but only now they have started to think about other forms of sponsorship deals too. They just have to find a product they can

stand behind, and it has to have credibility within the metal community so that whole thing wonīt be a complete joke.

 

WHEN A FAN TREMBLES

 

Timo Tolkki says that he knows what will be the title for the next studio album, but he wonīt tell it. In fact, they donīt even send

the demos to their record label. Tolkki wants to keep them in suspense, let them fear that itīs a grunge album,

Tolkkiīs ultimate revenge. Tolkki gives us that much that in some of the new songs he would like to use a big choir and an even

bigger orchestra. Those would fit the songs dealing with enlightenment particularly well. Theboy choir Cantores Minores would

be a good choise, given that they would sing their parts in the Great Church of Helsinki totally naked.

 

Stratovarius has every opportunity to record their album abroad, but they feel that now Finland is the better choise. At least the

mixing will be done at Finnvox, but the singing has to be done at some more atmospherical location.

 

Tolkki wonīt have any talk about an outsider as the producer. Of course he will be doing the job by himself.

 

"Do you think that Iīd hire some outsider for the job? Tell me one good reason. Itīs the same thing when a painter tells another

painter that I have this artwork, you go ahead and do it. I have the technical knowledge and Mikko Karmila in my own use.

 

"I think that there will be a longer break after the next studio album. You have to remember that for many people our band is a

completely new thing so we canīt have a four year long break at this stage. This is our job. If you sell bread in a shop, you

will go to work every day. If youīre a journalist in Soundi magazine, you go around the world, drink booze and have interviews

with bands. This is our job, but we have this freedom. We have to be grateful for that even though it sometimes screws up your head."

 

Tolkki says that thereīs a reason why it has been so easy to write songs for the next album. He just poured his thoughts, worries,

feelings and experience to the songs. Now that he has reached the balance in his life (and it isnīt Jesus but something else) it

can be so that he can no longer write songs. Tolkki says that the whole Stratovarius backlog is full of stories about everyday

life and personal experience. You can find the man and the mind in all of those songs. "Dreamspace" was a dark record and when

reading the lyrics afterwards Tolkki was shocked. "Damn, everything about me was in there, I should draw the line between

privacy and public relations."

 

"I guess itīs okay that Tolkki pours his feeling into the songs," says Kotipelto, "But he doesnīt have to start explaining them.

Itīs infuriating when some people start asking about what does some particular word in some sentence mean. It doesnīt necessarily

need to mean anything but some sort of a feeling, itīs not always something that has really happened."

 

"In Japan the fans take everything maybe too seriously.," Tolkki says, "They cry and tremble. There everything works but nothing

get arranged easily. Itīs such a weird land. We have fans there who take our music too seriously, they take it like it was the

Bible or something. Weīve had some experiences it Japan which make you go like what the hell. People come to the backstage and

shake and say that they can die now when theyīve touched Timo Tolkki."

 

There was some pretty weird happenings in Italy last summer during the last tour. The sanitary arrangements were somewhat lacking and

the band had to go to the restrooms across the parking lot. Timo Kotipelto decided to take a leak as no one was in sight. When he

returned from the restroom, he noticed he was watching a huge army of fans. Two of the women knelt down and whined that now

heavenhad came on earth.

 

WHITE AND RED WINE

 

Timo Tolkki, now that youīre enlightened, have you completely quit drinking alcohol?

 

"I donīt know if you can call it being enlighted, " grunts Tolkki. "Iīm just starting the search of myself. Iīve only been enlighted

for a couple of weeks. But have no fear, I wonīt quit drinking altogether."

 

"Itīs just that I drank quite a lot on last yearīs tours. I drank more and more every tour. Our bassist Jari assisted me in it.

We could drink a ten beers during the show. We drank two beers before the show and when the drum solo was on, there was

time to down one more. I learned to finish the bottle right before the guitar riffs started and when the set was over, we were

already pretty sauced. The Brazilian gigs were the culmination point in that and even after that we kept on doing that all over the Europe."

 

"I was actually a bit worried about it.", confesses Kotipelto. "Fortunately they still played well. After the tours there was some concern

about it all though." "The boozing hit itīs peak in Berlin.", says Tolkki with a touch of longing in his voice. "We had Ali from Corporal

Punishment drinking with us. It was pretty bad, I gave every German their share in the night club. I dank white and red wine simultaneously,

a bottle in each corner of my mouth. Eventually I somehow managed to get to my bed in the nightliner. In the morning I awoke a mess.

I had puked the bed full and there was this ten centimeter space between the bed and the wall, I had puked in there too. Of course

I cleaned the mess by myself but it wasnīt possible to clean that little space beside the wall. The lightliner reeked of vomit for

days. It was that dark red puke, we had eaten some strange food that night."

 

"Looks like Iīm getting you back.", says Kotipelto. "Youīre not as enlightened as you say you are, because the puking is still

so interesting that you keep on talking about it for five minutes." "This was the former me.", Tolkki confesses.

 

AND THEN SOME CAIRIPINHA

 

The last time Stratovarius was on tour was the 10th of November. The town was Buenos Aires. The band was finishing their 12 days

long South American tour, which went tremendously well. Only the flight schedules were too tight, there was eleven flights during

those twelve days. Fortunately the Trans Brazil planes were modern Boeing jumbo jets.

 

Stratovarius tour started in Salvador, where there was 33 centigradesī heat. Afterwards everything the guys can remember is

the endless beach, because all of the shows were in coast cities.

 

"The sun was shining and we played in the water like a bunch of kids.", describes Tolkki. "That tour was practically only beaches.

It was amazing. We were well taken care of, they didnīt let us gettoo familiar with the ghetto areas."

 

"My shoes were stolen at the beach. It was the only time we had any touch with the criminal elements.", says Kotipelto. "We were

swimming with Tolkki and Jari was watching the shoes and drinking beer. The only time he moved was when he moved the towels from

on front of the tide. When I came from the water I started wondering where the fuck where my shoes. Someone has taken them

already."

 

"In Rio they told me that itīs the most dangerous city in the world. Maybe so, but the two of us, Jari and me walked around there at night.

On the other hand, we only walked for 300 meters to the beach and back. In Rio it was a drag that there was such a thick mist.

We even went to see the Jesus statue, but it could hardly be seen."

 

Stratovariusī guys get enthusiastic about the Brazilian cuisine as well. "The chicken hearts were a bit too much.", says Kotipelto.

"The local national shot Cairipinha seemed to please some of us pretty well. Thereīs some cruched ice, sugar, lime and the mixture

of tequila and vodka in it." "It goes well to you head.", admits Tolkki. "I broke my records in Sao Paulo where we were in an aftershow

party in a place called Manifesto Pub. The owner of the place had told the fans that we were there to sign autographs. There was this so

called VIP room, which actually was a balcony. Before we got there, we got scratched. I drank twelve cairipinhas and four beers.

At some stage I was allegedly throwing glasses around. There were two gorillas at the door and supposedly I had told them

I would kick their asses."

 

"Then I wrestled with Tolkki." ,says Kotipelto. "Must have been some sight." It served Tolkki right that there was a photo session

at ten oīclock the next morning. The pictures turned out surprisingly frisky.

 

But thatīs not the end of Stratovariusī wonderous adventures in South America. In Sao Paulo there was an autigraphing session in

a local record store. When the band arrived, it was clear that the store was three by six meters in size and there was a queue at

the door 400 meters long.

 

"There were eight doormen in the shop, who threw four people inside at a time.", explains Kotipelto. "When a little girl tried to take

a photo of us, she shook so bad she couldnīt get her camera to work. She was thrown out in a second and she started to cry."

 

"When we got out of there, it was something like the Beatlemania. The fans were running after us and the girls were screaming.

WhenI saw that the crying little girl was still there, I stopped for a moment so that she could take the photo. In a second there was six

or seven girls around me and I couldnīt get anywhere. Luckily one of the gorillas showed up and started lifting the girls off me."

 

From Sao Paulo Stratovarius flew to Argentina for two more shows in Buenos Aires. The venue was smaller than Helsinkiīs Tavastia

club but there was 1300 people in there. There was no way to the backstage except through the audience. There was a line of security

guards beside the wall, who formed a gateway a meter wide for the band. The fans scratched and pulled the musiciansī hairs. When

the set started, there were explosions in the audience. It came clear to the Finns that the locals use to celebrate the band with

firecrackers and fireworks.

 

Now Stratovarius has been allured to return to South America. There has been some talk that the forthcoming studio album would

be promoted with tours both in Japan and South America.

 

"Should we got to South America in December, it will be summer in there then.", Tolkki notes, "So it will be 45 or so centigradesī

temperature in there."

 

There are official Stratovarius albums for sale in South America, but the ones more commonly found in the shops there are not all

that official. There was a Canadian print of "Episode" available there and there is no Canadian print of that particular disc.

Thereīs also a bootleg of the Rio de Janeiro show, which is apparently made by the same guy who arranged the show.

 

"Thatīs one of the reasons we wanted to release this live album.", concludes Tolkki. "There are already so much bootlegs.

Now the fans get to hear a live disc with a good sound."

 

 

text: Juho Juntunen

translation: Mape