The nightmare of finnish pop fans

Tuomas, you can´t deny that there was an unpleasant pressure lasting on your shoulders?
Tuomas: Yes, but this pressure doesn´t come from outside. We weren´t sure if the songs are good enough for NW. Otherwise it wasn´t so hard to write the new record. If you´re true to yourself and only write that kind of music that you like, nothing can go wrong.

You should never think about what other people would think about the songs. In this case, you´d put too much pressure on yourself. The whole band was surprised about the wave of sympathy they received during the last year.
Tarja: The tour with Rage were our first gigs outside Finland. We didn´t know what to expect. We were astonished by the great feedback that gave us more self-confidence.

You could have copied that winning recipe of "Oceanborn" and composed a very similar record.
Tuomas: No, we hadn´t enough time to waste time about this. We wanted to release "Wishmaster" in May. We got into a sweat when the deadline came closer.

"Wanderlust" sounds a little bit like several "Oceanborn" songs.
Tuomas: It was my fault. "Wanderlust" was the last song I composed for "Wishmaster". I thought we needed some more keyboards on the record and the people would like it.

Tuomas, isn´t it strange to write lyrics that are sung by a woman?
Tuomas: Well, it´s no problem. I had to change some lyrics of "She is my sin" because some parts would have sounded silly if a woman would sing it.

Tarja, have you ever refused some of his lyrics?
Tarja: Not yet. I have to put myself in his position when I´m singing the lyrics. To be honest, I don´t know what he wanted to say in "She is my sin."

Have you ever thought about writing lyrics for NW?
Tarja: No, I´m not quite talented in poetry. Tuomas is the soul of NW. He´s the man who knows how to turn emotions into words.

The tour with Rage was a load test for your voice.
Tarja: My voice got over the tour better than expected. But we had to cancel a show in Barcelona because of illness.

You had to go into a hospital where noone spoke english.

Tarja: Right, it was horrible. We had to communicate with our hands and our feet. Then the doctor found out that I´m an opera singer. So she forbid me to sing for two weeks. I told her that it´s impossible. Then I got some medicine which made me feel like I´m drunk, but it helped to resume our tour. It´s tough for me to sing five consecutive shows in a row.

How would you sum-up your tour with RAGE?
Tuomas: We had a great time with RAGE. There weren´t any tensions between us.

You also entered the race to the European Song Contest.
Tuomas: That was great fun! The audience voted us on the first place while the jury voted us on the last place. We finished third. The newspapers made big stories about this. Actually, we didn´t take this contest that serious. We wanted to mess up the whole conservative music scene and were happy about this cheap publicity.

NW became very popular in Finland. The media concentrate themselves mostly on Tarja.
Tarja: It´s all so strange. I enjoy it to be in the public. Every day I receive lots of e-mails and I´m trying to reply most of them. I´m only fed up with those people who want to communicate with me, just because I´m a female singer in a heavy metal band. On the last tour, I once was surrounded by lots of fans. I felt a little bit scared so I´m trying to have one of the boys around me.

Has your success with NW influenced your carrer as an operatic singer in a positive way?
Tarja: Not at all. The classic music scene here in Finland is really conservative and they don´t like to sere in Finland is really conservative and they don´t like to see that someone´s breaking taboos. On the other hand, a lot of bands and projects, e.g. Edguy and The Kovenant asked me if I could help them.

It would be great to hear classic instruments on NW records.
Tuomas: Indeed. Some choirs, a little orchestra ... but it´s impossile now because of financial reasons. And I have to learn how to arrange all of this.
But even without classic instruments we can be happy about the upcoming festival shows. The highlight will be definatly the Wacken Open Air, where 20.000 people will be cheering to the band.
Tarja: What? How many people will be there? 20.000?

I think you don´t feel comfortable?
Tarja: Well, we played some festivals in Finland. But they weren´t that big. I think I will be very nervous and I´ll run permanently to the toilet (laughs).