Interview: Dimitris Kazantzis

Rockpages.gr: I would like to start from your summer European Tour that comes to an end. Are you happy with the crowd’s reaction so far?

Tarja Turunen: I am so happy with it…I visited for the first time countries that I have never been before like Croatia and Serbia. Everybody in the band is putting everything the have in the show and the fans know it. So yes…I am happy! I can’t complain (laughs)!

Rockpages.gr: In a Tarja Turunen concert one can tell the dynamic of a show by the fans’ attendance number. In a festival, can you really distinguish if the people have come there for you or they just happen to be there?

Tarja Turunen: Actually, it was the first time that I did a festival tour and I was kind of worried about various things like for instance how the crowd will react, how good the production will be…stuff like that. Luckily, everything turned out great! People seem to accept my new career as a solo artist. All in all, the people in festivals –at least the ones that I was part of- were appreciative towards all the bands of the bill. It was a good atmosphere. It’s something new to me…I am trying to establish myself…with this new beginning and…so far so good!

Rockpages.gr: In the beginning of 2009, you announced the title of your new album (“What Lies Beneath”) but it will be released sometime into 2010. Wasn’t it a little bit premature? Will there be a single or an EP before it?

Tarja Turunen: No...I think that it is the best time to have the album ready by the beginning of 2010. I am not sure if there is going to be an EP before the album…that’s something that has to do with the record company. I really hope to be in the studio in February and start pre-production on the album. I want to have the album out before or after the World Cup in the summer (laughs)! If I would have released it by the start of the World Cup nobody would pay attention to the music…everybody would watch the games.

Rockpages.gr: So, is football above the music?

Tarja: Yeah! (laughs) September will probably be a good month for the record…

Rockpages.gr: Let’s talk about the album…how different it will be in comparison with “My Winter Storm”. What new elements should we expect from it?

Tarja Turunen: We haven’t started writing yet, but I guess that the new album would be more powerful, more aggressive…more metal in general. This would be my second studio album and I have already the experience of the debut…the fans know what to expect and they know that I will deliver something personal and in the same time something that will be varied from my past effort. I am not satisfied with repeating the atmosphere of any of my past albums. So, I guess that they will be new elements in there but right now it’s too early to say. But, I am pretty sure that it will also be a natural follow-up to “My Winter Storm”.

Rockpages.gr: Do you think that now, after two years since its release, “My Winter Storm” had stood the test of time?

Tarja Turunen: Of course…the reaction has been great and all the reviews were positive. I was very happy with the result and even happier with the fact that the fans have embraced the new material. The tour that we did was also very successful so...yes...I think that the album stands the test of time.

Rockpages.gr: Last year, you released a really interesting EP called “The Seer”. How did the collaboration with Doro come up?

Tarja Turunen: Actually, it was the Doro management that conducted me about the possibility of doing a duet with her. Of course, I agreed and we did the song “Walking With The Angels” that is included in Doro’s new album. So I said, we should do something that will be on an album of mine (laughs)! The funny thing is that we didn’t meet for the recording of the song…It was one of the best collaborations and I strongly believe that Doro is one of the finest female vocalists…but I guess everybody knows that!

Rockpages.gr: Your touring and studio band features top class musicians. Will you have them also for the upcoming Fall Tour and the new album?

Tarja Turunen: Of course…at least, I hope so…that’s the plan. As you know, the musicians that I work with are really professional and that is a fact that makes me really happy. But, if their schedules would work with mine then…yes, we will work together in the studio, too. And, of course, I would love to have them on tour with me…people know their faces and acknowledge their abilities…I couldn’t ask for something more!

Rockpages.gr: The last time that we talked, you had said to me that you’d probably see yourself in 15 years singing Opera. Do you think that maybe this time approaches?

Tarja Turunen: Well I hope so…you know…I hope that in the future my voice would be even stronger. We will see…for the time being I focus on my career as a solo artist and if the conditions are right in the future…and if I am lucky then…who knows? Maybe, I will do Opera, too. 

Rockpages.gr: Do you think that the opera audience will welcome a singer that made a name from the metal scene?

Tarja Turunen: They have done it already! I have done Opera in Finland and people were really positive…they didn’t pay attention to the fact that I am the singer of a metal band. After all, they don’t expect to hear metal songs in the Opera…they wanna hear a good and powerful voice. Let me tell you something…the Opera audience shares one thing in common with the metal audience: the love for music! As I say…I am not a fan of metal music, I am a fan of music…simple as that! It’s a beautiful thing that I have already managed to do both Opera and metal. I love them both, you know.

Rockpages.gr: You are a citizen of two countries. What are really the differences between the Finnish and the Argentinean crowd?

Tarja Turunen: The Latin American fans are crazy and hot blooded…like the Greek audience! The Finnish fans tend to be more reserved…this is the case, also, with the European fans…at least in most of the countries. They seem to like the music but they don’t go crazy like the Argentinean –for example- crowd. The both love the music but they express it in a different kind of way. This is the best thing…people express their love to you in so many different ways. They perfectly know that I always do the best for them. 

Rockpages.gr: One of the ways that the artist promotes his or her career is the merchandise. Do you ever think yourself as a Mego doll, an action figure or a character in a video game?

Tarja Turunen: (laughs) I guess that the fans would love to have the Tarja doll…there are fans that make stuff for me…dolls, figures, they draw pictures of myself…some of them are really good.  I am not against this kind of merchandise…I mean, if the music is good then all the other stuff is supplemental. The one thing that must remain consistent is the music…but…if, I can see myself as a doll…(laughs) I really don’t know!

Rockpages.gr: I probably know the answer to that last question, but our readers want to hear it straight from you…the last Nightwish Tour got negative reviews from the worldwide music press. Maybe, there is something in the horizon…?

Tarja Turunen: Are there such rumors in Greece…(laughs)…me and Nightwish…? Noooo…of course, not!

Rockpages.gr: I was sure but I wanted to hear it straight from you…

Tarja Turunen: No, there are just rumors. There is no truth in that.