Wywiad z Tuomasem dla tygodnika Suomen Kuvalehti 25-26/2005

czarnycharakter

Over two hundred sold cd, world tour, hysterical fans. Still Tuomas Holopainen the songwriter of Nightwish longs back to his childhood. "Bad self-confidence is the biggest tragedy of my life."

Here Tuomas Holopainen retires , when he has a time during touring time. A cottage island on lake Pyhäjärvi on Kitee is "the best place on the earth."

Pavement ends, warns the sign. We are in North-Carelia in Kitee and the town is already faraway. Behind us lies plenty of kilometres dense birch grove, occasional pieces of fields and few early summers warms exhausted cow. Edges are sprouting daisies.

On the yard swing of the white detached house , is waiting a man, who doesn"t fit to the landscape at the first sight: Long dishevelling hair , eyes make up dark, tight jeans and a dark jean jacket. Front of it reads Nightwish.
Musician-composer Tuomas Holopainen, 27, greets us and invites us in. He seem to be that sort of person, with whom is no use to try small talk. Besides the lunch is already served.
Tuomas"s mother Kirsti Nortia-Holopainen and his father Pentti Holopainen has a lot to talk about. Mother brings us immediately to the turn to the old family house., which earlier was founded as a "villa shop". From the new terrace opens lake Heinäjärvi "so bright , that you can"t wash your carpets there". On the chest of drawers lies a picture of mothers father, vicar and wedding bible. Mother and father have been together since the age of puberty, 50 years. Tuomas stays on the back ground like a teenager embarrassed by relatives who had come to visit, he won"t take a part to conversation. He lives with his parents as a "peräkamarin poikana (as a boy who haven "t get married yet.)", because he had had no time to build his own detached house. Even now there is a 13 months gone with the Nightwishes world tour: Europe, Japan, Australia, America -there is hardly enough time to a short visit to home.
"Tuomas hasn"t chance at all. He is still very home oriented." mother tells. "Come to have some lunch." says Pentti Holopainen and interrupts us. He has cooked a false morel soup and slightly salted salmon. For drink is Nightwish beer.

Upstairs Disneyland

Tuomas' room is in upstairs. On the walls of stairway hangs a plenty of Nightwishes gold- and

platinum albums. There is few more waiting at corner. There are 20-30 of them", says Tuomas.

Even though the soprano singer Tarja Turunen has given her face and voice to Nightwish, the keyboard player of the band Tuomas Holopainen is the man behind the music. On internets fan pages he is decrypted a musical genius, who gives an extra heart beatings for many women. Many people are wondering about his musicality: we don"t know a lot about his private life, even though the records has sold already two and half million copies.
"If I should describe myself with a one word it would be escapist. I watch a lot of movies and I read books. Music too is escaping from everyday life." Tuomas light up.

The pomposity music of Nightwish borns in Tuomases "Peräkamarissa".(known in Finland usually for men place to live when they are not married yet.)

His room will tell something about it too: its full of fantasy- and Disney things. Donald Duck (=Auk Ankka) and mates are wandering in posters, lamps, carpets, ties -which he never uses- even in suitcases. Cupboards are full of comics and fantasy literature: Tolkien, Sue Harrison, Stephen King.
And in the middle of all this a synthesizer laid to the lake scenery. There will born all those bombast melodies, with classical music laded metal tunes and melancholic lyrics, which Nightwish is used to known.
Tuomas takes on a comic book written by Don Rosa. On one square stands low-spirited Uncle Scrooge (=Roope Ankka) on his mothers grave. "As Cliché it might sound, these are the things that gives me a lot of inspiration." he says. "Without music and Disney I would be hanged for a long time ago".

A Diary markings in Norway

"Good evening Oslo" Tarja Turunen shouts to the microphone, and 9000 audience in Spectrum hall bellows thee answer. Hands are straighten out towards the stage, where in the large back screen an angel has became exhauster to the altar. First line is pressing close ganist the fence. The school year has ended in Norway, and Nightwish is the main crowd puller for the concert who celebrates the beginning of the summer holiday. Most of the audience has worn on a fan shirts of Nightwish, even though later there is going to perform a rock legend Mötley Crüe from USA. Before the gig Tuomas has been exited as always, stopped speaking a quarter before the Beginning -knocking with his fingers to the air, searching the coming songs. "Tuomas needs a lot of own peace." manager Ewo Pohjola says. But on the stage, you can"t see the tension, not even the shyness or awkwardness . Tuomas is playing with leg"s separated, beats the keys roughly, waving his hair and rises his right hand up to the air like V for Victory. Between playing he drinks from his red wine bottle which is fastened to his keyboards. Haughty "scenery metal fills the air. On the floor packed audience relaxes along. Camera phones lift up, like lighters formerly. And the crowds sings loud along -Tuomases dairy extract oriented words: My loving heart, lost in the dark..
"On the stage you listen your own
songs and think, that was how I thought then and that is. Yes, you can estimate me during my music", Tuomas says before the gig. "Of course it gives satisfaction when it goes somewhere in Brazil and 10 000 people suddenly sings along. Then you can laugh a bit to the beard". After playing one hour, Nightwish thanks and bowns.

Be the Star on the sky

17 Years old Norwegian girls Lene Kornelivtsen and Karoline Baekkevold are rushing to the outdoor, like many other too, to watch if they might see even a little sight of their idol. In situation like this Tuomas founds himself a bit humoristic aspects:
"I"m quite harmless and colourless person, who doesn"t woke up a lot of emotions. Lene and Karolina had before bought one person a Night wish -name and now they would like to give to Tuomas a telescope. Tuomas is their absolute idol, "profound, mystical, handsome, interesting". The girls snatch is not big. One German woman, has seen Nightwish almost 60times all over the world, and popped up to Tuomases home to Kitee twice ("she could even phone before"). To Tuomas has to internet created also a foreign fan pages, where discussion about the idol goes eagerly.. "It feels very weird, when you don"t know, what to think about them" the target of the attention thinks. He has decided not to read those forums, "just because of my mental health". Because there s usually a critic, which he is sensible with.

On the bottom, self confidence

Oars dash against shallow water. Air is already getting cooler to the evening. Tuomas Holopainen has fetched a glass--fiber-boat from narrow boathouse, he takes guest on the boat from landing-stage. He has promised to show "tho most beautiful place on earth", his family cottage island on Kitee on lake Pyhäjärvi. "When I go the trip, I search experiences. From here, I search peace." he says. Even though friends has already moved away from Kitee, Tuomas is about to stay. "I"m very lucky, when I don"t have to move away because of the work". He has always felt happy alone by himself. "I haven"t inherit the social of my parents". In fact Tuomas is a very pleasant company. He answers widely to all guestions, even though he wont start talking. He listens well. Smiles regularly. And his stories are fun: He for example is wondering to get himself to a character to Donald Duck (we could be Maria Murunen and Yötoive (=Nightwish)), he admires his 64 years-old mother, who goes to the Finnish baseball matches with Nightwish shirt and leather trousers. Trifling himself seem to be in his backbone.

Mother, father and son on "noon coffee". Family takes closely care each other.

"Bad self- confidence is the biggest tragedy of my life. Sometimes it is a "self- hating", that you are not satisfied with anything you do" Tuomas admits. "On the other hand it has kept me very humble. Every time I met some new people I think, that it is better than I am". Tuomas has no answer to where it comes from. "I had the most happiest childhood in the world." On the concerts of Nightwish that feeling passes away for a moment. Repressions gets out, and better feeling in. It is the main reason, for Tuomas to became a musician. He wondered a long time about the career of a seabiologi, he even studied the natural scients at the university of Kuopio, but began then to concentrate to his hobby started in childhood -without any other possibility. "I compose songs only for that reason, that it would bring for me a better feeling, and I could get my head in heap.

The paradise of childhood

On the island lies a "smoke-sauna", a small cottage, and a smaller cottage, where Tuomas usually sleeps, when his sister and brother come to visit with their families. A broken-winged crow jumps between the bilberries. "Nature will take care of it. Tuomas says. A mink has a litter under the saunas veranda.".

This is a place to rest for "heavy man", the paradise of the childhood, which the old memories are making extremely beautiful. "I"m sometimes here a whole week, without going anywhere." He is usually missing the times of his childhood. That, when he thought that you can a friend with everybody, and world is a nice place. "That sort of innocence I have ranted in my songs these last two years. When I watch myself now, I"m not very satisfied. It have became so cynical". On the shore of sauna trees are growing sparser. There is space to think. "The greatest wish might be to fid back that innocence." he says, " And I wonder that every person admires that perfect love, own house and potato field too". A crow scares steps, and staggers from the beach bank to water, but after a little struggling it will rise up to the shore again.