Night Wish Site Wiki - Recently Updated Pageshttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/pageSearch/updatedRecently Updated Pages on http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.comen-usinfo@wetpaint.comWed, 18 Jun 2008 12:56:42 CDTWed, 18 Jun 2008 12:56:42 CDTwetpaint.com60Night Wish Site Wikihttp://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/vfYR14kcHJCDvs7T7aoh_w60855http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.comStuff About Night Wishhahttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/haluizcfs06http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/haWed, 18 Jun 2008 12:56:42 CDT

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]]>Biographyhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/BiographyThEHuRtOnEhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/BiographySun, 16 Mar 2008 18:25:41 CDT



The Band - Biography
The history of Nightwish



1996:


The idea of Nightwish was "born" in July 1996 at midnight when Tuomas was spending a night with his friends around a campfire. The first three songs, which were acoustic mood music, were recorded between October and December 1996. At that time, the band had three members: Tuomas, Tarja and Emppu.


1997:


The band wanted to see what the music would sound like if drums were added (Jukka joined the band). Also at this time, the acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric. After a couple of weeks of training, the band went to the studio this was in April 1997. At that time seven songs were recorded. These songs can be found on the limited edition of the album Angels Fall First.
In May 1997, Nightwish signed a recording contract with Spinefarm for two records. That August, the band went to the studio and recorded four new songs. Before the release of Angels Fall First, a single called The Carpenter was released, and made it to number eight on the official singles chart in Finland. Angels Fall First was released in early November and went number 31 on the official album chart in Finland. Nightwish played their first gig in Kitee on the 31st December 1997. After that Nightwish played only seven gigs in the following winter because Jukka and Emppu were in the army and Tarja was busy with her studies. Nightwish and at this time, Spinefarm extended the contract to include three records instead of two.


1998:


In April 1998, they started filming the first video, The Carpenter. It was ready in early May and was first played on Jyrki. In late May, Tuomas and Tarja interviewed on that show. In the following summer, the bassist Sami Vänskä joined the band.
During the summer, songs for the new record were rehearsed and the band went to the studio in early August; the recordings were finished in late October. On November 13th, Nightwish played a gig in Kitee during which, a video for Sacrament of Wilderness was filmed. That song's single was released on November 26th and the new record called Oceanborn was released on December 7th.
Everybody was surprised by the success of Oceanborn. It went up to fifth place on the official Finnish album chart and the single Sacrament of Wilderness was the number one on the singles chart for weeks.


1999:


In winter 1999, Nightwish played a lot of gigs all around the country for three months which included a gig on the Lista chart show program. In spring Oceanborn was first released outside of Finland. In May, the band started to play gigs again and toured the country for two and a half months, playing in almost all of the big rock festivals. At the same time the single Sleeping Sun was recorded, which was written for the eclipse in Germany. In August, the single was released in Germany and it also included the songs Walking in the Air, Swanheart, and Angels Fall First. In Germany alone the single sold 15,000 copies in just one month. In August, Nightwish learned that Oceanborn and Sacrament of Wilderness had sold gold. At the same time it was confirmed that Nightwish would be touring Europe for 26 gigs with the German band Rage.


2000:


In early 2000 the band entered the studio again for the recording of their third album. A welcome interruption came to the repetitive studio work when they took part in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Sleepwalker. Nightwish cleared the first round of the qualification, but the final position was second despite an overwhelming win in the public televoting.
The new album, Wishmaster, was released in May and the Wishmaster Tour started from Kitee, the home town of the band. After the show, the band received gold discs for the album Oceanborn and the singles Sacrament of Wilderness, Walking in the Air, and Sleeping Sun. Wishmaster went straight to number 1 on the Finnish album charts and stayed in that position for three weeks, during that time, it also reached the gold disc mark. Wishmaster was approved by both the fans and the media and it was named the album of the month by the German magazine Rock Hard in their issue 6/2000, past the long-awaited new releases by Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
Wishmaster also debuted in the National German Charts at No. 21 and No. 66 in France! The "Wishmaster World Tour", which started from Kitee, continued first to the big festivals in Finland and then to South America in July 2000. The three-week tour in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences so far. This was followed by successful shows at Wacken Open Air, Biebop Metal Fest and the first headliner European tour with Sinergy and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow. In November, Nightwish also played two shows in Montreal, Canada.
The next project of Nightwish included the making of a full-length concert DVD & VHS with a limited live album (only for Finland). The concert was performed in Tampere on the 29th of December 2000. The material was released in April 2001 in Finland and worldwide during the summer of 2001. At the end of the show, Nightwish were given platinum discs for "Wishmaster" and gold discs for the single "Deep Silent Complete".


2001:


In March 2001 Nightwish entered the studio again to record their version of Gary Moore's classic Over The Hills And Far Away, with 2 new songs and a remake of Angels Fall First's "Astral Romance". The Finnish release for this EP was in June 2001. The German version of "Over The Hills And Far Away" (released by Drakkar) includes 6 live tracks in addition to the 4 unreleased songs. Nightwish has also extended the record deal with Spinefarm Records with one full-length album, which was set to be released in Summer 2002.
The video for the track "Over the Hills and Far Away", which had rapidly sold platinum in Finland as a mini-CD, was shot in August 2001 in Finland. The tour in Finland the same year ended in Nivala, and the band was close to disbanding. Tuomas went hiking and gathering his thoughts in Lappland; some changes had to be done in order for Nightwish to be able to continue. According to his own words, Tuomas wanted to end the band due to prolonged disagreements within the band. Luckily, that didn't happen. But something happened, a lot in fact. Sami Vänskä, who had been with them since Oceanborn, had to leave. Marco Hietala, known from Tarot and Sinergy, promised to step in as a replacement for the next album and tour. King Foo Entertainment became their new booking agency, and long-time friend and colleague, Ewo Rytkönen, was to become their manager. To celebrate the "new beginning", the first official shop for fan-products, Nightwish-Shop, was opened on the band's homepage on November 24th 2001, a month before Christmas. The recording of the next album Century Child started in January 2002.


2002:


The beginning of 2002 brought Nightwish good news, in comparison to previous rough times. As a band and as individual musicians they were voted to the top on many domestic and foreign magazines reader's polls. The fans had not abandoned them after the changes, on the contrary. Ever Dream, the first single from the forthcoming album, went gold in Finland within 2 days. At the same time Nightwish announced they would take a break as soon as the "Century Child World Tour 2002" would be over, Tarja would finish her educations in Germany during the break. That announcement brought up all kinds of speculations among fans. Sami leaving the previous Fall, now a break that would last a year...
Century Child came out in May 2002 and made a sales record, selling gold in Finland within 2 hours! Within two weeks it sold platinum (30,000 copies) and continued selling rapidly. At the same time Nightwish held the top-position in both singles-and album charts, for their first time ever. Foreign countries responded, too: in Germany, Century Child went straight to number 5 and in Austria, number 15, those two being the band's highest positions abroad so far. In July, Nightwish toured successfully in South America, where nearly all gigs sold out. In Brazil, the first edition of Century Child was sold out in one day, and the successful European tour that year didn't go unnoticed by booking agencies. Many European gigs were broadcasted live on the internet, needless to say the connections were often jammed. At its most, nearly 10,000 fans were trying to follow the live feed. Having sold an astonishing 59,000 copies in Finland, Century Child was the country's 2nd best selling album in 2002. The first visit to Sweden took place on 16th November 2002, in Fryshuset, Stockholm. The break started in late 2002, and sure enough there was no rest for the guys. Jukka played with Sethian and Bitch Driven, Tuomas with Sethian, For My Pain..., and Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Emppu played with Altaria, and Marco with Tarot. All in all the break wasn't to last nearly a year, back on the road...


2003:


The beginning of 2003 saw more good results in reader's polls of various magazines, and a studio was booked in order to start recording the next album, planned to be released the next year. Happenings also at the home-front: Jukka and his girlfriend Satu had a daughter, Luna, on March 11, 2003. Nightwish received their first double-platinum award for Century Child, having sold 60,000. The band performed mostly abroad in 2003, the only gig in Finland was at RMJ 2003 on June 20th. The second visit to Sweden took place at the sold out "Gates of Metal"-festival in Hultsfred. During 2003, the forthcoming DVD-documentary End of Innocence was being put together, and it's release was postponed a few times due to huge amount of material.
In May 2003, Tarja Turunen announced that she had secretly gotten married a few months earlier, and would be moving back to Finland. The DVD "End of Innocence" was finally released on October 6th 2003, and at that point, Nightwish had already started recording the next album. Their fifth album "Once" would be the most important release in the history of Nightwish. Meanwhile, Finland's President, Tarja Halonen, had also taken note of Nightwish's achievements and invited Tarja Turunen and her husband Marcelo Cabuli to the annual independence-day party held at the presidential residence. Tarja's dress was voted as the most beautiful dress that evening.
Before the Christmas of 2003 Nightwish auctioned their "Century Child World Tour"-backdrop, and donated all the money to charity. The outcome was 1,750 EUR, and was given to Parikanniemi's Children's home in Ristiina on December 2003. The funds were handed out by Tarja Turunen, Michael "Big Tini" Leipold from Germany became the new proud owner of the backdrop.



2004:


The year 2004 was eagerly expected by both the fans and the band. Exhausting studio-sessions took their toll both physically and mentally. The actual recording took place at the Phoenix-studios in London, the same studio and with the same orchestra (The Academy of St. Martins in the Field) that Howard Shore used for writing the score for "The Lord of the Rings"-trilogy. Orchestral-and choral arrangements were written by Pip Williams, who has produced "Status Quo"and "riah Heep" Big time, great expectations!
Nemo was the first single released off the forthcoming album, and a big-budget video was made. The director was Antti Jokinen, who had previously worked with Shania Twain and Eminem.
With the new album, Nightwish had some changes with the recording contract, and the new material was released by Nuclear Blast. Good old Spinefarm Records would still handle the distribution in Finland. Nuclear Blast spent a considerable amount of money marketing Once, especially in Germany. Pictures of Nightwish and Once were splattered all over the television-channels, subways, buses and streets, and the press wasn't forgotten either. Every German will know Nightwish by now.
Once went gold in Finland on its day of release, as did the single "Nemo". Nightwish started a world Tour of 150 concerts in all continents, the tour lasted until the end of 2005. This tour was be the biggest in the history of Nightwish so far. The album "Once" sold gold in Finland immediately on its release day, as did the single "Nemo". In May 2004, Nightwish started the Once World Tour. The Once World Tour lasted until the end of October 2005. There were about 130 gigs all over the world, including new countries such as Japan, Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, Denmark, and Greece. The tour was the biggest in Nightwish's history. From month to month the venues grew bigger and the news told about success.
The second single, Wish I Had An Angel, was released in Autumn 2004. The song's video was directed by Uwe Boll, director of the movie "Alone In The Dark", in which the song was also played. The second single was again a great success and boosted the sales of the Once album.
In August, Nightwish finally made it to the USA! The tour was very successful and they planned to come back for a bigger tour in 2005. After the tours in Europe and South America in the Autumn of 2004, and some separate gigs in December, the band had some time off in January 2005.


2005:


In February 2005, Nightwish won five awards in Emma-Gala (Finnish Grammy). Among the others they won awards for "The Band of the Year" and "The Best Selling Album of the Year". Tuomas and Marco flew from European tour to Helsinki to receive the awards. The last show in the European tour was so far the biggest gig of their own, in Stuttgart there were 10,001 people watching the show!
In March, Nightwish performed the first time in Japan and Australia; in April and May, they had to have a break because of Tarja's other interests, but at the end of May the band started the tour again by playing with Iron Maiden in Poland and with Mötley Crüe in Norway.
In July, the 3rd single, a new version of Sleeping Sun, was released since the record label had decided to use it to promote the forthcoming collection Highest Hopes. The new version of the video for "Sleeping Sun" was directed by Joern Heitmann and shot in August 2005 in Prague. During the Autumn 2005, Nightwish played several shows and performed in the legendary Hammersmith Apollo Venue for sold out seats. After a short festival tour in South America (in October), the Once World Tour was coming to an end. The final concert was played on 21 October for 11,500 people in Hartwall-Arena in Helsinki. The concert was also recorded to be released as an End of an Era live DVD.
After the last concert, Tuomas, Emppu, Marco and Jukka fired Tarja Turunen, and her manager Marcelo Cabuli. The reason for this was because during the Once Tour their attitude and actions had turned out to be against almost all that Nightwish represents. As one may guess, the news of the firing was followed by an incredible sensation and hullabaloo. Once the nearly ridiculous fuss was finally starting to calm down in the end of 2005, Nightwish was able to look to the future and wait for an adequate singer to be found.
By the end of 2005, "Once" has sold approx. 1,000 000 copies worldwide as well, it has sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, and gold in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, and Austria. The "Highest Hopes" collection has sold double platinum in Finland and gold in Norway by the end of the year 2005.


2006:


The year 2006 began with good news for Nightwish: Their "Highest Hopes" Best-Of compilation had not only crossed the Finnish Double Platinum mark of 60,000 sold copies, it was also Finland's best-selling album of 2005, having sold more than 65,000 times. With the media frenzy finally slowing down, the band members found time to concentrate on the important things again. Tuomas had already written the majority of the new songs, Emppu recorded some new tunes with the Finnish hard rock band Brother Firetribe, Marco returned to the Tarot camp to record the eagerly awaited album "Crows Fly Black" and Jukka had his own business projects going on.

In March, Nightwish brought home two prizes from the Emma Gaala. The band was awarded an Emma as "Best Finnish Artist 2005" and one for "Most Sold Album 2005". In the same month, the band officially started to look for a new vocalist through an open call for auditions on their website. In April, the Finnish music video awards, the Muuvi, brought more happy news to Nightwish. The jury awarded the band a Silver Muuvi for their "Sleeping Sun" video, shot in 2005. The video also made it to the second place in the public voting. May finally brought two long-expected releases. The Nightwish book, written by Mape Ollila, was released in Finland. Shortly after, Nightwish's second full-length live DVD "End Of An Era" was released and reached gold status in Finland after just one day. It was later certified gold in Germany and France as well. In the following weeks, the band retreated to their summer camp to rehearse the new songs and have a good summer. Meanwhile, the media kept themselves busy with unending speculations about the new singer.

In September, Nightwish went to the studio to begin recording the next album.


2007:


The auditions for the position as new lead singer ended in mid-January. All in all, the band had received and listened to more than 2,000 demos from singers from all over the world. Exciting news that was followed by the announcement of the first new live shows, scheduled to happen in the USA and Canada in October and November.

On May 24th, all speculating and waiting was put to an end when Nightwish introduced their new lead singer, Anette Olzon. Within minutes, the news was all over websites and news stations around the world. One day later, the first single "Eva" was released as an internet-only single. The single's entire revenue was donated to a children's charity.

In June, the band went to Los Angeles to shoot two videos for their upcoming singles "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful". Both were directed by the renown Finnish director Antti Jokinen, who had already worked with Nightwish for their "Nemo" video. "Amaranth" was released in August and sold gold in just two days in Finland. It made good charts positions all across Europe and went straight to the top of the single charts in Finland, Hungary and Spain.

The new album "Dark Passion Play" was released in late September and had a very successful start all across the world. It was awarded double platinum in Finland after just two days and received four more gold awards so far. The album entered the charts at the top position in several countries. The world tour is booked, first shows already sold out, the new era has begun...



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]]>The Band - Diaryhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/The+Band+-+DiaryThEHuRtOnEhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/The+Band+-+DiaryFri, 30 Nov 2007 11:10:59 CST Studio-6
Studio-5
South America Tour 2000

]]>South America Tour 2000http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/South+America+Tour+2000ThEHuRtOnEhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/South+America+Tour+2000Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:10:25 CST
We are warned beforehand that in Mexico nothing works. And for a good reason. The list of things that don't work includes at least showers, toilets, playing gear, electricity, schedules, car tires and security people.

We play in Morelia, Mexico City and Guadalajara. The first of those asks a good deal of the famous rock'n'roll attitude from all of us. The gear arrives six hours late and even after that pretty much nothing works. There are barely a couple of hundred people in the audience and after the gig we have to travel 400 kilometres in a cramped van with empty tires back to Mexico City. And the driver decides to play the local salsa hit channel on the radio with full volume. We rank the day the most disappointing on the tour.

The following night we play with the Swedish band Tiamat and things look promising. The stage is big, there are almost 2000 people in the hall and even the schedules almost hold. But as the show starts the local guitar gear breaks down and the show is nearing a fiasco. The crowd is however absolutely ecstatic and understands what has happened. Unbelievable people.

The last gig of a tour is always hard. Even before the show you know the sad feeling during the last song, the goodbyes and the much too long flight back home. And it gives you extra pressure as you want to leave a good impression of the tour both to yourself and to others. The reception is excited as usual. Even the security persons stand on the edge of the stage with cameras in their hands. Some fanatic Mexican grabs Tarja in a hot embrace and the whole gig almost ends there. Despite that we manage to play all the songs down to the last encore and I guess the poor security fellows have bad conscience for the rest of their lives. At the moment of goodbye the feelings are sad. We hug and kiss, praise each other and exchange addresses many times. And promise to be back soon, of course. I guess the greatness of this three weeks experience can't be understood until days have passed.

In the plane it feels homely to finally hear some news from the homeland and read a Finnish newspaper.

Written by Tuomas Holopainen on July 30, 2000



Panama - 23rd to 26th of July

The flight to Panama on "Aereo Boliviano" airlines which brings the horror stories about South American air traffic security to our minds. However, our prejudices were shamefully washed away when the plane landed safely at the Santa Cruz airport where we had a press session.

If the unreal thought of meeting the press and fans at a Bolivian airport made us happy it was at least as unbelievable to step on the Panama ground. When the tropical heat first struck us on the face no one of us could understand what a metal band from Kitee, Finland was doing in Panama.

A soldier armed with a shotgun in every street corner gives us chills. We are told not to leave the hotel in the night, not even in groups. We believe that and do not go out. Later on we hear that we are the first European metal band to play in this country. That feels incredibly awesome.

The days go by with interviews and autograph signings. We find a metal store nearby with plenty of new releases on the shelves. Once again we have to abandon our prejudices and illusions of "llama mail".

There are over 300 people at the venue, twice the crowd the organizers expected. The mother of all gig speaks, "We love you, Panama!" tastes pretty exotic in the mouth...

In Panama we have the only really warm days on the tour. The guitar player of our warm-up band takes us to his villa which lies far from everything on the top of a shore cliff just beside the sea and a beach that goes on as far as the eye can see. Swimming and body boarding in the Pacific Ocean. The day is ranked the most memorable on the tour and the environment a paradise.

Written by Tuomas Holopainen on July 25, 2000



Argentina - 19th to 22nd of July

In the morning we say goodbye and head for Buenos Aires which the travel guide says to be the most boring city in Latin America. I don't know about boring but the local night culture surprises us big time. We eat an "early dinner" at 9 (the normal dinner time is around 11 or midnight) because we have live radio interviews in the night from 1 to 4. And it continues eight o'clock in the morning. I wonder when these people sleep. The streets are filled with people throughout the night. The locals say this kind of night life is quite normal for them. Well, that's okay, to each their own.

The first venue is pretty strange: A theatre hall with seats for 250 persons. The intimacy of the gig (which is sold out with very high ticket prices) makes it an experience to remember forever.

Before the next gig they surprise us by telling that the gig will be recorded with four cameras. They shouldn't have told that... The crowd goes absolutely nuts again, though, so the right feeling comes naturally to us.

After these successful gigs our over-stressed chief promoter Marcello is starting to show signs of smile. He says everything has gone much better than expected so far. That's great.

Written by Tuomas Holopainen on July 21, 2000



Chile - 16th to 18th of July

We wake up 4 o'clock in the morning and head for the plane to Chile. There is nothing left of ecstasy and humor of last night except a note in the diary. We haven't slept for more than a couple of ours in four nights. Keeping smiling is getting very hard at the Santiago airport where we are greeted by new promoters and the landscape magnificently surrounded by the Andes. There is only one interview booked for tonight. The most welcome news for today. 16 hours of Sleeping Beauty's sleep after which we all have a new life.

The locals are genuinely excited and proud of us coming to Chile to play. We feel that it's absolutely our pleasure. In fact we have much to thank for the Finnish embassy whose sponsoring brought us to Chile as the first foreign band this year. It had happened that a few weeks earlier the Catholic Church had denied the mega band Iron Maiden from entering the country.

The gig was again very good even though we are puzzled by the audience shouting "Nightwit, Nightwit!" We are told that to say "sh" is in Chile a sign of low education and poverty. So "Nightwish" is out of the question. We don't play any poor man's metal, we are told.

Written by Tuomas Holopainen on July 17, 2000



Brazil - 12th to 15th of July

The group which includes the five band members and our roadie/technician Tero Kinnunen and the tour manager Ewo Rytkönen has finally found each other at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport cafeteria where there are also the news teams of Channel 4 TV and radio Ylen Ykkönen. The media seems very interested in our tour in the southern American continent. The Channel 4 reporter gives us a bottle of sunscreen which we end up not using during the whole trip.

The start is not good. At the Sao Paulo airport we wonder why most of our stuff including all instruments has gone to Paris. Luckily the gig is not until the next day. After 14 hours of flying we could use a hotel room and a warm bed but the local promoter has booked the day full of interviews, press meetings, autograph signing and photo shoots.

In the same night we fly to Curitiba where the first gig will be. Even our gear is there. The worst is over.

In Brazil it's winter which means temperatures under 10 C degrees and chilly hotel rooms.

An autograph session at the local record store gives us a taste of the much praised South American audience. Screaming people are there by the hundreds and without security everything would be out of control. They even run after our car for hundreds of meters with cameras in their hands. I wonder how all these people know us.

Tarja is beginning to be more than a little ill so the near sold-out gig that night falls short by three songs.

Early in the next morning we fly back to Sao Paulo. This could be the best venue of the tour and the biggest crowd. The ticket prices are shocking. 25 to 30 USD, two weeks pay for a local worker. Despite that the gig is sold out. And that's one reason why before the gig in backstage we are, instead nervous, filled with determination to show what we can do. The local MTV comes and asks how popular salsa is in Finland. Interviews, posing and praise for the Finnish music. The gig itself hits the bull's eye. 2200 mouths sing all choruses of every song and when one of us raises a hand 4400 hands do the same.

The only negative point is the insane heat in the hall which makes five people in the front row pass out. That looks scary; luckily the security people know what to do. When be bow to the audience after the show my thoughts concentrate on nothing but the roar of the thankful crowd. It feels incredibly great.

Written by Tuomas Holopainen on July 14, 2000




]]>Studio-5http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/Studio-5ThEHuRtOnEhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/Studio-5Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:06:56 CST
Cheers guys `n gals!

On January 29.-30. we went to London for the first orchestra/choir/percussion recording session. The result of these days was beyond my wildest expectations. The musicians were incredible, playing their parts beautifully, passionately, and without any rehearsals. Their musicianship was something I will never be able to comprehend. Pip Williams did a superb job with the arrangements, too. Out of the album`s 11 songs, the London gang will play in 9 altogether!!! The next session will take place next Sunday and then the album is pretty much ready for the mixing process.

Both Tarja`s and Marco`s vocals were done at Finnvox during the first part of February. This process went very smoothly and both of them, again, exceeded themselves. We experimented a bit with Tarja`s voice and the result is fantastic. Except for one bonustrack which is the worst shit I`ve ever done.

Now I`m playing my remaining parts of the keys and pianos. We found it makes more sense to do this after the orchestras and vocals.

Nemo-video editing is going fine, the cover artwork is ready, new photos are on the way, so the whole package is coming out fine.

In between the recordings we`ve been enjoying an overdose of Chinese food, alcohol, Hellsinki nightlife, and each other`s overwhelming company. (Waking up next to Tero every morning for a couple of months is beginning to make my groin itch). I also found out (in a blessed state of mind & body) what Marco truly thinks about the coversong we made... To a certain amount, I must agree with him, Haha!

Nighttime wishes,

Tuomas

Written by Tuomas on February 24, 2004



23.01.2004

morjens!

Last recording session in Kitee were over at midnight 23.1. Then it was legendary GME choir´s turn to put some sweet and actually very melodic voices to the forthcoming album. Check how sweet and melodic their voice was from this Video-Clip. (Thanks again to Tohmajärvi!!!) Three songs have now that kind of sweet icing :) After very successful session we had "after-recording" -party in Kitee´s Karhu -bar. The hit of that night was absolutely "whisky-banana-cola"!!!

TeeCee

Written by TeeCee on January 22, 2004



19.-20.01.2004

In a very relaxed athmosphere I started practising vocals with Tero and Tuomas. In a very beginning we took a brand new song to work with and I was very suprised in a positive way. Even though everything was a quite chaotic... this should get everyones attention! =) Totally we went through eight songs during two days and the basic idea for this session was to get some kind of idea of how melodies, harmony and lyrics work together. This was a good thing to do before entering Finnvox studios. (It's not a very good idea to go there without knowing what to do. !) Anyway, I believe that what I've heard/learned during these days Mikko Karmila will have many shocks during the recordings. There's still some unprepared material and some very "risky" choices so we'll definately will have a lot of fun in a studio. I almost laughed myself to death yesterday.

Well, as a summary of all this I could say that as long as singing rockmusic is this much fun we might even succeed it. At least sometimes...not very often...not often enough at all...hardly never well enough...forget it.

Tarja

Written by Tarja on January 19, 2004



29.12.2003

For the upcoming album we will have an honor to work with Mr. Pip Williams, who has agreed to do the orchestral and choral arrangements for the album. Mr. Williams has been working with bands like Uriah Heep and Status Quo since the 70`s, and his career includes countless rock / soul / film score projects since the 60`s. The actual recordings will take place at Phoenix Studios, in London. This studio and the orchestra (The Academy of St. Martins in the Field) was e.g. used by Howard Shore while recording the music for the "Lord Of The Rings" –trilogy...!!!

I met Mr. Williams 3 weeks ago in London and our musical visions and ambitions joined instantly, both sharing passion for film music. This guy is incredible and really enthuastic about working with us. I truly believe this is going to kick ass big time. I`m already counting the nights.

There will be also one finnish-language song on new album!

Tuomas / Nightwish

Written by Tuomas on December 28, 2003



29.12.2003

Good evening from the southern seacoast of Finland. In this case "southern" is just the geological location compared to the rest of the country. The wind is at the speed of storm, and the sea swells with the melting snow and rain. I stay inside. In here there´s warmth and a twinkling christmastree. Our twins are playing with their present toycars and I, at least, have a bloated belly from all the senseless eating during the holidays.
A week before Christmas I was in Kitee playing my bassparts for the upcoming album. We had a quite nice session over there. One afternoon of soundcheck and after that three days of intensive playing and recording. We usually had a break in the afternoon to eat and to have a couple of rounds of worms at the playstation. I got my ass kicked way too many times, so I´ll take my revenge on you dear fans. The basslines and the sound will come to
kick your ass. I hope you´ll appreciate the fairness of it. The album seems to be coming together nicely. Emppu had lots of rhythmguitar stuff done already and from what I heard, he still has a very good connection between his brains and hands. Via that massive torso of his, of course.

For the new year: EVERYONE SHOULD PROMISE TO ROCK!!!!!!

29.12.2003 Helsinki, Finland
Marco Hietala

Written by Marco on December 28, 2003



17.11.-23.11. - Jukka's week

Drums_DayOne

Trip from Joensuu to Helsinki was pure torture like it always is. There are two things you can do in a train... Drink or sleep. We didn't feel like sleeping...

In Helsinki Ewo picked us up and took us to the hotel Helka which is our home for a next week. At this point everything looks good. Tomorrow we've planned starting at 10 a clock. First we'll pick up new heads for the drums and then take mr. Gas (HIM drummer) with us since he is supposed to help us with the drum sounds. We haven't heard anything about him for a week but he'll show up... We guess...


Drums_DayTwo

Sounds are great!!! We've planned of getting the drum sounds of the new album a little bit more like "natural". Put the samples a little bit to the background just to give real sounds a little bit back up. So this time we took much more time to create the wanted sound. Gas was a HUGE help. However we started to get a little bit worried because we didn't reached him until afternoon and we didn't know if he was coming at all. But finally he showed up and did a great job. Tomorrow we've planned of starting the recording by recording 3 "bunch"-songs. The style could be described Rammstein goes Kotiteollisuus (great Finnish band). This might be a little bit misleading but that's the best I can do right now!!!


Drums_DayThree

One day of drumming behind. First thing in the morning we needed to hunt down the secret weapon to get the sounds to the final level... Dictaphone!!! We almost gave up because only thing shops were able to give was "WeDon'tHaveIt" but luckily we found out that those inventions of the devil are sold in the Anttila(supermarket). So mr. E Rytkönen went there sent the machine in a taxi to Finnvox. Then just plug in and machine inside the bass drum. Now this is what I'd call distortion...

I have to be very satisfied because even though we had some delay we reached our goal and great sounds make right for the Rammstein-beat... Or what ever it should be called...


Drums_DayFour

The result of the day was various amount of some worse and some better takes. It's surprisingly difficult to get hand and foot to hit the drumhead at the same time... Result was 3 songs so we're in the middle of the session.

It's quite depressive to find out that the four Hi-Hat cymbals which you bought just for the session were replaced by cymbals which were found from the corner of the B-studio(Finnvox) and which were manufactured about 1 AD and which looked pretty close like lid of the kettle. =) Luckily my new best friend small ThinChina -cymbal turned out to be very nice and it's slashing-sound will be heard in many songs. It's nice to find out that not all of your purchased were for vain.


Drums_DayFive

It seems that disease which has been bugging Tero for a two months now has got into be. Head feel like empty barrel and I have difficulties to concentrate to anything. I hope it's better tomorrow. We got 3 songs today but it was total torture, We took takes after takes and it just doesn't worked like it should have. GOD DAMN!!!


Drums_DaySix

A little bit better than yesterday and 3 more songs done. Only one song for tomorrow and it's the cover-song. Can't tell yet what it is but it will mostly be done for our own pleasure. It probably won't be even on the actual album. Today we should drag ourselves in the SpineFeast to listen to some heavy music but we'll see. If I'll start to feel more confused it's probably better to stay at the hotel. Confused and drunken drummer won't be a very good company to anyone... But we'll see what happens after an hour or two goes by.


Drums_DaySeven

First take and that's it with the cover song. I don't know if the reason was hang-over (yes in the late night we found ourselves from the SpineFeast) or something else. Or maybe the aim wasn't as high as the days before and we didn't let the little unaccurate playing bother us. Now pack the cases and back home.

Written by Jukka on November 22, 2003



5.11.-10.11.2003

Howdy ho!!!
Greeting from our new studio! It has been a month full of work and fun since we started to work with the new Nightwish album in these facilities. As a result of the demo recordings we now have twelve new songs and Tuomas still has couple of new songs on the way.
Everything went on as scheduled and everybody did their part as a good ole "MetalHead" should. Some of the takes were so good that they will propably end up being on the final album as they are. (Especially Tarja and Marco did their vocal parts so well that such a spontanious performances can hardly be expected again...). Despite all this there is still plenty of work to be done. That's why we ended up postponing the drum recordings for a week. Lucky for us it was ok both for Karmila and Finnvox schedules. So even at the moment Yucca and Tuomas are rehearsing and giving the songs and arrangements their final touch.
The songs are the best Nightwish has ever had so we all have plenty of expectations!!! Also the guys know this and the enthusiasm in NW-camp is easily sensed and smelled...
So the demo did its job and left everybody really hungry and anxious to get to do the final perforance for the actual album!!!

Yours, Tero "TeeCee" Kinnunen

P.S. Studio still not named, proposals accepted with graditude!!!

Written by TeeCee on November 9, 2003



20.10.2003-4.11.2003

Well, demo is ready and it turned out to be quite a package... Some songs are already ready to be recorded but some will still take a lot of work and tears and sleepless nights until they can be released. All the songs more or less work but some songs seem to lack that "thing" that others seem to have naturally... Creating art can be difficult.=) But never loose the faith!!! One thing I've noticed is that tempo-scale is much wider than never before. Before recording the demo I didn't even noticed that but almost all of the 12 songs go from different tempo.

Mr. TeeCee KInnunen was supposed to write this update in diary but he was too busy with the final mixing of the demo so I desided to give a few comments before we'll get the great creation of Mr. TeeCee.

Jukka

Written by Jukka on November 3, 2003



14.10.-19.10.2003

Cheers!
I just arrived here at Kitee and headed straight to the studio. The boys have been recording some demo drums, synths and basses while I was spending time in Southern Finland last week. There was an instant stench of shit and hangover in the studio, which was an indication that the guys really have been working hard... After first listening the stuff recorded so far sounded fine...which has to do with the fact that there`s not a note of guitar recorded yet. So now I have a few days to get my parts recorded. From experience I know that this will at least take a week. But to make it all easier I begin with tuning my axes now, even though it`s an overrated thing in rock `n roll. We`ll keep in touch and let you all know how we are doing!

Eli AAARRRGGG ROK DIE DIE!!

Emppu Vuorinen

Written by Emppu on October 18, 2003



11.10.-13.10.2003

It seems the basic rehearsals are pretty much done now. We spent the last two days just going over the songs again and again, giving them a final touch at this point and now we try to feel ready for demo recordings. I really think we would have needed more time for this process but on the other hand, I`m quite fed up with the songs already, having worked with them by myself for ages and some time with the band, too. It`s nice to have something recorded, finally. As always, I feel very prejudice about the new material. 2 of the songs sounded like total crap today and the rest didn`t exactly bring shivers on my back, either. And nobody`s into that Kake Randelin - wannabe song except me... Haha! But it`s been the same with every album so far, so I hope it`ll turn out fine again.
Time to finish the night with some lyrical frustration. Cheers.

Tuomas

Written by Tuomas on October 12, 2003



6.10-10.10.2003

It's my turn to reveal something from the depths of the studio and so it will be. I have worked with the songs for three days now with Tuomas and Emppu and now we have 10 songs more or less ready to be recorded for the demo. Tomorrow we'll have an day off and we'll let our brains recover from the information-flood until we'll continue on sunday. Working the songs seems a bit easier than with Century Child even though songs are more complicated and there's much more hooks included. It must be that our skills are improved or our standards of judgement are totally wrong. You can deside after the album is released. Today I also got back my snare which was left in Switzerland (READ: Which was left in Switzerland by my dear friend… =) ) on our shows in August. We almost had to pay customs for getting it back because when Ewo went to pick it up some guy told him we'd have to pay customs because snare is coming outside EU. Luckily Ewo talked things through and we didn't need to pay because I've already payed once for this piece or metal…
Just don't give up and keep the humor along and add some shit in your pants… =)

Jukka

Written by Jukka on October 9, 2003



3.10.-5.10.2003

Hello from wet and windy town of Kitee! We´ve got four days of intensive rehearsals behind now and so far, so good. Eight songs are quite finished for the demo recordings. Everybody has been really enthusiastic with the new stuff. Little arrangements and hooks have been added by everyone and all the songs seem to be getting better. As Tarja already wrote I´ve had a bad case of flu and raw garlic has been consumed in huge quantities. Only thing not so positive happened Friday night. We had a few drinks then and later that night I was sleeping in Tero´s living room. A friend from Tohmajärvi had passed out in the kitchen. He woke up, broke a flower pot, puked in the dirt which was all over the place. Then he came to the living room with his feet covered in the stuff and stepped on my face. I was pissed. The guy passed out again and me and Tuomas had to clean up the place. Tuomas was also pissed. Luckily, we´ve recovered and things are fine again. Some of the other bastards will probably be giving you some news later on this week. Until then… Stay clean!

Marco Hietala

Written by Marco on October 4, 2003



First message from studio!

Kitee Monttu

The Pizza on the table has a very strong smell of garlic. Luckily today the smell of beer doesn't make the smell any stronger. Marco's flu and bacteria need something stronger anyway... We have rehearsed 3 new songs in one hour and they sound very good. I sense positive energy, we all have strong desire to learn new songs. It was good to take a break from touring for a while to have a "clean table" before going to the studio. New songs are changing all the time and learning them is not always so easy, but we made at least two songs sound as we all want and they ROCK LIKE AN ELK! I haven't sung any vocals yet because that will happen in a couple of weeks. We will go back to "Oceanborn"-time at least with one song and I think that's a positive thing. Couple of hours and couple of new songs, after that we're off to sauna and relaxing. Autumn's coldness makes fingers freezing and that's not so good for heavy musicians!

Tarja

Written by Tarja on October 1, 2003




]]>Studio-6http://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/Studio-6ThEHuRtOnEhttp://bioofthenight.wetpaint.com/page/Studio-6Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:05:56 CST
02.03.2007
So, it's time for me, the new vocalist, to write a studio diary about the vocal recordings for the new album.
My journey to the new album recordings finally ended quite late to a very nice studio where I was greeted by some of the guys and the engineers. Since it already was evening we just had dinner and relaxed to start the big work the day after.

03.03.2007
The actual first recording day started with a very nice and steady breakfast at 09.30 and then we started working on getting the right microphone for me and some good hearing. Then time for some recording of the first song, which is an up-tempo song with good "kick" in it and where me and Marco are dividing the singing between us. Went smoothly and we were finished already after a couple of hours. Since I was gonna start recording another song the same day, I took a small nap to have some new energy for the next song. After dinner the recordings continued and the second song was on its way. It's a song with some different ways of singing technique which needs focus and attention and lot of heart in it, so we just worked on the verses for some hours before callin' it a day and head for some relaxation and just being together. This place is very good since we can stay in the same place and totally be ourselves, which I really like because of all the secrecy that are surrounding us these days....paparazzi's everywhere...Since the guys are totally hooked on scary movies, that's what we're watching every evening and I must say my nerves will need to have some rest after these weeks...;=)


04.03.2007
Woke up early and in a very good mood so I took a lovely morning walk, enjoying the sceneries before breakfast. Then a little test-singing to get my voice all warmed up before starting recording harmonies on the second song, which went very smoothly. Took a break in the afternoon where we got out, had some nice fun and just were relaxing together, going on fast engines among other things....Very nice ;=)
A little bit later in the evening we started to work on "Eva", the first song that will be released in May, but only as a download. This is a soft and sad song with lots of emotions. It worked out very well and we felt that the day had been very fulfilling so we called it a day. Again I slept with the lights on, because of the horror movies...


05.03.2007
After breakfast the work on Eva continued by working with the harmonies and that extra touch to get the song completed. I feel very good knowing that this song is the first one that will let you all hear my voice in Nightwish and I sure hope you all will get as touched by the song as I do... truly amazing song! Since it all went so amazingly smooth with the recordings, we started with another very beautiful song right afterwards.
This song is gonna be so amazingly good with all the orchestra and the choir, it's a pleasure to sing it every single time, so I truly just enjoyed the whole afternoon and then I relaxed by myself the whole evening. Singing songs with so much emotions makes so much come to surface and I just needed to have me a bit of a laugh so I only watched funny things on TV that evening....no horror movies...


06.03.2007
After a relaxed and good nights sleep we just took it easy and didn't start until after lunch with the harmonies for the song we did last night and we were finished with this one by dinner time. After dinner we started our fifth song and this is again a song where Marco and I divide the singing between us so I sang my lead parts and then we called it a night.


07.03.2007
Woke up very early since my cell phone got a sms...arrghhh... at 8.20...puiihhh...then I felt that I could just take a nice shower before breakfast and try to wake up. I felt a bit tired and decided to take a very long walk to wake the body up. Felt good to really exercise and it always helps me to get better focus when I start the singing later on. Today Marco was coming to do his parts on some of the songs so then I could just sit and listen to him while he started doing the song I had started on. As usual sounded super good and it's always a pleasure hearing him sing. This song is gonna be very powerful and after Marco had done his things I did my harmonies in the choruses and some this and thats before it was dinner time and a break to rest the voices a bit. We did a hell of a lot harmonies in this one and I felt almost dizzy after having all these different notes in my head...;=) But the song was finished and after the break it again was time for Marco to sing on one of the songs that is his song. This one is a more accoustic song with a celtic feeling and Marco has made the music for this one too. I do some adding background vocals on this one and I recorded them after Marco was finished.


08.03.2007
Today Marco continued recording a song he sings by himself, so I had a relaxed and nice day just watching him and enjoying his vocals. It's a very angry song and as you all know, Marco can sing very powerful and he sure did... Later in the afternoon he left and I started to work on the 14-minute masterpiece by recording the first verses and it all went well. Took it easy in the evening, had dinner etc and then just went to bed after listening to the songs we had recorded up 'til now and it's 7 songs already done! Wow, that is totally amazingly good work and we all felt that we could use some rest and vacation for some days so we decided to take the weekend off and then start again on sunday afternoon.

11.03.2007
Back to work again after some nice couple of days off. Started right away with the 14-minute song again and the whole day was dedicated to that. It felt like the body and voice had relaxed so good and it always take some time to get back to business again, so we all took it easy, bit by bit until all my parts were done and now only Marcos vocals needed to be added. The song has so many different elements, both lots of power, emotions, softness and roughness. Everything combined makes this a total experience, like a movie, as you all will hear later on... Then relaxation after a good hard days work before going to bed.


12.03.2007
Today we recorded a song that from the beginning only was ment to be a bonus track, but after recording it I think we all felt that it needs to be in the album...;=) It's a very happy, melodic song and it has a chorus that really get stucked in the head immediately. We were done after a couple of hours and in the afternoon a journalist came to visit us, listen to the new songs and interview me. He was the greatest guy and we had such a blast during the evening and it ended quite late in the night... There even was some singing done by this journalist and Tuomas...growling which will be heard during the most aggressive song on the album....very funny night of recordings, I can assure u, with lots of laughs...;=)


13.03.2007
After a hard nights partying we all were tired and took it easy. I had to put on a nice make-up, nice clothes etc and do the interview and photo shoot. I was a bit black under the eyes from the lack of sleep, but since I don't drink so much, I felt quite alright. In the afternoon the journalist left home and we started working on a song which has ethnical elements in it. I even do some sounds inspired by "same-jojk". So it's a mix between sandy desert meeting Lapland and it's a big piece of music as always;=) The evening ended in front of the TV before going to bed.


14.03.2007
I woke up with the biggest headache and really not felt good at all. My body was aching and I immediately took some painkillers for the head and got back to the bed for some hour. Unfortunately nothing helped and when I tried to start recording a new song, nothing worked and we just had to take a day off for me to rest. I took some flu-medicine and put myself in front of the TV all day and just relaxed. Bad day, but we have time for a days rest so nothing to do really....


15.03.2007
Since I still didn't feel so good I rested the whole morning and didn't start recording until 13.30, where we recorded what is gonna be a bonus track. A very happy, nice song that sounds very Finnish and Scandinavian to me. Worked well and we were ready with that one around 19.30. It was time to relax a bit.

16.03.2007
Took it easy during the morning, just a nice walk as usual and then at 13.30 we started recording again. Todays song was quite high to sing for me so I was a bit worried about the voice, due to the flu, but after some warm-up takes it sounded good again. The song is a softer one and when I recorded the demo for it I immediately loved to sing it. It has very nice lyrics and a melancholic feeling in the chorus that just gets to me. I enjoy to sing it because of that. After dinner and some continued recording, I took a sauna before some TV and bed. I felt so much better now and that made me happy since there were still 2 songs to go....

17.03.2007
Weekend again, but we continued recording since the days are running faster now.... This day we had a song that Emppu has done the music for and Tuomas the lyrics. When I first sang this for the demo-recordings it was quite weird and hard to sing, because of its melody, that are very up and down....but Tuomas had a moment of deep thinking and then he asked me to sing more straight instead, changing the melody, and it turned out so cool... I think this song is the weirdest, but at the same time, so great in it's beat and melody....and we experimented the whole day and there were many: "no, can we do that??" to be followed by: "wow, sooo cool....". A very funny day and one of the ones where we had to try out so many things and then really think deeply to solve some problems along the way. But when the singing was done and Tuomas recorded some “demo-keyboards” on top, the feeling among us was that it's a great song with spooky elements in it... I think it's a combination between The Grudge and Tim Burton's movies... And when it was time for relaxation after another good day, we counted the recorded songs to 11!!

18.03.2007
Sunday and last day for my vocal recordings!!! Only one song left and this one is a bonus song, which we don't even know yet if we're gonna be allowed to release since the original composer hasn't said his yes yet....but we keep our fingers crossed and of course we record it anyway... It's a very, very beautiful song and Tuomas lyrics are so good and suit it well. For me, I felt a bit nervous about this one, since it goes extremely high in the end and there were some difficult parts here and there for me to get over. But the guys were so nice and helpful and when we started to work on it, I just let the song flow and it went very well. Did the harmonies as well and then Tuomas recorded some demo-keyboards on top and it sounded amazing! I sure hope the composer will say yes, cause it would be so disappointing if we can't release this one...

19.03.2007
So, I was done with the recordings and now Marco came back to do the things he had left here and there in the songs. As always he turned up, did great vocals and his voice added so much to the songs. At the same time as he recorded, I had some guests to entertain. Some record company people and also other guests. We all had a nice day. The whole day was buzzing with people and we all had a nice meal together in the evening, before they left again and we could relax and go to bed.

20.03.2007
The thing that remained now was to listen through all the recorded songs and fix some minor things, before we said that everything is ok to go to the mixing table and mastering. The day was mainly just packing, fixing cd's to everyone and eating our last dinner together. Then in the evening, we had a party!! Super nice party and I must say that I had kept myself sober and very good all the weeks, due to being able to sing good...but this night I could just let go and drink and have a blast with the guys....
I didn't fall asleep until early morning and even if I didn't feel so good the morning after, it was sure worth it!! Super nice evening!

21.03.2007
Sooo.....3 weeks of recordings, being away from home had come to an end....and I felt both happy and sad at the same time...;=) Mixed emotions, of course... since the whole period of time had been so tremendously rewarding and at the same time lots of hard work....but mainly I felt very sad leaving this place where I had slept for so many nights, had so many laughs, chewed my nails in fear after watching the horror movies, eaten superb food, been together with my new family and been singing in all the various ways I can, using my voice as fully as I can.... what a great time!!! And best of all, it's only the beginning... See u all soon!!!

Written by Anette on May 13, 2007




The Abbey Road Studios - Kimmo

Day 1
21.2.2007
Wake-up at 5:45 a.m.

It was –29 degrees outside. Oh, darn it. I wondered if the old LT would start up, because it didn’t have an engine block heater. …Or actually it did, but typically it was taken for maintenance mere three weeks ago, just in time for freezing weathers to start – when it was known already in last springtime that the current piece of machinery was malfunctioning. Luckily it started up, so after a drive to the station and a train to Helsinki, I was in Seutula waiting for the plane to take off. The “stars” were on a different flight than I was, but that was my entire fault because I booked the trip way too late. The others flew straight to London, but I was going via Oslo. The departure was approximately at the same time, at 2PM, but the boys arrived two hours earlier. Only now have I actually had time to think about what’s to be expected: possibly the most legendary studio in the world?! Wait, scratch that last one. In these few days I’d have to siphon all the know-how possible. It could very well be that I become a public nuisance there.

6 p.m. Finally in London

…Yes, finally. The flights were late and Heathrow was packed. The plane from Oslo was late 45 minutes to start with, and more was to follow: we circled above London for 30 more minutes waiting to be landed, and there was still more. When we finally touched down we had to sit on our asses for 45 minutes waiting for a place for the plane to open up in the terminal.

Thanks to the excellent networking of the London tubes, the rest of the journey from the airport to the hotel was easy. Only a couple of switches and I was 300 meters from my hotel. The time was already past eight in the evening, so I decided to skip the visit to the studio. There would have been only the transferring of materials tonight, so it really didn’t matter. Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. the proper sessions would start and I’d be watching and learning.


Day 2
22.2.2007
Wake-up at 7:30a.m.

It’s freezing! Not outside, inside. The window, which was 2 meters high, was letting in lots of cold air. Oh dear, some good Finnish carpentering would be needed in this four star hotel! (I guess the Britons have their own standards of classification for their hotels, because in Finland this would barely be considered a hostel.) After a quick breakfast a trip to the store to buy a new map of London, as the one bought yesterday only showed central London, and Abbey Road was not in it. After a quick check-up I managed to find the way to the studio. But then I called Ewo who invited me for a cup of coffee to his hotel. I took a 30 minute ride in the tube to the boys’ hotel Danubis, and from there-on a ten minute walk to Abbey Road. As we approached the legendary crosswalk I started to look around: where was the studio? All the buildings around us looked pretty much the same. As my gaze wandered a bit I did manage to find the place we’re headed. From the outside the building looked tiny, but once we got in I noticed how very wrong I was. There are two stories above ground level and one below. This was also where Studio1 was located, which had a large space to play in, and where the recordings would take place tonight and tomorrow.

As we arrived most of the preparations have already been done: the microphones were in place and a massive earphone-thingy had been built for the orchestra (there are 66 musicians and every one had their own headsets, and still there were as many left over on the shelves). A monster-sized Neve88RS mixer was dominating the control room and the listening was a product of B&W: three frontal speakers + a subwoofer and five speakers in the back!

Present in the studio:
Arranger Pip Williams
Conductor James Shearman
Recording engineer Haydn Bendall
ProTools operator Richard
Two assistants (I wish we could afford these in Finland as well)
Mikko Karmila, Jukka, Tuomas, Ewo, Toni

The schedule for today’s sessions is as follows:
The orchestra from 10a.m. to 2 p.m.: 66 musicians
From 3 p.m. to 6p.m.: 51 musicians

The skill in all areas here was sooo damn impressive that it was actually frightening. >From the first takes on the musicianship was astounding. Somehow it was hard to realise that the orchestra actually just had received their notations, and have not had a chance to rehearse at all. On the other hand, when I heard what these people have been up to previously I wondered no more. The conductor of the orchestra has directed the London Symphony Orchestra in, say, the Harry Potter films. Haydn has been working on the sounds in the movies of James Cameron. I thought it might be better that a boy from the countryside did not try to tell people what to do. The only minor nuisance was that the listening in the control room, although superb, was pretty damn LOUD! Pip told us that the B&W speakers are excellent for classical music, although treble elements are constantly being replaced. No wonder why.

After the orchestrations some “traditional” singular instruments were due, like kettledrums, a railroad track, and a piece from a block of flats. The two latter instruments were used to convey a dazzling doomsday sound, which Tuomas commented as the best he had ever heard. After the kettledrummer had finished his parts he entered meekly into the recording room to ask for a copy of the notation. He mentioned being also a music teacher and added that this was the most difficult session ever. He told that his students will get some Nightwish notes in front of them, if they start to think too highly of themselves. That’ll wipe the smirk off their faces. In the midst of the listening sessions I drank at least two potfuls of coffee, which the assistants keep carrying in, and emptied a whole bowl of grapes.

The choir from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.: 33 singers

When the choir was in the beginning of the first song, I was amazed to hear that they have neither rehearsed this song – nor even heard it before. It’s not one of the easiest songs for the singers, but still it was done in just over half an hour. Actually the recordings are becoming slightly boring because nothing “unusual” is happening. These people are “Pro”!


Day 3
23.2. Abbey Road Studio
I arrived at 11 a.m. in time to hear the last take of the orchestrations. Another showcase of professionalism, as over two hours of the time reserved was not spent. So we waited, because the choir was coming back to carry on their work only at 2 p.m. Nothing could be done to hurry things up. At last the singers arrived, and to quote a legendary sportscaster: “It is done!” I could do nothing but admire that level of skill.

At 7 p.m. a slightly different instrument was introduced: a harpsichord from Hungary. The thing reminded of a grand piano with the lid and keyboards removed, and it was played by hitting the strings directly with two “sticks”. In whole of London there is only this one guy who knows who to play this instrument. This doesn’t mean that the guy sucked or anything, very much on the contrary! So no point in starting up a career in London playing this thing as long as this guy is still around.
So, that was it for the singing and playing this time around. The hard drive was backed-up and the studio cleared of microphones – by the assistants – and then it was onward to the hotel.


Finishing notes:
Unfortunately I had to leave for Finland early on Saturday morning, so I missed the gospel choir being recorded in Studio2. In the very same studio some band called The Beatles also recorded their things! Later on I heard that there were lots of things to see and hear. I hope the guys took a lot of pictures.

Before these sessions I questioned the whole point of this endeavour: to go to England to record the orchestra and the choirs. I really don’t question that anymore: the quality was, and is superb and everything was fast, and we could really focus on the main thing in making music – the content. Also that the sound in Studio1 was major factor in the end result. In Finland this would have required an operahouse or the like to be rented, and that would have been way too difficult. I’m eagerly awaiting for the album to be finished!

Written by Kimmo on May 3, 2007




The Abbey Road Studios - Ewo

Sunday 17.12.2006 Helsinki – London

During the afternoon we had a meeting at the King Foo headquarters concerning the upcoming world tour. Some preliminary plans were made, the situation with the crew discussed, the overall atmosphere of the pack was examined, about 5 pots of coffee drunk and a whole bunch of rolls eaten. Spirits were up and the humour still there. Looking good!

Then a taxi to the airport and off to London! Not long after arriving to the hotel and sitting at the lobby bar we met the first local one with a demotape...


Monday 18.12.2006 - London

There was excitement and whispers from the past times in the air as we arrived to the legandary Abbey Road Studios. At 10 am. the first orchestral sessions started, this time with 66 musicians, lasting throughout the whole day, with the choir recordings late in the evening. Pip Williams is quite a wizard with the orchestrations! Some salad at the Abbey Road cafeteria during lunchbreak, which ended up being a countdown to an afternoon nap at the extremely comfy sofa of Studio – A.
Bedtime at 9.30 pm. Recording heavy metal is such a hard duty.

Tuesday 19.12.2006 – London

In the studio things were picked up from where they were left last night. More orchestras and choirs. I went to Oxford Street to have some sushi and do some Christmas shopping with Emppu. Tuomas, Jukka, Mikko & Tero stayed at the studio the whole day. Way to go, you eager beavers!

In the evening I found myself at the sold-out Cradle Of Filth – show in Astoria. The band was real tight, the crowd supporting them 6-0! Also Toni (Peiju, from King Foo) arrived to the London fog, and after the gig we went to Carlic&Shots with our local agent to have a bite. Then, goodnight.

Wednesday 20.12.2006 – London

This day was booked for the recordings of a brilliant piper, Mr. Troy Donockley, who is also a member of a international magicians` society, ”Magic Circle”. Pip already ”warned” us about this fantastic player and magician. Troy, beside his playing, performed his tricks in every possible moment, messing with our rational minds every time he did so. I won`t go into details here, you wouldn`t believe me anyway... It was pure art of magic.
He had also met the guy who originally taught Uri Geller how to bend spoons. It`s not hard to guess that during the evening there was a whole bunch of bent spoons and forks on the tables... Not to mention the flying cards, burning deck of cards, etc.

Thursday 21.12.2006 – London

Mrs. Nollaig Casey was the guest musician of the day. This lovely Irish lassie and her fiddle were needed for a couple of celtic-styled songs and WHOA, her performance was mere brilliance! The recordings lasted until late evening and while Nollaig and Tuomas went to have dinner at the lobby bar, I went to check out the old hardcore band, GBH. Great show, punk`s not dead!
Returning to the hotel, lots of familiar faces at the bar and a table full of bent spoons... Seems like a few pots of HouseCoffee had also been drunk.

Friday 22.12.2006 – London

The last day of recordings was reserved for 2 boy sopranos. These lads were needed for just one song and they did their parts so fast that I didn`t see a glimpse of them before arriving to the studio. Tuomas, Jukka and Mikko were there, though, to witness the fantastic performance. Wait `n hear!

Recordings finished, backups taken, time to go home. Or so you would think.
Once at the Heathrow airport we found out that our flight was cancelled due to the severe fog. The earliest we could make it home would be sometime during Christmas Eve. So back to the hotel, booking an extra two nights and drinking some HouseCoffee to ease the melancholy.

Saturday 23.12.2006 – London (still here)

Throughout the day some furious Christmas shopping and a sushi-orgy. Karmila threatened to buy ” so much junk, rubbish and crap for the family, that it should keep him out of the purgatory for a while”. `Tis the season to be merry!
Hours and hours of walking, feet aching, early to bed since the alarm is set for 5.45 am! This flight we cannot miss, or we will spend the holidays in a London hotelroom.

Sunday 24.12.2006 – London – Helsinki

Jepsss! We made it to the plane. Finnish newspapers and Finnair`s meaty (I got Jukka`s meatballs as well) dinner were nice mind - lifters. Tuomas & Jukka rented a car at the Helsinki airport to make it home for the night.
All in all, the trip was a success, and it seems that the album will end up being ”totally insane” (Tuomas)!!
And don`t forget the new cheers for Emppu during the upcoming tour: ” Good, Eetu!, Yes, Eetu!!!)

Yours,

Eduardo Pohjola



Written by Ewo Pohjola on January 1, 2007





29-30.10.2006 – Tuomas

I`m writing this while flying back to Finland from Hamburg, Germany. We spent the weekend there with Ewo & Toni (King Foo), meeting some people from the publishing company and Nuclear Blast. They wanted to hear some new Nightwish demo songs and make some preliminary plans for the year 2007. The meeting went really well, one broken sterosystem, due to listening to the new songs far too loud, and a bunch of happy big bosses. The feedback from them was very flattering, which naturally gave us loads of confidence.
We also chose the upcoming single songs.

The discussion went on in the evening in our hotel room. Posing in the cover of latest ”Talouselämä” (=Financial lives) – magazine, business – guru Holopainen decided to draw back from the conversation, since he didn`t understand anything of the jargon they were talking about. I`m happy to leave the money issues etc. to those smarter to me.
In a few moments I find myself in Clochard – bar, hammering nails into a wooden log, and drinks into my head. Kapanen, the legendary keeper of the Hamburg rock shop, and Ville of HIM are also there. Kapanen wins this extremely simple but addictive hammer-a-nail-into-a-log-game every time. But hey, he was the only one sober.

The journey continued into another bar, where Ewo and Toni also joined us. This girl, hanging from an aluminum pole, was having a birthday. Ville and I sang a Happy Birthday-song to her (Ville sang, I sounded like Evinrude-engine in distress), a gesture which gave us free drinks for the rest of the night. One way of making it cheap, I guess.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Emppu in his studio in Kerava, Finland, checking out his progress with the guitars he`s been recording for the upcoming Nightwish album. He had 13/15 done of the comp guitars. 4 comp guitars with 2 different sounds (Bogner + Engl & MesaBoogie + Marshall). In addition to these, he will record 2 more guitars here `n there with a special sound, plus leads and solos. This is pretty much the same way we recorded guitars for the ”Once” –album. Everything he`s done so far sounds simply fantastic, and played with utmost care. First Jukka`s better-than-ever effort and then this.
I feel very proud of the guys.

The very next day we tested another vocalist canditate. She came to the studio to sing some new songs. Sounded astonishingly good! She sang one of the new slower songs with such soul it made the songwriter bite his lip instead of producing.

Farewell to the girl and back to studio to listen through all the songs with Emppu. We marked all the parts with guitar leads and solos so he can go on with his recordings. It was a boring duty, so we ended up doing a whiskey-stenched trash-version of a legendary Finnish song; Tapio Rautavaara`s ”Rosvo-Roope”.
I`m still ashamed of that, some legends should stay untouched.

When I got back home I checked through all the n