Finnrock Corner: First of all, let's talk about your new album,
which will just be released to the shops this year. Meanwhile this will be your
third album. We already were able to hear a little foretaste on this years'
Helldone Festival, where you presented "Glory Of The Shame". What
can the fans expect from your new album?
Jonne: It will be more dramatic and heavier. The sound will
be harder and it will sound more like "Rock'n'Roll". I have to say
that our first album was more like a package of demo versions. A lot of these
songs were composed between 1997 and 2003, where we did not have so much experience
with the work in the studio and also not the routine we have now.
Furthermore, on "Sweet & Deceitful" we worked with another producer
and also recorded the CD in another studio. The album was made in a nice atmosphere
and, I think, you can hear that. There were not so many rough songs to hear.
So there are "Until You're Mine", which sounded pretty hard, and the
rock song "L.A. Feeding Fire", which really blasts, the exception.
But the following album will be much more "Negative" than "War
of Love" and "Sweet & Deceitful" were. It really got a great
album and I also am very proud of it...
Finnrock Corner: This time you worked with another producer. Why did you decide this change and how was the collaboration with "the new one"?
Jonne: Hiili Hiilesmaa, a great organising ability! He animated us to try wilder things and to open up more. He is a great guy and he works really professional. I think that the work on the third album would have been a very frustrating one, if we would have been stuck on our old ideals. You can really see that we looked for something new, what still keeps our music interesting. And we are always searching for new possibilities to change in a positive way, to enhance and to effect changes, which keep us growing as musicians.
Finnrock Corner: Is it eventually planned to work with other artists, like you did with Ville Laihiala on "Sweet & Deceitful"?
Jonne: There will be a surprise on the album, but it won't be a duet or something. We tried much crazier and newer things. Ville's voice matched perfectly to "Until You're Mine", but this time there was no new refrain possible for Ville (jokes Jonne). We wrote twelve songs for the new album. But still we couldn't settle on a name. And we will see how many songs will actually manage it to the album, either ten or all the twelve...
Finnrock Corner: How do you see your musical development for example compared to your last album? Did something essential change for you?
Jonne: The next album can not be said to be written by a nice guy. Already the lyrics are harder this time. And to write the texts is always one of the hardest processes for me. Because when you stand on the stage evening for evening and sing these songs, you really table all your thoughts and feelings. Somehow a pretty scary matter, to share your innermost with so many people. And this album is more "straight out", because it deals with topics like fear or reincarnation. And the texts are strongly affected by things from my life. This is my way to deal with the not so nice things. My kind of therapy. And I would say that we made one more step out with this new album and always come closer to where we want to go with our music. It is difficult to explain how the creative process works. Just like if you ask an artist how he paints. You have to listen to the album to understand...
Finnrock Corner: Is there some kind of ritual in the band that you do before entering the stage?
Jonne: No, actually not. We just prepare for the show, everybody in his way. For me it may look like that... Yesterday for example I felt quite tired, so you could see that I got nervous and anxious… In the last 20-30 minutes before the show I just prepare my voice. And sometimes I also have to give interviews. It can get very hectic, because the time runs and runs by. And then you just notice, oh my god, you just have 15 minutes to get your voice ready to go on stage. The other guys kill their time with smoking and drinking...
Finnrock Corner: Negative is a band with a very own style and make-up. Who is responsible for that?
Jonne: Everybody on his own and it comes directly from the heart. We don't give attention to wearing things that are "in" by now, we just wear what we like and is comfortable. And especially me, I love the colours of the rainbow. You can regard us as a bowl of colourful salad. We often got asked why we are not as "black" and dark as the other Finnish bands. My answer on this is that we are just a bowl of colourful salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and olives in it...
Finnrock Corner: Who are the most important persons in your life?
Jonne: That's easy, my two brothers. They mean very much to me and are very important for me. We have a very special relation to each other and are a well functioning team. And I get along very well with my younger brother Ville. We just can talk about everything with each other. It is great to have him as a brother...
Finnrock Corner: If you could be someone else for a day, who would you like to be and why?
Jonne: Actually I don't have a special person in mind, but I'd like to be a woman once...
Finnrock Corner: What does your home town Tampere mean to you?
Jonne: I associate a lot with this city. After all, I am living there my whole life and most of my friends also come from Tampere… for example Teemu. Teemu, the bass player from Uniklubi. He is a very nice guy and we just get along very well...
Finnrock Corner: There are some successful bands coming from Finland, like HIM, The Rasmus, Nightwish, a.s.o. Finland seems to get the export country Number One for rock music. How do you see that matter?
Jonne: Nightwish and HIM could compete very well also outside Finland and could make a name for them. And through that they also opened the doors for other bands. But it is really hard. There can be pressure of competition between all the bands. Of course everybody would like to claim to be the Number One. That's clear...
Finnrock Corner: If you would have the chance to live your life again, would you do everything exactly the same way or do you regret something?
Jonne: I'd like to phrase that different. Life actually is a cool thing and I also accept the mistakes in it. And would I be able to cancel the one or the other mistake, I would have one experience less, so to say. And I have to say that I do not regret anything in my life...
Finnrock Corner: What was the most embarrassing moment in your life?
Jonne: Difficult question. (Jonne makes a very pensive
face) To me personally embarrassing things happen from time to time. Especially
on stage... Once it happened to me that I just switched off the microphone in
the middle of the song. The song played on and I sang but nobody could hear
me, because the microphone was switched off... And once I forgot the first words
of the lyrics. Somehow they were in my head, but I had something like a blackout.
I just couldn't remember the first word. But someone from the audience told
it to me then. I am really happy that this doesn't happen to me very often...
And when I started to smoke, that was when I was in the age of ten, I tried
a lot different things. And I thought that nobody realises that, neither my
parents nor my brother. But my older brother knew the whole time what was going
on...
Finnrock Corner: And now, let's talk about your fans... Are there any realisable differences between the different countries?
Jonne: Our course, but not really concerning the culture or something. We have some "crazy" fans, but that is ok. Also really obstinated... before we've gone on tour we played two gigs in Finland. And five or six girls have been there for hours and hours at a temperature of minus 20 degrees in front of Nosturi in Helsinki. In summer or autumn that is ok…but in the winter months it can get very hard for the fans...
Finnrock Corner: And how do you feel if the people recognise you on the street?
Jonne: At the beginning it was a problem for me to get recognised when I was going out privately. In restaurants or something, especially on the weekends... you sit down for a beer, chat with your friend and from one second to the other there is a gathering around you. That's why I stopped going out then and now go out on weekdays where less people are on the streets. With the time you learn to handle it. Today I am more relaxed concerning this situation...
After this question Jonne gets advised not the first time by "the voice
of rationality" (Robert in this case) that he should stop now. So here
ends our interview with Jonne, reluctantly. The business calls...
We thanked for the interview and after Jonne signed some autographs very friendly,
it was time to say goodbye. Jonne, who got a little cold, meant to enjoy the
evening in any case. And so it was on us to wish the guys all the best for the
following show...
So in this place we want to say thanks again to Jonne, Tommi Liimatainen and Roadrunner Records Germany and Holland for everything in the name of the team, also to Robert K. (Edel Records Vienna), who was responsible for enabling this interview and the unproblematic handling of this interview.