shoeless and clueless...

Hard Candy

Ville Valo wants to make the "heaviest pop album" ever.

HIM frontman Ville Valohas revealed that fans of the band should expect some "super-heavy" new material. Valo went to Lapland last October to start working on soem ideas for the follow-up to 2005's 'Dark Light', but confess that he got a little carried away enjoying his first vacation in 10 years...

"I came up with some ideas but it wasn't very beneficial for my liver, let's put it in that way." he laughs. "I was drinking with these guys who have herds of reindeer...It was good fun but I met the strangest people in the mountains and we got drunk!"

Back home in Finland, work has resumed and Valo is feeling a lot more productive now that he is reunited with his bandmates.

"I'm writing lyrics for the songs," Valo says. "We've got about nine songs nearly ready. We're going to record a demo this month to see how things are sounding, so that will be fun. It's going to be a riffarama and super-heavy compared to what we've done before!"

"We've been influenced by bands like Black Sabbath and Cathedral." he adds. "It's goign to be really doomy and heavy. Our aim is to make the heaviest pop album ever! We hope to be finished by June and we're going to record in Finland. We haven't recorded there for a while and I know we'll be touring for a long time when the album is out, so it'll be nice to hang out at home and recharge our batteries."

HIM headline one day of the three-day Give It A Name festival, taking place on April 27-29.

immortality has faded

and what's left is you and I

alone in a world full of people

we try yo survive our pain

the love is buried deep in our hearts

and is waiting for it's resurrection

we bleed to get redemption

for all the hurt we feel

desperate to find our eden

we seek in vain

the sun has lowered itself into it's grave

and left us dying until it's resurrection

for in this world there's no room for the brave

we have no safety net nor any other protection

in misery we're doomed to live our lifes

trying to overcome all of our inner strives

we stand here holding a knife as the one

opportunity to put an end to this life

I'll die alone just as I was born

and to live alone in a world of sorrows

because who wants to love the unlovable

the only feeling I've ever felt is loneliness

and it equals to emptiness

and now please tell me

why do I still feel

why do I still bleed

Kerrang issue 1139

Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance

Not a bad year for the man in black.

Q: How has 2006 been for you?

A: 2006 is going to be one of those years that really stick out for my entire life because it was the year that we made 'The Black Parade' and it was so much fun to make that record. We were also nervous that, while we went away to make this record, maybe people might forget about us. It's just a natural thing I think everybody goes through but I was extremely nervous going into Give It A Name because they had a really great bill that day and I was thinking, 'I don't know, are they going to stick around or are we just kinda old news now?'. But playing that show was probably one of the emotional turning points for me because it was a confirmation from the fans. They said, 'No, we've really missed you guys, you guys need to come back as soon as possible'. It was great, it gave me a lot of confidence to carry on for the record.

Q: Have you noticed a change in your audience since 'The Black Parade' came out?

A: A lot of our audience now seems to be comprised of people in thier mid-20's to late-30's, which is something we haven't experienced since [first album] 'I Brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love'. I think when you're a little bit over-exposed older people think, 'I don't wanna go see that'. I think a lot of people feel like they've lost ownership over time. But then if a band grows up, makes a very mature record and really comes into their own, I think a lot of those same people come back and say, 'This is a great record, it's not what I expected'.

Q: You're pretty recognisable at the moment - is it difficult to walk around without hassle?

A: What funny is I resigned from any sense of fashion or scene. I really just butchered my look. And the funny thing is in doing that it made me 20 times more recognisable. But it's also different from last time. When the band got newly famous, we were a novelty at that point. The longer you're around, the more people start to accept you. And you'll meet 30-somethings, 40-somethings going, 'I love your band, I really appreciate what you guys do'. And then, on a professional level, you start meeting some of your heroes and idols, and that's great.

Q:Which of your idols have you meet this year?

A: I met [Smashing Pumpkin] Billy Corgan, he was so amazing. I also got to meet [comic book artist] Grant Morrison. We played in Glasgow and we went to lunch with him and his wife and they're so fucking amazing. He's one of my biggest influences, lyrically, and he's a comic writer. It was like meeting another one of your kind, that's the way he out it to me. He was really happy to have connected with me, so I think we're going to be friends for a long time.

Q: Do you think you might work with him?

A: I would love to draw something that he wrote one day, I think that would be amazing.

Q: How do you feel about your scrap with 'The Daily Mail'?

A: I read that paper a few times since then, and it's very tabloidish. They talk a lot about heroin, I've noticed. I kind of find that disturbing. There's a large sense of ignorance throughout that newspaper, but I think I'd say the same about a lot of other newspapers. I'm going to stop picking on them; it's just getting too easy. I'ts like picking on religion at this point, it's too easy, and I don't want to be that dude. The ironic thing about 'The Daily Mail' and [getting bottled at] Reading is that they both involved people who wanted to silence the band but what happened was the direct opposite. It actually made us explode in the UK to a much bigger level than before, it gave us such a voice.That's what happens when people try to shut you up, you just get a lot louder.

Q: What are your plans for Christmas?

A: Good question! My only plans would be with my parents. I spent last Christmas in Japan so I think I'll spend this Christmas with them. But I went to see them for Thanksgiving so maybe I'll take a trip somewhere at Christmas. I don't know what to do! I haven't had a good Christmas with my friends in a long time so maybe I'll do that. I haven't put on a sweater and helped my friend pick out a tree in a long time, so I'm going to get together with my best friend and just watch stupid movies.

Q: What will you get the rest of the band for Christmas?

A: Some rest! This is going to sound real corny but I think we've all given each other the best gift we could, which is our own talents. We've given them to each other and handed them over. We've given each other our lives really. Being in a band you pledge your life. So we're not big on gift giving to each other because of that reason. It's almost an unsaid thing. We're such a family that it's like, 'What do you need?'. 'I don't need anything, I just need you to be my friend'.

Q: Will you make any New Year's resolutions?

A: I'm going to attempt, for the first time in my young life, to quit smoking. People will see me without a cigarette and they'll go, 'Holy shit, this guy might live a little longer'. I think I kind of have to do it. It's that kinda longevity of life that I need, and the big difference in air intake will probably make a big difference in the shows. I'm not the kind of performer that can stand there behind the mic, so I automatically have less air than a normal singer, and then on top of that the smoking doesn't help.

Q: What are your hopes for next year?

A: I hope 'The Black Parade' grips the world, and gets itself inside the public consciousness and that the live show can be what people envision in thier heads. I just want them to see a great show. We were talking about this the other day, and I was saying, 'The five of us are a great live band but there comes a point where that can only go so far'. You've got to give people a show. And the show is just as important as the songs sometimes because you can make a statement with those shows, you can say a lot. So I think now it's kind of put up or shut up for the band. We did it with the record, let's do it for the show.

Kerrang issue 1139

Ville Valo, HIM

This year he has spent over £6,000 on fags.

Q: 2006: A very good year?

A: for the band, it's been a great year. Perfect, infact! We're the first Finnish band ever to get a gold record in America, which is a great thing. Away from the band, there's been quite a lot of personal shit. Friends getting ill, friends dying, quite alot of tragedy, really. It will be very cathartic to be able to deal with it all musically on the new album, it'll be nice to get rid of some of the shitty things that happen sometimes in the music.

Q: How's the new record coming?

A: Pretty good, we've got a few songs all written, we're just rehearsing and writing a lot at the moment, we haven't started recording yet. We're on schedule, though. It's sounding good so far, it sounds like My Bloody Valentine meets Black Sabbath. Basically we're just making the heaviest pop album ever made. Our last album was very slick, so we're trying to go a bir more edgy this time, alot heavier.

Q: What's been good this year?

A: Hmm... I'm trying to think, I was drunk for quite alot of it so a lot of memories are a bit sketchy. Turning 30 was cool, I had a huge party that ened up lasting for about five days! I threw a party at one of the rock clubs here in Helsinki, and we had a blast. There were about 600 people there, and a lot of old school Finnish bands playing live, it was a great night. There were so many good friends around that I just couldn't stop partying, I just kept going.

Q: Have you made any good friends this year?

A: Aiden, from seattle. We went on tour with them and we all became very close friends, which is always good when it happens In fact, wiL [Francis, Aiden vocalist] is now my official hairdresser; he's the only person in this world who is allowed to cut my hair. He's very handy with a pair of scissors. It's not hairdressing, it's art (laughs)

Q: How many fags do you reckon you've smoked this year?

A: 365 times sixty. Three packs of 20 a day. How many is that?

Q: 21, 900...

A: That's how many you need to smoke to give your voice an edge. A guitar player has an effects pedal that he uses to make his guitar sound like he wants, for me my effects pedal is a packet of Marlboro Red. I went from sounding like a choirboy to sounding really husky and deep like [Screaming Trees and sometime QOTSA vocalist] Mark Lanegan.

Q: You moved into a big tower in Finland this year, settling in well?

A: It's still a mess! I've been away a lot so I haven't had time to sort all my stuff out in the house, but it's very, very cool. It's a big old round watch tower with five floors, and there is nobody living nearby, so I can listen to King Diamond as loud as I like and nobody can complain. I don't feel like a dark lord or anything when I walk around it, though. Normally I just feel like a c**t.

Q: What's the most bizarre fan experience you've had this year?

A: The really fanatical fans are all a little bit weird, but there's been nothing spectacularly strange that happened this year, certainly nothing bad. Although someone gave me thier dead grandmother's earrings, that was crackers. But I wore them with pride. We get given odd little gifts from fans, lots of books, paintings, all sorts. The coolest gift I got this year from a fan was dirt from the grave of [classic horror and fantasy author] HP Lovecraft, which now sits on the bookshelf. That's pretty sexy.

Q: What's the story behind you cancelling your US tour?

A: Well, basically, we planned to take some time off over the summer to write new stuff so that we could record the new album early next year [2007], but that never happened, so we would have been doing our third US tour in a year playing exactly the same material. And also Burton [keyboards] just had his first baby around when the tour was supposed to start, and his duties as a father would have meant he couldn't come on the tour. We eouldn't have got someone else to fill in, because it just wouldn't be the same band.

Q: Do you feel bad for the american fans?

A: Not really, in the sense that a lot of the people who would have been at the shows are the people who have seen us before. I think that it would be very boring for them, and for us, if we just went there and did exactly the same thing as we did before, same songs, same show. It would be like bad sex, and who wants that?

Q: What about Lostprophets, who were meant to be touring with you?

A: I feel like a complete fucking bastard that we've disappointed them. I'm a big fan of them, I think their music is great, and I think theyre a great bunch of guys, so I feel bad for cancelling like that on them, and also because I don't get to go on tour with such a good band and a nice bunch of guys. That's one of the main things that pissed me off the most about this whole thing, but at the end of the day we have to think of ourselves first, which meant making the new record, and Burton being there with his family. What can I say? I'm really sorry.

Q: What are your plans for New Year?

A: Same as every year, playing a show in Helsinki. It's our traditional party, this year it's three days, and we've got some great bands there, like Anathema, Cathedral, Amorphis. It's going to be heavy! We always do a New Year show, and it's always a lot of fun. We come on at the stroke of midnight, and just party, and then everyone gets completely wasted. More so than usual. We try and get the New Year off to the best start we can, with rock and roll, and booze (laughs)

Q: What do you want for christmas? new pair of socks?

A: I'll be corny and say peace on earth. I don't really want anything. I have all the things I want. So I'd like just for me, and my family and frineds to be happy, and for there to be peace in the world, even if it's just for one day.

it's a dead end

and I keep getting pushed forward

it's a dead end

and I'm not able to turn around

it's a dead end

and it keeps geting darker

it's a dead end

and I'm scared

it's a dead end

and soon my life will be over

it's a dead end

and I can feel the water

it's a dead end

and I take my final breath