Anette Italian FanClub - Intervista ad Anette e Tuomas del 31 Maggio 2007

Q: How can a Swedish lady be the singer of Finland’s best band? It doesn’t feel right!
T: So Stratovarius is also ‘ruined’, with two foreigners, huh? And Finland never won the ice hockey championship because we had a Swedish coach then? Thanks for the compliment, we will be doing just fine. Bye!

Q: If Anette and Tarja would meet, what would happen?
A: On my behalf I can say that I would tell her how great a singer she is and how nice it is to meet her. And of course I hope that she would be nice towards me!

Q: Is your manager Ewo Pohjola crazy?
A: Ewo is the funniest man I know! He’s not crazy!

Q: Tuomas, who are your favorite guitarists?
T: Dimebag, Alexi, Emppu

Q: Are the new samples the final mixes of those songs? For example 7 Days to the Wolves? Because Anette’s voice seems to be more in the background.
T: That’s because Marco is singing the leads at that passage, and Anette the backing vocals.

Q: Do you feel you have “big boots to fill”, Anette?
A: Of course, as Tarja is an excellent singer and I don’t want to copy her but I want to do this my own way.

Q: Is Eva about a dead child?
T: The song is about a child that might be dead soon if nothing is done about it. The end of the song is left to the interpretation of the listener.

Q: Which band would you like to tour with?
A: I really haven’ t thought about it. If ABBA would exist today, I would naturally say ABBA.

Q: Tuomas, which of the Moomin characters would you be?
T: Snufkin, definitely.

Q: Tuomas, does 7 Days to the Wolves have something to do with Stephen King’s ”Black Tower”?
T: You’re a genius! That’s where the idea came from originally, but the lyrics of the song have nothing to do with that story.

Q: How are you going to spend the summer?
A: We will tape a video and do a promo tour in Europe and Asia. And of course we will practise for the tour. I will try to have time to have some holiday, as well.

Q: Why was the age a con first? You others are no teenagers exactly anymore, you know…
T: Age never was a con. From the beginning I was more for a 40-year-old than a 20-year-old. Of course it all boils down to the person. I was just a bit suspicious of the child, at first.

Q: Do you like the Ark?
A: Yes!

Q: Do you like horses? How about riding?
A: I have even owned a horse before, for riding!

Q: Anette, what countries would you like to visit?
A: Australia and Iceland. And also Lapland.

Q: Tuomas, as you are a good friend of Hynynen, did you ask his opinion about the new singer before the final choice?
T: Of course Jouni’s opinion decided the whole thing. He really liked…

Q: Anette, how are you getting along with Finnish men?
A: I like long-haired men and there are many of those in Finland.

Q: Anette, how about headbanging?
A: No way, my neck starts hurting!

Q: Tuomas, what is the best Donald Duck story of all times?
T: “Try to Guess” by Carl Barks!

Q: Anette, do you sing in a shower?
A: Yes!

Q: Anette, what is your favourite food?
A: Sushi and Chinese.

Q: When you go the US, try to get into Conan O’Brien’s program.
T: We tried that already on our last tour. But that didn’t come to anything and we want to try it again.

Q: Anette, what is your most important album and why?
A: There no one album, but the latest ones by Sonata Arctica and Tarot are really good.

Q: Hi! I heard the song Eva on the radio recently, it sounded very good. Will NW turn into softer kind of music in the future?
A: No we won’t, this coming album will be the heaviest and most melancholy we have made. Eva is just 4+ minutes of the whole.

Q: Anette, what kind of music do you like the most? Is there some kind of music you don’t like at all?
A: I like many different styles. Opera music and jazz are not my thing.

Q: Couldn’t you take Tarja back? NW is nothing without her and no Swedes can fill that hole!
T: And my afternoon is nothing without these kind of questions in a damn hot newspaper office.

Q: Anette, have you tried any other work than singing? I wish you success, and to the whole band as well!
A: I have worked at an office for 10 years, and in fact I am a hairdresser as to my education. I have also worked as a waitress when I was really young.

Q: Anette, do you believe in God?
A: I am a spiritual person and I believe in something, but not necessarily in a man in heaven.

Q: Anette, is your family following you when you visit Finland?
A: I have not visited here with my family yet.

Q: Why does your tour start in Israel? Or is there some surprise gig to be expected before that?
A: The tour does start in Israel.

Q: Is there something going on between you two?
T: Yes, there is definitely a big fire burning. And soon enough I will be showing her the door.

Q: Anette, how old is your child?
A: My child is 6.

Q: Anette, who is your idol?
A: I really do not have any idols anymore. Of course I can list many musicians that have made an impact.

Q: Are you afraid that fans will desert you because Tarja was really good and Anette is different?
T: Some will desert us for sure – some already have. But there are many people who have liked our music but the vocalist’s (Tarja’s) voice has been too much…

Q: Anette, do you have a driver’s license?
A: Yes , I do.

Q: Anette, what has your relationship to Finland been before this, and what did you know about Finland?
A: I knew that you are good in icehockey and ski jumping. I saw Tarja Halonen in the Conan show! And of course you have good bands like Sonata Arctica.

Q: Hi Anette! Can you play some instrument?
A: I have played the oboe for 8 years and I can press the piano keys!

Q: What is your real hair color?
A: I am medium blonde, as all Scandinavians are, I guess.

Q: What do you guys in the band think is the place in the world, after Kitee of course?
T: The Finnish Lapland.

Q: What are your hobbies beside singing, Anette?
A: I jog many times a week and I lift weights. I like to go for walks, as well.

Q: Tuomas, how do you feel about the fans who are on Tarja’s side?
A: Of course I understand them and I don’t have any problem with that. I just hope that the comments wouldn’t get too personal and tasteless and that Anette would be left in peace. After all she just did her best, it was the decision of the four of us to take her into the band.

Q: Anette, have you heard about Hanna Pakarinen?
A: Yes of course, I voted her four times in the Eurovision! Whole Sweden liked her!

Q: Anette, have you found any favorite song on the new album yet?
A: There are many of them. Eva is one of them, Seven Days and then there is one song with ethnic influences that doesn’t have a fixed name yet.

Q: Were you nervous about how you would be received after Turunen?
A: Of course I was a bit nervous about if I will be welcomed or not… but not that much.

Q: Anette is GREAT! Does she know any Finnish?
T: She can say in Finnish “I am a drunken Swedish clown.” and “Maybe I am Swedish but you are really ugly” and all the juiciest swearwords. We communicate in English.

Q: Have you heard what is Tarja’s opinion about Anette?
A: At least I haven’t heard.

Q: How does living in different countries affect the cooperation between the band and the singer?
A: It’s working pretty well. Nowadays there’s the internet, e-mail, text messages and so on.

Q: Tuomas, why was Anette’s child a con first? Isn’t motivation more important?
T: Yes, sure. I was stupid at the time and too close to the edge. Luckily Anette is a stubborn woman.

Q: Anette, were you good at school?
A: I guess I was pretty good. Languages were my favourite.

Q: Anette, what is your favourite movie?
A: Pirates of the Caribbean

Q: What concrete ways did you use to keep Anette’s visit to Finland secret?
A; I stayed in hotels in Helsinki with different names and even flights were booked on some other than my real name. We drove in different cars and in airports we sat as far from each other as possible.

Q: On the tour, will we hear legendary songs from AFF or OB such as Stargazers, Gethsemane, Know Why the Nightingale Sings? Which songs can Anette not sing?
T: What is so legendary about those songs, I wonder? I doubt that we will do those… even if Gethsemane is quite a good song. We haven’t still encountered a song that Anette couldn’t do, some better, other through practise. But one song we won’t be doing is Phantom of the opera.

Q: Anette, which country is the best?
A: I’ll have to say Sweden, or the Swedes will be angry.

Q: Hi Tuomas and Anette! Will we hear songs requiring high vocals sung by Anette? How about Sleeping Sun etc? Thanks boys, you found a good and charismatic singer. Every time I listen to Eva I stray far from the reality and the song almost hypnotizes me. Great song, I can’t wait the new album!
T: We tried Sleeping Sun already in the rehearsals. It sounded good.

Q: How short are you?
A: 169 cm. Quite normal.

Q: Anette do you think that you can do what Tarja could, because that is what is expected of you? You and Tarja have quite different vocal range and Turunen was NW’s soul and emotions, and it was Turunen’s voice that was NW itself.
T: Anette has in fact the same vocal range as Tarja, there have been no problems with any of the old songs. If it is so that Tarja’s voice was NW itself, go ahead and listen to, say, Beto Vasques’s album. Tarja sings there, too, so it could be NW as well.

Q: Have you been to Kitee already?
A: Yes, I have!

Q: Do you speak/sing many languages?
A: I speak English and Swedish. I understand also French and Germna and nowadays also a bit Finnish. A singer must be ready to perform in many languages.

Q: Do you smoke? What is your favourite drink?
A: I don’t smoke. I have quit. My new favourite drink is Jägermeister – Red Bull.

Q: Anette, the latest book that you read?
A: A book by Paolo Coelho.

Q: Do you believe that you will be doing well out there now that Tarja is no longer with you?
T: I don’t know about that yet. The album is now ready and it is our best so far, so in that way everything looks good. Tarja was very good, and so is her successor.

Q: What older song is difficult to perform?
A: There is no such song, but of course the ones that lean heavily on the opera style can be difficult.

Q: Why Anette? The singing style will change drastically. I understand you didn’t want a copy of Tarja, but in my opinion Tarja’s style of singing and your music made NW what it was. How about gigs? Only new songs?
T: Because Anette was the best. And the style didn’t even change very much. Even now we have force, emotions and everything in between. The opera and the classical has been left behind. A band is never a style of music, or bound to any one format – a band a is a group of people who make the music that looks like themselves and that they want to do.

Q: Why did Anette need to dye her hair, isn’t it nice being natural?
A: Dying the hair was our shared decision!

Q: Anette, do you like icehockey? Who do you support?
A: I watch the world cup and I always support Finland when Sweden has dropped.

Q: Are you going to go to pick berries, or go to the forest in general, this summer?
T: Yes. I haven’t been to wilderness in four months and I miss the trees and the water.

Q: Wouldn’t it be fair to publish Anette’s demo that convinced you?
T: Many doubt if Anette can sing the old songs and I can understand that well. Publishing the demo feels however an unnecessary defense and attempt at explaining. You have no choice but trust us. The woman does the old songs unbelievably well.

Q: What were the first words your family said when they heard you had been chosen into the band?
A: Fan vad kul! (= Damn how cool!)

Q: What has been the most difficult since you stepped into the publicity with NW?
A: The media hysteria of the last week.

Q: Did you know beforehand how big a band they were?
A: I heard about the whole band only a couple of months before I submitted the application. But when I looked into the matter more closely, I began to understand how big a name they are.

Q: Will NW change their style now with the new singer?
T: No, the music and NW’s ideology will remain the same to a great amount. Something will change of course, just as Marco changed things after Sami left.

Q: Has there been a lot of attention directed at you in the Swedish media?
A: All newspapers had a mention, save for the tabloids that haven’t been writing about it that much. Today, I will be interviewed for the Finnish-language news of the Swedish TV.

Q: Tuomas, when will you bring the band to Kitee to perform?
A: If I could decide, right when it is possible. But our timetable is now set and I don’t know when we will have the next round of gigs in Finland. We’ll try at some stage!