The most romantic thing is to look someone straight in the eyes and say and mean, “I love you”, that's a lot. It's a really hard thing because you can never be certain of yourself, but at that particular moment, you feel like that. Its magic
Ville ValoTalking about covers, whether visually or sonically, if a particular combination of notes struck a chord in your heart in a way that you want to be a part of it by covering that song, then there's nothing wrong with it.
Ville ValoFalling in love is the best way to kill your heart because then it's not yours anymore. It's laid in a coffin, waiting to be cremated.
Ville ValoMusic's always been really cathartic. It's the best drug for me to get away from the everyday pressures just for a second via a good song.
Ville ValoWomen are interesting, but that isn't the problem, it is that I like being alone, and I'm also touring so much that it's hard to get a relationship to work.
Ville ValoI didn't have any role models really. My best friend was a dog. My mum and dad saved a dog from the gutter and that dog was my brother before Jesse was born. Sami was his name and he was my role model.
Ville ValoLos Angeles and New York are the big centers of the music industry worldwide so of course it can be hard for newcomers who don't know what to expect from the music business.
Ville ValoSome genres I'm not a huge fan of but there are always exceptions that break the rules. There are always a few people doing it in a way weird enough to grab my attention.
Ville ValoWe started playing music from an early age and so we wasn't really aware of that side of it, the weird thing is the more successful you get the more free booze and drugs you get, they should be given to the bands who don't have the money.
Ville ValoMany other artists who sing about hope think that it is something every single person carries within himself. I'm not so sure if that's true. For me, hope is the little light guiding you the way, which reminds you that life does have a sense, that you have goals. To believe in that is often more easily said than done.
Ville ValoWhen I heard Elvis Presley, then I knew I had to do music. Music is my god, and is the only love that has never left me. It has always been there and is my best friend.
Ville ValoMusic for me is an emotional thing and it really does make me happy. It's not a tool for me to get fame or see my face in the papers or anything like that. It's about the fact that I really do enjoy it.
Ville ValoThat music and the lyrical aspects of Razorblade Romance is so personal to me that, now with me being grown up a bit and meeting new people and doing new things, it makes me look at the same things I was writing about back in the day through a different colored lens.
Ville ValoUnfortunately we just toured the East and West coasts so we didn't run into any rednecks.
Ville ValoI love the song 'Into the Night.' It's Roy Orbison meets David Lynch meets Iggy Pop on amphetamines. It has a punk edge that is not HIM, per se. It is super melodic and super '60s, and that is very new to me and it is a sense of achievement to me.
Ville ValoThe guys in Kiss use some make up too so at first it was exiting. I've almost stopped using make-up nowadays.
Ville ValoYour tattoos are supposed to be some connection to your personality. That's a lot more important than going in and just picking one off a wall. I've never understood why people get butterflies tattooed on their bottoms or whatever. That's really weird.
Ville ValoThe most important things are that you are honest with yourself and that making music comes from your heart
Ville ValoI hate it when bands do that; they're so proud of their new album, they have to play all of it and a couple of golden oldies.
Ville ValoLet's put it this way: the glass is half-empty, but the fact is, I can always get another drink
Ville ValoI haven't been baptised. My dad's not in the church and is not a religious person. My mum is more spiritual - she does Thai-chi and goes to Stonehenge and things like that. I'm proud to be pagan. Finland is not really a religious country. I'm still looking for my god.
Ville ValoSo basically, I think music at its best can be everything. It can be totally stupid and very intellectual and emotional at the same time. I don't think all those things shut each other out.
Ville ValoWe're trying to have the band create something beautiful that hopefully one day, 20 years from now, can be picked up by a kid and hopefully have the same effect that Neil Young had on me, or Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.
Ville ValoIt's like that with what sort of ideas people outside of the band have of HIM. They all see it through a different lens as well which is beautiful. Hopefully, it makes it an endless topic of conversation.
Ville ValoYeah I'm still writing. I've got about 14 tracks now. But we've been on tour so we haven't had time to get back to a rehearsal place.
Ville ValoThere's always reasons to make mistakes. Because then you do new mistakes next time. So they're beautiful mistakes.
Ville ValoWell, for us, it's always better not to have too many expectations and to just go with the flow because then it's always a big plus no matter what happens.
Ville ValoIt's the same with visual arts, you have some really cool, wonderful striking images that make you think and then again you have wonderful striking images that just take you away from the existing world for a second. And I like the latter a bit more
Ville Valo