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.There are times when you need a relic from the past, a recording that catches the allure of beauty from the past. I find it difficult to put HIM's VENUS DOOM into words. While I don't necessarily disapprove of their other albums, this one in particular has grown extremely sentimental for me. At wannabeink.com/products/dantes-inferno-demon-skull-desert-tortured-sould-temporary-sleeve-tattoos, I even have a few temporary tattoo designs customized.
Quite an amazing album! -
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Ciao Grifis, ci siamo spostati su https://ud.me/heartagramnews.wallet nel link puoi trovare tutti i social ed il blog. -
Inkakai/Fireal (Jani-Petteri Oinas AKA Caleb Daniel Lit) Copyright Claim on VV Ville Valo "Loveletting" video/song - News.
The alleged band Inkakai formed by Jani-Petteri Oinas AKA Caleb Daniel Lit managed to take down the #villevalo VV Loveletting video on YouTube, stating that the song and logo is very similar to theirs. Which is not true.
Warner Music Finland I hope us fans we can have an official statement about this matter as soon as possible, since this alleged band is signed to your label and Ville was too with HIM, for 6 years. Hope also that offenders will be punished for their actions.
FYI the real name of Caleb "Fireal" Daniel Lit, the little HIM fanboy who took down the VV's "Loveletting" Video on YouTube is: Jani-Petteri Oinas.
TLDR;
Context: the Loveletting video has been temporarily disabled due to a copyright claim by Caleb Daniel Lit from the band Fireal/Inkakai (Warner Music Finland) regarding their song "Ariel", which has a brief piano snippet of a few seconds similar to Loveletting. If you can't see their social media is because they blocked you (they blocked many people in the last 2 days), and they disabled the comments to avoid people leaving messages. He did the same with another band called Blind Channel years ago, claiming the words "dark side" and "join the dark side" of a song from them. His next target will probably be Disney and Star Wars.
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EDIT 1:
Thanks to u/LadyStardust_666 for pointing this out.
Yesterday, 27 April 2022 at 10:20, this band Fireal/Inkakai uploaded a new post in Facebook mentioning the song and a line from the lyrics: "Is this what you wanted. Can you see me now": (screenshot / link), so it's the final confirmation that, indeed, this happened because of this "Ariel" song. Also, they locked their Twitter account (screenshot / link).
No more information available yet, we don't know if this has been intentional or because of the YouTube algorithm, but according to Wikipedia this band Fireal were the opening act of HIM at Helldone Festival 2009, so they knew each other.
EDIT 2:
Thanks to u/Reasonable_Ocelot77 and u/BleedGreenMSU for the update.
They deleted their Facebook account (screenshot), and they blocked Reasonable_Ocelot77 on Instagram. They have the comment section closed in "firealofficial", and limited in "inkakai" (having to follow them there to write).
www.instagram.com/firealofficial/
www.instagram.com/inkakai/
EDIT 3:
According to another person from Instagram (link) the claim could have been done due the fact that Inkakai's logo or symbol was similar to VV's (screenshot).
EDIT 4:
This band Inkakai published today 29 April 2022 at 2:00 am an Instagram stories saying: "It's all about one part of the music, not about the symbol. Ours is a triangle, not V." (source / screenshot). So we confirm it was due similarity in the music, indeed.
EDIT 5:
They started to block the people subscribing to their two Instagram accounts, showing this once you are blocked: https://i.imgur.com/5dsWzkO.png, but if you enter unlogged or in a new tab in the browser, the accounts still there.
EDIT 6:
This was the flagged audio part apparently: https://vocaroo.com/1eO2LNZEXxXi
The lyrics they posted on Facebook ("Is this what you wanted. Can you see me now") were the reference part of the leitmotiv in the song that has been claimed.
EDIT 7:
People has been leaving messages in Warner's social media and Warner has been "liking" some of them, so they know the problem.
Inkakai/Fireal published 2 new posts with this message:
Update: Things will continue in private now. As a show of good faith, the video will be online soon.
'Ariel' (2011) including piano following the vocal melody "Is this what you wanted?"
It's all about one part of the music. Not about the symbol. Ours is a triangle.
https://i.imgur.com/E9myVdm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iQKRQZZ.jpg
EDIT 8:
Thanks to fragile_souls_for_ville and itsalltears_616 for the last update.
A new message published: https://i.imgur.com/2Ajm7qR.jpg
Thank you for the friendly approach. Please spread the word and inform the Heartagram communities that we will now try to resolve this privately. As a show of good faith, we have temporarily retracted the copyright claim. This means the "Love Letting" video will be back online soon. We understand Ville's fans react with passion in all things regarding him. But we can't accept any kind of bullying or harassment. We ask you to spread the word to other Ville fans not to attack any on our pages again. This would only complicate things further and make the negotiations more difficult. We hope for a peaceful resolution for everyone involded. Have a nice weekend. Inkakai.
And not only this, Fireal/Inkakai also claimed the words "dark side" and "join the dark side" from a song of the band Blind Channel time ago, saying that the fans of this band started cyberbullying them after this (NO SHIT SHERLOCK, you try to fuck others and then you cry when people get angry at you?). Post from 2021: https://imgur.com/a/qbpdTt0
So basically they've been playing the game of "claim and fuck" anything that had anything even remotely related to their songs from other people since long ago to take advantage of, and this Caleb Daniel Lit has the balls to say "As show of good faith we have temporarily retracted the copyright claim" and "People is harassing us", when it's totally fake in the case of HIM's fans, no one harassed them, people just left messages asking what happened and they started blocking everyone everywhere.
What good faith you fucking imbecile? You've been trying to fuck other bands since years ago with your behaviour of claiming their songs and now you play the victim when people get angry? 😂😂😂😂😂😂 -
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“This is a bridge between HIM and the future”: the resurrection of Ville Valo
Exclusive: Ville Valo opens up about his new VV project, his upcoming solo debut album and the chances of a HIM reunion
It’s been a little under five years since Ville Valo laid goth metal icons HIM to rest, just over two since we last heard from him with the release of his debut VV EP. Now the crown prince of Love Metal is back with the promise of a new album, Neon Noir, and a string-flourishing, sheep-seducing new single called Loveletting. Hammer caught up with Ville to get the full story behind his solo career
Here we are then, Ville Valo finally back with new music! How are you feeling?
I’m shocked, after all the work I’ve done for the past two and a half years. When the shit hit the pan with the pandemic I just locked myself in my home studio and recorded the album, so I haven’t seen the sunlight too much. Which I guess is fine, as it fits the genre…
So is that where you’ve been this decade so far, locked away recording?
Yeah it’s been a weird couple of years, for everyone really. In the lowest moments over the past few years that’s been some comfort, knowing everybody is experiencing the same things. The main philosophical question I’ve been asking is, is there a reason to engage with the world right now? I think it’s a good idea to get away from it all, for a while. I needed to take time out to create something that felt unique to me and out in the open. I have a sofa in the studio so whenever I get super depressed I’d have the Churchill power nap. It was very centred around music and not a whole lot else. It was an interesting session, but it’ll take me a few years to fully unpack – I was basically doing 14 hours a day for two years.
There’s a great line in the VV bio about howling with the black dog, rather than barking at each other – do you find the record helped you work some of that out?
Music always needs to be cathartic. A lot of people have a lot of passion in their hobbies, things outside their work. But work is my passion, its my lifeline and keeps me afloat. It’s been really depressing; I’m a sensitive fella and I really thought by late 2020 everybody seemed down, particularly if you worked in music because there were no shows so all the musicians, the lighting technicians, road crews had no idea if they’d ever get to work again.
I’m not sure I’d say that made the album better, but it definitely gave me a kick up the butt to get out of that funk one way or another. You have to choose between the noose and the guitar, and for me the guitar has always been the better choice – especially in the long term.
The upcoming VV debut is your first solo album – did you play everything yourself?
I did everything on it, except for the mixing and mastering. It was mixed by Tim Palmer, who has done a lot of stuff in every imaginable genre, from Pearl Jam to Ozzy Osbourne to Sepultura to U2 and Tears For Fears. It was mastered at Sterling Sound in Nashville, but everything else I performed and engineered by myself.
It was quite the journey, but I could literally hear the fruit of my labour every day and could focus on the details as much as I wanted to. I didn’t have to think about the scheduling for different people, dealing with diaper changing sessions. It’s very undiluted, though whether that’s a good or bad thing is up for debate!
Ville Valo
(Image credit: Joonas Brandt)
When did you properly decide you wanted to jump back in with a solo career?
I still don’t know what this ‘career’ is. To me, it feels really surreal because I thought the whole thing has to start with a song, with the music I like to eventually put the album together. Now I’m trying to recruit a band and decide on what songs we’ll play, try to figure out the production for how it will look and sound. It’s still just ideas, right until we actually do it. I never made a decision like ‘I’m going to go solo’, but during the pandemic there was no way to put together a band so that fuelled the idea of working alone. Literally solo.
It seemed like you weren’t massively interested in music for a while after HIM split. Did you ever think about not coming back to music?
I wasn’t too interested in the HIM thing, but for pretty obvious reasons everybody was also pretty worn out by the end of that tour. It was also interesting not to know how we’d feel spiritually about the change – it’s easy to make the announcement ‘oh, HIM are splitting up’ but I was worried because I’d been playing with those guys since I was 14 years old. I wasn’t sure if it would feel like losing a limb.
I talked to Mige [Mikko Paananen, HIM bassist] after the last gig and we both just felt so relieved that it worked out so great, on so many levels. I needed to take a little breather. I did an album with this local band that do pop music in Finnish [Agents] and we did an album in Finland and toured it in 2019, that was what I needed to clean myself after the process because I was singing to a very different audience. Trying not to curse as much! I’ve been trying to figure it out by doing various little things, but at the same time the new stuff definitely does sound like HIM. But I did write most of the songs, so… I’m to blame for that.
It's a continuous journey from HIM for me. A lot of people when they move on to solo projects want to distance themselves from the past, burn bridges and start their solo career. It’s different for me. VV is me building a bridge between HIM and the future. That’s what Neon Noir is. I wrote organically, because I don’t think you should decide before you’ve even picked up the guitar how something should sound. It’s not good for any creative work.
What or who was the inspiration behind the single Loveletting?
It was probably the black dog, depression. We’re all aware of that Murphy’s Law where things go pear shaped all the time and with the pandemic and personal stuff, not knowing where to go next, as well as not knowing where we belong, it created this feeling that went beyond depression, like a cosmic feeling of not belonging. That’s the stuff I try to put into the music and Loveletting can be read in many ways, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s very dream-like – you get those feverish dreams, where you’re not sure what is real and what isn’t. It’s not a new concept, but we Finns are pretty slow.
That video: how much fun was it seducing a sheep?
Ha ha ha! It was great. We thought about more traditional animals like gothic owls or bats. The director suggested a black sheep and I loved it – it was an opportunity to do something a bit weird, but also very endearing. Usually music videos aren’t fun to shoot, so trying to make them different always makes it special. So to me, that will always be ‘the sheep video’. The black sheep is the universal symbol of the outsider, for the people who don’t belong. I love animals too – I’d never met a black sheep in real life. I like the video because once I’d seen it, I was like ‘wait, what the fuck?’ which is the best reaction you can get to a video these days.
How representative of the sound of the album is Loveletting?
Loveletting is one of the more mellow songs. I’ve always been shit with picking singles – I’m always wrong, so I let the label choose that and everybody was smiling when they heard it the first time, so they suggested it. I’m hoping the next one will be a lot more rock’n’roll, harder hitting. The album is pretty varied – like Love Metal by HIM, it gets Sabbathy at times, but it goes more proggy with more soundscapes in between. Loveletting has a bit of Anathema in it – it reminds me of their stuff, very heartfelt, emotional and melancholic. Pretty and dirty at the same time.
What floats your boat musically these days?
“Not too much. Deafheaven’s latest album was pretty weird. Infinite Granite doesn’t have much metal in, but its great because its very moody. Also Anna Calvi. I got into the British band Wild Beasts, but only after they’d split up. It doesn’t show in what I do musically, but I like a lot of music that goes left of centre. There’s a few indie bands I’ve been listening to, and Twin Tribes from the States. They’re a duo who basically rip off everything that’s been done in the past, but they do it beautifully. They’ve got some great stuff and I’ve been forcing myself to get back into the goth scene because I think the future is there.”
There seems to be a decent goth revival right now with bands like Unto Others, Grave Pleasures and Tribulation all creating waves
“Absolutely. It’s not all just Sisters Of Mercy style goth, either. There are bands pulling from the post-punk stuff from before it actually went goth. I think it’s a good time for all that stuff. I’ve been interested in black metal again, but it’s a messy business. It’s like classical music – it’s so hard to find the really good albums because there are so many.”
How much of the solo album is recorded?
It’s totally recorded now. One of the reasons its done so early is because of delays with the vinyl plants – it takes eight months to get vinyl out these days, but I don’t really know why. Plus I like to be early and have long deadlines as I’ve got to get a band together. I’m sure it’ll be fine and dandy, but there’ll be a load of rehearsals to be done and I’m one of those people who needs to rehearse shit tonnes. It’s going to be a weird year, but I’m determined not to stain the memory of the HIM songs.
Are all the songs on the album brand new or are there any HIM holdovers?
Some of the ideas, like the verses from Loveletting were actually from 2014/2015. I always have bits and bobs that take a while to find their place. It’s gonna be interesting when we go to the rehearsal studio and start working on how these new songs and HIM songs will fit in the set – that’s a really important part of working out this identity.
Can you give us some song titles, or lyrical themes?
Not yet. I know the details of the songs obviously, but there’s a whole plan for it all. I’ll do the strumming and humming. I can give you one title – its called Echolocate Your Love. I think it’s a fantastic title and the idea is that there are times when you need to close your eyes to see better.
Have you had any big bucks offers to reunite HIM yet? And would he do it if there was enough money on the table?
That’s a multi-tentacled question! When we decided to call it quits with HIM, we never said it wouldn’t mean we’d never jam together again. It’s all about timing and the timing isn’t right, right now. We had a good run and were wise enough to end it before we got to each other’s throats. It worked out good in retrospect, but for a lot of bands it doesn’t so I don’t want to stress that element out too much. It’s a fine balance and I’d rather not mess it up because it left a sweet taste in everyone’s mouth.
But then again, there’s the part B of the question! I don’t really care too much about the monetary side of it. If there was a good reason, I’d be much more interested – whether that’s a festival, a tour or whatever else. I’ve been in touch with Mige a lot, but not so much the others. He’s been a spiritual producer for the album, coming over to my house and hearing the mixes, not necessarily offering advice but nodding his head approvingly. We’re still close and maybe one day we can share a stage again.
HIM
(Image credit: BMG)
Last year marked 30 years since the formation of HIM – how do you feel about the band’s legacy these days?
I’ve been surprised about the youth getting into all the early 00s metal bands. It’s cool seeing Heartagram t-shirts alongside Type O Negative and Paradise Lost shirts – we’re in good company. Nothing’s new under the sun, so everything comes back at some point. Hopefully it happens while I’m on tour! But when you’re in a band you don’t worry about that, you’re lost in the moment thinking about where the next slice of pizza is coming from, or where the closest toilet is.
I don’t think I’ve had enough time to sit back and reflect on what went wrong and what went right. As human beings, we’re all going to make mistakes and with VV I’m hoping to make a bunch of new mistakes. Hopefully not repeating the previous ones!
Do you think there is more love in metal now than when you first started out?
Not my kind! Back in the days of yore, its weird thinking of bands like Linkin Park and Evanescence who felt way too poppy. They were very mainstream and you’d think ‘I’m not sure this is the real deal’, but they’re like Burzum compared to some of the shit these days. There’s a lot you get now with loads of electronica and the songs are super edited, with a dash of guitars. I’m not sure what they want to achieve with that, like you want people to headbang every now and again. I’m not happy with where things are going like that, which is why I’ve gravitated more towards weirder bands.
But then, that’s mistaking love for commerce. If there’s any heartfelt sentiment going on in the realm of hard rock, that’s always a positive. It doesn’t have to be romantic love, just something you’re truly passionate about.
VV’s debut Neon Noir is due early 2023
VV
(Image credit: Universal)
Ville Valo VV tour dates 2023
Jan 13: Helsinki Tavastia, Finland
Feb 14: Warsaw Proxima, Poland
Feb 15: Krakow Kwadrat, Poland
Feb 16: Prague Lucerna Music Bar, Czech Republic
Feb 17: Berlin Huxley's, Germany
Feb 18: Hamburg Fabrik, Germany
Feb 20: Amsterdam Paradiso, Netherlands
Feb 21: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany
Feb 22: Zurich Komplex, Switzerland
Feb 24: Barcelona Razzmatazz, Spain
Feb 25: Madrid La Riviera, Spain
Feb 26: Lisbon Cineteatro Capitolio, Portugal
Feb 27: Porto Hard Club, Portugal
Mar 02: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Mar 03: Munich Backstage Werk, Germany
Mar 04: Budapest Barba Negra, Hungary
Mar 05: Vienna Arena, Austria
Mar 07: Esch-sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxemburg
Mar 08: Cologne LMH, Germany
Mar 09: Paris Le Trabendo, France
Mar 10: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
Mar 11: Nottingham Rock City, UK
Mar 13: Glasgow Garage, UK
Mar 14: Manchester O2 Ritz, UK
Mar 15: London O2 Forum Kentish Town, UK
Apr 01: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA
Apr 02: Boston Big Night Live, MA
Apr 04: Pittsburgh Roxian Theater, PA
Apr 05: Cleveland House of Blues, OH
Apr 06: Detroit St. Andrews Hall, MI
Apr 08: Cincinnati Bogarts, OH
Apr 09: Chicago House of Blues, IL
Apr 11: Minneapolis Varsity Theater, MN
Apr 13: Denver Summit Music Hall, CO
Apr 14: Salt Lake City The Depot, UT
Apr 16: Sacramento Ace of Spades, CA
Apr 17: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
Apr 18: Los Angeles Belasco, CA
Apr 21: Las Vegas House of Blues, NV
Apr 22: San Diego House of Blues, CA
Apr 23: Phoenix Van Buren, AZ
Apr 25: Dallas House of Blues, TX
Apr 26: San Antonio Aztec Theater, TX
Apr 27: Houston House of Blues, TX
Apr 28: New Orleans House of Blues, LA
Apr 30: Orlando House of Blues, FL
May 01: Ft. Lauderdale Revolution. FL
May 03: Atlanta Buckhead Theatre, GA
May 04: Nashville Brooklyn Bowl, TN
May 05: Charlotte Underground, NC
May 07: Silver Spring The Fillmore, MD
May 08: New York Irving Plaza, NY
Source: www.loudersound.com/features/ville-valo -
Ilta Sanomat Interview with Ville Valo about Neon Noir and Loveletting - Return to the human air (April 2022) - Interviews from 2022.
Return to the human air
Returning to the world of publicity and rock music, Ville Valo talks about how he has been affected by the COVID-19 era, the death of manager Seppo Vesterinen and his collaboration with The Agents. He does not promise the return of HIM - yet.
VILLE VALO, 45, is out in the open. He has been out of the public eye for more than two and a half years. That's how long it's been since Ville Valo & Agents played the last gig of their wildly successful summer.
Since then, only one three-song set of new music has been released. That solo career opener, an ep under the VV artist name, was not presented to the public by Valo during his first coronation spring. No, he retreated to his home studio to make more music like a leprechaun in a cave.
Admittedly, the anxiety and uncertainty caused by the koruna at the time was at times also discouraging.
- There were times when I would lie on the couch and think that there was nothing left to watch on Netflix," Valo tells IS.
But now he's smiling like a sunshine in a record company boardroom.
EVERYTHING seems to be the same: a black cap and shoulder-length hair frame a face that occasionally breaks into a familiar smile in the middle of an excited explanation. This is exactly how you're used to seeing him talking about the new releases from HIM.
HIM is one of Finland's most internationally successful rock bands of all time. But HIM is now history, and Ville Valo will release more music under the name VV. The new song Loveletting anticipates next year's Neon Noir album and VV's world tour, which starts in January at Tavastia in Helsinki.
Ville Valo has a new world in front of him.
He had the SAME SITUATION ON JANUARY 1, 2018, WHEN HIM HAD JUST PLAYED HIS LAST GIG AT TAVASTIA.
Valo left his backpack behind, leaving behind his old bandmates, whom he had already played with bassist Mige Paananen and guitarist Linde Lindström before His Infernal Majesty had shortened to HIM and the whole band had a record deal.
- HIM has been a part of my life for a long time. It was impossible to imagine in advance how it would feel when it no longer existed. Then, when he was home alone after the last gig, the feeling was calm - and relieved, he describes.
- After HIM's last gig, the table was really empty. Or I knew I was going to work for the project with The Agents.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, The Agents, led by Valo and guitarist Esa Pulliainen , was seen as the main performers at Finland's largest festivals. Although it was a temporary project, it seemed that Valo was just switching from one success band to another.
But being the soloist of a heavy-duty rock band is different from Agents accompanying their soloists with a quiet volume. The light describes that the change was great and instructive.
- It was quite exciting to leave the rock world, which is familiar and safe. And to perform in a band where one's own shyness cannot be covered with crack guitars. It was challenging but also rewarding, he says.
HIM has toured the world, Agents in Finland. Many venues were new experiences for Valo.
- It was great to get to know Finnish music life from a whole new angle. It was also fun to get to know the Pulliainen brothers and the entire Agents crew.
He admits that he was excited in advance about how Agents' vintage interpretations of the versions of the band's old soloists Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki , Topi Sorsakoski and Jorma Kääriäinen once were valid for the audience. Especially when the band performed in different places with each other, for different audiences.
- I was afraid in advance of what would happen at the Flow festival, for example. Will anyone come to see us in a place with a young gang and younger bands?
Another gig I remembered was at Pori Jazz.
- When I was 15, I performed at the final concert of the Oulunkylä Pop-jazz College summer camp on Pori Jazz's jazz street and played dixieland and fusion on bass. It was nice that we were on the main stage with the Agents now and got applause so that the audience stood up. It was a truly magical experience.
- On the emotional side and musically, jumping into the Agent seemed like the only right solution from the start. I didn’t think about it for a second after we had a first session with Esa. But practically excited. And it also seemed difficult to step into the boots of Kääriäinen and other Agents soloists. Am I throwing a little funny thing in the big boots of Kääriäinen I am a fan of? You have to be able to sing in it!
AGENTS-SUMMER, gigs and a record release gave Valo a chance to calm his mind after the band's long career - the band's recording career began in 1996, 21 years before the last gig.
Valo says he learned more: Badding provided attitude education.
- Badding's songs are so sincere and straightforward, Valo admires.
Of course, the same openness and personality was already present in the release of one single in 2016, when Ville Valo recorded Olet Mun Kaikuluotain (You are my Sonar), a version of John Denver's song Annie`s Song , recorded by Freeman in the 1970s in Finnish .
I think everyone liked the song except Andy McCoy?
- Oh yes, the five-fingered greeting from Malmö, Valo laughs.
In a documentary about the Tavastia club, Valo said that guitarist Andy McCoy had unexpectedly hit him in the face with an open palm in the back room of Tavastia, because he said that the Olet Mun Kaikuluotain (You are my Sonar) had made Ville Valo look like a "pop singer".
- That song is heartbreaking. I sang it in one take.
The traces of THESE Finnish songs can now be heard in VV's songs.
- Agents brought a lot of sensitivity and blue-eyedness. In English rock, you sometimes forget the complete openness and innocence that Badding's songs have. The kind that doesn't try to block out real emotions with its cleverness.
- Maybe I was trusting my 14-15 year old self more now when I first wrote love songs. At that stage, you don't wonder if something is corny, you just say it straight out.
And although the corona was paralysing, it also drove me to pick up the guitar.
- When the clouds are really dark, I start writing songs. That picking up the guitar doesn't necessarily lead to a finished song. But the process is important. Music is a lifeblood for me, always has been.
The VV project can rightly be called Ville Valo's solo project. He has recorded the songs for the upcoming album himself, not only singing on them, but also playing all the instruments.
- I wanted to show myself that I could do a song from start to finish. So that the music comes from inside me, and grows in front of my ears. That I do everything myself and don't have to adjust my practice schedule to someone else's babysitting weeks.
NEW ways of doing things, new perspectives... but do the new songs sound so different from HIM in the end?
- If you think about the lyrics, it's the same kind of speculation on the edge of the question. They are important things to me, at least on an artistic level. For me, every day is a matter of life and death. I like to make a bull out of a fly.
- I believe in the power of drama. They are stripes on my back and I don't want to get rid of them. Of course, at the beginning of the whole VV project I wondered if I should start doing something different, but it feels unreal. I felt that the right result comes from doing.
And Ville Valo did. We worked three days a week, from 12 noon to 6 a.m. - that's 18 hours in a row.
- Then three days of sleep. It's easy to get off the beaten track when it comes to making music.
Tim Palmer, the English producer of HIM's last albums, has been supporting Valo on the project, this time as mixer and co-producer.
- When I started over- or under-recording, Tim would chime in. I appreciate him, we have similar musical tastes. He knows how to dig the pop out of the hev and the hev out of the pop.
There have been plenty of trusted people in Light's life. Like Palmer, Seppo Vesterinen worked with Valo for decades. The management legend, who died two years ago at the age of 71, helped HIM abroad, just as he had opened doors for Hanoi Rocks in the 1980s.
- Seppo had reduced his workload and was no longer on site for any of the shows on HIM's last tour. That was a pity. It would have been nice if he could have come to Tavastia to say hello," says Valo.
- He was a saint of HIM. We looked up to him. He built art gardens in Töölönlahti and did a lot of things. He was a good dude and his knowledge and grip on things was second to none. You could trust Seppo. I am glad that I and others got to be part of Seppo's incredible story. My world is not the same after his passing.
Next winter, VV will perform new songs by Valo and HIM productions at shows in Finland and around the world.
The audience will be in front of something new, just like Ville Valo.
WHAT does Ville Valo want to say to people waiting for HIM to return?
- Have any of the bands that have returned been good? Personally, I've hoped for the return of many bands, but have been disappointed when those bands have come back as fumbling versions of what they were at their best," the singer says - and continues:
- But with HIM, I've always thought it would be cool to play together again sometime. But not yet. We were together from teenagers to middle age, we grew up together.
And what about the collaboration with Agents, do you dare to hope for a continuation?
- They don't want me back anymore. I'm a bit jealous of the Spice Girls, though, who are touring with Agents this summer.
Ville Valo's (VV) new song Loveletting will be available on streaming services on Friday.
Ville Valo's new song Loveletting will be available on streaming services on Friday.
Source: www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000008735594.html -
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Loveletting - VV Lyrics 
Here in my heart an endless sorrow
Tearing apart all that you and I could've been
Love, you are the road I walk alone
The endless night I keep dreaming of
Two heartbeats out of sync with each other and crying
dreaming of love letting love
Trapped in a loop of chasing shadows
Of all we have lost and of all that we'll never ever be
Love, You are the song I sing alone
The darkness I keep dreaming of
Two heartbeats out of sync with each other and crying
dreaming of love letting love
Two heartbeats out of sync with one another and dying
dreaming of love letting love
dreaming of love letting love
Heartbeats out of sync with each other
Heartbeats so far apart from one another
Heartbeats out of sync with each other
Heartbeats so far apart from one another
Heartbeats out of sync with each other
Heartbeats so far apart from one another
Heartbeats out of sync with each other
Heartbeats so far apart from one another
Two heartbeats out of sync with each other and crying
dreaming of love letting love
Two heartbeats out of sync with one another and dying
dreaming of love letting love
dreaming of love letting love
And you're so beautiful, you are
In the light of the setting sun
dreaming of love letting love -
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HIM mastermind Ville Valo will release a new single, "Loveletting", on April 8 under the VV banner. "Loveletting" is taken from VV's forthcoming debut album, "Neon Noir".
Ville explains: "As fun as the funeral rites for HIM were, it took me more than a few moons to lick my wounds in the shadow of the Heartagram and come up with an excuse to strum and hum again. Eventually, I decided to put a leash on my beloved black dog and we started howling together instead of barking at each other. That's how 'Loveletting' was born."
"Loveletting" will be made available across all digital platforms from midnight (local time) tonight. An official video clip will follow tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT.
"Neon Noir" is scheduled for release in early 2023. Belonging to the same forlorn world of woe and whimsy once conceived and governed by Valo in HIM, VV arrives with additional nuanced notes of a fine aged Cabernet.
Valo adds: "Artistically speaking, the main difference between HIM and VV is the extra line in the Heartagram, but what an exquisite line it is! It's the MAMAS AND THE PAPAS dressed up as METALLICA on their way to a Halloween bash at the Studio 54, and now who wouldn't want to witness that?"
Further details around "Neon Noir" will be released in due course. In the meantime, fans are invited to any number of VV's headline tour dates taking place next year across Europe and North America. Naturally starting in Helsinki, Finland, the 2023 extensive run reaches the U.K. in March before heading to America come April.
"Loveletting" will mark Ville's first new music in over two years, following the arrival of the three-track "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" EP, also released under the VV banner, in March 2020.
"Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" bore a strong musical resemblance to HIM and featured the tracks "Salute The Sanguine", "Run Away From The Sun" and "Saturnine Saturnalia".
HIM completed a farewell tour in 2017, closing the final chapter on the band's 26-year career. At the time, Ville explained to Kerrang! magazine why the band decided to call it a day. "We were tired of the same shit," he said. "When you've done it for a long time, at some point it doesn't taste good anymore. We started working on some stuff, it didn't sound good enough, and we didn't get the teenage buzz you're supposed get."
He also discussed the future of his artistic and musical endeavors.
"I'll be figuring out the emotions I'll be going through after the HIM period is done," he said. "That's how I experience life. I experience it through music, I'll pick up the guitar and start writing and I'm sure some of the emotions that come out of this wild ride will come through. My life is not done yet. The HIM part is done, as it is now, the chapter is closed, but the book is still unfinished…"
Formed in 1991 by Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen, HIM offered the world a new take on the metal genre, which became known as "love metal" (also the title of their fourth album).
HIM in 2015 parted ways with its longtime drummer, Mika Kristian Karppinen (a.k.a. Gas Lipstick), and replaced him with Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger (formerly of HERRA YLPPÖ & IHMISET).
Three years ago, Valo teamed up with guitar legend Esa Pulliainen to record an album based on songs by the late, legendary Finnish singer Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. The self-titled album by VILLE VALO & AGENTS was released in February 2019 and was followed by a short tour. -
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VV (VILLE VALO) ANNOUNCES EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINE TOUR FOR 2023 
General sale: April 11, 2022 (Europe) 10:00AM CET / April 15, 2022 (US) 10:00AM local time
VV / NEON NOIR TOUR 2023
JAN 13, 2023 Tavastia, Helsinki (FI)
FEB 14, 2023 Proxima, Warsaw (PL)
FEB 15, 2023 Kwadrat, Krakow (PL)
FEB 16, 2023 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague (CZ)
FEB 17, 2023 Huxley’s, Berlin (DE)
FEB 18, 2023 Fabrik, Hamburg (DE)
FEB 20, 2023 Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)
FEB 21, 2023 Batschkapp, Frankfurt (DE)
FEB 22, 2023 Komplex, Zurich (CH)
FEB 24, 2023 Razzmatazz, Barcelona (ES)
FEB 25, 2023 La Riviera, Madrid (ES)
FEB 26, 2023 Cineteatro Capitolio, Lisbon (PT)
FEB 27, 2023 Hard Club, Porto (PT)
MAR 02, 2023 Alcatraz, Milan (IT)
MAR 03, 2023 Backstage Werk, Munich (DE)
MAR 04, 2023 Barba Negra, Budapest (HU)
MAR 05, 2023 Arena, Vienna (AT)
MAR 07, 2023 Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette (LU)
MAR 08, 2023 LMH, Cologne (DE)
MAR 09, 2023 Le Trabendo, Paris (FR)
MAR 10, 2023 O2 Academy, Bristol (GB)
MAR 11, 2023 Rock City, Nottingham (GB)
MAR 13, 2023 Garage, Glasgow (GB)
MAR 14, 2023 O2 Ritz, Manchester (GB)
MAR 15, 2023 O2 Forum Kentish Town, London (GB)
APR 01, 2023 Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia PA (USA)
APR 02, 2023 Big Night Live, Boston MA (USA)
APR 04, 2023 Roxian Theater, Pittsburgh PA (USA)
APR 05, 2023 House of Blues, Cleveland OH (USA)
APR 06, 2023 St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI (USA)
APR 08, 2023 Bogarts, Cincinnati OH (USA)
APR 09, 2023 House of Blues, Chicago IL (USA)
APR 11, 2023 Varsity Theater, Minneapolis MN (USA)
APR 13, 2023 Summit Music Hall, Denver CO (USA)
APR 14, 2023 The Depot, Salt Lake City UT (USA)
APR 16, 2023 Ace of Spades, Sacramento CA (USA)
APR 17, 2023 The Fillmore, San Francisco CA (USA)
APR 18, 2023 Belasco, Los Angeles CA (USA)
APR 21, 2023 House of Blues, Las Vegas NV (USA)
APR 22, 2023 House of Blues, San Diego CA (USA)
APR 23, 2023 Van Buren, Phoenix AZ (USA)
APR 25, 2023 House of Blues, Dallas TX (USA)
APR 26, 2023 Aztec Theater, San Antonio TX (USA)
APR 27, 2023 House of Blues, Houston TX (USA)
APR 28, 2023 House of Blues, New Orleans LA (USA)
APR 30, 2023 House of Blues, Orlando FL (USA)
MAY 01, 2023 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale FL (USA)
MAY 03, 2023 Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta GA (USA)
MAY 04, 2023 Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville TN (USA)
MAY 05, 2023 Underground, Charlotte NC (USA)
MAY 07, 2023 The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD (USA)
MAY 08, 2023 Irving Plaza, New York NY (USA)
-
.
With a pandemic in the middle and more than 2 years of silence from the last project (Gothica Fennica Vol. 1), Ville Valo comes back for a new project on the 8th of April.
Here's the announcement:
There aren't further details on the project, but we are confident it will be new music. Possibly a sequel of Gothica Fennica Vol.1, the solo project named "VV". Stay tuned for more infos.
Source: www.facebook.com/theheartagram/pos...tn__=%2CO%2CP-R -
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Bump -
New Ville Valo side-project with the Agents out 21.9.2018, but it's probably not what we want - News.
Bump -
.Do we really need Ville to confirm with Sandra? Because we have all the evidence...out on several dates, her at his house in the garden, the cake...
Also, Kat von d should be added to the list, sadly.
I think Sandra can be considered an official ex-girlfriend, even thought they never had any public date in the past. For example, Ville attended a public event (Emma Gaala) with Kristel. -
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Ciao Nergal, piacere! Benvenuto e grazie per i complimenti 
Io sono Andrea -
.
You can ready the biography in english also here: https://www.villevaloitaly.com/him-the-boo...pt-28-chapters/ -
New Ville Valo side-project with the Agents out 21.9.2018, but it's probably not what we want - News.
Ville Valo continues his solo path by giving homage to the greats, but the road for a proper "HIM vibes" solo album it's still hard and long.
In fact the just announced project #VilleValo + #Agents is 100% a country music album, and has little or nothing to do with the HIM vibes. Of course, Badding has always been a big influence to the HIM sound and Ville even collaborated in the past, but it's still strange that the fans will have to attend a contry music tour just to see Ville again, isn't it?
Anyway, it's still something, but we would like to underline that it's not the first proper solo project of the former HIM frontman. It's another side-project and we are super happy to have some reasons to come back here and write a news.
Here the complete announcement:CITAZIONEVILLE VALO, AGENTS AND BADDING
Today, the late, legendary Finnish singer Rauli ”Badding” Somerjoki would have turned 71
Unreleased Badding songs see the light of day in the hands of Ville Valo & Agents
The band Agents, led by guitar legend Esa Pulliainen and the frontman of the recently disbanded HIM, Ville Valo, have collaborated on songs written by Rauli ’Badding’ Somerjoki.
Esa Pulliainen states, ”This story begins three years ago. Upon finding three demo cassettes in my drawer which had been sent to me by Badding back in the day, I knew I had to contact Ville right from the get-go. I was aware he knows his Badding inside out. I’m really happy that we were able to finalize this project. Badding meant for these songs to be recorded and even if it took us thirty years to make that happen, I feel I’ve kept my promise.”
The first single to be released by Ville Valo & Agents, the Badding penned Orpolapsi kiurun (Orphan Child of the Skylark), contains the voice of the author himself. The song will be released in digital form on Sep 21st 2018.
The album by Ville Valo & Agents will be released in early 2019 and the release will be followed by a tour.
www.vallilamusichouse.fi
www.redberg.fi
Posts written by Baudelaire In Braille |
