HIM - 20th October 2004

We caught up with HIM at Wolverhampton to ask how life has been treating them in the past year that has included a tour, festival appearances and the release of their Best Of album And Love Said No.

Last time eFestivals/eGigs caught up with you on tour was at Rock City (excluding festival appearances) in January. Did you enjoy playing the main hall?

Ville: It was good, it's always good playing there. I'm a nostalgic person, and I preferred playing the basement for sentimental reasons.

You also played a headlining slot (Small Stage) at Download, however your set had to be cut short due to a major balls up by the organisers. How did you feel?

Ville: You know Metallica rules the organisation at Download, which is ok by me.
Mige: That's the way it is.
Ville: But it causes a bit of hassle, we were on the verge of not doing it at all, but we thought we would still play to the fans that wanted to see us. The times were altered because Slayer had problems with their technicians or something.
Mige: We would cut down our own set if we fucked up, instead of telling other bands that they can only play for ten minutes.

Did you request to play the small stage at Download?

Ville: We was offered to play the main stage earlier, but we decided not to because it's not fair to our music to kill all the atmospherics of the music- we would sooner wait years and years for a good spot.

Would you consider playing Download again next year if they asked you?

Ville: Yes, it was a bit of hassle this year, but we will just be a bit more extravagant with our backstage rider next time.
Mige: Yes we would.

Do you have any particular gigs that you will always remember?

Ville: Some stand out for different reasons, the first time we played in front of 70,000 people in Germany is memorable because it was the first time we had played to a crowd that big, that feels funny, but it also felt great. Then there is the gig downstairs at Rock City in front of twenty people, but those twenty people really enjoyed it. Then there is all the variations inbetween. Some gigs for ourselves might be really good and other people hate it, It's always like gambling, you never get into a position where everyone is going to love it.

You are regarded as a 'sex symbol' by some music magazines- how does that feel?

Ville: Well I'm always in the same 'sex symbol' category as Marilyn Manson and Mortiis, so make your own conclusion.

Some fans feel that you have cheated them by releasing a Best Of album. Do you have any comments to make about that?

Ville: That's because we were signed to a Finnish record company, we were signed for four albums, we recorded four albums and they had the right to release it as a collection and the sister company here in the UK also decided to release it. It is a good time to release it because even today a lot of people don't know that we released all those albums. They thought that either Razorblade Romance or Love Metal was our debut album. So 'And Love Said No' is a good introduction to the band. But I can totally understand what the fans mean by feeling cheated.

Do you ever get bored of doing interviews?

Ville: It's nice to meet people who are nice to you, we are nice to nice people and try to give them a story, that's the best thing we can do. It can be boring because in one particular European city, the tabloids just think about the money and don't really give a shit about what you do, they don't know the history of the band and you have to tell the stories to people who don't have a sense of humour and just care about getting the story out for the next day. There should be respect towards each other.

How would you sum up HIM in five words, how would you do it?

Mige: Thank God, You Can Not
Ville: His Infernal Majesty, Why Not?

eFestivals/eGigs would like to thank Ville and Mige for being so kind as to take time out of their hectic schedule to speak with us.
We would also like to thank Dave@BMG and Warren@infected for making this interview possible.

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