Tears of the Pain - interview with Perttu Kivilaakso

Original French interview: Noemie Langlais, photos by Trip Fontaine (Rock One magazine, #41, 2008)

"With Worlds Collide, the 6th album of the Finns, it's a clean sweep! A sold out tour, a widely plebiscited album, Apocalyptica has never been so popular!

Less than three months after have electrified the whole Bataclan, we found Perttu Kivilaakso in his changing room of the Olympia hall. The cellist shows his enthusiasm to be able to speak to a girl, quite a change for him in his everyday life. He seems rested after six weeks of break that the group took for the Christmas holidays, the longest of all the history of the band. Revived with such a recovery time, he can't wait to speak to us about the third video of the album, directed by Lisa Mann and shot two weeks ago:

"I think "I don't care" should be our best video so far, even if "I'm not Jesus" was really cool too. But for this on, there are a lot of actors, dancers, acrobats, there are people with particular looks, doing weird things, it's really new for us. The place, an old haunted manor nearby Toronto is also extremely beautiful. The tape is surrealist, in many ways, a bit in a "Tim Burton mood". Morever I like to shoot vids because there's always something weird to do. In this one, for example, we had to do something nice with some girls. In fact, there's a moment where our cellos look like women, so we had to "play" the girl as if she was a cello. Of course it was very exciting."

Not being completely satisfied with the European version of "I don't care", Adam Gontier - singer of Three Days Grace, who interpret the song - recently recorded a new version produced by Howard Benson, for the American edition of Worlds Collide, to be released in USA the 15th of April. For the forthcoming, an animated video for Grace is already in production.

But for the moment, the band focuses on the tour which just comes to start again and will spread out over a month in the United States, a big first for the Finns.

"The hardest thing is that you're travelling a lot and, most of time, you can only rest for 3 hours. And for me, it's like having not slept because I have insomnia" already dreads the cellist.

"In fact, it's quite a tough job to be a rock musician, especially mentally, because people treat you in a strange way. It's so easy to become an asshole. But to be honest, I don't have hangover so it's not that hard." He smiles. "I'm sober for four years, but I drank enough for all my next lives. I'm happy I took this decision, for my life is way easier. It affects everything and the more on the energy level of you life. I don't know why, but when you're aging, you have a different vision of thing. I worry about my future which was not the case before when I just cared about the present moment. I would like to be still there in forty years." But for now, the mood is not of selfpityness. Reassured by the performance of Bataclan some months earlier, Perttu feels stronger than ever, even if his perfectionism always torments him.

"Sometimes I torture myself thinking I didn't give the best of me. But it's something I have to accept, 'cause you can't be permanently at 150%. There are no perfect gigs. But some are good enough, like those ones where you can see some in the audience pouring a teardrop. And if our fans don't cry, then I do."

Concert report:

After the Elysee Montmartre and then the Bataclan three months ago only, it's at the Olympia Hall that we come to hear the band.

It's the mancunians of Oceansize who have the task to play first, and if their style, between post-rock and progressive rock, didn't seems first to be the most adapted choice for the job, the kind of welcome(1) they receive despite a bad sound confirm their growing popularity.

At 21h15 Apocalyptica invests the stage, and deliver a surprising "Path", beside a classic set list. "Fight Fire With Fire", and "Nothing Else Matters" are missing. And the set seems shorter than usual. We were doubting that the smooth and calm atmosphere of Olympia Hall would fit, but the adaptation goes its way, and after a calm beginning, the audience warm up more and more 'til unexpected pogos. Another very good performance from Finland, with only the regret of a-bit-too-short set and a lack of spontaneousity, especially from Paavo whose enthusiasm seems too strong to be true (2). Next time will we meet in Zenith? (3)

Note:

(1) Yeah, we didn't boo them. Too bored.* Roll eyes*

(2) I think this girl didn't see the two dozens of forumers that was smiling, grinning, and flirting with him... ;op

(3) A bigger venue, explaining the joke: the venues named on the report grows bigger and bigger.

English translation by Vordaï, © 2008