After his so-called “Schlager years” with fellow countrymen Agents post-Him, the lovelorn dark prince Ville Valo has returned to the heavy side with his new solo record, Neon Noir.
Talking to Hammer from his home studio, he’s as grandiloquent as ever, but with a twisted humour – one minute he spouts the kind of ornate turns of phrase you’d expect from a man with the eyes of Edgar Allan Poe tattooed on his back, the next he’s giggling like a teenager over a double entendre.
There were many declarations of love for metal’s biggest romantic to sift through, so we put your burning questions to the man himself to answer with his signature wit and a wicked gleam in his eye.
Would you rather be a ghost or a vampire?
Michal Edwards, email
“Who wouldn’t want to be a vampire for a day? Sucking some blood, having cool clothes… I do own a cape already, so I’m kind of halfway there. The only thing I’m missing is the unquenchable thirst for blood. And I have the accent as well – the hard 'R'. I think I have a bright future as a vampire.”
How old were you when you were first buried alive by love?
FuzzyPenguin23, Twitter
“Love is the gift that keeps on giving, so I tend to travel with a shovel. I think you keep on learning new things about it the older you get. The first time was probably when I was 14, 15, those infatuated moments. I’m a bit of a drama king – or queen, or something in between – so I have a tendency to overreact to things. Not only the matters of the heart. Being buried alive by love was a favourite pastime; I’m writing the book on it.”
We know you read a lot of books – have you ever considered becoming an author?
Constance S Autrice, Facebook
“I do appreciate the talents of people like Nick Cave, who’s such a verbal acrobat and has been able to create such a unique world with his own lexicon. Mark Lanegan did that for a wee bit – rest in peace, Mark. His was the last biography that I’ve read in many moons. But I hide behind music, the distorted guitars and wall of sound. Picking up the quill and doing a couple of lines for a song is already a struggle, so a full-fledged book is not for me. Not now, at least. Maybe I should start doing speed. I’ve heard that helps.”
Is there any instrument that you would like to use in your music that you can’t because you don’t know how to play it, or it doesn’t fit with the style of music? Hayley Jane Hayward, Facebook
“[Snickering] Was that a sexual question, Hayley?”
Hammer: Not that instrument.
“I still don’t really know how to play any instrument that well. But I know what I’m looking for in a song, so I try to make that happen by force. It’s not necessarily the most elegant way of doing it, but it gets the job done. That’s the way I approached the new album. I’d love to play the church organ. I’ve heard it’s pretty amazing because it makes your whole body rattle, but my tinnitus probably couldn’t take it.
It’s such a different discipline, playing classical instruments, to pop and rock. Spending your days amongst dead white men from the 1500s isn’t really my idea of fun. That’s why I decided to hang out with the Brummies of the 1970s – spiritually speaking.”
If you could collaborate with any musician who has inspired you over the years, who would it be?
Rachel McLachlan, Facebook
“I think the best things happen by accident. It’d be great to sing a duet with Debbie Harry or Annie Lennox. I’m a huge fan. And of course, Kate Bush. Or Cyndi Lauper – I have her autograph!
We had the same technician once on tour; I asked him for an autograph from her and then she asked for one from me. I had a passport that had just gone out of date so I ripped out the first page of my passport and signed that for her. That was pretty special. Those characters are very important. Like Grace Jones, she’s a powerhouse. Those grand dames of drama. I love powerful women. Who doesn’t? …I’ve started waxing nostalgic.”
What happened to your dad’s sex shop?
Toby Jason, email
“It’s still going strong! It’s like the movie Smoke with Harvey Keitel, about a smoke shop owner. It’s not so much about the latest gadgets to enjoy yourself or spice up your sex life with as it is the community, meeting the locals and hanging out. It’s in a cool, vibrant part of the city, and my dad has a lot of visitors – not only the HIM posse but people who travel from as far away as Argentina or Vladivostok.
He’s enjoying the fact that there are so many people all around the world that want to come and take selfies with him. I’m happy my dad still has a calling in the realm of pornography. One of us has to.”
You’ve had some close calls with death. Have you ever ‘seen’ anything?
Jo Esk, email
“I think my brushes with death have been quite tender. As in, I’ve never gone to the other side – at least, not as far as I know. Maybe this is the other side? To be honest, I don’t believe in anything after death. It gives me some consolation knowing that there’s nothing.
I think we all work best with a deadline, quite a literal one. Do what you’ve gotta do, hope for the best and do your thing, as opposed to “Let’s save some for later.” It’s just how I was brought up. I’ve been in hospitals and I’ve been abusing my temple along the way, but it’s never gotten that far.”
Megadeth or Metallica?
Jesus Merz, Facebook
“Metallica, of course. I think I heard Master Of Puppets first and nobody can deny its impact, even if you’re not a big Metallica fan. That was a big deal when I was a kid. It was the kind of music that, because we got it on vinyl, you weren’t sure if you had to listen to it on 33rpm or 45rpm.
That happened to us with Celtic Frost; it sounded so weird because we weren’t sure what speed we were supposed to listen to it. I still don’t really know. That probably explains a lot about my early development, both as an artist and as a human being! As for Metallica and Megadeth, maybe in the States they were on more of an even playing field, but in Scandinavia at least, Metallica were always the biggest and baddest. Especially when The Black Album came out.
But by that time, I had already sort of jumped into the more grungy, artsy aspects – I found Jane’s Addiction and Faith No More, and that stuff was way more intriguing to me than Nothing Else Matters. I’m a slow burner. My friend just bought me a copy of Nevermind because I denounced it when it first came out. I thought it was uncool but everybody else liked it. It’s probably the same with The Black Album. I’m always fashionably about 20 years late but I’ll definitely give it a chance and be like, ‘What’s this youthful racket?!’”
What is the significance of the sheep in the Loveletting video?
Anthony Pearson, Facebook
“We have a toilet paper brand here in Finland whose mascot is a sheep, and I was hoping to get a deal with them where they made black toilet paper with a black sheep and the heartagram on it. They never got interested in the idea, but I threw it out there.
I thought it was just a nice symbol of the outsider – like the ugly duckling. I think we all feel like outsiders for at least some part of our lives. I never grew out of that way of looking at the world. Animals are beautiful and you rarely get to see them in music videos so I thought it was a nice touch.”
Hammer: What was the sheep’s name, and did you get to pet it?
“Her name was Sysi [sounds a bit like ‘Susie’]. When you say ‘pitch black’ in Finnish, the word is ‘sysimusta’. I was only introduced to her right before the shoot and it took a while – they’re really nervous, and they get really agitated by any sudden movements. Getting to earn the trust right before the slaughter is no mean feat.”
If you could go back in time and play Neon Noir to yourself 20-30 years ago, what would you have said about it back then?
Emma Powell, Facebook
“I would’ve said it sounds decent, and I would’ve stolen all the riffs. Perhaps that’s what actually happened. It’d be quite boring if time was just linear. I would’ve stolen the best bits and made a career out of it. Here we are!”
Neon Noir is out now. VV play the UK this month.
