Interviews

If FMP was to tour with three other bands; where would you tour and who would the other three bands be?

Juha: If I could choose any band they would be Queesryche, The ark and Charon .. =) hmmm.. Somehow I feel that it would be quite interesting tour =)
Olli-Pekka: It has to be a world wide tour... in Europe, USA, Latin America, Japan, Australia And New Zealand. I would like to tour with Anathema, Opeth and At TheGates (RIP).
Altti: It would be very nice to tour in any country..so it's hard to chose any particular place. Of course it would be nice to see some new places and countries, but any country with metal heads would be nice

Fellow bands could be for example with Nightwish, Lacuna Coil and Gathering.



If you weren't in music, what do you think you'd be doing now?

Juha: hmm. I probably would be drinking booze somewhere in Oulu. Perhaps in Ainolan puisto… with Raymond Pohjola of course =)
Olli-Pekka: Well I don't know... hanging around??? Doing a day job perhaps.
Altti: I guess I would concentrate more on martial arts or shooting for example. Actually I'm in both of those already now, but I guess I would spend even more time with those hobbies.



What made you want to join/ start up the band, For My Pain?

Juha: Altti asked me to join to a project band after I did the clean vocal on Etos album (awaaw). It was fun to work with the Etos guys so I said, yes.
Olli-Pekka: I had a bunch of songs ready and I didn't know which way to release them... And then Altti came to me and strarted talking about a new band idea and some of the songs suited the style what we were thinking for the band. So I joined the band.
Altti: We got an idea of this kind of band with Petri and we wanted to play totally different kind of music from Eternal Tears of Sorrow. So we started to gather suitable members into this band from our good friends who had became good friends of ours during the years we had spent with metal music.



Which FMP song has had the most affect on you and the band? And is there a story behind it; if so what?

Juha: My personal favorite song is Dear carniwhore. It’s the most rockish song on fallen and it’s got a really good drive.
Olli-Pekka: Well, I don't know much how other member think about this but I think MY Wound Is Deeper Than Yours is a nice rocking song and it's the opening song of our gigs and our album. If I remember right I was playing the Skid Row's Monkey Business when I had the idea for the My Wounds... and I fooled around with my guitar about 40 minutes and the song was ready. It was so easy to make the song when you have a good inspiration.
Altti: There are many songs from For My Pain... which are very important to me. For example Queen misery was the first one that we were playing in rehearsals. Also My Wound is Deeper than Yours was also one of the first ones. I cannot simply pick one particular song.



Where do you see yourself and the band in 5 years?

Juha: It’s hard to say, but I guess we keep doing music together in a way or another. I definitely see myself doing music if I’m still alive. With who and what kind, well see…
Olli-Pekka: That's a hard question... hopefully we're few gigs wiser and maybe we had done our third album.
Altti: I guess our second album has come out before five next years. Propably we have played also couple of gigs if everybosy have had time for that. Hopefully there are also lots of new fans too.



What's the best/worst thing a fan has given you?

Juha: Hmm. I don’t get that many things. But I really liked the deep purple DVD which I got from our Russian fans for a birthday present.
Olli-Pekka: There's no worst thing... I have got very good feed back via email and from our website. People like our music and support us, it's the best thing.
Altti: We have got many awesome presents from our fans and we have liked them all. So there are not any "worst things" among the presents we have got.



what tattoos do you guys have, if any? And are there any stories behind your tattoo's?

Juha: I haven’t got tattoos of any kind in my body. But I have nature made scar-tattoos and that’s enough to me so far.
Olli-Pekka: I have planned many years for getting a tattoo but I haven't got it yet. Maybe I don't have the guts for doing that. I'm so chicken...
Altti: I have two tattoos. The first one is a howling wolf on my right shoulder. I took it about 7 years ago. Wolf is simply a beautiful animal that I admire a lot.
They're so wild and free and they're walking the paths they want to. If I should be an animal, I would be propably a wolf.

Another one is a tribal armband on my right arm..in the middle of the tribal figure there is a wolf's paw print. This tattoo I took about two years ago.



What always gets you into trouble?

Juha: I think this is pretty common disease but I’m always... I mean always late from everywhere.
Olli-Pekka: Nothing really... maybe alcohol sometimes or alcohol and women, but I usually avoid all the troubles.
Altti: Actually I do not get into any troubles very often. I try to avoid situations where to get into troubles. I don't even remember when I would have been in troubles.



Do you have any memorable gigs and or fans?

Juha: It was fun to play jalometalli festival last year .I hope there’s going to be more fans of ours also from outside of Finland this year.
Olli-Pekka: There are couple special fans in Brazil so greetings to them.
Altti: There are lots of great memories of those gigs we have played with EToS or with For My Pain... From For My Pain... the first gig on last summer's Jalometalli Festival is surely a gig to remember. The croed got very wild and they liked the show a lot.

With EToS one of the best gigs is a show in Paris, France in autumn 2000. We were touring with Nightwish and Sinergy.

Surely there are also lots of memorable fans all over the world. i don't want to name any of them because all our fans are equally great and important to us!



Use one word to describe yourself?

Juha: Sad.
Olli-Pekka: Lazy. I have been lazy all summer.
Altti: "down-to-earth".. I guess it's a one word



What's the funniest and or worst thing that happened to you while performing up on stage?

Juha: I think it’s the basic ripped pants or something. I have also hit my head to bass guitar many times and that is pretty awful feeling because you have to act like nothing is wrong and carry on the gig with a hole in your head, that why my hair is always that red, it’s bloody =)
Olli-Pekka: Nothing special with the For My Pain gigs but when I was in Eternal Tears Of Sorrow I got somekind of stomach flu on gig in Helsinki and I almost sh*t my pants and vomited on the stage.
Altti: I guess it was our tour ending show in Gologne, Germany, 2000 with Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Nightwish guys were joking with a mixing table during our gig and they made my voice sound like a Donald Duck when I was speaking between our songs That was pretty fun But like you guess, we surely got our revenge during the Nightwish's gig



What do you want people to gain from listening to your music?

Juha: Constantly changing, beautiful and deep emotions.
Olli-Pekka: Feelings... different kind of feelings.
Altti: I hope people get all kind of feelings and emotions while they're listening to our music. One of the best feedback I have got from our fans is that they have survived from hard phases in their lives by help of our music. That's the best compliment the band can get in my opinion.



Now is there something you wish to share with all your lady fans?

Juha: I hope that can make few more gigs in the future and then I hope to see you there =)
Olli-Pekka: Well I'm single at the moment and I haven't really tried our For My Pain strings yet. I would like to do that 'cos I'm a cross dresser. Well, that was a joke.
Altti: If I would have enough ice blue roses, I would give one rose to each of our lady fans It has been really great to notice that there are so many of you all around the world!

Thank you for your time in answering these questions for this 'Finnish Men In Music' interview.

Juha: Thank you!!!
Olli-Pekka: Thank you very much for having me interviewed.
Altti: Thank you for your interview! I really enjoyed the time with your questions!