Q: How is your musical taste towards metal music / other genres?

A: Anything goes, but of course metal is nearest to my heart.

Q: Your live performance looks quite confident these days...has it always been a natural thing to you? Did you use to be very nervous before the shows in the early days?

A: In my opinion live set's been working always. There's always little bit pain in the ass, but I think it's only a good thing. It gives you the power to carry on.

Q: Which album you've been listening to the most recently?

A: I don't have much time to listen music for fun 'cause I work in my own studio where I have to listen enough music almost everyday. At home I have to listen Madonna's latest 'cause of my kids, he!

Q: Do you go to see a lot other bands' live shows?

A: One of the best live gigs I've seen was Michael Jackson Dangerous tour gig at Rosunda stadium -95. Great sound and tight playing. Now on I don't have enough time to see gigs as much as I want to.

Q: Reveal musical sceleton(s) in your closet??

A: Suomen Talvisota (Finnish underground band)

Q: Name one album you've bought that means especially much to you?

A: There's so many of them… One of the best was Van Halen -84, the sound of the keys were outstanding in heavy metal at that time. Actually it's great album still.

Q: The instruments you use...how and why have you ended up using these particular gear?

A: Korg, Hammond, Ensoniq, Proteus. They just wanted to be with me, he!

Q: Have there been any turning points that have had strong effect on your musical career or musicianship?

A: I think it is this commercial music, which I do for the day job. It has introduced me in so many music genres, theory and orchestral things.

Q: How do you like to spend your free time?

A: Mostly with my family.

Q: What would be your future goals as a musician?

A: To keep in senses, he, and try to carry on at least the same way.

1. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU START PLAYING YOUR INSTRUMENT?

When I was at the age of 7 (1977), my parents bought me a piano and I started to play. Later in that year I went to first class to music school in Helsinki, where I spent next 3 years, I also took private piano lessons.

After that we moved to a little village to Vuolijoki, near by Kajaani and there wasn't any music school that time, so I continued my lessons by private piano teacher for couple years.
At the age of 13 my mother bought me a first synth, I think that was Korg Poly 800. That was an incredible experience. Hey! That machine had more than only f***ing one sound!
In same year I went to play my big brother's band, he played the drums in that band. So that's how my band career started.

2. HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY PIANO/SYNTH LESSONS? HOW OFTEN YOU PRACTICE OR USED TO PRACTICE?

I used to practice a couple of hours a day. Now I have my own studio and I do commercial music for TV and radio between playing rock music, and I play in some different projects. So I play all the time.

3. HOW DID YOU END UP IN TAROT?

That's a long story. In 1987 when Tarot was playing gigs nearby my village, I was there almost every time. I took a terrible drunkenness and after their gigs I always went to backstage to spoke shit and crap to tell them that I play keys. Guys didn't believe. Many times I was sleeping in their bus on the floor with a lot of empty bottles and all kind of shit around. Every morning my clothes was full of shit and that went on and on. There was a piano in a some gig place and I tried to play the Rose On The Grave riff, of course I was drunken. Zac said maybe that drunken guy can play something. By my behavior, even the band's one technicians said, if that drunker comes in the band, he won't work with Tarot anymore, so it was a difficult situation.

One day Zac called me and asked if wanted to come to the rehearsals. I was shaking and I almost got a heart attack when I went to the first rehearsal. Well, I was their Biggest fan and the guys were there and they were famous! Happy End! And still we ride!!!

4. THE BEST PART OF BEING A MUSICIAN?

I really don't want to wake up until it's midday, actually that was before I got my little boy, but now on I try get back on the saddle for the band.

I can travel to many different places to play the music I love and we get some free booze allright! The crowd screaming is the best way to make a gig going great.

5. WHICH ALBUM ALONG IT'S TOURS ETC. BRINGS OUT THE BEST MEMORIES TO YOU?

For The Glory Of Nothing session and the tour. That's the only…that I remember…just kidding! Well…it was the summer in 1997. We were recording our album at Suomenlinna/Seawolf Studios. Summer was f***ing hot and we did drinks a lot! We slept 2 weeks on the kitchen floor at Marco's place in Helsinki.

Every day we went to the studio about ten o'clock in the morning with a terrible hangover. First of all we bought some ciders called Code from the nearest store to get some fix! Sometime in the evening there was a sign in the store's window "Code sold out"! F***ing great! That was the way how the whole summer went on and we had really good time. Somehow the recording sessions went right in the schedule and we played brilliantly.

After the recording and the mixing sessions, I went to Los Angeles in autumn for mastering the "Cake". Flight was about eight hours and the first stop was in New York. I had been drinking enough and I thought nothing more before L.A. But when I sat in the plane again, some rabbi sat beside of me and he mumbled something supernatural for an hour, so second thought and the show must go on! Rest of the flight was in twilight zone, ha, ha! I had some Warhead singles with me and when I woke up one was missing, so maybe I gave him one for the road?

I spent my time at Jussi Tegelman's house, who had arranged the mastering in the studio called Master Lab. There was more equipment than you can find in Mustamaki square Estonia, ha, ha, and all those machines looked like the missing parts of Thsernobyl! Really big knobs here and there. After the first shock I understood that they couldn't be totally shitty, because Metallica, Pink Floyd and M. Jackson had used this place for good.

When the work was done, we visited in Tijuana, Mexico. I bought some metalman stuff, boots and mescal. In the flight back to Finland I decided to be sober… half of the flight, ha!
All right… one story left…we toured Finland round and round, almost every place crowd went nuts and after every gig something funny and crazy happened.

We were in the city called Oulu, after the gig party in the hotel, there was an aquarium in the hallway. In that thing there was the biggest sucking fish I've ever seen. Ignoring the boys' warnings, I thought what would happen if I catched it and I put my … you know what… in its mouth. Fortunately it stayed only in my dreams, I reached my hand and slipped almost in to the aquarium. In that condition I couldn't catch even a turtle in the Sahara, so there I was soaking wet and the hotel floor got it too. I hope the hotel staff didn't notice the thing???