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

A: I like all kind of music from Finnish humppa to punk, because it helps me to improve my skills.

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: Every time before a gig I have some butterflies in my stomach and I think it's normal. Our live sets are sometimes better and sometimes worse, but our professional skills develope year after year, so we can play better live sets.

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

A: Lately I've been listening Kansas Audio-Vision album. The album includes highest level songs, sinning and playing.

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

A: I have seen lots of bands. Even now one of the best shows I have ever seen is Judas Priest Turbo Lover tour gig in Helsinki. On the other hand, last time I saw Judas Priest, they played so loud that it hurt my ears and that's why I don't want to remember that gig so much.

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

A: Maybe there is, but you will never know what I have in my closet! Ha ha!

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

A: Oh there are so many albums I like, but my first album I love the most is Van Halen first. It always bring memories of good old times.

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

A: I don't have special gear because I only use samplers. To me most important thing is samplers are working and when I push the button all the background vocals can be heard. I'm more worried about my voice if something happens to it. That's gonna be nightmare.

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

A: Yeah, those people, who have been in our concerts, have given me a lot of self-confidence to learn more music and of course band mates have helped me too.

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

A: Reading books, watching TV-series, playing ice hockey, surfing in net, going out with my dog called Elvis and I started to jogging a few days ago. I also train with my other bands a lot.

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

A: Future seems to be better than few years ago. I hope that people respects my goals for becoming better heavy metal singer. I'm not trying to compete with other singers, I simply try to develop my method of sinning.

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

I'm not completely sure, but I think I started to sing in the third grade at school.
I also sang in the Kuopio city church choir, which was perhaps my first contact with singing. At school I also got private singing lessons. After that in the senior grade I joined my first band in which I started rocking with the other boys.

2. HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY VOCAL LESSONS? HOW OFTEN YOU PRACTICE, OR USED TO PRACTICE?

I only got singing lessons at school. When I was sixteen years old I tried to learn to play the bass but it was not my thing so I gave it up, and started to satisfy myself with the singing. I am good at imitating others (singers) and so I have used that as an asset in my singing, I think. I practice every day!!!! It is my daily life!!! Listening to the other bands and singing with them at home.

3. HOW DID YOU END UP IN TAROT?

This is a long story. I think I first heard Marco singing in our home in Kuopio. Marco was in a same school as my brother and Marco came to my home with some records he lent to us, I think the records were Led Zeppelin's. At the time I was becoming a serious listener of heavy and hard rock and rock music. I remember meeting Marco first and then I met Zac, he was working and playing in a local youth center. That time their training place was in that youth center and that was the first time I heard the band called Purgatory and became the fan of the band. After a few years they asked me if I wanted to become their roadie for some gigs and that was end of 1985, when they released their first EP. About five years I was with them on the road helping them put up their show and drinking beers and having fun. In 1993 I started to sing backing vocals on records and in 1995 they asked me to join the band on stage to be a background singer and to play the sampler and that is what I do now.

4. THE BEST PART OF BEING A MUSICIAN?

To travel all over the country drinking beer and feeling the hangover!!! Arghhhhh!!!!

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

I remember all of them! There are so many good gigs and travelling time in a bus. Busses that didn't work correctly. Or there was so cold outside that we had to be really drunk to be able to move to the next stop, you know winter weather in Finland. I remember the day we went to the place called Karjaa and the bus tire broke twice…Many good memories are from the summer festivals all over the country… Once I was sleeping under the bus and the other night I slept in the bushes.

Oh yes 1988 or something, the tour in Russia, that was "oh my god, how much a human can drink vodka"??? I have to say many bottles!!! We could!!! We tried to play cards and break hotel furniture or we got angry to the KGB supervisors in the hotels so we took off our clothes or something to annoy them! I remember in Leningrad we tried to start our journey by train but someone (Tolsa) pissed on a milizai's shoes and he went mad and said this train doesn't go anywhere unless this group calms down and goes to sleep. There are many stories about the tours in Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and so…memories of them makes me laugh the tears out of my eyes!

Backing vocals sessions of For The Glory Of Nothing album: The summer was very warm and the recording place for the album was really good. It was the island called Suomenlinna in Helsinki. Every morning we went to the Helsinki harbour and from there with a ferry to Suomenlinna. There we bought many bottles of cider called Code from a little shop and started making some backing vocals but the weather was so nice that we started to drink outdoors and get tanned!!! But somehow during those weeks we got the songs ready and willing...