By Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/17/2010 10:39:28 PM PDT In 2006, alternative rockers Him became the first Finnish band to have a gold record in the United States with "Dark Light."
"We never had an overnight success story," said lead singer Ville Valo. "It took a while for us to convince people - at first, back home, then in mid-Europe and then southern Europe, then the U.K and finally in North America - to like us enough to travel over there and tour a bit."
Him was formed in Helsinki in 1991. Its lineup has shuffled and changed over the years; it now is vocalist Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindstrom and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen, the original members, as well as keyboardist Janne "Burton" Puurtinen and drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen. Him will be performing in Anaheim on Wednesday, and in Los Angeles on Friday, in support of its February release, "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice" (Sire Records).
A prolific writer, Valo inks most of the band's music. He brings the band sketches of ideas to be filled out to completed compositions.
"The riffs, chord structures, melodies, lyrics, basically everything comes from my little head, but we're all friends, we grew up together and we wrote our first songs together," he said. "It just seems that the rest of the guys became a bit more lazy or I became a dictator - I think it's somewhere in between."
Him spent two years creating "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice" and is pleased with the outcome.
"I'm super happy with it," Valo said. "It's the most lively, energetic and in-the-now album that we've ever done."
Valo began playing bass at age 8 and was writing songs soon after. He went on to drums, which he now plays in Daniel Lioneye, a side project of Him.
Valo left school as a teen, as he had already decided on a musical career.
"My parents were really, really supportive, helping me out for the first year or so," he said. "My dad was paying my rent and there was never talk of `you have to pay it back'. I was so serious in spending so much time working on music, that they could see they weren't going to discourage me from music."
After the U.S. tour, Him will be performing in Europe throughout the summer. Valo also has some new material in the works, but doesn't write on the road.
"On tour, it's really hard to concentrate because you're in a different environment, and in a hotel room you can't be that noisy," Valo said. "I like playing acoustic guitar and having a little dictating machine with me, that's got a sense of romance about it."
Him concentrates on performance while on tour. The focus obviously pays off, as Him is noted for great live shows. They will be in good company during their tour in the States with We Are The Fallen, Dommin and Drive A.
"It's a big bill that we're going to be touring with," Valo said. "Even if we don't tickle your fancy, there is a chance that some of the other bands will."
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_14908216
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