We are very happy to present you the interview that Tarja Turunen gave to Rock Overdose and Konstantinos Sotirelis. Enjoy!
Rock Overdose: Hello Tarja, welcome to Rock Overdose! You have a tour on 2017, which is called “Shadow Shows” and you’ll visit Greece. How do you feel about that?
Tarja: I am super excited about my return to Greece. The Greek audience has always been very warmly receiving me, so this makes me truly happy.
Rock Overdose: What are your memories from your past shows in Greece?
Tarja: I remember having a great time in Athens and Thessaloniki, eating very well and meeting lots of beautiful people. But mostly the shows have been truly emotional and the Greek fans amazingly supportive.
Rock Overdose: How do the fans react so far on the songs from "The Shadow Self" album?
Tarja: The shows so far with the new album have been fantastic! We have had an amazing time with our audiences and the reception towards the new songs has been great. The people feel The Shadow Self-album is the most mature work from me so far in my career, so I really can feel that positive energy during my shows.
Rock Overdose: Why do you think that your music has been accepted from both the traditional and the rock markets?
Tarja:I only can think the reason for it to be what I have done and how I have done it. I have always been a hard worker and shown respect towards music and the people I am working with. I think my feelings are wide open as my heart is when I sing. For me there is no other way to do music, rather than doing it with your heart. People are not silly. They feel you.
Rock Overdose: From 2015 until now, you have released 3 albums, including “The Brightest Void”. Where does all this inspiration come from?
Tarja: I have been feeling happy and energetic in the last years, so much that it has helped me to become productive. Sometimes it has been hard to bear with all the work that I have had going on at the same time, but in the end when you work hard on something and you get it ready, mostly the feeling is fulfilling.
Rock Overdose: Do you have any plans for a new release or will you spend some time on touring so as to promote the album?
Tarja: The world tour will take me until the end of 2018 with The Shadow Self-album, but simultaneously I will start working on the new album slowly. Writing songs during tours is definitely impossible for me, so in between the tours I am concentrating into that. You can anyway also expect me to come up with collaborations and other projects along the way, so keep your ears open! There is going to be a live DVD-release soon among other nice things…
Rock Overdose: "Ave Maria" was your first classical album. Was it a difficult to create it? Do you plan to record another classical album?
Tarja: To work on this release took me a long time, because firstly I needed to make a proper research in order to find the right songs for the album. There are more than 4000 Ave Marias written, so…! When I had done my selection of the songs I started to work with my vocal coach with them. It took me several months to get ready for the recordings. The recordings itself were done in three days only and everything was recorded live. I am happy I finally had time to work on such an album and I am super happy about it’s outcome. I would also love to work on another release similar in the near future.
Rock Overdose: Ηow was your early metal-music life as a woman among the other men? Especially with that unique non-metal voice you have.
Tarja: I was quite young when I started to tour the world. Everything was new to me and yes, I was left alone most of the time because I was not interested to party like all the rest of the people. I was not able to do so, because I wanted to take good care of the voice I had. The guys in the band were not really taking care that they had a woman in the group of men, because they got used to have me around all the time and I didn’t ask their attention either. But sometimes it was really hard to be the only girl around. I made my own way and I kept it that way until the very end of my career within the band though. My voice became my life and I was only concerned to take care of it and become better in singing. That’s why I am still working hard with it.
Rock Overdose: Have you listened to the latest Nightwish albums? If yes, what’s your opinion about them?
Tarja: Not at all. I haven’t been following the band’s career, because I have not been interested. I am super happy on my solo career and grateful for all this freedom I have. The feeling of happiness I get from writing my own songs, producing my records and singing the songs for my own audiences all over the world is unbelievable. I am grateful that I went through what I went through with the band, so that now I can truly enjoy music and my life.
Rock Overdose: Thank you very much for this interview. The last words are yours.
Tarja: I am expecting to see you all in my concerts in Greece quite soon! I really cannot wait to have a great time and rock with you again! Thank you for the support and love. I miss you!!!
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