The Fans - Nightmail
September 2006

Veera (Järvenpää): Have you ever dropped your sticks during a show because of doing tricks or something? And do you have spare sticks next to you in case this happens? :)

Jukka: I drop sticks all the time. But since I have spare sticks around I usually get to pick a new one before it can even be noticed.

Malte (Deutschland): Jukka, how long does it take to set up and wire your drum kit? Do you do that yourself? Did you ever break a drumhead during a concert? What did you do? How do you get into a song, can you hear the song a few beats before you count it in?

Jukka: Setting up my drum kit takes about 15 minutes (Without tuning the drums or setting the microphones). In studio and in rehearsals I set the kit myself but on tour drum technician does the job. I've break drumheads many times and if it's snare head that breaks it's easy just to take another snare which I always have with me on tour. But if it's tom or bassdrum head that breaks then we just need to take a little break after the song and change that drumhead. I play all the songs with click on shows. Click starts a little before I count the song in. So I'll get the tempo in my in-ears and then count the song in so that the other guys now when to start.

Janna (Seinäjoki): Is the Nightwish calendar going to be on sale in "normal" stores?

Jukka: It is available for all the stores to order from Pyramid Posters. So it's all up to stores themselves to decide if they'll take it or not.

Saara (Helsinki): Jukka, what is your most memorable memory from school?

Jukka: I have no idea why it's this one but I was in fifth grade and thought of being a tough guy. I skipped school a few times by lying that I needed to go to the dentist. And since my mother was at home, I just hung around the school area in pouring rain without doing anything. Stupid as hell but felt cool at that time...

Victor (Richmond): Do you like extreme kinds of Metal such as Death Metal and Black Metal, and what you think about Norway's Black Metal sene, have you ever been there?

Jukka: I listen to neither of these music styles.

Nicolas (France): Was it not too hard a full demo without any female vocals on it ?

Jukka: No. Actually, everything was done the same way as for the previous demo recordings (Once). Back then, we also arranged all the songs without female vocals.

Essi (Finland): I was just wondering, since drums are a quite loud instrument and you can pretty much hear nothing from the other guys on stage, can you still enjoy the music when playing live or are the songs just awful noise?

Jukka: I use in-ear monitors so actually I hear all the instrument better and more clearly than the other guys on stage. Since we play so damn well my in-ears basically sound as good as I would be listening to our music from a CD... =)

Susanna 8v ja Samuel3v (Tampere): You spin your sticks as good as Michelangelo from Turtles is spinning his nunchakus. How long have you been practising?

Jukka: I first started to practise spinning sticks when I saw Jörg Michael of Stratovarius do it in the year of 1996 or something. But I didn't practise it all the time. Just every now and then when had time and remembered to do so. But this "real" spinning around the fingers I learned from Mike Terrana of Rage when we were touring with them after the Oceanborn album.

Jukka-fani (Oskola/Joensuu): I've never figured out who is singing in Carpenter. Can you let me know...?

Jukka: If you mean male vocals then the answer is Tuomas.

Tiia Sormunen (Espoo): Hello jukka! When you're practising the new songs, has Tuomas written notes for you or do you play the songs by hearing? All the best for you guys!

Jukka: We do not use notes. We basically always use the same method for practising the new songs. First Tuomas makes a raw demo from the songs which I listen to at home. Then we'll play the songs over and over again together. Little by little all the parts and things get stuck into my mind and after this playing is almost automatic.

Ilkka Kuosmanen (Dublin, Ireland): How many drum sets have you had? Do you think Tama is a good brand? What hints would you give to an anxious heavy metal drummer? Good luck for the recordings of the new album! I can hardly wait it'll come out. :)

Jukka: I've had 6 different sets. One New Sound, one Tama Esprit, one Yamaha Stage Custom and three Tama Starclassic Maple sets. There are many great sets out there but at least for me Tama Starclassic works the best. Giving hints to other drummers is extremely difficult because a one thing that might work for a one drummer doesn't necessarily work for another. So let's just say that try to find your own style. By taking influences from your favorite drummers you can create your own interesting style which kicks ass. For the recordings I don't need a good luck anymore since all the drums are already recorded. =) But the other guys might still need it.

Sirenia (Tampere): You're a vegetarian. At what age and why did you leave meat out of your diet?

Jukka: I've been a vegetarian (lakto-ovo) for about 5 years now. The reason for not eating meat, chicken or anything like that is that I read a couple of books about how animals are/were being treated and after that I decided I don't want to support this kind of cruel acts. And even though animals would be treated nicely before killing and eating them I really don't want to kill anyone to feed myself.

Alexandra (Canada): 1. When you look at the world, what do you see?
2. What mean "Love" and "Innocence" to you?
3. How are you and your family doing ?? :P

Jukka: 1. I see a great place full of opportunities but also a place full of injustice and inequality.
2. Love = Love is a great resource that keeps you going. Innocence = Something we all loose at some point when searching our place in this world.
3. All is good. Kids are getting bigger and my wife is very happy that I am at home.

Hendrik (Deutschland): What does your family think about your music?

Jukka: In my family, some really love our music and some don't comment on it in any way, so I guess it's not their favorite music.

Iina (Oulu): What is the best thing in Nightwish?

Jukka: The whole package. For me Nightwish is not just a band. It's a huge part of my life which includes my best friends, my job and the best parties. If not counting my family and my background, Nightwish basically represents everything I am.

Nikola (Cacak, Serbia): Has parenthood changed you as a person? If yes, in what way?

Jukka: I don't feel that parenthood has changed me that much. I still have about the same beliefs and values as before. I might have become a bit more calm but that might also be because of getting older.

Dom (England): I love the Night Owl broadcasting! What was the craziest thing you've ever done and who actually came up with this awesome idea?

Jukka: I don't remember if this particular event was a Night Owl broadcast but me and Tero swam in a pond in front of our hotel. This was not the same event that can be seen in our DVD but the hotel and the pond was the very same (the tour was different). The funniest thing in this "incident" was that we didn't notice that the windows of the hotel restaurant were headed on the pond and the restaurant was full of people having dinner. But I guess they liked it since we got a great applause when we got back in the hotel. I can't recall who came up with the term Night Owl but I guess it was me who was messing around with a camera when this term was used for the first time.

(): Were you at Niki's birth? What was his first word?

Jukka: Yes I was. I think seeing the birth of your own child is something no man should miss. Even though giving birth is definitely not all nice but the happy ending rewards the suffering. Niki doesn't really speak yet but at least his mom claims that he has said the word "Äiti" already which means "mom".

Niki (greece): Which were your feelings when you saw yourself in a newspaper for the first time? And how are you feeling about this nowadays ?

Jukka: The first time felt great. If people find your work interesting enough to write a story about it it's usually a compliment. Still today it's really nice if press is interested writing good articles, but unfortunately, lately, most of the articles have been stupid or plain lies. So nowadays I've basically lost all my my respect towards the press.

vanaudenaerde dennis (belgium): Do you ever listen to your own music?

Jukka: Yes I do. Especially when a new demo or album is recorded I listen to it all the time. But when we're touring and play the same songs night after night I usually skip our own songs from my MP3.

Kiira (Joensuu): I noticed in some live videos that your mouth is moving when you're playing! Are you singing because it looks like you are? :)

Jukka: Sometimes I sing, sometimes I swear and sometimes I just talk what ever comes into my mind. If I'm having a great feeling it's nice to sing along. If I'm pissed off and/or something doesn't go as I'd want it to go it helps to swear and to shout. And sometimes I just need to get another drink and then expressing myself with clear sentences helps me to deliver my order to the guy responsible serving the drinks.

James VN (Pembrokeshire, UK): I'm aware that you do a lot of paperwork for Nightwish. What exactly does this job involve?

Jukka: I make sure that Nightwish company Scene Nation Oy is operating like we want it to. I take care of all the things from invoices to running our webshops and from making the contracts (together with King Foo) to all the minutes. Additional to that I take care of coming up new merchandise products, finding somebody to do the grafics and then to find somebody to manufacture the products.

Kim (Denmark): At your concerts it seems like you are playing without ear plugs. Is that true?

Jukka: That's no true. I use in-ear monitors. They are kind of ear plugs that block the noise coming from the outside, but I also get all the instruments in them, mixed in the way I want.