Ville Valo: The Final HIM Interview

In this week's issue of Kerrang! we catch up with Ville Valo. It is – as ever, as always – hugely entertaining. But it's a chat that's tinged with incredible sadness too, seeing as it's the final interview concerning all things HIM, before the Finnish metal legends called time on 26 illustrious years together on New Year's Eve.

Below, you'll find a preview selection of highlights from our interview. Because we're nice like that. For the full thing, you'll have to pick up an issue, won't you? You can do that here.


ON THOSE LAST FEW SHOWS
"You don’t normally have a series of funerals. There [were] more than 40 [farewell] gigs, and each one was the last in that town or country, or whatever. It’s like having sex 40 times without ejaculating!"

ON THE REASONS FOR SPLITTING
"We were tired of the same shit. When you’ve done it for a long time, at some point it doesn’t taste good anymore. We started working on some stuff, it didn’t sound good enough, and we didn’t get the teenage buzz you’re supposed get."

ON WHAT COMES NEXT
"I’ll be figuring out the emotions I’ll be going through after the HIM period is done. That’s how I experience life. I experience it through music, I’ll pick up the guitar and start writing and I’m sure some of the emotions that come out of this wild ride will come through. My life is not done yet. The HIM part is done, as it is now, the chapter is closed, but the book is still unfinished…"

ON WHAT HIM 'MEANS'
"The band has been the Imodium to my diarrhoea! It’s kept me balanced, it’s helped me function along the way. But I’ll let you know once I’ve really figured it out. I’ll send you a postcard."

That's just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Trust us, the full interview is a treat from start to finish. The issue looks like so…

You can get the new issue of Kerrang! – featuring the full HIM interview and much more – in shops now or you can order it online through Newsstand.

You know what to do.