Updated: 01/01/01

Children Of Bodom played the Milwaukee Metalfest 2000, and pretty much blew away all of the competition with their dynamic show. Named after a real life unsolved murder which happened at a lake called Bodom near Espoo City (where the COB members are from), the band is on the verge of releasing their third album here in the States. Entitled Follow The Reaper, it shows Children Of Bodom more manic than ever and promises to be one of the best metal releases of 2001! I recently spoke with keyboardist Janne Warman (aka Wirman) at 6AM my time. It was the middle of day in Finland, and his long day of interviews was just beginning...

Highwire Daze: Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Children Of Bodom, and tell me how long the band has been together?

Janne Warman: I'm Janne and I play keyboards in Children Of Bodom, and we have been playing now for three or four years. We have released three studio albums plus a live album from our Tokyo gigs in Japan.

HD: First of all, how did you feel about the show you did at the Milwaukee Metalfest?

Janne: Well, when you go to another country to play a gig and you don't have your own crew or equipment, it's pretty hard to do a good show. But the audience was great and the feeling was really good, so I think it was a good gig after all, though we had some technical problems.

HD: What were your impressions of the US audiences and the States in general?

Janne: I think that the US audience was really aggressive. I think they liked our performance. We are pretty aggressive onstage too! In general, it was a good gig and a very nice experience to play in the US.

HD: You guys seemed really tired during the autograph session but really got it together live.

Janne: The autograph session lasted something like two and half hours - the line was like from Milwaukee to Chicago - it took so f*cking long. But, we left after that and it was okay.

HD: Do you guys do anything to prepare for a live show, especially when you're on tour and really tired?

Janne: Not much. Alexander plays a lot of guitar before a show as a warm up. I don't have a possibility to do that because my keyboards are onstage and I don't know if I would like to do that. I just eat and take it easy for a while. We don't do anything together before the gig - everybody does his own thing and then we go onstage and have a blast.

HD: And then you plug in your keyboards and hope that they work!

Janne: Yeah!

HD: So before we talk about Follow The Reaper, I wanted to ask you about your Live In Japan album. What made you decide it was time to release a live recording?

Janne: Because when we were in Tokyo playing, we heard they were going to record those gigs anyway. So we thought that might be a good chance to release some live material. Then we got back home in Finland and went to the Finwork studios and listened to the tapes. And they were okay, there was nothing really bad in it - of course there were some mistakes in playing, but in general it sounded pretty cool. So we thought, "Let's release it as a live album."

HD: Why didn't Nuclear Blast release it here in the States?

Janne: I have no idea. It was meant to be a limited thing, so maybe that was why.

HD: What were the Japanese fans like when you met them?

Janne: Well, in Japan, the age group was totally different. We have these 30-40 year old dudes wearing suits, and they'd come to our shows and wanted autographs. In Japan, the audiences there are not only young kids who like to go crazy. The age of the people is very wide in Japan - not just young people who want to go crazy.

HD: That must be pretty funny seeing that.

Janne: Yeah, it was pretty surprising. When we were going in and out of our rooms in the hotel, there were always some people in the lobby waiting for us to get autographs. And there we noticed these guys in suits who had all of our albums and wanted to get our autographs - we were really surprised!

HD: How much of Follow The Reaper was done when you played the Milwaukee Metalfest?

Janne: We had the ideas of the songs, but they needed a lot more arranging and a lot more riffs. But we had many ideas for the songs already at that time.

HD: How does Follow The Reaper compare with the other Children Of Bodom albums?

Janne: There is something definitely that has happened since Hatebreeder. After Something Wild, our style evolved in a more straightforward way. We don't have any more of these strange, meaningless parts that we had on the songs on Something Wild. I think the songs have a little bit more sense in the way that they're not so complicated. The songs are a little bit more straightforward, but there are some fast parts, but they're not so totally mixed up.

HD: Which songs on the album are you the most excited about playing live?

Janne: Sh*t, I can't remember the names! The number three track…

HD: Children Of Decadence?

Janne: Yeah! And the number four track Everytime I Die, because in Finland, we released a video of it, and it had some success on Finnish TV. And then the last song Kissing The Shadows because it has the killer solo part at the ending of it.

HD: When you released Hate Me as a single, how did it sell?

Janne: Hate Me was the first song from the Follow The Reaper album that was totally ready. I think we just wanted to release some new material before releasing the album. Hate Me was the first new song we did, so we just released it as a single.

HD: How much did you contribute in the songwriting department?

Janne: Actually, not much. I like to write all the music, but when (Alexi) comes to our training sessions with his ideas - we all arrange the songs very much. I like to write all the music, but everyone of us is very much involved with the arranging of the songs.

HD: You've pretty much toured all over the world at this point. What are some of the strangest things that have happened to you or the band?

Janne: There has been a lot of strange things going on. One of them was in Finland, when the engine of our bus exploded. That was quite nice! And we had some other stuff going on also - like wrecking some hotel rooms in Germany and sh*t like that. There's always something happening to us when we're on tour. We're pretty lively people.

HD: In Finland, what is the current metal scene like, and are there any places for metal bands to play?

Janne: Yes, yes there are. In the capital of Finland, Helsinki, where we all live very near here - there's two big, new, very well equipped clubs to play gigs. And even on the countryside of Finland, there are nice places. In Finland, we have a pretty good situation in that way.

HD: How long have you been playing keyboards and what made you take up that instrument?

Janne: I've been playing keyboards only for the three or four years that Children Of Bodom has been together. I was playing piano before that. I started that when I was five years old, and graduated from Helsinki Pop Jazz Conservatory when I was sixteen. But then I quit playing totally, because I didn't want to play anymore. And then Children Of Bodom's first album was about to be recorded and they needed a keyboard player. The band's name wasn't Children Of Bodom at the time. But the band needed a new keyboard player and asked me to join and that's how we formed Children Of Bodom. And then we did the first record.

HD: Prior to being in Children Of Bodom, what kind of music were you into?

Janne: I studied at the Pop Jazz Conservatory, so I was mainly a jazz piano player before that.

HD: What bands do you like now and are influenced by?

Janne: Right now I'm into 80's hard rock, like Ozzy Osborne and shit like that. But I also like these technical progressive heavy metal bands like Symphony X. I listen to a lot of different styles, so I play many different styles also - I've been playing everything from jazz to heavy metal.

HD: Are you influenced by classical music at all?

Janne: A little. Actually, that's one thing that I realize now I should have been playing more when I was younger - because a lot of fast, heavy metal things demand this good classical finger work technique which I don't fully have - so I have to make my own things. But I've been now trying to catch up and play some classical stuff.

HD: Tell me about your other band Warmen.

Janne: That's my solo project band. It started off as a joke. These guys who play the drums and main guitars on Warmen - we were just hanging out and they said "Hey! When you do a solo album, we want to play on it." And I was like, "Yeah, sure, okay." And then half a year after that, I was like, "Hey, what about if I really do it?" And I asked Spinefarm if they would release it if I recorded it, and they were like "Hell yeah!" And then I just called up those two guys and said, "Hey! Let's do it right now!" And I started writing music and we recorded the album. And it's been out for half a year now.

HD: What does the music of Warmen sound like?

Janne: It's mainly instrumental, but we have two songs with vocals. Kimberly Goss from Sinergy is singing on two songs. It's progressive, instrumental heavy metal with some 80's influences - not so complex songs after all.

HD: Have you ever played live with Warmen?

Janne: Yeah, a few times in Finland, but not much. It went pretty well actually. We played at Spinefarm's birthday party, a big gig in Helsinki where Children Of Bodom also played. And then we had one television show.

HD: Any chance of seeing Children Of Bodom again here in the States?

Janne: There have been some plans about touring the States in April, so I hope that comes true.

HD: With Nuclear Blast America now being released through Century Media, will COB be released through CM too?

Janne: Yeah, we will.

HD: What was your favorite CD of 2000 and why?

Janne: That's a tough one! Arch Enemy - no, that was released in 1999. (After much thought) Maybe Britney Spears, "Oops I Did It Again."

HD: (much laughter) Any reason why?

Janne: It's so very well produced and has killer songs. I cannot now come up with anything better.

HD: You are kidding, aren't you? (Janne sounded so serious up to this point.)

Janne: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughs)

HD: So that comes to my next question. Who do you think is better - Britney Spears or Christina Aguilara?

Janne: I think Britney. Yeah.

HD: Well, that was a pretty predictable answer. Are they popular over there?

Janne: Yeah, they are! Yeah, like hell! The only thing kids over here are listening to is Britney. She's huge over here now.

HD: What do you think about annoying musical trends like the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync?

Janne: I just hate the fucking boy bands. Usually what it is - it's five guys who look like gays and they know the dance moves. But in the studio, someone else does all the songs of course and does the music and they totally try to sing. And the live act is all playbacks, and I hate that shit. We have a lot of boy bands here in Finland also. I just hate it!

HD: From boybands to Bodom. If there was one thing you'd like someone to remember after hearing your music, what would it be?

Janne: I would like them to remember that there are also some very skilled musicians behind Alexi's screaming. Because the vocals are pretty aggressive and some people can't hear anything beyond the vocals. I would like people to notice the playing behind the vocals.

HD: Do you have any messages for Children Of Bodom fans here in the States?

Janne: Just keep it up and I hope that we will come over there to see you soon.

Watch for Follow The Reaper by Children Of Bodom, to be released in the States February 2001 from Nuclear Blast Records!

AN ALL NEW INTERVIEW WITH JANNE WARMAN: Conducted early 2002 regarding Beyond Abilities and the new COB album!!!