How do you feel just before the gig here at the Zwischenwelten? And how do you like this place here, this fortress?

Jarkku:   Very good, because it's warm here and the sun is shining. Because it's raining and autumn in Finland right now. So it is good to feel the summer again. This place seems to be very good, but we haven't seen it all because we just arrived here and only walked around a hundred metre.

  Could you already see the audience, because it's a mixture of gothic and metal fans?

Jarkku:   We haven't seen anything from the audience yet.

  What did you expect, especially when the Gothics will see you?

Jonne:   I didn't really know that this is a gothic festival. So we do not have any idea actually.

Jarkku:   The only band that I met before was TIAMAT. I last saw them live around 1995 and I don't think they are gothic. So I didn't know that, but quite often people did like us anywhere even though we have been on a festival that wasn't only for us. We've never been at a gothic festival before. We mostly play at festivals with Black and Death Metal. And the people always like us. Let's hope that it will be the same today.

  During the upcoming tour there will be the band's first live appearance in UK ever. Are you very afraid or nervous about this?

Jonne:   A little bit nervous because my English problems. Actually it is good thing to go to a new place. ????

Jarkku:   I haven'T thought about that either going to England until we now go to it, because we have go to quite a lot of european countries. There's always being the first time in every country. And all of them have been very good, none of them has been a bad country for us. Except Finland..

  Why Finland?

Jarkku:   Ah, I don't know

Jonne:   Because we're too close to our roots. We are to finnish for the Finns. (laughter)

Jarkku:   Yeah, that's actually true. We make "older people" music, somehow we are too familiar. Everywhere else they like our music more than there. Of course there are a lot of people who really like us.

  Do you cultivate intensive contacts with your fans on tour, or do you more retire before and after the shows?

Jarkku:   Oh, we're always with the people, before and after the show. We have a good contact with our fans. F.e. with forum members from our website. We know mostly all of them and they're with us many times. One member f.e. spent a couple of days in my home - when I wasn't there... We had a concert somewhere else - I think in Estonia, so I wasn't at home, but one of the forum members lived in my appartement.

Jonne:   And one lived with my family, too, and I was also there... So you see we have good contacts. We don't just sit backstage, because we want to see the other bands and all the people and get drunk with them after all... (laughter) It's more familiar.

  Can you please tell me anything about the everyday life on a tour. What do you do? Reading, listening to music, or only drinking beer and having fun?

Jarkku:   I though about that. I talked about this with someone already. About how are the days on tour. When we are on a longer tour, not only at a festival. The days are always the same. We start with that, that we get up from the hotel and then get into the bus. We always open the first beers in the bus and we drink maybe two or three beer. And then we think: oh let' drink again, it's great fun being on the road again. But then slowly everybody stops drinking and falls asleep. And sleeps through the whole travel until we reach the next concert venue. And then at the club we have a couple of drinks during the soundcheck and each concert. And after the show we are really drunk. And then we go to sleep in the hotels and get up again. And have a few beers in the bus.... It's always the same.

Jonne:   Jepp...

Cane:   Jepp...

 So it is no rumour, that the Finns are able to hold their liquor well?

Jonne:   Yes we drink a lot of liquors. It's the only way to get some words out of us. And more drinks make more nice persons. And we have to drink to make this kind of interviews, you know...(laughter)

  Did you ever experience anything totally crazy or weird on a tour?

Jonne:   No...

Jarkku:   No, we are quite nice, well behaving boys when we do touring. We did nothing serious bad. Some strange things may happen. You know, like this...for some reasons someone have been given too much drinks and have lost many hours of this day. They have no memories of this hours.

Jonne:   We are really happy. There's not any fight between the members, so far. Although we spend a lot of time together, there's not any kind of negativity between us. We do only nice things, we do not hurt anyone. Ok, we drink like any rockstar but we do not throw TV out of the windows. And if we once will do it, we have to remember to open the window first... and make sure, that there will be no kind of worms or insects. Because we do not want to kill anyone of it... or flowers....

  As far as I know KORPIKLAANI means "Forest Clan". Are you strongly attached to the nature?

Jonne:   Everyone of us is from the countryside. There are no big cities. Some people actually think that they are city people, but they are not, although they moved to Helsinki, f.e. But you always have left some dirt or cowshit at your feet...

  What do you do, when you're not just play music? What kind of hobbies do you pursue?

Jonne:   I have a family and I'm actually at school. I study to be a technologist some day. So do not have any time for hobbies. The music doesn't take that much time, that I have to work on it everyday.

Jarkku:   I read quite a lot, different kinds of stuff. I'm an engineer.

Cane:   I have an everyday job also. I'm working at the warehouse. And I have four kids...

  What did you want to be when you were childs? Musicians or something else?

Jonne:   Since I was a little boy I learned instruments. And since I was 11 years I played the guitar. So it was a fact for me, that I once would be a musician.

Jarkku:   I lived in a little town. And one of my friends said, that he's going to be a president. And I said, I'm going to be a Rockstar. And right now the same guy is a really high persons. He's working for the prime minister. And I...I'm right here with you. So it was pretty planned for all of us. I think every boys sometimes wants to be a rockstar.

Cane:   Me, too. I got my first guitar when I was fifteen. And it was very cool.

  Do you have any strange pecurialities? F.e. walk into the woods and sacrifice anything to the dark gods, etc.?

Jonne:   No, normally I sleep at nights. My oldest son is 11 and he has to go out of the bed at 6 in the morning. So I don't have the time to go into the wood during the night.

  Are there any "sins of your youth", of which you are ashamed today? Perhaps listening to popmusic...

Jarkku:   No, we always listen to good music. Oh, wait - Jonne, what was your first album? MODERN TALKING it think..

Jonne:   Oh yes I had an album of them....

  Oh, did you know, that the singer of MODERN TALKING Thomas Anders is here from Koblenz?

Jonne:   If I would have known it, I should have brought the album with me and knock at his door for an autograph...

 Is there anything else you want to say to the fans?

Jonne:   Don't listen to MODERN TALKING!

Jarkku:   I think that is a quite good advise.

 Thank you very very much for this interview!