Interviewed
by Luxi Bettencourt I
remember it was in Summer 2003 when I first heard the people talking about a
band called “Insanity Ray” saying that they are going to be the best band in
the Metal category when they get there own record deal and because of that I
was curious and really interested about this band and I saw there footsteps
towards a great success they entered the (Head bangers) competition on 2003 and
it was there first appearance in that contest and they were around 15 years old
and full of surprises they won second place and next year they entered again
and everyone sure remembered them and noticed there talents improve in 1 year
and they won that year the contest and there popularity grew each day and on
January 2006 they played on the famous Winter Hell concert in front of 5,000 people and every one was expecting the
next news they will hear from them is singing for a record deal and release
their first album but unfortunately the next news from them is “Insanity” Ray
is over…) o.k. now I will 2 guests today
and they are the former members
of “Insanity Ray” Marcos Holopainen &
Toumas Nevalainen.
Luxi: Hey Guys first I want
to thank you for being here tonight and let’s talk about how Insanity Ray
started shall we
Marcos: o.k. hummmmmm….
Toumas: Be
quick, the tape is running out!
All: laughs!!!
Marcos: I don’t know where to start ha ha
Toumas: you don’t know where to start or you don’t remember?
All: laughs
Marcos: no of course I remember it all started at June 1995 when I got a phone call from Jukka & he asked me if I’m interested on joining his band and of course I accepted
Luxi: 1995?!! You guys
were younger then 10 years old if my math calculation isn’t wrong right?
Marcos: ha ha that’s correct
Toumas: yeah we were around 8 years old but at that time we didn’t have any name for our band
Luxi: o.k. but why you
didn’t play public until 2003?
Marcos: our parents didn’t like the idea of us playing death metal music at that time
Toumas: and we were not actually ready we weren’t really good on writing lyrics so we didn’t write a lot of good songs so then there were no point playing public right?
Luxi: yeah I guess so but
you all have lots of great songs actually everything I heard from you guys live
I liked it so who wrote those lyrics?
Toumas: we all wrote it but most of it was Thamer & Jukka
Luxi: Thamer he is from
Toumas: yeah correct
Luxi: tell me how did you
guys meet?
Marcos: you see on May 2003 Hennka Karmila our second guitar player was arguing with Jukka a lot until he decided to leave the band and Jukka looked for another guitar player and 1 day he brought Thamer he sure is the best thing that ever happened at that time
Toumas: yeah I remember he helped us a lot especially when he sing for the first time the song was Laughs At Your Fear his voice is amazing and he sure is a cool guy to hang out with
Luxi: Laughs At Your Fear
is one of my favorite songs I listened from you guys tell me who wrote the
lyrics?
Marcos: Jukka is the one who wrote the lyrics
Luxi: what is the song
about?
Marcos: I don’t think I’m the right person you should ask that question ha-ha cause I didn’t write that song
Toumas: don’t worry Luxi I can answer it that song is about Jukka telling the people how this world is full of evil hatred and that mankind are idiots cause they all kill each other for stupid reason
Luxi: did you have any
troubles recording this song or writing the guitar riffs or drums keyboard or
anything?
Toumas: yeah we did the problem is that we record the instruments and neither one of us has the right voice singing it that was before Thamer joined us and Jukka at that time was our vocals for the band
Marcos: yeah too bad Jukka wrote a song but his voice is not the right guy singing it he sure was upset he even throw the lyrics on the garbage but I took just incase we might need it later in the future and we eventually did ha-ha
All: laughs!!!
Luxi: I’m glad you took it
out of there that song is really great now tell me was that the first song
Thamer sang when he joined?
Marcos: yeah you can say it was a test to see what he is capable of when he told us that he wants to sing and totally surprise us when he started
Toumas: and we all got excited and played that song five times we had a great time
Marcos: yeah until the neighbors called the police we all got a lot of trouble that night
All: Laughs!!!!
Luxi: o.k. I’m sure you
remember the contest Head bangers 2003 how was it what were your feelings on
that day?
Marcos: ha ha I remember it of course that was like hell right Toumas
Toumas: ha ha yeah true we were all scared like shit I couldn’t feel my fingers at that time ha ha
Luxi: yeah I noticed you
guys were swatting a lot on the first song but later you managed to get use to
it and by the way I think you guys deserve to win that day
Marcos: yeah that’s true
All: laugh!!!
Luxi: it was a shame you
didn’t win but you won next years contest and your songs sure did kick all the
other competitors ASS!
Marcos: oh yeah that sure was a great year
Toumas: yeah it sure was I wish we can go back at that day again
Luxi: did you guys play on
summer 2004 on other cities right? Because I have some friends back at
Toumas: yeah actually we did our first tour with our own money it sure was a great trip we made a lot of friends on that year
Marcos: and we earned a lot of cash muwahahahaha!
Toumas: looks like we got a possessed guy here we better beat him up in order for the evil spirit to leave good thing I got my needles gloves on get ready to vanish Satan leave leave !!!!
All: laugh
Marcos: o.k. Toumas you better cut it out now man you’re starting to freak me out ha-ha
Luxi: ha-ha o.k. now my
next question later on the year 2005 Tarja left the band did you guys why did
she leave did you had any problems with her like Hennka ?
Marcos: no you see on the year 2004 she fell in love with a guy and after 1 year he didn’t like the idea of her playing in band with 4 guys and he asked her to leave and she did
Toumas: I really didn’t think that she would leave us like that after all she was a member of the band for 6 years oh well it’s her life she can do whatever she likes I wish her the best
Luxi: and you guys entered
again on Head bangers and you were missing 1 member and didn’t succeed on
wining the contest what do you think has gone wrong was it because Tarja left the
band?
Marcos: I don’t know maybe we didn’t play good that time
Toumas: yeah I guess your right but also I think we didn’t win was because we all became a little selfish from our success that must be it
Luxi: the first 2 songs
you played weren’t that good but the last 3 was the best specially the last one
what was it called….?
Marcos: I think its Strong Enough
Luxi: yeah that’s it I
really like that song who wrote it was it Jukka or Thamer?
Toumas: it was Thamer
Marcos: that song was like the hardest song we ever played it was hard finding the right guitar riffs and other shits when we were recording it and it was like hell and it sure was worth it
Toumas: ha ha I agree with you on that one Marcos
Luxi: your right it was
that song that made you guys win second place that’s what the people think but
why do you guys say you won 4th place when some 1 ask you about it is it better then second place to you guys?
Marcos: ha ha I don’t remember why but it sure isn’t better then second place do you remember why Toumas?
Toumas: I sure do the reason we say that is because after we didn’t win Jukka & Thamer said that if we really want to get better we should think that we aren’t the second best in the contest we should think we are below it like 4th place
Luxi: you know I think it
was a good idea your music sure did improve after that day not only that but even
a lot of rumors soon spread causing a lot of people to hate you guys for it are
any of those rumors true ?
Marcos: uhhhhh don’t remind me about that it was the worst thing that ever happened to us in our career
Toumas: yeah I think it was even the first bad thing that ever happened to us about the rumors most of it isn’t true but we managed to let them like us again that’s the important thing
Luxi: do you forgive the
people who hate you because of the rumors that time?
Marcos: yeah I guess I can forgive if they stop and won’t do it again ha-ha
Toumas: yeah but I really didn’t hate the
Luxi: o.k. now let’s talks
about Winter Hell 2006 I been there and it sure was like the best concert I
ever seen over here and the crowed were so many any way what I want to ask you
guys is how did that idea came up and were you guys asked to play on that day ?
Marcos: the idea of that concert was my cousin Aleksi and he was supported by some record companies and Aleksi asked Insanity ray to support them on that concert and our manager wanted to see how are doing after we lost the contest back on Head bangers 2005 to see if lost our talent or not
Toumas: yeah but we weren’t the only band who band that Pink gothic and Tears of Flames played that day
Luxi: I know but you were
the really interesting band who played that day you guys changed your style and
it fucking kick ass whose idea was it?
Toumas: that style were Thamer’s & Emily’s idea I enjoyed playing that style it’s a little hard but fun
Marcos: tell me about it my arms really hurt when I play it but the songs are cool
Luxi: was Emily a member
of the band or was she a session player?
Toumas: she’s a session player thank goodness she accepted helping us we sure did needed her that day
Marcos: yeah if she didn’t accepted helping us we would have canceled it and she sure did help us a lot then just being a bass player she even sang some songs with her beautiful voice
Luxi: yeah now that you
mention it she sang some great songs and it was new for you guys of course the
songs she sang was full of hope in life not hatred death or anything evil and
the people loved it including me tell me what made you guys and gal play that
kind of music?
Toumas: o.k.
you see when we started Insanity Ray all our songs were about death evil and
that kind of shits and you can say we wanted to try something new
Marcos: and we kind of got tired of playing the same stuffs over and over again and we decided to try something new
Luxi: Thamer sure did
surprise us that night dressed up as a reaper and singing different style of
metal and I notice that when Thamer finish singing some song he coughs was he
sick that night?
Marcos: yeah he
had a nasty flew he got it before he came here from
Toumas: yeah me too I remember when we told him to rest then he thought about the concert and he didn’t listen to us cause he didn’t want to let our fans down we were worried that he might not sing well because of his flew but he sure managed to surprise us again
Luxi: o.k. now after the
concert you guys were signing autographs except Thamer can you tell me why?
Marcos: he was so tired after the concert and he didn’t have the strength to sign autographs for 5000 people so he left after he finished playing with Night dome
Toumas: but he did sign it for them later that week at Under Hell club
Luxi: yeah I know that I
was there too ha-ha I really was excited getting his autographs and you played
some songs that night different from the concert you all have a lot of songs ho
many have you guys and gal wrote?
Marcos: uhh I don’t know I never count our songs do you have any idea how many we wrote Toumas?
Toumas: I don’t know either but I think around 80 songs or more
Luxi: What that’s a lot!!!
And did you sing all of them in different places?
Marcos: no we don’t want to sing all of them
Toumas: and not all of them are finished some of them are just 2 minutes song then we will think if we will continue it or trash that’s how we do it
Luxi: oh o.k. now I hate
to ask this but why you guys decided to end InsanityRay and your success were
growing each time you play in different
places did you guys got tired about insanityRay?
Marcos: no never we never felt that way
Luxi: O.k. then tell me
why every one here in the crowed wants to know why?
Toumas: I can’t tell you everything ………….. but I can tell a little you see it was January 27 when Jukka called us for a band meeting and Thamer was not there he was back at Saudi Arabia he didn’t want to leave but he was forced because he visa’s was expired and he went back to Saudi Arabia anyway Jukka told us he has a problem and he have to handle it I can’t tell you what it is and Jukka is going to go away for a year or so and he is forced to leave the band and we talked for a long time Jukka wanted us to continue InsanityRay without but we didn’t want to continue without him so we decided to put InsanityRay for an end
Luxi: I’m sorry to hear
that I didn’t think that Jukka would have problem I hope he is doing o.k.
Toumas: don’t worry he is o.k. now but still he didn’t finish with his problem
Marcos: yeah he is one tough guy I’m sure he will come back here later in the future
Luxi: o.k. I wish Jukka
the best for him right now, o.k. my next question is can you guys tell me what
was InsanityRay to you guys a great experience or what?
Marcos: yeah it sure was a great experience I won’t forget and I’m proud to part of it since the beginning of it
Toumas: (Toumas was quiet for a while)……. InsanityRay was more then a band to me it was like the only family I only knew all my life to tell you the truth since I was a little kid I was abandoned by my real parents and I went to a foster parents and they didn’t raise me in a good way and later I ran away and on that time my only friends were Jukka Marcos and they helped a lot we all worked at one place to collect some money so we can get our own apartment and so I can live there and before I knew them all I thought about my life is that it’s a living hell and there no point living it and they showed the opposite and there is hope in life all I have to do is live and give some time and it was true thanks to them I was part of a great band that started as a project and then it grew to be one of the greatest band over here and I did meet a lot of great friends Thamer Hennka Kristian Stacy Tarja Angela Emily Aleksi and the list goes on and on I want to thank you Marcos and Jukka for helping me in the beginning and all my friends I mentioned and didn’t you all are the best
Luxi: I’m touched man I
didn’t know InsanityRay mean that way to you I know both of you guys are sad
for the end of InsanityRay tell me what are the best memories you remember?
Marcos: having
free beers
All: laughs
Marcos: o.k. now to be serious what are the best thing I remember I would say the people who love our songs and the contests we entered and won or didn’t everything every single thing is the best
Toumas: meeting new friends specially Thamer he is the best guy I met and I like when we all stay late at night to watch one of our favorite anime cartoon JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Luxi: really you guys
watch anime cartoons?
Marcos: yeah it is one of the things we like to do instead of writing or playing music
Toumas: yeah
and we need to take a break once or a while and I really think we should thank
some anime cartoons cause some of our song are about them if you concentrate on
the lyrics
Luxi: interesting I guess
I’m gonna start watching some now
Marcos: make sure not to watch the sisi once
All: laughs!!!
Luxi: I won’t ha-ha o.k.
now tell me what are your favorite’s songs you 2 like to play or listen from
InsanityRay?
Marcos: that’s
a tough question I think my favorites song would be …..Damn it I can’t choose
All: laughs!!!
Marcos: I guess the song Laughs At Your Fears would be one of my favorite songs I like to listen it’s a masterpiece and full of good memories
Toumas: I was gonna say the same song you choose a wise one my friend and all the songs are my favorite each one has it’s own thing you know what I mean
Luxi: tell me what
happened to you guys after ending InsanityRay?
Marcos: I’m now resting I’m a little tired from playing the drums all my life I need a break and later I will go back to that life again and I work at Vataska club drop by any time
Luxi: I sure will what
about you Toumas?
Toumas: after we end InsanitRay I thought that I will stop like Marcos but I didn’t I’m still not tired and I join Thamer’s band Exhilaration when we started it was Lunas Shreders but then we decided to change the name and I work at Block buster 4 times a week
Luxi: Exhilaration umm I
like that name a lot I downloaded some samples from the fan page of InsanityRay
and it rocks I specially like the song called Night Fall full of hard metal
it’s similar of Laughs At Your Fear and I was sad from the news of InsanityRay
and Exhilaration made me happy tell me when are you guys gonna release your
first demo cd the beginning of summer?
Toumas: sorry we have to cancel the demo cd
Luxi: why?
Toumas: you see we got a call from Kalmah and they wanted us to enter this new contest its called Armageddon Cells and about this contest is that they will bring bunch of professional bands who all ready got there record deal against bands like us who doesn’t have any record deal to see if there are bands like us better then bands like them
Marcos: I wish I can compete on that contest ha-ha
Luxi: wow that’s great it’s a good start for Exhilaration and I will defiantly will be there to cheer for you and some of my favorite bands if they are there
