sharon777denadel

Life is good for H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo right now.He’s working, he’s focused and he’s happy.And things are about to get even better.

Ville Valo has been in a good mood of late.He appears to have shed some of the demons that haunted him previously, the smile returning to his newrly bearded face.In part that’s because the pressure of touring and promoting 2005’s “Dark Light” has lifted, replaced by a fresh sense of optimism inspired by working on H.I.M.’s forthcoming new album.The previous album was one, Valo said at that time, that forced him into the darker comers of his mind.However,the new material is based, he says today, on, “Just wanting to rock out”, while he promises it will be heavier than anything the band have attempted before.

It means, that here,In London, despite being over to see friends, the frontman can do little else but talk about the new songs, occasionally taking out a notebook to jot something down-a lyric, an idea, or a thought-potentially to end up on the as-yet-untitled record.

As he leans back into a plush sofa in an even plusher hotel,Valo looks much like a man at ease with himself.He sips on a beer, draws on a cigarette and smiles.

“Shall we begin?” he asks.

If you were to take a snapshot of your life at the moment, what would you be in it?

V :An average day starts with [keyboardist,Emerson] Burton and I having a big fight at our rehearsal place, nearly kicking each other out of the band, then falling back in love again afterwards.Then I’ll go to my local pub, have a pizza, go home and watch “Lost”.The next day, I’ll do exactly the same again.

Creatively, do you see H.I.M. as a band on the up or are you happy with where you are now?

V: I think we’re stil on the up.

Do you ever look back and wish any of your previous albums had been different?

V: No, I’m proud of everything we’ve done because it was all done for a reason, wether good or bad.It’s been a learning process.A lot of people write off what they’ve done in the past but I don’t.The first album was necessary for the second album and so on.

So you see it as a learning curve?

V: We’ve been learning how to fly.And we’re all super-excited about the new stuff because it’s so heavy.It’s like Cathedral, you can really bang your head on it.Maybe I wasn’t ready to write that stuff before.

Where has that come from, why go heavier?

V: I just want to rock out! We’ve been playing live a lot, and that makes you sound rougher, which I think has been an influence.”Dark Light” had pretty silk production and we certainly don’t want to do anything silker than that, so we thought we’d make a U-turn.We want to blow the speakers out, we want to make a proper rock album, a metal album.

Do you thing people will be surprised, or don’t you care about that sort of thing?

V: I care, of course, but people have different tastes.You can’t please everybody.It’s a game of chance.

Does that means you’re writing for yourself rather than for fans?

V: Yes, that’s the only way to do it.I’ve never understood bands that could mathematically plan how to write a hit.Hits just happen.

Do you care about hits?

V: Yes, sure.I want to be as big as possible.It’s cool to play in big places and it’s cool to be liked.

How do you write- do you have to make time for it?

V: No, I do it all the time.I always carry a notebook with me, if I hear a good line, I’ll steal it.My brain is always thinking about writing.I’ll hum things into my cellphone.You have to always be receptive to ideas, you have to keep your eyes and your ears open.

If you’re constantly thinking about songs, does that make you hard to live with?

V: Well, yeah, it probably does.I’m a right bastard.I have an addicted personality.If I get into something I get a one-track mind.I can’t do a lot of things at the same time, or at least not emotionally challenging things.At the moment, I’m spending almost all my time thinking about the new album or where it will take us.I’ve even got a whole schedule for the year mapped out in front of me already.That’s the funny thing about being musician, you get everything mapped out for you.I could tell you exactly where I’m going to be in August…

Go on then.

(leafing trough a stack of papers on his lap)V: America, on tour.

Is it nice to have your future planed for you?

V: It’s crazy,it’s weird.A lot o people think it would be depressing to know all this in advance but I kind of like it.I’ve grown used to do it.I think it makes things easier too.I’m the sort of person who likes desdlines,it makes things clearer in my head.It makes me organized.

If someone had told your 21-year-old self that this is how your life would plan out, what would you have thought?

My 21-year-old self would probably say “Is that all?”.Actually, if I’m really honest, I’d probably have said “I thought so”.

Have you learned much since then?

V: Oh yes,of course.I’m a lot smarter than I was whan I was 21.That’s just experience.I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I don’t want to make them twice.I’ve done a couple of good things by accident and they’ve helped me grow as a person.I’m not so egocentric.I have more of a sense of humour about things now.

You seem to be very happy at the moment.

V: Everything is more or less in order.At the moment I’m spending all the energy on the album, on the songs, and I’m happy.I’m happy because of music.I can’t wait to get back out there.