Project Description

Interview with
FLOOR JANSEN
from
NIGHTWISH

(7th May 2020)

Interviewer – Tam Schilling

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Finish sextet Nightwish released their ninth studio album Human Nature on 10th April with the album going straight to number 1 on the overall iTunes chart on release day. We sat down and had a chat to Floor Jansen about the album and life in lockdown.

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First of all, congratulations on the successful release of Human Nature on 10th April. The album went straight to number 1 on the overall iTunes chart, how did that make you guys feel?
Yeah, it’s just insane. In general, it’s been so crazy and it’s beyond expectations if you can ever have any.

Did the band have a specific writing structure for the new album?
Yep, it was the same as all the albums. It’s been the same for over 20 years. All the music & lyrics is written by Tuomas Holopainen. He writes the demo and sends it out to us; we study it and then we all get together to rehearse it and from there it all starts to go from his songs to Nightwish songs.

How did the film clip for Noise come together?
We work with the same director who made the Nightwish movie Imaginaerum. He made a story board that was closely communicated with mainly Tuomas and if there was any more concrete then it would come to the rest of the band to think about and that created a wonderful story board.

Do you have any personal connections to any of the songs off this album?
Yeah, with everything the whole thing is beautiful. Every story touched me very much and it was very easy to go into.

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Was there one particular song that stood out the most for you?
Not really, no. I really really love the meaning and the outcome of the song How’s the Heart.

I personally have to say the new album really stands out for me as a Nightwish album, I feel like this album has gone back in time to the old sound of Nightwish. I think you guys have done a terrific job on this album. I love it. How have you guys been going with all the amazing reviews of the album?
All the reviews have been very positive. You are the first one to feel it has gone back in time but that’s all good because it is wonderful that everybody has their own feelings to an album or a favorite song. The overall thing has been very very positive. People like its diversity and its complexity. They like that it’s gotten a little bit heavier and higher than on the previous album which for everyone seems very important. The overall feedback we have been getting has been very very positive.

I particularly like that this album has gotten heavier.
Ha ha, cool me too.

It’s been a while since we have seen Nightwish in Australia can we expect to see you guys down under when the world goes back to normal?
I would say so especially since the album went up in the charts so much. It went up much higher than it ever did before so yeah, I would really hope that we will come down under.

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The band took a break between the previous album and this album which allowed you to become a mum for the first time. Do you think the break was good for the band?
The band took a break because the band had been going on for 20 plus years. The guys that have been in the band since the beginning felt like they needed a breather from the band. Because of that I had the possibility to become a mum. I would never put the whole band on hold for something personal even though it is a big thing.  The break wasn’t needed for me as I had just joined the band, but it is important to renew the energy. It did give me the chance to do other things like become a mum for the first time and release an album I didn’t have time to do for 10 years with Northward. There are always things to do.

Who has been your biggest influence in your music career?
I can’t say there is one band or person in particular. I feel like I get inspired by everything I hear whether it be positive or not. Sometimes I hear something and think “oh that’s something I would never do”.  One person I can mention who really made a big impact on me in my early days was Anneke Van Giersbergen from The Gathering. That was the first time I had heard a female vocalist sing in a metal band and it just blew me away and I was like ‘that’s what I want to do’.

I personally haven’t heard that band, so I’ll have to check them out
Yeah they are from the late 90’s so it’s been a while but that’s when I started. She made a very big impact on me. Anneke is still very active with all sorts of musical stuff. Back in those days she was in The Gathering and that just really made a change for me.

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Do you have a particular place you like to visit when you tour?
Home. *laughs*. I live in Sweden. I have been touring the world for 20 years. I don’t really feel the need to see new places or go somewhere I haven’t been. Ask me again after a couple of months of quarantine that I’ve been home so much that I can only think of the most exotic places but for now the answer is still home.

Do you have a favorite memory at all that stands out from the rest from touring?
Ummm, you are asking me of over 20 years of touring. There is so many good memories and it’s really hard to just pick one. A very fond memory comes to me whilst drinking absinthe and smoking a cigar while doing our first tour together after I just joined Nightwish. We came to New Orleans and we just played the House of Blues which it was a very early show and we had the next day off and we were like “we need to get out to Bourbon Street”. I had never been to New Orleans and the guys wanted to drink absinthe and I said absolutely. So, an hour later I had absinthe, it was very good actually. It wasn’t just drinking and smoking cigars. The reason it was so special is because it was the first time, we had gone out together and the first time we had started to relax together and have a good time. The band has been through quite a bit before the change to me and then I came in but I was completely new to the set so I had to learn everything at an impossible speed so the stress levels were pretty high and that night we could just relax and we could relax with each other. We just had a natural click with each other that really came to show that night.

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What have you been doing to keep busy in lockdown?
*laughs* Oh god well I have a three-year-old so that’s that. I also have 2 horses and we live outdoors so we have a big paddock and we have a big garden. I’ve been gardening, we’ve been growing some veggies and herbs and stuff. We’ve been taking up projects around that house that usually don’t get done. I started to get more inspired to writing my own music which is the first time since I joined Nightwish. I’ve been doing some interviews and doing a few other things. I just got asked to do a side project which I can’t reveal anything yet. That is going to be coming out this month as well. My husband and I need to tell each other every now and then to take a day off *laughs*. There is always something to do and now there is always something that we want to do. We are lucky to live on the countryside so being outside all day is not a problem we don’t even see our neighbors from here, so we are pretty safe.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, before we go do you have any words for your Australian fans?
Well, thank you first of all for getting us up in the charts so much and the massive appreciation of our new album. Please stay healthy, keep your sanity in these weird times but remember when you are healthy you have the biggest luxury a human can have, be safe and appreciate all of the time that you have not having to do all the rest of the stuff that you would usually have to do. It might actually mean you can relax on a level that you didn’t know you could or pick up on the projects that you never had the time to do before. Be safe Australia.

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BUY the album HERE

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AMNPLIFY – DB