Biography

Neither smokes nor drinks.

Has a brother and a sister.

Fluent in Finnish, Swedish, German and English.

Gave up drinking in 2001.

Has been playing the violin since he was 9 years old, and the bass since he was 15.

[upon being asked whether he still listened to their old music] Yes, and we laugh!

[You practise yoga?] Yes, I do sahaja yoga. Every morning and evening I sit down for 15 min and meditate. Physically I am not doing anything and I try to balance my thoughts. That gives balance to my life and I feel stronger spiritually. [And how do you practise yoga on tour? Can you even find a place to go?] Yes, I go to the hotel room. [Don't the other guys bother you?] I usually share my hotel room with the guitarist Pauli but he doesn't bother me. [Have you ever tried to convince the other guys to try yoga?] They have tried it once but they realise that yoga is not for them. If they ever change their minds I am here to teach them but I don't want to push them against their will.

[What do you think about the constant comparisons with you and HIM? Does that annoy you are does it amuse you?] We are actually amused. In a way the comparisons are correct because they also play melodic rock and have a great energy but their lyrics are more depressed and I don't like that so much. [What's your relationship with them?] Every now and then we meet them at a festival. We support each other but our attitudes are different.

[I heard that you said: When you get on the tour bus, smelling like hell, telling the worst jokes and still feeling comfortable than you know you're in the right place.] Yes, I wanted to say we are great friends and that we enjoy it if we sit in the same bus without having to worry about looking great and smelling nicely or being nice to each other. We can be as we are and that's enough.

[Is it true that you encouraged your singer Lauri to smoke for him to get a more rough voice?] Yes, it's true but we weren't the ones who encouraged him. The producers did that. But I think Lauri enjoyed it during the making of the album so I think that wasn't a big pressure for him. It wasn't hard for him.