(From manu361981 IG account)

(From nightmath75 IG account)

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(From Tarja’s IG account)

(From deathvendor aka u/deathvendor IG account)

(From kevin_naiad IG account)

(From kevin_naiad IG account)

Rumba 2/1999

Nightwish

For the original text, visit the Instagram account Tarja Turunen Suomi.

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

The Kitee-native Nightwish’s first album Angels Fall First was released in November 1997. The band’s unique style of combining more classical heavy to classical singing evoke broad interest. Now the band has released its second album called Oceanborn.

It has been almost a year to the day since I last met Nightwish. Then I was interviewing the whole band, vocalist Tarja, keyboardist Tuomas, drummer Jukka and guitarist Emppu, who also played bass on the last album. Last July an old friend of the group, Sami joined as the bass player. Now Tarja and Tuomas have arrived to Helsinki and we have agreed on the small Ateljee bar as the place to meet. The idea was to find a comfortable and calm space, but the choice turns out to be a bad one. It seems that half of Helsinki have gotten very thirsty on a Thursday afternoon and have chosen that particular restaurant as the place to quench that thirst. A loud English-speaking group sits in the table next to us, which makes me wonder whether the tape recorder has caught anything of what we’ve said. Nevertheless, every one of us has pint in front of us, for me the first one, for Tarja and Tuomas, who broke his two-month non-drinking period, it’s the second or the next after that, so the place will have to do. Let’s get to business.

Nightwish hasn’t been really seen in concerts but despite this the Angels Fall First album did very nicely. So how has the band spend the last year?

"We did nine shows during last spring. At the same time, I was preparing new songs. We practiced those during the summer. We couldn’t do any concerts because Tarja was at Savonlinna’s Opera festival the whole summer," Tuomas tells.

"Indeed, my studies, the boys’ military service and the Opera festival caused that we couldn’t do any shows," Tarja specifies. "But we’ll gladly go again.."

"A real urge to do shows," Tuomas adds.

And they should, the second album Oceanborn released in December has sold the same kind of figures as the debut and the single release Sacrament of Wilderness climbed to the number one spot on Finnish single chart.

Both get a mild smile on their faces when talking about the album. So…

"Well, we couldn’t be any happier," Tuomas says and Tarja happily nods beside him.

"We’re really happy with the end result. Oceanborn has been done much more meticulously and we set the bar even higher. This is already a showcase of our style, that first album was still searching whereas this is much more confident. This does have much of the same atmosphere though as the previous one," Tarja says.

"Now we’ve found our own style; much heavier, more technical. But being in the studio was terrible. We sat there night and day for two months. Never going into the studio again," Tuomas says looking terrified.

Did you feel pressure when starting to make a new album after the first one did as well as it did?

"Actually I personally felt a huge amount of pressure," Tuomas confesses with a serious face.

"Mostly because it was a situation I could really show off. They were telling us that the doors were opening. There was no pressure with the first album, it was more of a demo than an album."

"It was," Tarja verifies. "It was really a demo that was just made into an album. We did it for fun and then it gained so much popularity."

You made a demo that sold very well…

"All of our attitudes and everything have been transformed in this process, we haven’t always understood what’s happening."

Into a rock star by accident, I ponder. Didn’t you honestly think that Nightwish could seriously become a big deal?

"No," Tarja and Tuomas begin to laugh.

"We never meant to do concert, get a record deal, nothing. We just thought we’d see how this kind of music succeeds here and this has been quite interesting to follow. But of course, there are as many opinions as there are listeners," Tarja points out.

“This kind of music” seems to be successful here and elsewhere too, because Nightwish is going abroad in a quick pace.

"The reactions abroad for the first album was a slight disappointment to me. The reviews were positive everywhere, but for example Nuclear Blast wasn’t interested at all. They weren’t excited about this new one either," Tuomas says depressed.

"That of course isn’t the only option," Tarja notes. "In any case the album will be released in February in Central-Europe, probably meaning Germany mostly."

"Japan is a really in thing now, three different companies want to license it. They are now wrestling who gets it," Tuomas says and starts to look more satisfied.

While you’re reading this interview that rivalry has seen an end. Toy’s Factory won and they will be releasing Oceanborn with one bonus track in April.

Tarja is still continuing her studies in Sibelius Academy even though Nightwish takes a lot of her time, the miss wouldn’t even think to abandon either one.

"I will never leave classical music. That’s clear cut. This and classical music nonetheless go so much hand in hand. I emphasize that as a singer I want to evolve myself all the time. You can tell by comparing this album to the last one what I’ve done this past year. Tuomas doesn’t make easy songs to sing and I’ve developed my own way of singing this music compared to how I sang at the Opera festival for instance."

Despite its popularity Nightwish’s delivery doesn’t please everyone. A female vocalist seems to be too hard of a pill to swallow for some listeners. So, there’s plenty of negative criticism.

"That was to be expected from the start," Tuomas states.

"There have been women in the heavy metal circles all along, but many times only in the background. I’d wish that people would have more of an open mind about this matter. I’ve personally noticed that some have taken the stance that I’m a sinful person – went from church music to heavy music circles. To that I’ve said that this hasn’t made me any more of a sinner than I already am. I think this a wonderful thing. I hope some other crazy classical female singer will start doing this too!" Tarja laughs.

"Though one time I’ve truly been afraid to go on stage, but at that point there was a darker thing going on. The other band played much heavier music and the audience split into two accordingly. But it went well after all. Didn’t get hit with a bottle in the head."

"I want highlight that we are heavy, going to a heavier direction all the time. We’re afraid that our image isn’t really metal," Tuomas says.

"Yeah, when a woman sings, we would be softer in a way," Tarja adds. "So, there are plenty of preconceptions."

It may be no wonder; there aren’t too many bands like Nightwish in Finland.

"It’s hard to compare, there isn’t anything to compare us to. With the first album people were talking about the Gathering but…"

"We’ve never liked that comparison," Tuomas continues. "The only thing we have in common is a female singer. Musically Stratovarius might be the closest to us and an idol to us all. So compare rather to that than to Gathering."

I think thanks to this new album everyone will forget that comparison.

"They should."

There were no Tuomas’ vocal parts on this album. Why?

"I never meant to sing on first album either. We were supposed to get a proper male singer, but we couldn’t find one and no one else in the band agreed to do it. I crashed into my own cleverness," Tuomas complains and Tarja bursts into a joyful laugh.

"So, this time we left my vocals intentionally out. We didn’t make that mistake again. Though I did get positive feedback, I don’t like myself. Can’t listen to it all."

"There is a man speaking as an effect in some songs, in Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean and The Pharaoh Sails to Orion, but they belong there," Tarja points out.

"Those are the Devil and the Pharaoh speaking," Tuomas explains.

Lyrics are again written by Tuomas and continue the route of Angels Fall First.

"The topics are the same, fantasy and nature. Lyrics are very important to us and for that reason it’s a shame that lyrics are overlooked. No album review ever mentions anything about lyrics. I’d hope that people would pay more attention to them."

The last song on the album, Walking in the Air, has bothered my mind for a long time before the interview. The melody is annoyingly familiar but I just can’t place where it’s from. But now I finally have the opportunity to ask.

"Snowman! That cartoon is shown on TV every Christmas! Don’t you watch TV?" Tarja begins to laugh.

Oh damn, that’s where it’s from?

"From that," Tuomas confirms. "A composition by a man named Howard Blake. Many have asked the same question. It’s indeed from the Snowman."

"Oh, it’s just mesmerizing," Tarja cheers. "I’ve watched it on many Christmases… But about the song itself, it definitely hasn’t been spoiled on that album. It’s such a beautiful composition. It fitted us very well, in subject and atmosphere. The arrangement succeeded perfectly."

Suddenly a record company representative sprints to our table and asks if someone wants another drink.

"Definitely nothing more for me," Tuomas says and truth be told he is starting to look a bit tired. At the same time Tuomas’ reveals his place of employment; the man teaches religion in junior high school. There’s our heavy band, I grin. A religion teacher and a church musician. Tarja and Tuomas burst into laughter.

"Yeah, we are no devil worshippers…"

"I do teach other subjects too," Tuomas adds.

"Whatever comes up. Want to guess whether it is fun to teach eight graders Swedish? Well, it’s not!"

The noise from the table next to ours increases and Tuomas has to almost yell over his pint. The duo has still some radio interviews left, so shouting your throat sore might not be a good idea. Like the last time the interview has serious consequences. Thanks to 45 minutes with Tarja and Tuomas I confuse people still the next day by using the Karelian dialect versions of me and you. (mie & sie)

(From ergiuz and rockthenight.eu IG accounts)

(From hellmagazine.eu IG account)

(From radi.ross IG account)

(From tarjaturunenmx IG account)

(From tarjaturunenmx IG account)

Iltalehti 9.9.2006

For the original text, visit the Instagram account Tarja Turunen Suomi.

WHAT? IT BECAME A HIT!

When a Finnish songwriter puts together future classic lyrics, they aren’t usually working methodically nor profoundly. How do hit lyrics come to be?

…

Sleeping Sun

NIGHTWISH

I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime
The darkness around me
Shores of a solar sea
Oh how I wish to go down with the sun
Sleeping
Weeping
With you

One of Nightwish’s most beloved songs was born by a custom request by their German record company Drakkar.

"This has a funny story. Drakkar told to me to make a hit length ballad, with not too much stuff. I was at first against the whole idea, but I thought I’d test my wings," Tuomas Holopainen recalls.

"It’s always a thousand times harder for me to make a ballad than a fast and simple song. A four-minute song is a cornerstone, those epos tracks are born on their own," Tuomas laughs.

Tuomas considers Sleeping Sun a successful piece, nonetheless.

"Apparently this is exactly how it was supposed to be. When a song tells about the solar eclipse, it is more or less gobbledygook, but everyone seems to like it."

The songs Holopainen writes are always connected to personal feelings. Even though Sleeping Sun isn’t about anything specific, it still has personal elements to it.

"There is some symbolism applied from my own life. ‘I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime...’ I absolutely stand by it, and it’s a great song."

The song received a new bombastic music video in 2005 in which swords rattle and the ground of war is booming.

"The video is terribly exquisite."

I think this extravagant, elegant urban style really suits her.

Soundi 2006

For the original text, visit the Instagram account Tarja Turunen Suomi.

”What I’ve done before, I carry proudly with me”

Without their singer Tarja Turunen during 1996-2005, Nightwish probably wouldn’t have grown into such a massive worldwide favorite as they did. Now the umbilical cord has been cut. It is time to test the capacity of her own wings.

Tarja Turunen stands in front of the check-in-desk at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Alongside her waits her husband, Marcelo Cabuli. The couple is soon headed to Buenos Aires via Frankfurt, and the altogether over 15-hour plane flight isn’t that inspiring.

Even though only the idea of moving over so many time zones exhausts, Turunen manages to again look much more stylish and beautiful than in pictures. There’s no sign of the nervousness that hits especially in front of TV-cameras and a smile is turned on much more freely. The attempt to hide behind big sunglasses isn’t working that well though. A teenaged girl who speaks English with a German accent, comes to talk with the singer star and gets a few kind words as reward for her efforts.

Tarja has just spend a month in Finland. A visit in Svenska Teatern’s Spin musical happened at the end of her visit. She says she wasn’t only nervous but also on the first of two nights completely forgot the lyrics to one of the songs for a moment. She apparently managed to cover up the bagatelle quite successfully because only the conductor brought up the matter. But still Turunen got the good old “why don’t I just work on a store checkout somewhere”- self-accusation.

This woman, who turns 29 in August, has never left herself off easily. The decision in the 90s to abandon studies in the Sibelius Academy and join an old acquaintance’s, Tuomas Holopainen’s band project called Nightwish wasn’t an easy one. You can’t consider the ending of the chapter an easy one: Turunen was handed a letter after a concert in Helsinki that ended a world tour, with which she was fired from the orchestra. An unseen media storm by rock world standards erupted, during which no words were spared. And neither, honoring local traditions, a peaceful solution was sought.

To this day Turunen and Holopainen haven’t discussed the matter other than through the media.

But now the dust has slowly started to settle and life goes on. Nightwish is looking for a new singer and soon demoes Holopainen’s new songs. A lot is expected from the successor of Once, which has already sold a million copies worldwide. Tarja Turunen has just made a deal for a rock album with German Universal.

The attribute strong-willed person describes this woman well. She has raised her head up high and focused on the essential in a way that no singer, who became world famous by stroke of luck ever could.

Before the end of 2006 one has the opportunity to investigate with one’s own senses at what stage Turunen operates now as a classical singer: shows in Savonlinna and Lahti Organ Festival have already been agreed on. At the end of the year Tarja sings on her Henkäys Ikuisuudesta Tour at for example Helsinki’s Kulttuuritalo, Tampere-talo and Lahti’s Sibeliustalo. The program adapts the Christmas album with the same name.

When the plane takes flight from Seutula, are you going home or travelling from home?

I’m leaving home. My home is in Kuusankoski. It’s a very calm and silent place. And Marcelo and I enjoy being there very much. I do like Buenos Aires, but it’s after all huge city of millions. I don’t consider myself a city person.

Can you be in peace in Kuusankoski?

Surely everyone in a small town like that know where we live. And people come to talk often, but not to disturb. Old gentleman in town may even sometimes raise their hats to me. That’s quite fun. This paper disaster in town will surely change the situation there. There is a large septet of municipalities, with a hundred thousand people living in them.

When a few summers ago we chatted for the Suomi soi- encyclopedia, you told you were the only professional singer in your family. Very recently also your brother took this step.

Timo indeed first ventured to do schlager shows with his own band and then when rockier material started to develop, I encouraged him to make his own album. I’m featured on the album as a producer and arranger. We recorded a duet too. And nowadays my little brother sings too: he has a very strong heavy tenor. So, we’re all completely different kind of singers. Wonder if we should release a single as a joke someday.

Has your relationship with your family stayed the same even though you now spend a lot of time away from Finland?

Us siblings have always had really good relationships, sometimes we call even daily. And I’ve always as the only daughter kept a tight contact back home. Mother’s passing was of course a tough thing for me and an enormous loss and with that my home sickness changed character. I’ve travelled a lot for the past few years, which has kept me away from North Karelia. So you miss family and other people and even the nature a lot sometimes. Often what happens when I come to Finland, both my brothers come to stay with us for a longer time. We cook and spend time together. That’s important to me.

My father has also visited with me and Marcelo once in Buenos Aires. Already on the drive home from the airport we faced a big traffic jam caused by an accident. All in all, the trip was quite a shock to him, but at least now he knows where our other home is. And has at least seen relatives at that end. Although a language barrier did come up in that encounter. Unfortunately.

How well do you speak Spanish at the moment?

It’s alright. I get by and manage with it. At first, I was depended on Marcelo for many years. It was annoying. And I am a little shy still. I studied the basics in Spanish already when I studied singing in Germany’s Karlsruhe. I went to Volkshochschule for beginner’s courses in Spain. And then practiced by just speaking.

Have you already found a good singing teacher in Buenos Aires?

Indeed! I have an incredibly tough opera lady as a teacher there, Marta Blanco, who has done a 30-year-long career.

Are you someday planning to return to Finland to finish your studies in the Sibelius Academy?

No. And they know that Tarja isn’t becoming a cantor. And I don’t mind that. The first years there gave a good base for my studies and gave me the certainty to pursue a career in singing. And my singing teachers were really nice and lovely people.

What kind of dreams do you have right now?

The biggest thing is of course to stay healthy and being able to continue doing this profession in its different forms. One big dream is just now coming true with my own record deal. It has felt good from the start to work with the people in German Universal. They speak the same language with me and understand me as an artist.

We have now begun searching for songs, but the whole process is still in the very beginning. As I don’t have experience in writing songs, I necessarily don’t think I will do anything other than lyrics on this album. At least that’s the feeling now. We’re looking for a completely new sound with this album and it’s of course a crossover project of sorts. Now it feels it may have very calm atmospheric piano music and on the other hand rough heavy metal. The intent is to eventually assemble a permanent band. Well see about that. The album is scheduled to come out sometime in 2007.

And you can dream of.. that fundamental balance in life. And I don’t mean having kids. My clock isn’t ticking yet. But it would be wonderful not having to catapult with uncertainty from place to place. It may take ten more years for that dream to come true though.

What kind of dreams have you fulfilled?

First comes to mind of course the position I have achieved as a singer in Finland and abroad too. The work with Nightwish and also on the classical side have been happy and wonderful things.

If Evankeliumi six years ago would have remained your only attempt in heavy rock, would you now be competing for roles with Helena Juntunen, Johanna Rusanen and our other young international opera stars?

Hard to say. If I hadn’t become the singer of Nightwish I might have become a cantor. On the other hand, the love for classical singing has always been so strong that I might be one of those singers running from competition to the next and finally having to look for work abroad. That has been the faith for many in small Finland.

But at this time, I can’t call myself a classical singer, let alone an opera singer. It would be wrong to the real artists in that field. Because the level is extremely high. Both in singers and musicians. I saw it well in my German years. Sibelius Academy produces quality people.

Did performing in Nightwish for the masses of thousands anyway train you for church concerts or other smaller events?

They are completely different things. In smaller places the audience can see even the wave of your little finger. And it has an effect. Small places also make me nervous in a totally different way than big ones. There have been a few times in my singing career that I haven’t gotten that nervous feeling. And it has felt very worrisome. Once with Nightwish we had so many performances in a row I didn’t manage to be nervous anymore. I had to ask the boys to intimidate me. (laughter) They started to talk how there’s something wrong with the ear monitors, the microphone’s batteries are empty and all that stuff. The nerves kicked in. I was happy again.

Kitee is a small place and you were for instance in the same class with Tuomas (Holopainen). Do you know his or other Nightwish member’s parents or other relatives and have now been somehow disowned by them?

I don’t know if I’ve been so much… disowned. But we haven’t been in any contact really. I do know Tuomas’ parents, siblings and his close relatives. His mother Kirsti was my second piano teacher.

According to the saying “suffering refines”. Is there any truth to this thought?

I will say I apparently thought of myself as a weaker person than I in reality am. Because I survived the blow quite nicely. And noticed that I’ve kept my feet on the ground among all that rise of popularity. But this has been important time for self-searching. I’ve been able to rely on the support from those close to me.

But I’m not trying to minimize the experience. It was hard. And in it still kind of is. At least you could apply one other saying here. Which is “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. I’ve noticed the consequence that I’m much more careful with people nowadays than I was before.

The way you were fired from Nightwish seems cold when seeing it from the outside. One inevitably gets the thought that there might be something personal behind it. Has Tuomas ever had a crush on you?

We agreed beforehand that I could leave some questions unanswered. I won’t say anything to this.

Have you read the soon-to-be published Nightwish book?

No. And I don’t think I ever will. The main reason is that my so-called main interview for the book completely dried up. Of course, the author who followed us for a longer time for the project surely took down my comments all the time. But he meant to come to be our guest in Kuusankoski for a few days and do some proper interview sessions. In the end this intention was shrank down into a 90-minute phone interview, during a time I was in Athens in the middle of the night.

I never got a proper explanation for this decision. Until a couple of weeks later was this tour ending concert in Helsinki. So the author obviously knew about my firing before I did. That didn’t feel very nice.

In any case, you managed to do great things with the band. Of which accomplishment are you the proudest and which do you recall most fondly?

A very big deal is the fact that I started to like heavy metal for real. I found many wonderful bands I might know nothing about otherwise. And for life experience and profession related things which I gained a whole lot from Nightwish. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I grew into a singer, performer and woman with that band. I will be forever grateful to the boys for that. With these experiences I’m surely much richer as an artist.

Before going along with this thing I was completely stuck in classical training and that whole world so I listened to pop – or heard really – only in some restaurant in passing. I will say straight out that without Nightwish I would have most likely just worked away in Sibelius Academy and at the same time missed a whole lot of good music.

And you of course can’t disregard this touring the world. I got to know so many cultures when traveling with the band. And I found myself a husband on one of those trips! I love traveling and seeing new places.

How did Marcelo charm you?

Simply by being next to me and listening to me. And taking time for my needs. I’m totally not the kind of person to shout everywhere: “Attention, attention, I’m here now!” But at the point I needed someone to be really present, Marcelo was there. That taking me into a count and being beside me was probably the thing that charmed me.

From what things do you notice the best that you come from very different cultures?

We’ve never really been on a collision course. Which I’m very grateful for. I’m sure that at first many of my friends thought that this can’t last long. Or has Turunen completely lost her mind. Getting a man from Argentina. And it of course had its exciting things. At home I didn’t at first tell mum the truth about the whole matter.

But in a way, our roles are reversed. I’m the more explosive one in this family. Marcelo is very calm and down to earth person. Definitely not a hothead Latino, who loses his cool over little things. Although some things in the Latino culture are done differently than here in Finland. But we haven’t really had these miffs. It probably helps that he too has traveled the world a lot and experienced a lot on his life. And is used the erratic life of musicians with his own work. Even though we’re born very far apart, we complete each other wonderfully. I enjoy being there and he enjoys it here. We can’t even create an argument about food. Marcelo likes Finnish food very much.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

Probably the sun. (pause) I love that summer is coming again and I get to wake up to the rays of the sun. Thinking more broadly the most important things are of course family and love. And a positive mind. It’s also important to remember that if some little things bug you so much sometimes, there are people in world whose worries make my worries seem like child’s play.

What was the last concrete thing you did to make the world at least a bit better place?

I just started work with Unicef. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and a huge celebration concert will be organized in Finland too. It will be in November in Espoo with Tapiola choir.

And for some reason I’ve gotten into football recently. In the summer I plan to do some encouraging for Finnish junior football teams. That would be a natural way to take part in that activity.

A more small-scale thing has been writing columns for newspaper Karjalainen. It has occasionally been an extremely troublesome task, but since I took on this challenge, I’ll deliver on what I’ve promised. It’s not really an opinion column, I’ve chatted about everything possible. I have expressed opinions about matters related to Kuusankoski and that area. I’ve taken that attitude that I aim to be a normal person, who of course has opinions about different things.

Have you already been wooed to join local politics?

Don’t bother trying. I have absolutely no interest in politics. That’s as far from me as possible. In my twenties I think North Karealian Finnish Centre Youths were in contact. But now. No, no. No way.

I listened to on the way here the electro duo Schiller’s Tag und Nacht, which is quite far from what you are known for. Do you often get these offers that appear to come out of nowhere?

Yes. Very much. Almost daily, in fact. And they’re from all different genres. Some seem really nice, some make no sense at all. And the scale is from bands that are starting out to very big productions. I’ve been asked to sing on a first demo and to star in very big and famous musicals. It has been nice to notice that people are still interested and want to reach out.

Is your calendar completely packed for years to come?

My calendar is at the moment nicely full. I don’t want to work myself to death after all. I know that this year I can avoid burning out, so there’s the right amount of work. At the same time, I have to constantly study and develop myself. So that maybe in the future I might actually consider these musical or even opera roles. I think the very big challenges are just ahead.

It was already known a few years ago that I would be able to focus more on classical music things this year. So in that sense everything has gone as planned. In Finland I haven’t really been heard as a classical singer yet, so here I’m jumping into the unknown so to speak with these Christmas concerts.

Do you think you’ll get a reception from the audience and critics that isn’t affected by your rock background or the scandal of the firing from Nightwish?

I can’t say. At least I’m going to those concerts as well prepared as I can be. You could always go copying others but that’s not my thing. I’ll go there as myself. And what I’ve done before, I carry proudly with me.

That good old “get a life” is quite a good instruction when other’s start to think they know everything. Critics can write what they will. And besides I can say, it takes quite a lot these days to startle me. If there is some baggage from the past, you just have to live with it. I did have to deal with people talking behind my back even before this thing with Nightwish, when I started to distance myself from Sibelius Academy and that picture.

Do people come in Nightwish-shirts, so people that wouldn’t have come otherwise, to your lead and other classical concerts?

Indeed. But that’s just nice.

Where are you in five years?

I’m hoping that my own album has opened the doors for my own solo career in rock. And that I have enough work and am able to do them. But I’m not building any castles in the clouds. There’s no need for that.

I’ve seen so much as an artist to this age. Now I face the big challenge that I’m not the member of any group but on display on my own.

Caravan 1/2006

For the original text, visit the Instagram account Tarja Turunen Suomi.

A lot of sun and one storm

Childhood caravan buddies Tarja Turunen and Sirja Tiilikainen recall fondly the holidays they spent in Kesälahti’s Mäntyranta. The sun was shining almost every day and they went back home with red noses.

Tarja Turunen’s, who became famous as the vocalist of Nightwish and her costume designer Sirja Tiilikainen’s parents were caravanners and so their summer holidays were always spent on a caravan. Both families were fond of Mäntyranta located on Puruvesi shore, with hundreds of meters of sandy beaches and clean waters.

“Because we were the same age, we got to know each other and soon found things to do together,” Tarja and Sirja tell. If they weren’t playing something, they were teasing their little brothers. Both have a big brother and also a little brother.

The memories are bright and sunny through and through, but they do remember one major storm.

“In a couple of seconds a swirl came from the lake, sand whirled into banks and canopies went flying. My brother hold onto the front canopy and spun on the ropes with his feet in the ground. I haven’t seen a storm like that in Finland since then,” Tarja Turunen recalls.

The girls, then over the age of ten, mostly spent time outside. There were plenty of kids and teenagers in the area. The area was safe and the caravan doors were never locked.

“Ping-pong, purkkis, badminton, pétanque and mölkky were the most fun games, I don’t remember us ever playing with dolls,” Tarja recalls. Of course we swam in the waves of Puruvesi and came up with all kind of fun things. Once we blackened our faces with coal.

“We also had sleepovers in each other’s caravans,” the pals remember. One time we stayed up of course giggling until four am, Sirja Tiilikainen tells.

Sirja remembers events well because she has still a pink diary from that time. In there she wrote with care what they had done and when and who was in love with who at what time.

Clothing combined the two already at that point. Both Tarja and Sirpa had a black and yellow striped “bee suit”, a mini skirt and shirt. It was a big thing in those days and both are bummed that not a single picture has been taken or has survived of those hit outfits of the time.

They suddenly parted ways

At some point Tarja’s parents changed the summer vacation location and the girls didn’t meet anymore.

Sirja’s family was travelling in Finland at the time and Tarja’s family went to Lapland, Sweden and Norway. Eventually Tarja’s parents sold their caravan.

Sirja’s parents on the other hand kept going to Mäntyranta for their vacations and are still caravanners. Sirja has also been able to use the caravan when she has wanted to. The vacation village in Ruoke will the base next summer.

“We plan to go caravanning during the summer, but in Ruoke we will stay in a cabin with my husband.”

Tarja still pines for Mäntyranta and wishes she one day will have time to enjoy its sandy beaches. Last summers she has spent doing concerts and completely without vacation. Only once she has briefly stopped to take a look at her childhood’s dream location.

A familiar girl in an ad

It had been years since their times in Mäntyranta when her brother brought Sirja an ad for Nightwish which prominently featured Tarja.

“Recognize the girl,” he asked and I was completely surprised. I hadn’t heard of Tarja in years. I send her a message right away and after a few days she called me. We soon met in Helsinki and ever since then we have been in touch, Sirja tells.

“It was nice to notice that we still got along just like before. Still the same blabbermouths. Neither had changed and the years apart hadn’t made us grow apart,” Tarja and Sirja assure.

Besides Tarja and Sirja being friends, they also work together. During her time in Nightwish Sirja began to design and sew Tarja’s performance outfits and the same work still continues, even though the designs have changed slightly.

“Classical music, which I’m now focusing on of course demands more classic performance outfits,” Tarja summarizes.

Sirja Tiilikainen has made outfits for Tarja for over five years and has always been in a rush. Sirja’s workplace, a dressmaker’s shop in Eerikinkatu in the middle of Helsinki, has been a good location for Tarja, because she’s been able to drop by on her way travelling out of the country.

“Many times I’ve taken outfits straight to the airport and we always haven’t had time to try them on,” Sirja tells.

“But they’ve fitted well,” Tarja praises, like the dress Sirja made for me to the president’s Independence Day Ball.

Many media representatives considered it the most stunning of the party. Since than Sirja’s talents have been noted and dresses designed and sewn by her were seen at the party last Independence day too. Sewing and designing employ Sirja completely nowadays, even too much in Tarja’s mind. Her work varies from shortening and taking in trousers to creating evening gowns.

Together on holiday

After a busy autumn Tarja Turunen and her Argentinean husband and manager Marcelo Cabuli have vacationed and dived in Thailand. The vacation is also a honeymoon for them, because they haven’t had the time to take a vacation together. All travelling has been for work.

In February the couple heads to Argentina to tour the land for vacation purposes. Also Sirja intends to get to know Argentina some time later. During the spring and next autumn Tarja Turunen stays mostly in Finland, because she has plenty of concerts. Her touring schedule has filled up with quite a speed.

“But I hope that me and Marcelo have some time to relax too and my dream is to introduce Marcelo to this hobby and take him to Lapland on a caravan. The idea is to rent a car for a couple of weeks and see how we like it. We can think about buying one of our own sometime later.”

“We’ve already been to Lapland during autumn foliage but not during the summer. A caravan would also be a good option that we wouldn’t have to make too strict of a schedule beforehand and we would have enough privacy,” Tarja ponders. Marcelo has according to her already warmed up to the idea.

MTV & Iltalehti 31.07.2010

For the original text, visit the Instagram account Tarja Turunen Suomi.

Turunen, who celebrated being together for ten years with her husband Marcelo Cabuli this week, said that she dreams of having a child of her own. However, the singer does not feel like a mother to her husband's sons.

Singer Tarja Turunen's Argentine husband Marcelo Cabuli has two sons, about whom Tarja has not spoken much before. Ilta-Sanomat reported on the matter.

Tarja Turunen, who rose to prominence from the band Nightwish, cannot imagine herself as a mother figure to Marcelo's sons.

“I don't feel like the mother of Marcelo's two teenage sons, even though we spend time together,” she tells Ilta-Sanomat.

The 32-year-old singer admits that she also dreams of having children of her own, but is not sure if the timing is right.

“We have talked about a baby and thought about it, but it is not easy to combine a child with this lifestyle. However, I know that I want a child of my own one day,” she says in an interview.

Turunen met her husband while on tour with Nightwish in South America in the early 2000s.