H.I.M. Frontman Talks About Recent Arrest

H.I.M. singer Ville Valo has spoken out about his recent arrest in Finland on charges that he threatened his neighbor and resisted arrest.

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 6, Valo allegedly became belligerent and violent while spending time at his apartment building, which is located in the Eira district of Helsinki. According to a report in the Iltalehti newspaper, Ville threw a flower pot at his neighbor's door, after which he was confronted by his neighbor and a brawl ensued. The police were called by the neighbor's wife and two officers came to the scene but were unable to calm Valo down, who reportedly had to be restrained with handcuffs. No one was injured, but the door did suffer some minor damage.

In a recent appearance on the "Loveline" talk show on Los Angeles' KROQ 106.7 radio station, Valo was asked to comment on the incident and explain the circumstances that led to his arrest.

"It was a guy just talking a lot of bull about me and my fiancée," Ville said. "And I just heard about that. He was claiming that we were junkies to people he didn't know. And you know, around in Helsinki, it's a small city, where I live, it's tiny, so if someone keeps on spreading bad word, everybody's gonna know it sooner or later. And I got pissed off, I went to his door, I kicked the door down — not literally down — I kicked the door, he opened the door and I told him that if he was ever gonna talk badly about me and my girl, he was gonna end up being dead, and I punched him in the face, and that's the whole thing. And I've never done anything like that since I was in school."

Q: Did he say anything provocative to get you more riled up?

Ville: "No, I was just so pissed off because you don't do that. Especially in the little tiny building where we live — it's just eight apartments or whatever, and it's in the better part of the city."

Q: And he's been saying this repeatedly about you?

Ville: "Yeah. I heard it through my friend's mother in the dog park. [laughs] He was like talking, 'We live with these junkies and they behave so bad. They have parties every night.' I was like, 'C'mon, last year, I was like nine months away from home. I was recording an album here in L.A. So I haven't even been home.' So it's like weird. So basically I'm gonna sue him for slander."

Q: Can you do that?

Ville: "Yeah, sure. I've got witnesses, so we should be fine. We'll see what happens."