NIGHTWISH Mainman Says Rehearsal Studio For Next Album Has Already Been Booked

Metal Hammer TV conducted an interview with Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and main songwriter of the Finnish symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH, and the band's current touring lead singer, Floor Jansen, prior to NIGHTWISH's November 5 concert at O2 Academy Brixton in London, England. You can now watch the chat below.

On the split with NIGHTWISH's most recent singer, Anette Olzon, in the middle of the band's North American tour:

Tuomas: "I'm sure it came as a shock to everybody. We came out with a statement [regarding the split], which pretty much says it all. It still is a private matter, and that's all we wanna say about it, like, ever. It was an amicable divorce, so to say, and made in good spirit, and we are just looking to the future. There really is no reason to go back into all the details and all that. I mean, this is not politics, this is a rock band."

On Olzon voicing her displeasure over the fact that NIGHTWISH played a concert without her when she was in the hospital, writing in an online posting, "Rihanna wouldn't ask Britney Spears to sing for her if she was ill":

Tuomas: "Like I said, we don't wanna go back into those days anymore. I mean, we really don’t want to talk about that issue at all. Once more, we made a statement and if people can read in between the lines and see the big picture, that's all that matters at the moment. So let's leave it at that."

On NIGHTWISH's decision to carry on even after parting ways with Anette mid-tour:

Tuomas: "The way I see is that NIGHTWISH is like a carousel that nees to go on spinning, no matter what. It's more than just five persons doing music. It's just an institution. It's a thing that needs to keep on going no matter what. The last thing you want to do in this band is to cancel any shows, cancel any tours; you just have to keep on going — for the people, for the spirit, for ourselves, for everybody."

On whether there is a chance that Floor will become the official new NIGHTWISH lead singer:

Tuomas: "The way that we have decided is that we're gonna continue with her until the end of the festival season in 2013 — just have fun, just do the shows the best we can. I mean, the atmosphere in the band is so good at the moment, [we want to] just enjoy this what we have right now. They try not to think about NIGHTWISH at all for a few months. Everybody take a little vacation. And we already have the rehearsal place for the next album booked in 2014 — from July to September. So that's how far we have planned. But when we do the last festival show next August, after that, it's gonna be total nothing for a few months. So I would say everything is possible, but that's really not the thing that we want to be thinking about right now, because there's absolutely no reason to."