NIGHTWISH's FLOOR JANSEN: 'We Actually Really, Really Enjoy What We Do'

In a brand new interview with "The Rock Writer's Ramble" podcast, NIGHTWISH frontwoman Floor Jansen was asked if she and her bandmates are truly having as much fun on stage performing together as they appear to be. "Absolutely," the Dutch singer responded. "As much as you might know from Finns, they are not fakers. So for sure, on their end, you know that it's real. [Laughs] I don't have a poker face at all — I have a very, very expressional face and I have no control over that. So if I'm not happy, ooh, you'll know. But if I'm happy, you can tell and there's no way of faking it. Then we have Troy [Donockley, NIGHTWISH's British-born composer and multi-instrumentalist]. I have known this guy for six years. I have seen him grumpy once, but that was because of the hangover of the century."

She continued: "So, no, we don't have to fake it, because we actually really, really enjoy what we do and we have a genuine good time with each other. We're a happy bunch, really. And we've all seen the other side of things — we've all seen our bands going bad, and we all know what it's like to keep it together in that sense. It's like a marriage, but there's grown-up people that manage to find a balance and how to be ourselves and how to compromise without losing ourselves and all the clichés of a good marriage, but it's really true. And the most important factor — we love making our music… We feel it, and then we want to translate that feeling into the audience. 'Cause playing your songs well is one thing, but bringing it with passion and love is the same 50 percent of the thing that makes a concert worthwhile."

Jansen is currently promoting NORTHWARD, her hard rock project with PAGAN'S MIND guitarist Jørn Viggo Lofstad, which will release its self-titled debut album on October 19 via Nuclear Blast.

As previously reported, NIGHTWISH's upcoming concerts in São Paulo, Brazil (September 28 at Tom Brasil) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (September 30 at Estadio Cubierto Malvinas Argentinas) will be filmed for an upcoming DVD.

This past July, keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen revealed that he had "about 80 or 90 percent of the material" already written for the next NIGHTWISH album.

NIGHTWISH's upcoming disc, which is expected in 2020, will mark the band's second full-length release with Jansen, who has been touring with the group since 2012.