H R H - I N T E R V I E W S

Janne Warman Children Of Bodom
Interview April 2006

Matthew: I guess the key thing that is important to know is the musician’s real inspiration, or the thing that used to get your blood boiling and motivated you to want to perform. For me growing up, it was Slayer, Exodus, Megadeth … I wanted to kill people when I heard it.
Janne: Right right, well for me it was Metallica and Guns N Roses; not that really heavy shit. Then I got into the heavier stuff later.

Matthew: In America back then, the majority of the GNR’ fans that I knew were skaters. Were you a skater back then?
Janne: Yeah I did skate back then, but nothing serious; everybody was when we were kids.

Matthew: What did you hear that you said “I want to do that!” Did you go to a show in Finland or something?
Janne: Yes, it was when I went to see Metallica when I was about 12 or 13. It really blew my mind.

Matthew: OK, well you are 26 so 14 years ago. That’s when they were still pretty decent. Haha …
Janne: Yeah … yeah …

Matthew: I was crazy about these guys with Master of Puppets time frame. What amazes me though with your answer is that none of the bands you told me about had any keyboards used in their music.
Janne: Well, I was never really into being a musician. I wanted to be an architect; I was studying for this. In those years I was playing drums for a punk style band. Actually, when we put Children of Bodom together I was playing drums in a punk band.

Matthew: Were you a good drummer?
Janne: No I don’t think so.
Matthew:(laughing): Ha ha that’s funny dude.

Matthew: How did you get so good on keys after being a drummer for years? Did you practice a lot? Hell, I listened to your album on the way here and I love the keys parts where you and Alexi are dueling.
Janne: I hate practicing; I never really practice at all. For me, when I go to the studio I play around a little bit and before we go on tour we have a few rehearsals, but I never play at home. I’m actually not that enthusiastic about playing somehow.

Matthew: Well, did you study piano as a kid or something?
Janne: Yes I studied piano at the pop/jazz conservatory in Helsinki which is the most elite music school in Finland.

Matthew: What kind of things did you play? Classical pieces?
Janne: Mostly jazz. It was cool man; I was into jazz piano for years and then I realized that I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be, and then I just quit.

Matthew: Where did the drums come from?
Janne: If I would live in a different apartment, I would have a set of drums. I love to put in CDs and my headphones and try and play along to the music. At the conservatory, when you study the piano they make you study drums as well for the feel of the rhythms and I just really got into drums at that point.

Matthew: It sounds like it’s therapeutic, really relaxing. By the way is it BOEDOM, or Bottom (phonetically)?
Janne: It’s Bodom, like BOEdom.

Matthew: Where is it? Is it close to where you grew up?
Janne: It is a lake in my country. I actually used to go camping there before we formed this group.

Matthew: When did the murders happen?
Janne: In the ‘60s.

Matthew: Is it really the big deal in your country like I read about?
Janne: Yeah, it is the biggest unsolved murder mystery in our country’s history.

Matthew: Wow, unsolved til today? Jesus. Was there anyone in your country mad about the name of the band?
Janne: No, luckily no. I guess the name is not that offensive. There was a trial about the murders. It would be a really long story but what happened was there were four kids camping — two guys, two girls — and three of them got killed. One guy survived, and now they have DNA evidence that the guy was the killer, but they couldn’t find him guilty. The trial was all last year. At that time, our band was in the news all the time.

Matthew: As far as Finnish metal, after doing 200 reviews in the past year and a few months, I never saw another one, and then in the past month I ran into Kalmah, Stamina and Ajattara. Left and right Fins are coming out. Did COB help them get exposure?
Janne: I think yes. COB has helped these bands in this way for publicity but many metal bands have been around in Finland for years.

Matthew: The Finnish language sounds like a murder itself, or a death threat. Ajattara sings in all Finnish, and it’s awesome for the metal genre. Did you guys ever think about doing any songs in Finnish?
Janne: I don’t think so.

Matthew: But the language works so well with metal.
Janne: I know. I don’t know; somehow I know what you mean but for us I don’t think so.

Matthew: What do you listen to nowadays?
Janne: It used to be extremely heavy metal. Now it’s SOD with Mesmerize.

Matthew: Yeah, because it’s popular here, I tried not to like it, but it is just so damn creative.
Janne: Yeah, I’m trying to expand my horizons.

Matthew: Who have you toured with that you thought were just awesome musicians or great live?
Janne: In Flames were great, and also Lamb of God.

Matthew: What was it like to tour with Randall Blythe of LOG?
Is he as crazy as we see in the DVD’s and videos? Jon Donais of Shadows Fall said he was a blast and always drunk.
Janne: Yes, that DVD was filmed on the tour they came over to Europe to tour with us.

Matthew: Yeah I love Shadows Fall and Donais’s feel for the solos.
Janne: I love those guys too; we did a tour with them and they were opening up for us in Europe. They were the nicest guys we have ever toured with.

Matthew: Tell me about it. Jon talked to me for two hours about guitars and guitarists.
Dude, he doesn’t think he is a good player at all and I’m sure of it. I actually ranked him among the best of the past 25 years in an article last year.
Janne: He is a good player. And an even nicer guy.

Matthew: Are you familiar with ice hockey? Did you play when you were little? ‘Cause I am a huge fan. I saw your small country win the silver medal and am familiar with a ton of Finnish players. Saku Koivu and Olli Jokinen are a couple.
Janne: No, actually I was not into sports as a kid, just piano, but most of my friends were. And actually many of the players are huge fans of metal. One of our biggest fans is Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars; he comes to all of our shows in Texas and also at home during the summer. He invited our whole band to go and see the Stars in Texas and we went and had a blast.

Matthew: What kind of things are you into nowadays?
Janne: I am a huge sports car fan. I belong to a club where I can rent high priced cars for a much cheaper amount. I actually just bought a Porsche in Finland, which is a huge dream come true for me.

Matthew: Well thanks a lot Janne. I really appreciate how generous you have been with your time.
Janne: No, thank you Matthew