Ville Valo On HIM Breakup: ‘It Started To Feel Like A Day Job’
Former HIM frontman Ville Valo has been gearing up to release his highly anticipated solo album Neon Noir, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots. During a recent interview with The James McMahon Music Podcast he provided some insight on why HIM broke up.
“[Toward the end of HIM], it wasn’t necessarily fizzling out, but we had definitely lost the spark regarding creating new music. We tried to work it out, but it didn’t sound good. It started to feel like a day job, and when it starts to feel like that, it’s definitely time to end it, in the world of rock and roll, I think. Or in our world of rock and roll. So I cannot tell you whether we’re gonna feel like that in the future.
HIM was so much more than just a band to me. I met Migé [Mikko Paananen], the bass player, when I was about 12. I met Linde [Mikko Lindström], the guitar player, when I was maybe 13 or 14. So we grew up together and went through so many different phases in our lives anyway together, with HIM providing the soundtrack for it and the focus or being the focal point. And it’s so much more than about just monetary things.”
He also touched on the possibility of a reunion admitting he would be up for it as long as the other members were:
“Never say never, I’d say. . . . If there would be a good reason, good sort of idea or good cause, or if, all of a sudden, everybody would start to gravitate towards each other, I think that would be the best thing. [If] all of a sudden everybody in their own lives just start[ed] to . . . where it would make sense [to get back together] after all this time. ‘Cause you need to take breaks. . . . I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t wanna do it right now. It’s not something I will think about constantly, or ever, to be honest with you.”
Keeping our fingers crossed for a HIM reunion in the future!
Listen to the entire interview here.
Ville Valo will release his solo album Neon Noir on January 13th. Pre-order it here. He’ll also embark on a lengthy tour in support of the record. Find those dates here.
