Hello my name is Betsy and im the Official Chicago Street Team Leader...
This page is dedicated to all the HIM fans and HIM members and all the Chicago area!! if you would like to Promote please send me a message here or an email to: cutebabypie@hotmail.com, i'll be more then happy to have you as my team!!
FIVE RULES I RUN THIS SITE BY:
1. PLEASE, RESPECT everyone who uses this site. Also, RESPECT the PRIVATE lives of the band and myself. Do NOT send me PERSONAL questions regarding the above mentioned people.
2. Please, know that if I don't respond to your comments or messages right away, it is not that I have ignored or forgotten you. It may take me a little over a day to send you a response. I do my very best to return your messages as soon as I read them, and usually do :)
3. I don't mind sharing banners, photos, blogs or bulletins. I do ask however that if you "borrow" things from our site, that you give us credit somewhere. Everyone works very hard putting their pages and albums together and should be acknowledged for it. I always make sure to say thanks to those that have been kind enough to lend us items for use here.
4. Ville, Mige, Linde and Burton profiles on our team site, are run BY FANS only.
5. FINALLY, VILLE DOES NOT HAVE A MYSPACE PAGE!!
Thanks so much for the support and welcome to my page!!
Three albums into their career, with healthy combined sales of 2 million, HIM felt it was the right time to define a couple of things. Define HIM - the band. Define the music, already commonly known as love metal. And, last but not least, figure out the deeper meanings behind the mighty Heartagram!
You hold the results in your hands, in the compact form of "Love Metal". One and a half years worth of exploration and soul searching, as well as the time-honoured tradition of 'working one's ass off', has gone into these ten songs.
"There we were. Gas a hopeless Slayer addict and Burton completely hooked on Tchaikovsky. Mige getting high on Brian Eno and Linde tripping on Jimi Hendrix on a regular basis. Me, I was curing my hangovers with shots of Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison."
The 'me' being Valo, vocals and songs. Gas on drums, Burton on keyboards, Mige on bass, Linde on guitar. Collectively they are known as HIM.
"We had no idea where it would lead us in the end. Whether it would turn out to be silly psychedelic music or the meanest motherfucker of metal known to man," Valo grins. "But it felt really good. We just incorporated all the elements that came naturally and took it from there. With pretty mediocre success, of course..."
That last tongue-in-cheek shot reveals that Valo & co. are content - in fact they are immensely proud of their fourth album. Just listen to that new kind of urgency that's so evident on songs like "Buried Alive by Love" and "Soul on Fire"! The deep dark groove of "Sweet Pandemonium"! The sheer spiritual qualities of "The Sacrament" and "Circle of Fear". The innocent beauty of "The Funeral of Hearts". The purgatory that is the epic finale, "The Path". Consider love metal defined.
"It's the love of the Summer of '67 getting crushed by the metal of the post-Altamont world," Valo offers with a sly smile. "And everything's happening right here, right now! In 2003."
The making of "Love Metal" was a two-dimensional thing. The album was produced and recorded in Helsinki by Hiili Hiilesmaa, producer of the very first HIM album back in 1997. Hiilesmaa is noted for his work with mostly pretty uncompromising metal bands (Sentenced, Moonspell, Amorphis, Theatre of Tragedy...), and easygoing as he might be on the outside, in certain respects he runs a tight regime. Nobody survives his sessions if failing a serious attitude check!
"What has always fascinated me about Hiili is the manic way he approaches recording. The guy is nothing else but metal's answer to reggae's Lee 'Scratch' Perry! The Mad Scientist. One who always dares to experiment with things that others dismiss off-hand as crazy or laughable."
The second dimension came about through a transatlantic move. Next stop was Scream Studios, Los Angeles. Birthplace of Nirvana's "Nevermind", Faith No More's "The Real Thing" and countless other latter-day classics. The album was mixed there by Tim Palmer whose work, especially with U2, caught Valo's attention. A bit of a surprise, this one?
"Yes and no. U2's music as a whole isn't really my thing, that's right. Then again they have songs like "One" and "With or Without You" that are very close to the thing I try to achieve, you know, melodically, lyrically and feel-wise. But always with my own, shall I say, David Lynchian twist to it," Valo reveals. "Tim did a beautiful job unearthing all those hidden treasures within our music. I could just sit back wearing the fly glasses that Bono had left behind at the studio, and listen to the music sort of unravelling before my ears."
So it was as if a piece of Helsinki winter madness had been thrown onto Venice Beach. Or perhaps a case of LA smog vs. the midnight sun (with a few English showers thrown in for good measure, given the fact that Mr. Palmer is indeed a Briton). Light and darkness clashing. Whatever the case the different elements complement each other beautifully. The end result is a vibrant concoction of in-your-face riffs, heavy beats and sweet soulful melodies.
Name: Ville Hermanni Valo
Name: Mikko Henrik Julius Paananen
Name: Mikko Viljami Lindström
Name: Mika Kristian Karppinen
Name: Janne Johannes Purttinen
我想認識：
How Can I Help Promote?
This is Bleeding Hearts Of Chicago HIM street teams. Help us spread the love if you're in the Chicago area and join us in the mission to tell as many people as possible who HIM are and why we love them so much.
Help spread the word on this amazing band by;
TALKING ABOUT THEM... A LOT
We know you know a lot about the band, why not tell a stranger about them too? HIM is not a band to be overlooked and what's better than talking about the band at any time possible?
SPORT THE HEARTAGRAM
Not all of us are ambitious enough to just talk to a random person. Heartagrams are bound to get looks, they're the most recognized symbols. So sport your heartagrams whether it been on a T-shirt, a patch on your bookbag, a pin on your jacket, a beanie, a bracelet, a necklace, etc. But, remember, don't get all huffy and puffy when someone asks you if it's Bam's symbol. Obviously, you know it's not, educate them and spread the love of HIM.
INTERNET
Tell everyone you know about the band. Do it in an IM, a message board, a chatroom, just tell anyone about the band. Spread the word, and the love. While you're at it, be sure to add the band to your myspace!
Show them your love, and add us! And if you haven't already, join the official Heartagram Team. We'll see you on the streets.
I hope you had a great weekend.
We wish you a wonderful Monday.
Kisses,
The Heartagram Path Staff