Timo Tolkki calls it a day

[wolfking]

The very well-known guitarrist TIMO TOLKKI has decided to quit the music business, here's the official statement on his Facebook page:

"I don't know how many of you are interested in reading this and quite frankly, I dont even care so much, but I am just writing down some early morning thoughts regarding Symfonia and other stuff going on in my life.

  As it turned out to be, it all started from a cake. I thought it might be some kind of a celestial joke and maybe it was, but when 2 fans handed me a Symfonia cake after the last gig of Symfonia's South American tour, after spending 3 nights in a 15 bucks cold motel with grey concrete walls looking like a prison in Santiago de Chile and flying 28 hours to another continent to play to audiences varying from 100 to 350, I started to think that maybe this really is it. The cake was in a funny way telling me:"hey Timo, don't you see:it's over".

And I started to really consider my whole musician's career. This happened in June.

Exactly a year before I had flown to Sweden to record 3 demo songs I had composed hoping to record some vocals of Andre. I spent there 6 days and from those days, I was able to squeeze about 6 hours of singing from him. In between going to supermarkets, changing diapers and me trying to solve some of their domestic disputes, I started to think if it was such a good idea after all.

  But people liked the demos and I went full on producing the "In Paradisum" album to which I put around 1000 working hours. Andre Matos told me very clear that this band should not do any gigs if it doesnt make any money. I basically agreed but at the same time I knew that people would still consider it as a new band. Not "The Spartacus of Metal" where the gates of superstardom would open just like that. Uli Kusch had been in and out of band due to his hand injury and in the middle of vocal recordings in Sweden, he sent me a mail telling me he would never ever play any gigs in his life because "he was tired of piss smelling backstage rooms, the chaos, the travelling etc. In vain I tried to tell him that this was not what we agreed. He did tell me that if Symfonia would make a second album, we could use his name for 10 000 euros and use Alex Landenburg for the recordings. And after 10 minutes came a text message that he also wanted me to pay the taxes of his fee so it would total 13 000 euros for the usage of his name. I did not respond to that but I really found it hard to believe.

Then Matos lost his voice in the middle of the vocal recordings for 4 days and while hunting for cortison shots in the middle of the deepest Swedish countryside, I really started to think that this is not gonna work.

Well we got the vocals done, did the interviews and released the album. I still think it's a good album.

  Also the Japanese earthquake messed the little touring plans the band had. Then Andre told me we could make a lucrative tour in South America booked by his manager. Apparently there was some mysterious investor that was in the game. I should have known better even hearing the word investor. I decided to do the tour and after flying 30 hours: Helsinki-Frankfurt-Rome-Sao Paulo we landed only to hear that the tour is cancelled. At that point I was already ready to buy a ticket back to Finland but they managed to make a settlement and we did I guess it was 6 gigs. It was the worst and heaviest tour I have ever done in my career.

Keyboard player Mikko Harkin developed high fever and lung inflammation that was bounding pneumonia.

While lying 2 days in Sao Paulo in Formula 1 hotel (the cheapest you can get there) in a darkness I was starting to really get doubts about my future as a musician.

When I got the sales figures from Edel Records and the report from the booking agency for the festivals of Summer 2012 I decided to call it a day. It didnt make any sense to try to "conquer" the metal world since it was obvious that there was not enough interest. Don't get me wrong, it's totally cool if there is no interest.

  Then I thought about my career. Around 3000 gigs, 20 years, 20 CD's, productions, clinics, travelling. I realised that I have done a lot. I guess most of you know that I am suffereing from Bipolar Disorder, one of the worst mental disorders, but with medication and non stressful lifestyle, this illness can be controlled but never cured. Playing in a touring band is far from "non stressful lifestyle" and in fact the rock'n'roll life itself is manic with its highs and lows. In those long Stratovarius tours being undiagnosed with the illlness, I could have died. I am not kidding.

 3.3 next year I will be 46. This autumn I made a decision to take some time off from music business and concentrate on something else. I have a wonderful wife and daughter, who also happens to be a world class singer. I started giving guitar lessons again. Im taking lots of photos. In other words, living quite normal life.

I do realize the marks the years have left in me and that I should rest and heal the wounds. There is a lot to heal. The music business is in extremely sick state in this moment and it's not gonna get any better. In a few years we will know what kind of form it will take. Maybe I one day take some part of it, maybe I dont. I really dont know at the moment.

  So what about my future? If you are interested in that I can only say that it is possible that I will never record anything again. For some of you this might come as a relief. I don't know what the future will hold for me but I want to thank all of you who have supported me in these 22 some years. For you who havent supported me and continuosly are mocking me for example at Stratoboard (which makes me really sad mainly due lack of respect from a band that was my vision for 22 years and that still plays 80% of my songs although there is 2 guys left in the band called Stratovarius) I also want to thank you because without you guys, I could never have done everything I have done. It's been a great career. I hope the future brings more music but most likely it will not. But still after all I can say…I Did It My Way."

https://www.metal-temple.com/site/news/view/general_news/timo-tolkki-calls-it-a.htm?filter=1%2C8%2C9%2C10%2Cpersonal

I don't know what to say to this.  Tolkki has been on a downward spiral since he quit Strato.  RR was pretty ordinary bar the first album and Symfonia was absolute garbage.  I always liked Timo, and he really copped a lot of undeserved slack IMO.  I mean, people forget that he has created one of the most amazing power metal, if not the best power metal band ever. (Maybe besides Helloween and Gamma Ray IMO)  Interesting read.  I wish him all the happiness, and if that's never recording again, who are we to judge.

[Mladen]

I don't feel like reading...

But still, good luck, Timo! You sure were amazing. 

[wolfking]

Read it.  It's sure worth it.

[Mladen]

Yeah, I read it.  Good for him, he's had a great life.

[SlickSy]

I read it. It's worth reading. Wish him all the best

[ThroughHerEyesDude6]

I read it. I understand his VP. I hope he gets his R&R.

[TAC]

Very interesting. He's always been brutally honest in his posts over the years.
His descriptions of travelling, cheap hotels, and scarce attendance are quite vivid and interesting.

[Jirpo]

Sad letter... what an amazing musician

[wkiml]

Wish him the best of luck...not a huge fan of power metal (other than Helloween/Gammy Ray) but Stratovarius was one of the few bands that caught and kept my attention

[?]

I knew Return to Dreamspace wasn't probable, but I would've bought it if it was released. Symfonia and RR didn't really interest me, but Timo is a talented guy and I feel sad for him. If I got as much undeserved and rude hate as he's gotten, my motivation for making new music wouldn't be that high either so I understand his decision. However, he's bipolar and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a change of heart soon. I could see him releasing at least one album (maybe solo stuff?) at some point but only time will show.

[Lowdz]

Interesting read certainly, but it could just be another phase of his illness- he may feel differently in a few months. Hope he gets happy, but not too happy 

[rumborak]

I don't think I know a single song of his (since it's power metal), but it was nonetheless a very interesting read.
BTW, halfway in the whole thing had a very Spinal Tap-ish vibe.

rumborak

[Nick]

Timo pretty much outlines why I would never encourage anyone to try and do non-pop music as anything other than a hobby. Unless you are extremely lucky all the hard work will never amount to anything you can live off of. Better off spending some money on the lottery, and if you hit that then you can record and tour till your heart's content.

[JRundquist]

I guess no one told him that the cake is a lie....


But seriously, This is a very sad, but also, very real situation for some musicians that is very sad. Maybe he will decide to come back again some day, and if he does, he better go back to Stratovarius.

[dongringo]

Well, I understand bi-polar as my twin brother has the disease. It's a roller coaster indeed. I don't know if Timo is rapid cycle or not, but when I read that it sounds like he's just on a downer at the moment. Eventually he might hit a manic stage and start writing music like there's no tomorrow and end up recording something new and exciting.

[RazielSR]

I think it is the best he can do right now. Since 2004, his behaviour has been really sad, strange, mad and he has been losing all the magic he had. Anyway, these kind of things are more or less the same he told sometimes in these past years. Now it seems he is more convinced that his career should stop, at least for some years. But, who knows...with TT you never know what's gonna happen next.

Now, one of his tons of absolutely incredible and magic songs, have a new meaning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK74UqiuQIw

I recommend to listen to this song for example if you don't know what kind of music he was able to create. I'm still thinking there's no other metal composer with the feeling Timo Tolkki had while composing music.

[?]

Season of Change is one of the best Stratovarius songs by far!

[Kosmo]

Maybe it's for the best, he never was able to get that spark again after Stratovarius. I was wishing that Return to Dreamspace would come out eventually but I guess that's settled now.

Stratovarius was the first band that I really loved, I have all of their albums (even some of the more obscure things), tons of merch and autographs from all of the current members and Tolkki himself.

I've been following his career for years now, the ups and the deepest downs.
All the drama some time back altered my image of him as a person but as a musician he will always be one of my favorites.

I'd just like to thank him for the amazing music and wish him luck for whatever it is he does in the future. 

[wolfking]

Does anyone have Hymn To Life?  I think that album is absolutely amazing.

[Kosmo]

I do, it's great but very overlooked.

[wolfking]

I do, it's great but very overlooked.

Yeah, so many different styles, but I love it.  Father is possibly the most creepiest song I've ever heard, it give me chills.

[TioJorge]

I read this.



With my own two eyes.

[rumborak]

Timo pretty much outlines why I would never encourage anyone to try and do non-pop music as anything other than a hobby. Unless you are extremely lucky all the hard work will never amount to anything you can live off of. Better off spending some money on the lottery, and if you hit that then you can record and tour till your heart's content.

While I can see your point overall, I think it's a bit harsh. I don't think it's only pop artists who can make a decent enough living. Tolkki made very marginal music to begin with, and so it was kinda to be expected that he wouldn't be a big star.

rumborak

[RazielSR]

Timo pretty much outlines why I would never encourage anyone to try and do non-pop music as anything other than a hobby. Unless you are extremely lucky all the hard work will never amount to anything you can live off of. Better off spending some money on the lottery, and if you hit that then you can record and tour till your heart's content.

While I can see your point overall, I think it's a bit harsh. I don't think it's only pop artists who can make a decent enough living. Tolkki made very marginal music to begin with, and so it was kinda to be expected that he wouldn't be a big star.

rumborak

Stratovarius was a really famous band (talking about metal and taking into account that metal is not that famous) here in Europe and in Japan, from 1994 to 2003. Episode, Visions, Destiny and Infinite had really good sale figures. Infinite sold more than 200.000 copies around the world for example. The band had large audiences and they were always touring a lot. Even Symphony X in 2003 were Stratovarius supporting band on Elements tour era. The problem was that TT got stucked in the same formula and he didn't know how to evolve, plus he started to suffer bipolar disorder and the whole thing started to fall. The contract they signed with Sanctuary was another problem.

Now the band is having success again and they have large audiences around here and are respected again, but this band was almost destroyed due to his behaviour, but well, that is a large story.

But, of course, now (three of four years ago he used another excuse) TT is using the problem of being a metal musician to hide a little bit his problems. He lost a lot of respect in this world and he has payed for that. All these are consequences from a terrific behaviour.

[Jirpo]

Nice post Raziel!

[?]

Nice post Raziel!

This. Stratovarius was quite succesful within Finland too - Visions, Destiny and Infinite have all been certified gold (Tolkki also revealed more Finnish sales numbers years ago here) and they were the biggest Finnish metal band before Nightwish and Children of Bodom. Hunting High & Low has gotten airplay on the radio and I've seen Eagleaheart video on TV so I wouldn't call Stratovarius a very marginal band.

[wolfking]

Nice post Raziel!

Yeah.  Many bands call Stratovarius an influence too.  They were quite big for the type of music they played.  I remember around 2003 when Tolkki was doing the publicity stunts; the stabbing, the female singer after firing Timo, pics of Tolkki covered in blood.  I remember a lot of people on the Strato forums losing so much respect for the guy.  Anyone following the band around that time were amazed at the antics of such a solid, successful band.  He turned the rest of the band against him too with the antics IMO.

[RazielSR]

Stratovarius influenced a lot of bands here in Europe. You could say that all the latest 90's power metal in Europe was about Stratovarius. Man, even you can see in Infinite Visions dvd the young Sonata Arctica guys amazed just singing a bit of Black Diamond. Tobias Sammet, went to TT just to have help while creating Vain Gory Opera and it was TT who said to him to be the frontman and not the bass player as Sammet was.

It's incredible that many people in USA know nothing about this band. All we know that power metal is not famous in USA and there's no market for it. The good thing about Stratovarius is that they are not just a power metal band. TT composed a lot of songs that you could consider so prog too. And since he left, the band is using more prog influecen, mainly because Matias is a great fan of prog metal.

I recommend that if somebody thinks that Stratovarius was and is an standard power metal band while creating music...you could listen in a row this:

Eternity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnH46jE5odo
Speed of Light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv1kirNU8n4
Father Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxegqv87JhA
Season of change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK74UqiuQIw
Black Diamond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNLdTfwx5ZQ
The abyss of your eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK33rRjw0zI
Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGcvtyH8eCI
Coming home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUawCrHH2cw
Destiny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ER5---jSk
Visions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvncyMqXrdU
Hunting high and low: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2l8KtdQ7Ek
Phoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm3xPbwqUes
Infinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5V8niow0EA
King of nothing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihZlorQoWw8
Falling star: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa8J28sPVrQ
Emancipation Suite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzsE0cpaKq8&feature=related
Under flaming skies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJI5lvODcdk
Lifetime in a moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6je0zf6exw&feature=related
Move the mountain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=butEdu-qM0k&feature=related
Elysium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikDS1TBAElo


With those songs one can know about this band, you can like it or not, but to say this is marginal or ordinary music is just not understandable. Mainly if you listen to Destiny, Visions,  Infinity and Elysium.

[ehra]

Never listened to any of this other stuff, but Stratovarius is one of those bands I grew up with. Lots of great music (proggy and otherwise) throughout their discography.

Sad to hear things didn't end up going well for him, although I've got to admit that Polaris ended up being one of my favorites from the band (haven't listened to anything since).

[Kosmo]

Never listened to any of this other stuff, but Stratovarius is one of those bands I grew up with. Lots of great music (proggy and otherwise) throughout their discography.

Sad to hear things didn't end up going well for him, although I've got to admit that Polaris ended up being one of my favorites from the band (haven't listened to anything since).

I'd say that Elysium is even better, so definitely give it a go.

[RazielSR]

Never listened to any of this other stuff, but Stratovarius is one of those bands I grew up with. Lots of great music (proggy and otherwise) throughout their discography.

Sad to hear things didn't end up going well for him, although I've got to admit that Polaris ended up being one of my favorites from the band (haven't listened to anything since).

I'd say that Elysium is even better, so definitely give it a go.

It is a LOT better and it shows the path of the band with the new line up.

[wolfking]

Yeah, Elysium is fantastic.  I might give Twilight Time a spin tonight, what a terrific album.  Check out this great live performance of Break the Ice.  Timo had a great voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edtwUAw2sKY

[Kosmo]

I've always loved the first three albums. Dreamspace is actually my absolute favorite album from Stratovarius and he other two are also great.
Fright Night is very different from everything else they've ever done but I dig it.

[?]

Never listened to any of this other stuff, but Stratovarius is one of those bands I grew up with. Lots of great music (proggy and otherwise) throughout their discography.

Sad to hear things didn't end up going well for him, although I've got to admit that Polaris ended up being one of my favorites from the band (haven't listened to anything since).

I'd say that Elysium is even better, so definitely give it a go.

It is a LOT better and it shows the path of the band with the new line up.

Yep, as good as Polaris is, Elysium is notably superior to it.

Yeah, Elysium is fantastic.  I might give Twilight Time a spin tonight, what a terrific album.  Check out this great live performance of Break the Ice.  Timo had a great voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edtwUAw2sKY

Tolkki is (or was) a very underrated singer, not as good as Kotipelto but his voice served the music in the early days of Stratovarius. I don't like Fright Night, but Twilight Time and Dreamspace are absolutely great albums, especially the latter. BTW, Tolkki himself posted on the Stratoforum that he thinks Fright Night is a good frisbee: https://forum.stratovarius.com/viewtopic.php?p=407127#407127 

EDIT: What surprises me about Tolkki's quitting decision is that just over a month ago he posted on Finnish metal forum Imperiumi that he is working on a new album, which is the real reason for the cancellations of Symfonia gigs and the Project Strato appearance (which would've included only 2 songs anyway).

[Nick]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to try and craft Stratovarius as a progressive band at all. I like them, I've supported them, but labeling them as progressive is just an attempt to legitimize them in the eyes of people who aren't going to be swayed anyway as far as I'm concerned. They were a very influential power metal band in Europe, and that's good enough for me.