Big Change in the NIGHTWISH camp, and a sad day

[J-Man]

Sad news from the Nightwish camp! Here's drummer Jukka's statement and a video we made to explain the sad situation:

How to begin telling something that you wouldn’t want to have to tell, although you know that the decision you made is the only (at least the only right) one you could make at the moment? I face this dilemma now, and will do my best to find the right words.

For a number of years, I have suffered from occasional but very difficult insomnia, something that has been my unwanted companion during many of our tours, too. I’ve done my best to try to control it or at least to cope with it. Still, we don’t even really know why we need sleep, so unfortunately there’s not much information available on why some of us suffer from sleeplessness. There is no 100% cure for the problem.

During the last month, it has become evident for me that due to my insomnia, I can’t fulfill my duties as a musician in the way that I’d want and with the precision that the music deserves. Thus I have decided to step aside from my duties as the drummer of Nightwish during the recording of the forthcoming album and the subsequent tour. I will still be involved in managing the day-to-day affairs of the band, but the dearest and the most important thing, playing, is, for the time being, not possible. Time will tell what the future holds.

On a personal level, my decision obviously feels indescribably sad. Fortunately, looking at it with some distance, it is “just” part of the constant, inevitable ebb and flow of life. The sad things are part of it as well as the beautiful, unforgettable experiences and adventures that I’ve already had the pleasure to experience in spades. Surely, there will still be many adventures ahead, too.

My good friend Kai Hahto will play drums on the forthcoming album. I’m extremely grateful that he didn’t hesitate for a minute when he decided to help us in this challenging situation. What comes to touring, everything is still open, but we will let you know as soon possible what the line-up will be.

If beginning this was hard, so is ending it. So maybe I will just quote something fitting.

“You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot losesomething that you are.”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7TJcuuYgQ&feature=youtu.be

 

[Mardoch]

Damn. I really hope it's not a serious condition, because insomnia is a horrible thing to suffer with.

 

[evildw]

As someone with a chronic sleep disorder, I can definitely feel his pain. It sucks...

 

[AMBR]

Poor guy. Unless you go through it, it's hard to fully understand how debilitating insomnia can be. It can also lead to far greater health problems if not addressed. Been there and have no guarantee I won't be back there. I certainly hope Jukka is able to find a solution that works for him and he is able to get back to doing what he loves. In the meantime, health is more important than anything. Hang in there and best of luck, buddy.

 

[Stingray11214]

I hope Jukka gets better soon. At least he is still involved in Nightwish on the business end.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Sad situation - as someone also with a chronic condition, I feel for him. 21st century medicine is not infallible, and there are many things we still can't cure. Hope he gets better.

That being said congrats to Kai for the gig. One of the most talented drummers of all time. Really cool that someone who came from punk and grindcore roots could make it so far, as well!

 

[OrionSon]

Well, if anyone is up to the job, I'm sure Kai is. I wonder if he's just coming in as a session musician, and that Jukka can come back whenever he feels he's up to it.

 

[J-Man]

Well, if anyone is up to the job, I'm sure Kai is. I wonder if he's just coming in as a session musician, and that Jukka can come back whenever he feels he's up to it.

Read the statement and watch the video, it explains it all.

 

[skyrefuge]

What? We're still taking the "health issues" explanation at face-value from musicians in 2014? Sure it's possible he actually has bad insomnia and is being completely honest, though it's interesting that none of the other band members (in subtitled translation) use the word "insomnia" in the video; they all use some variation of "his health".

More suspicious than that is that he's not even tracking the drums for the album. Yeah, I could completely understand how touring and insomnia wouldn't get along well, but simply doing recordings for an album? Surely he could find "good" windows (3am!) in which he feels well enough to lay down some tracks. Since it's the drum tech that's taking his spot (the very drum tech who was already credited with "additional percussion" on 'Imaginaerum'), it smacks of a case of getting into the rehearsal/studio and finding "dude, wtf, you're just not cutting it, we need to replace you" (and maybe even "this time we aren't going to pretend you recorded the drums like we did on the last album!") It's entirely possible that his insomnia would be the root cause of him not cutting it, but if not, it would only be the bajillionth time in rock'n'roll that a heath issue was being used as a smokescreen for something else.

Anyway, since the drummer in a band like Nightwish is far less important than someone like Khan or Mustaine, none of this really matters; my reflexive skepticism just required me to make this post.

 

[nailz]

Surely he could find "good" windows (3am!) in which he feels well enough to lay down some tracks.

Anyway, since the drummer in a band like Nightwish is far less important than someone like Khan or Mustaine, none of this really matters; my reflexive skepticism just required me to make this post.

1. You're a fucking idiot who doesn't understand what insomnia is or what people who have it actually go through. Have 5 days of 10-15 minutes of sleep every 2 hours for 4 hours, laying awake for 2 hours, then sleeping for 2 hours and tell me how you feel. It's fucking awful.

2. To insinuate Jukka isn't responsible for a large part of Nightwish's sound is like saying Marco's vocals didn't lend a layer of complexity that ultimately helped bridge the gap of Tarja's leaving. Jukka, while far from the most skilled drum sections ever recorded on an album, was beyond capable and added more personality to Live Performances than any drummer I've ever seen play live.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

What? We're still taking the "health issues" explanation at face-value from musicians in 2014? Sure it's possible he actually has bad insomnia and is being completely honest, though it's interesting that none of the other band members (in subtitled translation) use the word "insomnia" in the video; they all use some variation of "his health".

More suspicious than that is that he's not even tracking the drums for the album. Yeah, I could completely understand how touring and insomnia wouldn't get along well, but simply doing recordings for an album? Surely he could find "good" windows (3am!) in which he feels well enough to lay down some tracks. Since it's the drum tech that's taking his spot (the very drum tech who was already credited with "additional percussion" on 'Imaginaerum'), it smacks of a case of getting into the rehearsal/studio and finding "dude, wtf, you're just not cutting it, we need to replace you" (and maybe even "this time we aren't going to pretend you recorded the drums like we did on the last album!") It's entirely possible that his insomnia would be the root cause of him not cutting it, but if not, it would only be the bajillionth time in rock'n'roll that a heath issue was being used as a smokescreen for something else.

I doubt a musician would self immolate in effigy at the expense of his career like that if it wasn't true. That'd be a pretty dopey move to be honest. And I'd also probably wager that the vast majority of bandmembers quitting bands due to health issues are legit. Even for a band like Nightwish that gets paid the big bucks and has it cushy (by metal standards), doing hundreds of shows a year is super unhealthy on anyone.

 

[Formerly known as Chris F5]

1. You're a fucking idiot who doesn't understand what insomnia is or what people who have it actually go through. Have 5 days of 10-15 minutes of sleep every 2 hours for 4 hours, laying awake for 2 hours, then sleeping for 2 hours and tell me how you feel. It's fucking awful.

thank you....
It is by far the worst...

 

[skyrefuge]

1. You're a fucking idiot who doesn't understand what insomnia is or what people who have it actually go through.

No; while I'm lucky enough to have no personal experience with insomnia, I completely believe how terrible it can be, and I'm sure it's even worse than I can imagine.

My post wasn't questioning the effects of insomnia. It was questioning whether the insomnia explanation was 100% accurate.

In his own words, he has suffered from insomnia "for a number of years". He was able to manage it while touring and recording for those years, so what made it reach the crisis point now? Nothing in his statement/interview indicates that he's in the midst of a particularly terrible bout at this moment. It just seems like if insomnia is going to break you, it would be much more likely to reach that point on tour rather than when recording an album. I was joking about the 3am recordings, but an album recording, unlike a tour, is something that can be easily shifted in time by a month or more to give him a chance to reach a better state.

I suppose it's entirely possible that the Nightwish machine is so tightly scheduled for years in advance that they can't tolerate any recording delays, and they were "forced" to replace him. In that case it's an interesting human story about a group separating from their injured comrade. Was it truly an altruistic "go, leave me for dead, you have great things to accomplish without me and I will only drag you down!" or was there more pressure "asking" him to step down?

2. To insinuate Jukka isn't responsible for a large part of Nightwish's sound is like saying Marco's vocals didn't lend a layer of complexity that ultimately helped bridge the gap of Tarja's leaving.

Yes, if they replaced Marco on their recordings with another singer and no one said anything, I bet at least 90% of Nightwish fans would notice. If a drummer besides Jukka recorded the drums and no one said anything, I would be shocked if even 5% of Nightwish fans noticed.

Jukka, while far from the most skilled drum sections ever recorded on an album, was beyond capable and added more personality to Live Performances than any drummer I've ever seen play live.

Really? While I certainly don't dispute that he's more exciting to look at than, say, whoever plays drums for Amon Amarth, any drummer whose songs are 100% locked-in by a click-track will always lose in personality to a drummer actually allowed to set the time himself, IMO.

 

[nailz]

I can't stand it when people say "LOL I COULDNT SLEEP LAST NIGHT I HAVE INSOMNIA" - As someone who legit suffers from it in bouts which has gotten better as I've gotten older and healthier, it is nightmarish and miserable, and causes all sorts of other problems. Going a few nights without sleep is not insomnia, and insinuating "Oh you're awake at 3am, best put on your game face and record some epic drums and stop being a pussy!" is fucking infuriating to read.

...no personal experience with insomnia... In his own words, he has suffered from insomnia "for a number of years". He was able to manage it while touring and recording for those years, so what made it reach the crisis point now?

Oh my god you're an ignorant git. I just can't even do this with you right now. Just...

nope i'm done.

 

[PureXul]

I suppose it's entirely possible that the Nightwish machine is so tightly scheduled for years in advance that they can't tolerate any recording delays, and they were "forced" to replace him. In that case it's an interesting human story about a group separating from their injured comrade. Was it truly an altruistic "go, leave me for dead, you have great things to accomplish without me and I will only drag you down!" or was there more pressure "asking" him to step down?

I'm not going to speculate on whether he volunteered to step down or was pressured, but I get the impression that Nightwish really is scheduled and run far more like a business than almost any other band. There were obviously a lot of factors that played into Anette's departure, but the elephant in the room that didn't seem to get discussed much was a pregnancy that would've clashed with Nightwish's schedule of summer festivals. It's touchy from a human emotion standpoint, but Nightwish is a machine and cancelling summer festivals would've cost the band a tremendous amount of money. Recording delays aren't of the same magnitude, but if you take the story at face value, then Jukka's insomnia would cast doubt not just on recording but on the promotion for the album, tour preparation, touring, etc. With the amount of money on the line and how far in advance Nightwish schedules, I'm almost certain it factored into the discussions.

Pragmatically, it makes sense to make the switch now - 1) it takes a lot of stress off of Jukka, which will hopefully allow him to recover sooner without the weight of trying to struggle through the recording process, 2) it allows Kai and the band to begin functioning as a unit, and 3) it gets the shocking news out of the way so that when it's time to promote the album, it's not overshadowed by Jukka's absence. The band can do interviews during the recording and pre-promotion phase so that by the time the album hits, interviews are focused on promoting the new album with the Jukka story being a secondary or tertiary topic. Call it cynical - and it is, no disagreement - but making the change now is optimal for Nightwish from most perpsectives.

 

[skyrefuge]

I doubt a musician would self immolate in effigy at the expense of his career like that if it wasn't true. That'd be a pretty dopey move to be honest.

Oh, yeah, I'm not suggesting self-immolation is what's happening. If there's any truth being manipulated here, I think it would be more on his bandmates/management than on him. Whether it's insomnia, drugs, a bitchy girlfriend, not keeping himself in shape, weird religious literature he keeps pushing, etc., it's far from unheard of for a band (or any organization) to say "we're firing you, but since you're our bro and have been around a long time, we'll go along with whatever face-saving explanation you'd like to give."

And I'd also probably wager that the vast majority of bandmembers quitting bands due to health issues are legit. Even for a band like Nightwish that gets paid the big bucks and has it cushy (by metal standards), doing hundreds of shows a year is super unhealthy on anyone.

No doubt tons of touring musicians acquire legit health issues. I just guess that for me, after being on the inside of a big metal band and seeing some of the bullshit explanations put out there explaining personnel moves, and seeing many such bullshit-shovelings from the outside (Khan, Mustaine, "Miss K" and Stratovarius), and how the uncritical metal "press" simply repeats the PR bullshit (and the fans fall for it hook, line, and sinker), I've become conditioned to "doubt first, trust later" on anything that comes from a band's PR machine.

 

[skyrefuge]

Pragmatically, it makes sense to make the switch now - 1) it takes a lot of stress off of Jukka, which will hopefully allow him to recover sooner without the weight of trying to struggle through the recording process, 2) it allows Kai and the band to begin functioning as a unit, and 3) it gets the shocking news out of the way so that when it's time to promote the album, it's not overshadowed by Jukka's absence. The band can do interviews during the recording and pre-promotion phase so that by the time the album hits, interviews are focused on promoting the new album with the Jukka story being a secondary or tertiary topic. Call it cynical - and it is, no disagreement - but making the change now is optimal for Nightwish from most perpsectives.

Excellent insight/analysis. I especially agree (and had not considered) that pre-recording is a more optimal time to make a switch than pre-touring, particularly for a band like Nightwish, where the individual personalities of each band member (even the drummer!) are likely more important to their fanbase than they are for the average metal band.