Guesting on This Day In Metal, former Children Of Bodom guitarist Alexander Kuoppala looked back on his time with the band, from 1996 – 2003. He discusses the newly finished Children of Bodom oral history that will be released in August 2025, shares his memories of the early years of the band, and reconnecting with his former bandmates after Alexi’s passing in 2020.
Kuoppala: “Alexi, Janne (Wirman / keyboards), and Jaska (Raatikainen / drums), they were five years younger than me, and Henkka (Seppälä / bass) was six years younger. My kind of big brother role with Alexi was, he needed to be pushed forward a little bit because his social skills were pretty poor, I have to say. For example, if we had a gig and we didn’t play so well, it was like the end of the world for him. I remember we had one gig in ’97 that went really bad, and he was sitting in the back of the car, and he was, ‘Okay, now we have to practice or forget this whole band. Two options.’ We were like, ‘This is not the end of the world. Of course, we played badly, but we have to fix it.’ And then he relaxed a little bit, ‘Okay, we do that.’ But he had in his mind only two options: quit the band or practice more, nothing in between.”
“My role, in a way, was now and then to remind him that there is something in between, (to)give him some solutions to some problems. But he was, in an extreme way, a really polarized person.”
Kuoppala recorded four albums with Children Of Bodom: Something Wild (1997), Hatebreeder (1999), Follow the Reaper (2000) and Hate Crew Deathroll (2003).
The official Children Of Bodom book, to be published in August by Rocket 88, is now available for pre-order.
There are two editions to choose from, both of which contain the same fascinating and illuminating oral history of the band, as told by the members, friends and colleagues: the Classic hardback and the Signature hardback which is signed by Henkka Seppälä, Janne Wirman, Jaska Raatikainen and Alexander Kuoppala.
A message states: “Since we stopped making music and suffered the tragic loss of our brother Alexi, we’ve been remembering so many great times that we had together, and you can now read about those times in this book. It tells the full history of Children of Bodom in our own words.”
Description: For the first time members of the band tell the story of Children of Bodom in their own words. Henkka, Janne and Jaska recall the founding of the band with their lost brother Alexi and the struggles, adventures and triumphs they experienced in the more than thirty years that followed. Drawing on personal memories and new interviews with the band conducted by Finnish best-selling author and long-time friend of the band Timo Isoaho, the official Children of Bodom book tells the whole story, warts and all, of the groundbreaking melodic death metal band.”
To order Children of Bodom (Classic Edition) and/or Children of Bodom (Signature Edition), head to childrenofbodombook.com.
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The post Former CHILDREN OF BODOM Guitarist ALEXANDER KUOPPALA On ALEXI LAIHO – “If We Had A Gig And We Didn’t Play So Well, It Was Like The End Of The World For Him” (Video) appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Kuoppala: “Alexi, Janne (Wirman / keyboards), and Jaska (Raatikainen / drums), they were five years younger than me, and Henkka (Seppälä / bass) was six years younger. My kind of big brother role with Alexi was, he needed to be pushed forward a little bit because his social skills were pretty poor, I have to say. For example, if we had a gig and we didn’t play so well, it was like the end of the world for him. I remember we had one gig in ’97 that went really bad, and he was sitting in the back of the car, and he was, ‘Okay, now we have to practice or forget this whole band. Two options.’ We were like, ‘This is not the end of the world. Of course, we played badly, but we have to fix it.’ And then he relaxed a little bit, ‘Okay, we do that.’ But he had in his mind only two options: quit the band or practice more, nothing in between.”
“My role, in a way, was now and then to remind him that there is something in between, (to)give him some solutions to some problems. But he was, in an extreme way, a really polarized person.”
Kuoppala recorded four albums with Children Of Bodom: Something Wild (1997), Hatebreeder (1999), Follow the Reaper (2000) and Hate Crew Deathroll (2003).
The official Children Of Bodom book, to be published in August by Rocket 88, is now available for pre-order.
There are two editions to choose from, both of which contain the same fascinating and illuminating oral history of the band, as told by the members, friends and colleagues: the Classic hardback and the Signature hardback which is signed by Henkka Seppälä, Janne Wirman, Jaska Raatikainen and Alexander Kuoppala.
A message states: “Since we stopped making music and suffered the tragic loss of our brother Alexi, we’ve been remembering so many great times that we had together, and you can now read about those times in this book. It tells the full history of Children of Bodom in our own words.”
Description: For the first time members of the band tell the story of Children of Bodom in their own words. Henkka, Janne and Jaska recall the founding of the band with their lost brother Alexi and the struggles, adventures and triumphs they experienced in the more than thirty years that followed. Drawing on personal memories and new interviews with the band conducted by Finnish best-selling author and long-time friend of the band Timo Isoaho, the official Children of Bodom book tells the whole story, warts and all, of the groundbreaking melodic death metal band.”
To order Children of Bodom (Classic Edition) and/or Children of Bodom (Signature Edition), head to childrenofbodombook.com.
Are you following Crimson Glory on Spotify? Do it today and when their new album is released you will be notified automatically.
Follow - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2B73nUiRlcSwjTyVaIAwhR
The post Former CHILDREN OF BODOM Guitarist ALEXANDER KUOPPALA On ALEXI LAIHO – “If We Had A Gig And We Didn’t Play So Well, It Was Like The End Of The World For Him” (Video) appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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