HIM’s Ville Valo Discusses the Band’s Longevity

With HIM turning out infectious hits for 15-plus years, it's no surprise that the Finnish love metallers took home the prize for Most Dedicated Fans at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods Awards.

When we spoke to the band’s frontman Ville Valo recently, he talked about what keeps his passion for music alive after all these years, citing “the actual process of making it because it’s magical or as close to magic as I can get."

He also explained that it’s the band’s camaraderie that is vital to their longevity. “The fact that there’s five guys who’ve known each other since they were 9 or 10 years old, they’re still together, they still enjoy being in the bus cracking stupid jokes months and months on end and then heading to rehearsal and cracking open a can of beer -- or in this case, five.”

Valo concluded, ”I think when you get lost in music it’s the best thing in the world, when you forget about the great everyday world outside and just go for it, that’s the thing that keeps us together and that’s the best thing that keeps it exciting for me. When there’s stuff you can’t say with words that’s when music comes in.”

HIM's new album 'Tears on Tape' was released on April 30, and has yielded the single 'All Lips Go Blue.'