Off the Record with Marko Hietala

Back in April 2023, I was selling merch at a few of the shows during the Springtime of the Black Heart Tour in Finland. Since it was a very friendly crew, we asked Marko Hietala if he had time to do a… sort of general catch-up interview now that he was back after parting ways with Nightwish and his year+ hiatus from the music scene. He was kind enough to make time for us before the show at Suisto in Mikkeli, where we talked about mental health, his bands and plans, and his experiences in Ayreon Universe and The Masked Singer. He even shouts out some sci-fi recommendations!

The interview was originally intended for Tuonela Magazine, but it fell through the cracks and ended up back here! As I was thinking of what to do with the interview, which centered around Marko’s career, as well as his mental health struggles and experiences in the scene but outside of band life, it occurred to me that this was what I missed about doing interviews—I was bored of asking about the new albums, I wanted to start talking to the artists themselves again! I wanted to get off of the album-release line of questioning and into the lessons and personal growth they’ve experienced on their musical journeys, and get a little more personal. This inspired the name for the series, Off the Record!

Thanks for checking it out, and please do the usual subs and shares if you want to see more of these in the future!

Marko Hietala @ Suistoklubi, Hämeenlinna; 19.4.2023