About Ville
Ville Hermanni Valo (born November 22, 1976) is the vocalist, songwriter and frontman of the Finnish alternative rock band HIM. They have released five full length albums, and as of 2006, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
Early Life
Valo was born at 8:28 a.m. to a Finnish father Kari and a Hungarian descent mother Anita in a small wooden-house suburb of Helsinki called Vallila. As a child, he was influenced by his music-loving parents, who exposed him to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara and Rauli Badding Somerjoki, while an older cousin introduced him to the heavier sounds of bands like KISS, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Valo's first musical step was as a three year old bongo drummer. At age nine, Valo attended the Pop and Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki, where he studied several different musical genres. Soon after his birth, his family moved to the riverside community of Oulunkylä, where his father eventually opened a sex shop. During his late teens Valo spent a period working in the shop before launching his career in music. His interests gradually expanded to include reggae, early blues and country-oriented material such as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Neil Young. From a young age, Valo's enthusiasm for music also took a more active form of expression, and he participated in a large number of different Helsinki-based bands: B.L.O.O.D. (1986-89), Eloveena Boys (1987-88), Kemoterapia (1989-97) and numerous other, more obscure projects.
Musical Career
In 1995, Valo enlisted old schoolmates Mikko ("Lilly Lazer") Lindstrom and Mikko ("Migé Amour") Heinrik -- augmented by drummer Juhana Rantala and keyboardist Antto Melasniemi -- to form His Infernal Majesty, a band that blended a goth-drag presentation with heavy metal, ambiguous mysticism and dark, fatalistic romanticism (a combination that would ultimately earn the media tag of "love metal"). He started out by playing bass for his band HIM, however he had to sing for their first demo as they couldn't find a vocalist. He then became full-time vocalist for them. He also plays drums and guitar on some of HIM's songs.Apart from working with HIM, and side-project Daniel Lioneye, Valo has kept busy in the music world, collaborating with many artists over the years. He has done guest vocals for The 69 Eyes, on Apocalyptica's album Apocalyptica for the song "Bittersweet" (with The Rasmus' singer Lauri Ylönen), on The Bloodhound Gang's Hefty Fine for the song "Something Diabolical", and on Cradle of Filth's Thornography for the song "The Byronic Man". In 2007 he duetted with German actress Natalia Avelon for a cover of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's song "Summer Wine", part of the Das Wilde Leben soundtrack. A video featuring both was recorded as well.He currently lives in Finland and is known to be friends with skateboarder and Jackass star Bam Margera. Valo has also appeared in several episodes of Bam's MTV show Viva La Bam and has appeared in Jackass number two
Discography
* Witches and Other Night Fears - Demo (1992)
* This is Only the Beginning - Demo (1995)
* 666 Ways to Love: Prologue - EP (1996)
* Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 (1997)
* Razorblade Romance (2000)
* Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001)
* The Single Collection - Compilation (2002)
* Love Metal (2003)
* And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997-2004 - Compilation (2004)
* Dark Light (2005)
* Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 - Compilation (2006)
Side projects
* Skreppers & Ville Valo (1995)
* Apocalyptica & Ville Valo (1996)
* The 69 Eyes & Ville Valo (1997)
* Tehosekoitin & Ville Valo (1999)
* The 69 Eyes & Ville Valo (1999)
* Neljä Ruusua & HIM (1999)
* Agents & Ville Valo (1999)
* Tributti Tuomari Nurmio: Ville Valo & Others (2000)
* The 69 Eyes & Ville Valo (2000)
* Musta Paraati, Ville Valo, Gas Lipstick & Others (2001)
* Daniel Lioneye And The Rollers/Daniel Lioneye And The Blues Explosion (2001)
* The 69 Eyes & Thulsa Doom (2001)
* Five Fifteen & Ville Valo (2001)
* The 69 Eyes & Ville Valo (2002)
* The Skreppers, Ville Valo, Migé Amour & Lily Lazer (2002)
* The Mission & Ville Valo (2002)
* Lowemotor Corporation & Ville Valo (2003/2004)
* The Skreppers & Ville Valo (2004)
* The 69 Eyes & Ville Valo (2004)
* Apocalyptica feat. Ville Valo & Lauri Ylönen - Bittersweet (2004)
* Two Witches & Ville Valo (2005)
* Bloodhound Gang feat. Ville Valo - Something Diabolical (2005)
* Isabelle´s Gift feat. Ville Valo - If I Die Tonight (2006)
* Cradle Of Filth feat. Ville Valo - The Byronic Man (2006)
* Ville Valo & Tommi Viksten - Kun Minä Kotoani Läksin (2006)
* Kari Tapio & Ville Valo - Tällä Pohjantähdän Alla (2006)
* Ville Valo & Natalia Avelon - Summer Wine (2007)
Trivia
- He has a younger brother, Jesse Valo, who is a Muay Thai and plays Bass in the band Iconcrash.
- He is half Hungarian on his mother's side.
- Bam Margera's character in the 2003 movie Haggard is named after Ville Valo.
- Ville Valo's long-time girlfriend and fiancée is ex-Finnish model and TV host, Jonna Nygren.
- He makes a very small appearance in Jackass Number Two.
- Has a number of tattoos, including a pair of Edgar Allan Poe's eyes on his shoulder blades.
- He learned to walk with the help of the family dog Sami, and when the dog died, not only was he extremely upset, he also apparently developed his allergies to animals and asthma at the same time.
- Valo's asthma has become a big part of his sound on stage, giving him the sighing sound at the end of sentences.
- He smokes about 60 cigarettes a day to give his voice a gruff, husky edge
