RAMBO RIMBAUD

The idea for Rambo Rimbaud goes back ten years, maybe even more. It has its roots in the hotel rooms that provided Ville Valo with a peaceful oasis in the midst of the organized chaos and constant noise that comprise a HIM tour. As time passed, he had started to feel the occasional need for a re-think, the need to approach his music from a different angle. Enter Rambo Rimbaud, a journey into the heart of silence. With the help of his own songs and handpicked covers, Ville feels his way to the fountainhead of sensitivity and melancholy.

“The music is basically the same as it ever was, at the end of the day we’re talking about pretty gloomy love songs. A leopard can’t change its spots, right? This time around, however, the volume button is turned all the way down… instead of the usual 11.”

Rambo Rimbaud may be sensitive, but in quite an intense way. It is music in which Rambo writes his poetry with bullets and Rimbaud uses words like a weapon. It is not a project, neither is Ville Valo starting a solo career under a nom de plume. In Ville’s head, Rambo Rimbaud is a proper band. He may be its one and only member, but it is a band all the same. He seems convinced that this band concept prevents his ego getting in the way of the truth.

“The difference lies in how you approach the songs. In rock & roll it’s all out, in your face! This is far more subtle, revealing the hidden charms little by little. I guess Rambo Rimbaud is in that way like, say, Marlene Dietrich. HIM? I don’t know, probably Jenna Jameson, ha-ha!”