With the release of III – Candles & Beginnings, Auri are finally taking their show on the road. The unconventional Finnish/Yorkshire power trio of Tuomas Holopainen, Johanna Kurkela and Troy Donockley tell Prog about the lure of intimate shows, mysterious lyrics and the magic of music. Just don’t expect any Holopainen headbanging.
“That’s the thing that keeps me stoked up after doing music for 30 years: it’s still a big mystery to me,” says Tuomas Holopainen. III – Candles & Beginnings sees the return of Auri, the band featuring the Nightwish leader, his wife and vocalist Johanna Kurkela, and longtime bandmate Troy Donockley. By turns ethereal, earthy and always expansive, Auri’s latest album is steeped in the mysterious power of music.
“Whenever Troy sends me something or Johanna does something that resonates with me, I just don’t understand what’s going on,” says Holopainen. “I enjoy what I hear and I can’t wait to contribute to that piece myself. But I can’t explain it – and that’s the true magic of music.”
‘Magic’ is a word that pops up a lot, although the new song titles reveal the wider range of inspirations that inform Candles & Beginnings; from Blakey Ridge, named after a 16th-century inn on the North York Moors, to the metaphysics of The Apparition Speaks, and the mythic Shieldmaiden.
“We’re inspired by all of life?” says Kurkela. “It could be in the silliest, most mundane moment in your everyday life that you discover a song. A melody could come to you at the gas station, or you could think of large concepts, something very inspiring in the ether. Some songs are more tangible and concrete; others more cryptic and out there – just concepts, ideas, energy or epiphanies.”
“We want to make people feel something,” adds Holopainen. “Happiness, joy, nostalgia, comfort, empowerment, and be inspired.”
For Kurkela, the desire to make connections underpins the music. “When we’re talking to people, words easily throw us off. People have different ideas of what words mean. But music can reach the heart of another person much more directly – just swim in there and connect on a much deeper level. Then you can forget about what the words mean. It’s just the music and the vibration, how that moves us, heals us, and inspires us.”
Donockley says the allegorical nature of Auri’s songs are integral to the group’s conception. It recalls his own formative experiences of listening to records. “When I was a kid, I would sit going, ‘What is this? What does this mean?’ If we’re too explicit, it destroys the whole point and effect. There should be an absolute personal response to the sound. The lyrics should enrich the sound so that the person has no clue, really. They can take from the lyrics whatever they want.
“We think it’s important that we don’t give too much away to colour or discolour a person’s direct response. Nothing’s changed in that regard; we’re still trying to give people a route to take of their own.”
Holopainen adds: “I meet people who say, ‘This is what I think the lyrics of this song are about – it’s meaningful to me.’ I think, ‘That’s not at all what I thought when I wrote the song!’ But this is the freedom of art – make your own story out of what other people create.”
Candles & Beginnings began in 2023 after work was completed on Nightwish’s Yesterwynde. Donockley was ensconced at his home studio in Yorkshire and Holopainen and Kurkela were writing in Finland. Even after years of collaborating, Donockley retains the capacity to energise his bandmate with the unexpected. “Every time we get something new from Yorkshire, it surprises us and fills us with delight,” says Holopainen.
The trio are accompanied by Nightwish drummer Kai Hahto, Iona’s Frank Van Essen on strings, cellist Jonas Pap and bassist Juho Kanervo. “Arrangement-wise, we all work with the magic,” says Kurkela. “We feel, ‘Oh, there’s something there – I’ve added this element and now it gives me goosebumps. Let’s follow this path.’ That’s how we go about each song.”
The album was mixed in Spain, then they headed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Wiltshire for mastering. Donockley suggests a change of location can help bring a fresh perspective to the music, while for Kurkela it’s integral: “It’s become a tradition. We love adventures and trying out different locations.”
The latest adventure has seen Auri going on tour for the first time. “We started to rehearse a few weeks ago in Finland, and it was extraordinarily successful,” says Donockley. “We were kind of shocked that it went so well! But then again, this music has lived within us for a long, long time, so it makes sense for it to be natural.”
The timing is fortuitous, as Nightwish are currently off the road for an indefinite period. “We always planned to tour Auri,” says Holopainen. “The hiatus works very well for us, and the same with Johanna. She’s got the space to take on a six-week long tour. It’s all worked out perfectly.”
Nightwish is an oil tanker cruising the Atlantic, and Auri is a luxury yacht floating around in sanguine seas
Troy Donockley
“We have a vision for how we want it to feel and look and sound,” says Kurkela, “but I think, as we go along, we’ll figure things out. Already with the first rehearsals, ideas were sparking. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.”
Auri played Union Chapel, the Gothic 19th-century church in north London, which seems like the ideal setting for their otherworldly vibe. “Absolutely,” says Donockley. “I was delighted when that came through. I suggested it, but I thought, ‘It’s probably completely booked up for at least 15 years,’ but we managed to get in there.”
In a venue like Union Chapel there’s little sense of separation between the performers and the audience – a different experience from a Nightwish stadium show, “We see Nightwish as a gigantic oil tanker cruising the Atlantic,” Donockley says, “and Auri is a luxury yacht floating around in sanguine seas.”
Asked if the goal is to capture the intimate character of the music onstage, Kurkela replies: “That’s what I’m hoping to achieve with this music – to embrace the audience with this love that we feel for the music and for each other, and to expand that.”
“Even during the Nightwish times, the shows that I enjoyed the most were the most intimate ones, the smallest ones,” Holopainen adds. “I’m really looking forward to playing for 300 people in an intimate theatre. There will not be any headbanging; my neck will thank me for that!”
Aside from being spared a sore neck, does all this mean that Auri will be everyone’s priority going forwards? “There is so much to be done,” says Donockley, “and I can see a mighty future spreading out in front of us. Leave people mesmerised – that’s our plan.”
“That’s the lovely thing about Auri: we’re completely free,” says Kurkela. “The freedom is so important and also an inspiration to us. The music can go wherever it wants to and we go along with it. From the film Into The Wild, there’s a beautiful quote – ‘happiness is only real when shared.’ I think that applies to music as well. The magic is real only when shared.”
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