Ville Valo: "I've always liked artists that are a bit mysterious"

Ville Valo press shot
(Image credit: Juha Mustonen)

Ville Valo says he avoids using social media because he fears he'd get himself in trouble with a late-night rant.

The former HIM frontman reveals he prefers a bit of mystery to the tell-all world of social media — so much so that he doesn't even know the passwords to his own 'Heartagram' accounts.

Valo tells Entrevista: "I just don't feel comfortable. I don't have enough to say. And I think that it easily becomes this game that you start it and you can't stop. And I think that it's better that I keep myself out of it.

"I don't have any passwords or anything like that for Heartagram. I gave them all away. I said, 'I don't wanna know.' I don't wanna wake up in the middle of the night and start all of a sudden writing some truth down in all caps. Because that's exactly what I'd probably do.

"The record company is communicating through Heartagram — the Facebook and Instagram and Twitter, I guess, too. I'm not quite sure."

He adds: "I've always liked artists that are a bit mysterious, and I like that there's a sense of detachment. And that also gives, I think, the people, and me as a listener, that makes my imagination do more work.

"And I think that when you really start imagining things and you start building ideas about an artist, that's way more powerful and special and unique than the little info, the constant bombardment of info, on social media."

Valo releases his debut solo album Neon Noir on January 13 via Heartagram Records and Universal Music. On the same day, he'll begin a solo world tour.

Ville Valo 2023 tour dates

Jan 13: Helsinki Tavastia, Finland
Jan 14: Helsinki Tavastia, Finland
Jan 15: Helsinki Tavastia, Finland
Feb 14: Warsaw Proxima, Poland
Feb 15: Krakow Kwadrat, Poland
Feb 16: Prague Lucerna Music Bar, Czech Republic
Feb 17: Berlin Huxley's, Germany
Feb 18: Hamburg Fabrik, Germany
Feb 20: Amsterdam Paradiso, Netherlands
Feb 21: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany
Feb 22: Zurich Komplex, Switzerland
Feb 24: Barcelona Razzmatazz, Spain
Feb 25: Madrid La Riviera, Spain
Feb 26: Lisbon Cineteatro Capitolio, Portugal
Feb 27: Porto Hard Club, Portugal
Mar 02: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Mar 03: Munich Backstage Werk, Germany
Mar 04: Budapest Barba Negra, Hungary
Mar 05: Vienna Arena, Austria
Mar 07: Esch-sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxemburg
Mar 08: Cologne LMH, Germany
Mar 09: Paris Le Trabendo, France
Mar 10: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
Mar 11: Nottingham Rock City, UK
Mar 13: Glasgow Garage, UK
Mar 14: Manchester O2 Ritz, UK
Mar 15: London O2 Forum Kentish Town, UK
Mar 31: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA
Apr 01: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA
Apr 02: Boston Big Night Live, MA
Apr 04: Pittsburgh Roxian Theater, PA
Apr 05: Cleveland House of Blues, OH
Apr 06: Detroit St. Andrews Hall, MI
Apr 08: Cincinnati Bogarts, OH
Apr 09: Chicago House of Blues, IL
Apr 10: Chicago House of Blues, IL
Apr 11: Minneapolis Varsity Theater, MN
Apr 13: Denver Summit Music Hall, CO
Apr 14: Salt Lake City The Depot, UT
Apr 16: Sacramento Ace of Spades, CA
Apr 17: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
Apr 18: Los Angeles Belasco, CA
Apr 19: Los Angeles Belasco, CA
Apr 21: Las Vegas House of Blues, NV
Apr 22: San Diego House of Blues, CA
Apr 23: Phoenix Van Buren, AZ
Apr 25: Dallas House of Blues, TX
Apr 26: San Antonio Aztec Theater, TX
Apr 27: Houston House of Blues, TX
Apr 28: New Orleans House of Blues, LA
Apr 30: Orlando House of Blues, FL
May 01: Ft. Lauderdale Revolution. FL
May 03: Atlanta Buckhead Theatre, GA
May 04: Nashville Brooklyn Bowl, TN
May 05: Charlotte Underground, NC
May 07: Silver Spring The Fillmore, MD
May 08: New York Irving Plaza, NY

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.