NIGHTWISH Mainman Has Eight Songs Ready For 'The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck' Project

February 16, 2013

Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and main songwriter of the Finnish symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH, has eight songs "roughly ready" for his "The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck" project. According to Tuomas, there are "only two months" remaining until he hits "the demo studio" to record the material.

Tuomas previously stated about how the idea for the project came about: "It was back in 1999, during the 'Oceanborn' tour, that I remember first having the idea of writing a 'soundtrack' to my all-time favorite piece of Disney comic, 'The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck', by Don Rosa, the apparent heir of the almighty Carl Barks. This book has had such an overwhelming effect on me throughout these years, and finally I have the means and the time to make that dream a reality.

"It all started with a story called 'Last Sled To Dawson', which was published in a Finnish Donald Duck magazine in the late '80s. It instantly became one of my favorite Scrooge/Donald stories and also introduced Mr. Don Rosa to my Disney universe. This story is not part of the actual 'Life And Times' opus, though, but 'a companion story,' set in between the chapters #8 and #9. Then when the massive 12-chapter piece was released in mid-'90s, I was completely and utterly hooked. It was similar to reading 'The Lord Of The Rings' as an 8-year-old, or seeing 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' for the first time. Adventure, fun and the strangely familiar feeling of home.

"With Scrooge, there was also a much deeper level hidden between the stories and the gags.

"This is a book about life itself. What an unfathomable privilege it is, what are the things that truly matter during our existence. It's about the immense beauty of the world and its possibilities seen through the eyes of a very relentless, honest and complex character. It's about love and family, gain and loss, darkness and rebirth.

"And on top of that, well, it's just your good old-fashioned storytelling fun!

"I have been twiddling around with certain themes for some months now and have an idea for five songs, but I will start working on this project 24/7 after the Australian leg of the tour, in February 2013. The demo recordings are scheduled for May 2013, just before the festival season starts and we're off with NIGHTWISH again. The actual recordings then start in August-September and should be finished by the end of the year, making a release during the first half of 2014 a possibility.

"Mr. Pip Williams has agreed to do the orchestral and choral arrangements and we will use pretty much the same London session musicians as we did on 'Imaginaerum'. Troy Donockley will bring Scrooge's Scottish origins to life with his pipes and whistles, and there will also be a few more guest musicians and singers involved.

"This journey is very, very dear and personal to me and I'm honored to have Mr. Rosa's approval on the project. It'll be a beautiful storytime, once again!"

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).