Children Of Bodom drummer Jaska Raatikainen has posted an end of the year update, in which he discusses multiple things ranging from the band’s plans for their 10th studio album, his issues with back pain, and more. You can read his full statement below.
“It’s time to wrap up 2016. So, what happened this year?
First of all a new guitar player Daniel (who is a Finnish guy FYI, if somebody is still wondering) joined the band. It has been great times with him on and off stage. Our band has had quite a solid group of people working together in the past and we are not eager to change that. There is always a lot of work to integrate a new guy into the group. We don’t want to do that very often. Hopefully this answers the question if he (Daniel) is gonna continue with us or not.
The year started with a tour in the US with Megadeth. Later we headed to South America. In the summer we continued with lots of festivals all around the Europe. After a little break in the end of the summer we were on our way to Japan for a couple of shows. Finally in the end of the year we went to the US again for a month and came back for holiday season.
One of my dreams came true this year as I had a chance to take my older daughter with me to Japan. My only concern was who could take care of her when I was on stage? Well, luckily I had friends there who could look after her. Also, I finally (sadly) had to admit to myself that she is not interested about my work at all. During the both shows she was playing games with my cell phone. Yeah, I can imagine her thinking like “Dad, I don’t wanna watch the show, it is so damn boring what you guys do!” She has seen our show for maybe 20 times so there’s nothing new to her.
Being on the road and having two small kids is quite rough. Being frustrated, tired, busy and absent minded (and absent) I felt bad not being able to be there more for my kids. They are high maintenance but give you so much. I held on to the thought how lucky I was to have my daughters. I am happy that they are so active and energetic, and never stay on one place, but for crying out loud…
Even though so many great things happened to me this year it was still overshadowed by severe back pain that made me really frustrated and anxious. I needed pain killers to be able to perform a show and still wasn’t able to enjoy it. Sometimes it was just surviving through the set. The days I didn’t have pain and I could play normally were rare. Those shows I played like it could be my last show and just couldn’t help thinking that this great thing what I was doing on stage could end any day. The tour in South America and all the festivals in the summer made me think my life and career more deeply. Being a drummer with a body that is a total wreck is probably the worst combo. All the flying and suffering from sleep deprivation was just too rough for me. It really made me think if this all work is worth the pain. Though, I don’t give up very easily when it comes to what I love the most.
Luckily I always want to focus on the future and right now the upcoming celebration and making a new album helps keeping it all together. A 20 year career is a long time for anyone. For me and Alexi it actually means 25 years together. Two thirds of my life I have been playing drums in a band and performing around the world. I am very proud of that. I cannot wait for the tour in the spring and playing some old songs. The set will include some rarities and also some songs we have never played live. Practically we have played some of the songs in -97 or -98, 20 years ago! We really have to dig deeper to the first two albums and try to figure out what exactly was the thing each of us wanted to express with our music.
We will start creating new songs during spring and summer, and will head to the studio during fall. The album will be our tenth studio album, which is also quite a milestone. It seems that after the studio I will have some time to get my back better somehow, possibly an operation if all the other options have been tried out.
I hope next year will bring good moments and memories to everybody. I also hope the world situation would not be so tense.
See you on the road somewhere around the world and may the force be with you all!!!
Peace and love,
Jaska”
