We had an opportunity to make an exclusive interview with Tarja, who is currently recording her second album in Finland.

- So Tarja tell me, what are you busy with these days?
- Oh, I am here in the middle of nowhere recording my new album, so I am very busy with that.
 

- Are you still in Finland?

- Yes, I am in Finland, in the Petrax Studio in Hollola, that is a small-small town in the Southern part of Finland. It is far from everything, it is really in the middle of nowhere (laughs), but it is a very relaxing place for all the work.

-And how is the recording process going, what has been done so far?
- We have been recording already drums, bass, guitars, partially keyboards, partially cello parts, partially even my vocals, so it is getting together very-very fast. We are doing fine, only a few elements are missing, so the remaining vocals and the orcestra and choir parts need to be recorded. Basically that is all.
 

-Why did you choose this studio?
- Well, I have been here before with my first record, also I had this song I recorded for Scorpions a few months ago, it was recorded in Petrax, so I am very familiar with the studio and the people. It is a good opportunity also for me to bring all my band members here, because they can live in the studio, the accommodation is here, the food is here, it is easy just to be here and work. You do not need to stay in a hotel, you can stay in the studio.
 

- Oh yes, this Scorpions song, how did the idea come up?
- I was very pleased to get a phone call from the singer Klaus Meine himself with the idea. We have met each other on a few occasions before when I was still singing with Nightwish, also at Doro concert in Düsseldorf, so we kind of knew each other, not very well of course. It was very nice that they have thought of me, actually they sent me two songs to choose from and I chose this song called The Good Die Young. It was a really nice collaboration, it was very easy for me to work with them even though we were working from a distance. I am very excited about it, because they chose this song to be the first single, and it is the last album of Scorpions, so it is really a great honour for me to be part of it.
 

- You have written in your blog that you have been working with two drummers – it is not a very common thing to do, why did that happen?
- Yeah, actually I have been writing this material for around two years now, I have been composing the songs and it was Mike Terrana – whom I am working with for more than two years now – who came into my mind first. So I instantly thought about him, that he would be perfect for some of my tracks, but on the other hand there are some songs on the album that require some other kind of touch and sound. I was thinking really-really hard who might be the perfect drummer for these songs, because you know, taking me as a singer, I can not sing tango for example, I am a classical singer, so even if you are a professional musician, it is sometimes hard for you to do something else that is not your field of music. So at the end I thought of Will Calhoun for these songs and we did an amazing work together. We have met before, but this was actually the first time that I worked with him.

- Can you tell me how is the album be different overally from My Winter Storm?

 You can find the answer in the second part of this interview soon.:-)