Ex-Nightwish Bassist And Vocalist Marko Hietala On His Decision To Quit The Band
In an interview with Portugal's Metal Global, former Nightwish member Marko Hietala was asked if he has any regrets about leaving the band four years ago. His response was: “Of course. I was regretting it already when I was leaving. But it was not just Nightwish. I've said this quite a few times, that I actually left everything. My trouble with depression and anxiety was constant. It just wouldn't go away and had gotten worse and worse and worse during the years. And I grit my teeth and held on until I felt that — yeah, it was when COVID was over, started to be over, and they said that, 'Okay, we got these plans for the spring and then these plans for touring' and all that. And then I kind of realized, 'I don't want to go. I'm feeling too bad. And if I go on the road, it's just gonna be a stress. I'm gonna be alone.”
He continued saying that: “Everybody's got their own survival methods [when it comes to being on tour] — they've gotta have them and all that — so I figured, 'I cannot do it.' And at the same time, I was also already looking kind of vaguely if there would be a place where I could escape to some winter months because the darkness was making the depression and anxiety worse and all that. And then I kind of realized that 'I wanna leave everything, all the responsibilities, everything. I need to find out what's wrong with me.' So I kind of came just to Spain to get away from everything, everyone I know, except for the wife and the dog.”
In an August 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Hietala disclosed that he experienced a challenging period in his life, marked by depression, insomnia, anxiety, along with an ADHD diagnosis: “I've been chronic depressive since 2010 [or] 2011, so I've been on a permanent medication ever since. Sometimes you get used to the meds [and] you will need more. We did raise [the dosage] during the years also, but it just didn't work. And now that I started to do… I had psychotherapy for over four years now, and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that also in Spain. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said that I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain.”
Nevertheless, Marko mentioned that he is feeling much better now because of being aware of his diagnosis: “It's a relief to know that there are things in your history and in yourself that you just cannot help. That's what you are. So, a lot of kind of guilt about things that were left undone or unsaid or went straight to hell from the things you did and said, suddenly you find out that, okay, actually, no matter how much you wish you would have acted differently, you couldn't.”
Hietala restated that he had thought of leaving Nightwish for some time before the final call: “For a year or two, I was already waking up every night at three o'clock to bad dreams and anxiety. So I'd say that the whole process probably started already with my former divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken homes and all that. And then, when I started to get clear from that, then there were, well, all kinds of things. I don't really wanna go any deeper to what kind of things I'd gone through, but I'd gone through enough.”
Hietala announced his departure from Nightwish back in January 2021. In a statement, he explained that he hadn't “been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now.” He has since been replaced by bassist Jukka Koskinen (Wintersun), who made his live debut with the band in May 2021.
During the same month, Nightwish keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen stated that Hietala's decision to leave Nightwish “came as a bit of a surprise.” For Finland's Kaaos TV, he mentioned that: “Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow.”
As of July 2022, Hietala said that he hadn't stayed in touch with Nightwish or followed their activities since his departure. However, he recently collaborated with former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen on the ‘Left On Mars’ single and their joint live performances, which started with a series of shows in South America in early 2024.
Marko's new solo album, ‘Roses From The Deep’, is set to be released on February 7, 2025, through Nuclear Blast.
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