If I was a fairy tale figure, I’d probably be…

Helsinki. 8.30 A.M. A Star Is Born.

At least this is the case on Monday, November 22, 1976, when Ville Hermanni Valo (anglicized: William Herman Light) opens what will later be termed his “legendary smoky eyes”, looking at his mother Anita for the first time.

Statistically speaking (as anyone involved in product analysis knows), any item rolling off the assembly line on the first working day after a weekend has a tendency of being slightly “off the norm” in places. With hindsight, this applies to Valo too, though it will only become apparent over the years to come. For the time being, Valo, his mum and his dad Kari are a happy family.

The family lives in Vallila, a neighbourhood located not far off Helsinki’s city centre and in those days still a stronghold of Finland’s SDP. One year before Ville was born, the acclaimed Finnish director Risto Jarva had chosen the district as the prime location for his latest movie, Mies, joka ei osannut sanoa ei (The Man Who Couldn’t Say No).

The majority of Vallila consists of wooden accommodation built between 1920 and 1930, at a time when housing conditions were at its worst for Helsinki’s work force. While visitors tend to find these little houses utterly charming, the local tenants consider them sheds and a public disgrace.

Building and interiors are totally out-of-date, wiring and installation, in particular, are far from being fit for purpose. The redevelopment of the area will not start until the late ‘80s when Vallila becomes popular with many of the more affluent members of Helsinki’s art scene and the urban bohemia. In the mid-‘70s, there’s even talk of demolishing the Puu-Vallila (Wooden Vallila) area as a whole, relocating 7,000 people in the process.

Ville having any recollection of his time spent in this part of the capital is very unlikely. A few months into his life, his parents manage to scrape together the money required for a move to Oullunkylä, another one of Helsinki’s legions of suburbs, located about 4 miles north of Vallila.

Oullunkylä is middle class territory. The Valo family moves into a two-bedroom flat that is part of one of the modern apartment complexes characterising the area. After all, the Valos are middle class. Although just. Ville’s dad Kari is a taxi driver and Hungarian-born Anita is a stay-at-home mum, looking after their son. Despite being a devoted Christian herself, Anita chooses to raise Ville in a non-religious way which makes for an interesting outcome.

Many years later, during a series of interviews, Ville traces back his influences to his toddling days. Whenever little Valo has one of his crying fits, Dad puts some vinyl on, playing tracks from all-time-greats like Tapio “Tapsa” Rautavaara and Finnish rock legend Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki, later the lead singer of Agents. Mum takes Ville in her arms and dances up and down the living room.

A charming little story.

However, Jallu, a close friend of the Valo family, might have proven much more influential when it comes to young Valo’s musical development. Jallu delivering Elvis Presley’s Are You Lonesome Tonight during a family gathering makes a lasting impression on Ville. Legend has it that the later HIM-front man-to-be was immediately drawn towards a set of bongo drums, starting to provide the beat.

Anyone who listens to the King performing the song will, a little imagination provided, definitely detect certain similarities between Elvis’s interpretation and Valo’s future vocal style.

At the age of four, and courtesy of the older one of Jallu’s offspring, Ville encounters the music of Iron Maiden, Kiss and Black Sabbath. He remembers that Maiden’s famous mascot Eddie managed to scare the shit out of him. But he says he was very impressed by the sound flooding out of the speakers on that day.

However, the little imp is far from being a genre purist - his musical preferences also include Neil Young, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. Anita and Kari, noticing the enthusiasm for music displayed by their little one, fully support him in this respect.

But Ville’s early years aren’t entirely about music. Another passion of his is a mongrel called Sammy (also spelled Sami, according to some sources). All Valos are extremely found of pets, assembling a whole menagerie over the years. Nevertheless, Sammy is what Ville would later call his “first brother”.

“When I was very little, and not able to walk yet, my parents got us a dog. They called it Sammy. Guess Sammy was supposed to act as a living walking aid of some sort until I managed to keep on my feet. Sammy died when I was six. It was a traumatic experience which, in turn, seems to be responsible for me being allergic to pretty much every type of animal.”

This doesn’t prevent him from keeping a turtle called William though. “When William was gone, my GP made it clear that I shouldn’t even consider pets in the form of snakes or any other sort of reptiles,” he remembers. “It’s the scales and waste pellets that trigger the reaction.”

In the course of his pre-teen years, Ville develops a whole range of allergies, predominantly to animal hair, also including horses. Which might account for his uneasiness when it comes to anything equestrian.

“Even today, horses totally freak me out,” he admits. “Don’t know why, but I think they are really depressing buggers. Strange, considering that my mum’s been into horse-riding for almost two decades. Definitely not my cup of tea.”

Years later, at a press conference held at the University of Helsinki, Ville states that one of the reasons for the melancholic undercurrent characterising many HIM songs is the death of his dog. The experience of loss, the intense feeling of helplessness that death brings with it - something he could do nothing about. A child having lost his best friend.

However, while this statement might have made some of his female admirers reaching for a tissue, Ville himself doesn’t seem to be entirely sure whether the trauma of Sammy’s death indeed had the proclaimed effect on his future song-writing: during a follow-up interview, he points out that, after all, Sammy was just a dog, and he’d entirely made up the whole episode. As usual, and taking into account that we are talking Ville here, the truth may lie somewhere in between.

After his first “brother” had been recalled by its maker, a second one arrives. This one is human. His name is Jesse, and he is born in 1984.

When it comes to sports, or, in fact any kind of physical activities, it doesn’t take Jesse too long to surpass his older brother. He’s a talented kick-boxer, competing at an international level, qualifying for European and World Championships. Ville usually travels to these events, too. He likes watching his brother in the ring.

However, the two Valo boys share their enthusiasm for music. Despite being a Muay Thai professional, Jesse plays bass guitar in bands like Iconcrash (whose debut album, Nude, is released by Parole Records in ’05), Brightboy and Vanity Beach.

And like any other younger brother worth his salt, Jesse looks after Ville’s flat in Helsinki during the time his brother is abroad touring with HIM.

Back in 1984, Ville has just started school. School is an institution that seems very strange to him. But maybe it’s he who doesn’t really fit into something so rigidly structured and regulated.

Whatever it is, he’s wild, disruptive, hyperactive. Although a medical examination at the age of seven doesn’t flag up anything unusual. Nowadays, Ville would most likely be diagnosed with something along the lines of ADHD, but this is the mid-‘80s.

His behaviour on the school playground gets him into trouble with his class mates. And Math is something he really struggles with, he’s unable to comprehend the subject, falling behind very quickly.

Not really a great start in terms of his education. Fortunately, one of his teachers eventually comes up with a solution. To prevent Valo from disrupting lesson after lesson, he allows him to draw during class. This not only keeps Ville occupied but also challenges his creativeness, a character trait he’s inherited from his dad. From then onwards the pale boy is glued to his chair, doing sketches while his class mates get on with the lessons.

Luckily, all this turns out to be temporary. In the end, Ville pulls himself together, works hard and even gets to grips with his old enemy, Mathematics. The latter is down to Erkki Falck, the boy’s Math teacher. Again and again, Ville finds himself called to the black board, with Falck pointing out Ville’s numeracy shortcomings in front of the entire class, until the day arrives when the young Finn simply can’t take it anymore. For once, he decides to focus on the subject.

Falck’s approach works. After the first successes, Ville turns into a downright Math aficionado, with the subject becoming one of his favourites alongside Finnish literature, English and, inevitably, Arts. On the other hand, Chemistry and Geography leave him totally cold. ...