STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki has spoken to the Finnish daily newspaper Ilta-Sanomat about the circumstances behind the group's recently announced split with vocalist Timo Kotipelto and drummer Jörg Michael.

According to Tolkki, he and Kotipelto got into a physical altercation three weeks ago. Originally, Tolkki had stepped in to break up a fight between drummer Michael and Kotipelto, but after the latest episode, both he and Kotipelto realized that they would not be able to carry on working together. Tolkki says that the fight was due to Kotipelto wanting to have more involvement in the songwriting process as well as more say in the band's business affairs.

The members of the most recent STRATOVARIUS lineup will be forced to work together one more time as they prepare to play all of the previously announced summer festivals in order to avoid paying out huge cancellation fees. Tolkki has admitted that he doesn't know if they will be able to get along with each other long enough to do the upcoming shows and had made it clear that he would prefer to call off the dates altogether.

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Stratovarius