go to latest: Mania 10/09/08 | record release

The Ribs days

We started our career as a band in a local restaurant in Turku called Ribs. It was situated right by the river in a cosy old building with stone walls and a wooden floor. The Dutch owner, Jerome, and his friendly staff always made you feel welcome, and for us musicians, Ribs was like a second living room. They organized live jazz evenings there every Thursday night.

This was where I first heard Anthony play in the year 2001, and thought: “Oh, I want to sing with him!” So I went about trying to win him over with Joni Mitchell covers and furry hats and jumpers.(: This seemed to do the trick also for Maka, the bass player, and suddenly we had a bit of a band there. Then the drummer Johan, another regular at the Ribs jazz nights, eventually joined us in the summer of 2002.

Ribs closed in September 2004, after a countdown jazz festival, and is dearly missed by many.

Korpoström, Korpo 07/04/08

On the fourth of  July 2008 we played our first band gig after a long break. It was great to spend some time together again! The sun was shining as we drove out to the archipelago, catching two ferries to reach our destination: Korpoström Archipelago Center at the island Korpo, on the Finnish West coast.

Korpoström has a special place in my heart. Both times I’ve been there before have been really lovely. First time I was sailing with a group of musician friends. We stayed the night in the guest harbour, had a sauna, swam in the sea, and then spent the evening singing & jamming in the local restaurant. The second time I was taken sailing in an old time tar-smelling wooden boat. And the owner, as it happens, was the arranger of this gig.

Just before eight the crowd started pouring in from the boats in the guest harbour. The audience was lovely! We’d been warned that people, who’d just come over for a meal or a drink, might go outside when we started playing to hear each other better. But everyone stayed, and was listening attentively. In fact they had to bring in more chairs as we started playing to get everyone seated. I don’t know which I enjoyed more, the nice audience, or hearing the guys play. At the end of the gig the arranger asked us to return in Autumn and have a release party there - which we certainly will! (: photo below: Fabrizio Tosoni

We spent the night in a small cottage on the island. Driving there in the dark, we saw a big, majestic moose, who didn’t seem one bit scared of us. He was just eyeing us up - the newcomers. Hopelessly urbanised, but wannabe countrysiders. We stayed up till dawn, grilling sausages, catching up & playing each other new songs. Ah, happy times! (:

Kemiö / Kimito 08/16/08

Played another cosy gig in Kemiö :) and included a new song 'Pooja' in the setlist

Mania, Turku 10/09/08

On October 9th, Maka and I played a gig at the newly opened ‘wine & dining bar’ Mania in Turku. Although this is basically my new corner pub, it was the first time I stepped inside the place. I was positively surprised! The warm colours on the walls, the decoration, and the friendly staff made it feel like you’d stepped into a warmer climate all of a sudden. (:

In spite of the rainy weather, a nice amount of people turned up to listen. We seized the chance to perform some new songs, which went down very well. I enjoyed the acoustics of the place. The light natural reverb gave me the feeling that we were playing in small church – very nice for an acoustic gig!

We’ll be playing here again, every two months or so, trying out new material … for the next album. (; So welcome over next time!

(Did I mention that they have superb tapas? Mmmm!)

photo above: Fabrizio Tosoni

Album release 12/17-19/08

Finally the moment we’ve been waiting for for so long has arrived – we’ve released our debut album!!

The first release concert was held in Turku on December 17th in Aula Café, in the handsome Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova museum by the river. Something awesome has happened to us as a band lately, perhaps because of the release. We played and I sang better than ever. And thanks to our sound engineer, Kalle, we had a really nice sound, which made the performance even more enjoyable. The audience was perfect, both in numbers and in sentiment. I saw at least one girl crying, and heard there was a whole table of other girls holding back their tears… Being able to move people like this truly makes a musician proud! (:

On our second gig at Dubrovnik in Helsinki on December 18th the turn-up was a bit smaller than we’d hoped for, but the audience was all the more dear to us. Again the music sounded fantastic and it was a real joy to sing.

In my old hometown Ekenäs on December 19th, we got a royal reception from the restaurant (Revyy) and the hotel owners (Stadshotellet). We were given a suite, and had a tasty Christmas meal before heading off to our private sauna for a relaxing bath before the gig. Also here the audience turned up in nice numbers, and among them were many friends & musicians that I haven’t seen for a long time.

For the encores on each gig we played some of my new songs. They went down well, and it seems people are already keen for the next album to appear. We’d better get to work on that real soon… (;

Anthony, Kalle, Eva, Johan, Virpi ...and Maka