Age: 34
Height: 179cm
Eyes: green
Hometown: Helsinki
Date of birth and sign: 091172 Scorpio
Hobbies: swimming, scuba diving, travelling, salsa
Motto: "What goes around comes around"
Food: sushi, Thai food
Drink: mineral water, Gin Tonic

The best of...

...tv-series?
Prison Break, Madventures 1 ja 2 -boxit
...movies?
Ocean´s 13 (olen Ocean´s elokuvien fani)
...albums?
Tim Christensen: Live at the Abbey Road Studios
tracks?
Amy Winehouse: Rehab, Daughtry: Crashed

Interview

What kind of musical background do you have?
I matriculated from Sibelius High School but already during my early school years I studied the piano at a music school. I also played football and ice-hockey but finished when I was 15. By then music had become the most important part of my life. When I was 16 I changed the instrument: I started to play the drums and took it really seriously in Sibelius High School. There I also started playing in my first 'serious' bands.

Several well-known Finnish pop musicians of today were in the same class and we had a really good  atmosphere there. Anyway, during those high school years I became convinced of music being my profession because of the great passion I had for playing in a band. During that time I also started to study recording and mixing techniques because I was also interested in producing, recording and mixing. Basically, all the evenings after the school I sat in the school studio doing demos and learning how to use the equipment.

After matriculating from Sibelius High School in 1992 I started  to study full-time in Pop & Jazz Conservatory (professional musician department). I met there a lot of good musicians and bandmates to play with. I also practised very hard because I had started playing the drums at the age of 16 whereas all the other drummers had already been playing for ages...I had a lot of catching up to do which I eventually did....haha!

My first 'real' band Ma Baker's Soul Factory was founded in 1992. We played funk, soul, hip-hop and R&B type of music. It was a really good band and we were pretty fast the most popular band of the club scene in Helsinki in 1993-94. Our band also became number two in the National Contest of Finnish rock bands. In 1994 we started to play for a Finnish R&B artist Janita as her tourband. After that we also made an album of our own which was actually the first album I produced. During those years I started to do so many gigs with different artists that I didn't have time for the studies any more. I started to get also studiowork as a drummer as well as a producer so eventually I had to take a loan and invest in the equipment and put up my own studio.

Here are a couple of albums and pieces where I have been a producer and/or a musician:

Ma Baker´s Soul Factory: Zip-Hop Jungle (1995)
Taikapeili: Nukahda jos uskallat (1999)
Waldo´s People: No Man´s Land (2000)
Irina: Lisää Virtaa (2002)
Aikakone: Uudet tuulet ( 2002)
Gimmel: Roviolla (2002)
Gimmel : Harmaata Lunta (2003) Huuto (2003)
Gimmel: Seis (2004)
Maija Vilkkumaa: Pitkä ihana Leikki (1999) Veljeni tuotti levyn, toimin rumpalina ja ohjelmoijana
Anna Eriksson: Vie Se Pois (2003)
Pandora: 9 lives levylle 1 biisi (2004)
Hanna Pakarinen: Our Love is like a song (2004)
Antti Tuisku: Eka levy 5 biisiä (2004)
Clifters: Kesä (2006)
Christian Forss: 6 biisiä
Ilkka Jääskeläinen: Tää enemmän on (2006)
Roni: Since 1987 (2006) 3 biisiä
Sani: Silta, Helmiketju (2007)
Katri Ylander,
Laura Voutilainen,
Eternal Erection,
Pete Seppälä...

What would you like to listen to in your free time?
Silence and sounds of nature :) I work every day 8-14 hours with music.

Who are your musical idols and why?
Whoa, a lot of different idols over the years..

Drummers e.g.
John Bonham - great sound and a great player
Steve Jordan - the funkiest drummer on the planet
Abe Laboriel Jr. - that groove, that time feeling, yeah bro!
Chad Smith from Chili Peppers - my high school favourite
Per Lindvall - Swedish ace, a very good player
...the list goes on and on because I've always liked many different drummers and tried to adapt what's essential in their way to play...

Producers e.g.
Rick Rubin - Audioslave, Chili Peppers, Tom Petty etc.
Spike Stent - U2, Madonna Ray of Light, Sugababes,
John Shanks - The Wreckers, Ashlee Simpson etc.. The list is endless!

My musical idols among bands and artists are so many that the list is too long to mention here..

What are your strengths?
The ability to find the essential in things and make my decisions according to that, the ability to see
the big picture.

Where do you want to be in ten years from now?
On a sold out gig in Madison Square Garden with the Giant Leap ;)

What would be your dream vacation?
I don't know..maybe in a tropical warm place with crystal clear waters and a possibility to do a lot of
scuba diving and to enjoy delicious food in a good company ..and not too many tourists around..

What kind of advice would you give a young person who wants to become a musician?
Think it over seriously and if you still want to do it more than anything, even though you know it's
gonna be hard, be prepared to a hell of a lot of work and practising. Maybe you will be able to live
those great moments that being a musician at its best offers and you will definitely meet people with
the same interests and some of them may become your closest and most important lifelong friends.

What would you like to say to your listeners?
Many thanks for the support!! Believe in your dreams and make them true. We love you!