Selected Works
(click for music & info)
![]()
SUAD
WAVES
White Lies from Waves is the first song we ever worked on together, and right away we got amazing response from the critics and music blogs, and it was included on numerous playlists on Spotify.
It was also the most played song in Radio Helsinki in 2019, marking the second year in a row that a song produced by me had this honour!
![]()
PÄÄ KII
PÄÄ KII
If I would have to choose one example of my work, it would have to be this. For years I had been a fan of Teemu Bergman's bands and songwriting, and now he wanted ME to record his new band! If only I had known where it took me. I joined the band as they needed another guitar player and got to play numerous shows including the famous Roskilde festival.
I have fond memories of the spontaneous and carefree sessions for the album. It felt like a house party with so many talented people coming and going. It was also my first time working with Otto Grundström of Tehosekoitin fame.
The album was chosen as the album of the year pretty much in every Finnish music magazine, received an Emma (Finnish Grammy) and even got a Nordic Music Prize nomination.
![]()
PÄÄ KII
JOS HUONOO ONNEE EI OIS MUL EI OIS ONNEE OLLENKAAN
It was a somewhat overwhelming task to make a follow-up for the successful debut album of Pää Kii. You never really want to repeat the same thing (and you really can’t), even if it happened to be a hit the first time around.
The result was a slightly more refined version of the band’s sound with a deeper and more melancholic vibe. Critics and old fans alike hailed the album and it got nominated for Emma award (Finnish Grammy).
JOS HUONOO ONNEE EI OIS MUL EI OIS ONNEE OLLENKAAN
It was a somewhat overwhelming task to make a follow-up for the successful debut album of Pää Kii. You never really want to repeat the same thing (and you really can’t), even if it happened to be a hit the first time around.
The result was a slightly more refined version of the band’s sound with a deeper and more melancholic vibe. Critics and old fans alike hailed the album and it got nominated for Emma award (Finnish Grammy).
![]()
GHOST WORLD
SPIN
Ghost World wanted to take a left turn on their second album. Instead of blazing guitars they wanted angelic layers of vocals and jangly 12-strings.
I was teary-eyed already when I heard the demos. Painfully beautiful.
We ran all the vocals through the spring reverb of a Philicorda organ for a ghostly effect and mixed the album in two exhausting but ecstatic days.
The singer Liisa Tani has since gone on to be one of the most original new acts with his Sir Liselot moniker.
![]()
KYNNET
VÄHÄT VÄLITTÄÄ
Kynnet is a band I secretly wanted to record and produce since I first saw them live. Luckily since were friends, the opportunity arose and we got to work. The band rehearsed each song on the day of the tracking, live on the floor, as I was fine-tuning sounds and moving microphones around. Some of the final takes were cut while still learning the song. We ran drums live through SP-404 effects and recorded bass through classroom speakers. This ended up being the overall vibe of the sessions -quick, spontaneous and flying by the seat of our pants.
![]()
HÄN
HARHAKUVITUSMAAILMASSA
HÄN is a band that has members from Teksti-TV 666 and French Films. I got to produce, record and mix all but one track on the album with the band. They are really great to work with and always keep the vibe light-hearted and fun. We joked about the title track Harhakuvitusmaailmassa sounding like a Finnish new wave hit from the 80s, and we boldly decided to push it to that direction with the innocent vibe and swirling keyboard sounds.
It ended up being the most played song on Radio Helsinki in 2018, also winning the Summer Hit poll of the station.
![]()
DISCO ENSEMBLE
AFTERLIFE
I feel like I’ve known these guys forever. We’ve toured together, rehearsed in the opposite rooms, and I also used to work at their record label back in the day.
It’s been amazing to see one of my peers to rise to be one of the biggest bands in Finland.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised when the call came and needless to say, I was in! It was truly an honor to work with this band.
The album debuted at no. 2 on the Finnish charts and the band played a successful tour including two sold out shows at Tavastia.
![]()
HEIKKI KUULA
MUSTA 8
We had just spent a year or so making 404, rapper Heikki Kuula’s first solo album in six years, when COVID-19 hit. Later that spring I was asked to compile a follow-up EP from the songs that got left out from the album. Instead of just taking the easy way out, we felt really inspired with everything that was going on, and in just a couple weeks we had more than a full album’s worth of material. There was no chasing hits or radio play here, only honest self-expression, quirks and all.
![]()
DAMN SEAGULLS
SOUL POLITICS
It's difficult to find the words when you're talking about a band that you've been in for the last 20 years, more than half of your life. Damn Seagulls was where I learned about songwriting, brotherhood, sleeping in cars, horns and life in general. When other kids were hanging out on town, going to movies, studying, living their life -we were down in the dungeon learning our craft. Again. And again.
At hindsight it may sound silly and pretentiously serious, but it molded my life into what it is now. Producing other bands felt like the most natural step. I just couldn’t get enough of music.
Our second album Soul Politics was produced by me together with then yet fairly unknown Arto Tuunela, now known by all from Pariisin Kevät. It got rave reviews everywhere and was chosen by the journalists of Sue magazine as the 10th best Finnish album of the 2000s.
![]()
DAMN SEAGULLS
SOUL POLITICS
It's difficult to find the words when you're talking about a band that you've been in for the last 20 years, more than half of your life. Damn Seagulls was where I learned about songwriting, brotherhood, sleeping in cars, horns and life in general. When other kids were hanging out on town, going to movies, studying, living their life -we were down in the dungeon learning our craft. Again. And again.
At hindsight it may sound silly and pretentiously serious, but it molded my life into what it is now. Producing other bands felt like the most natural step. I just couldn’t get enough of music.
Our second album Soul Politics was produced by me together with then yet fairly unknown Arto Tuunela, now known by all from Pariisin Kevät. It got rave reviews everywhere and was chosen by the journalists of Sue magazine as the 10th best Finnish album of the 2000s.
![]()
THE VALKYRIANS
ROCK MY SOUL
- Helsingin Sanomat:
Albums of the Year 2015
Having been a ska kid as a teenager and later seeing some of the very first shows of The Valkyrians, it felt like a full circle when I finally got to work with them. It’s a cliché that every other band says in interviews, but we wanted to capture the raw energy of their live shows and the sweat dripping from their rehearsal space walls!
Following the album release the band headlined some of the biggest ska festivals in Europe.
![]()
THE VALKYRIANS
ROCK MY SOUL
- Helsingin Sanomat:
Albums of the Year 2015
Having been a ska kid as a teenager and later seeing some of the very first shows of The Valkyrians, it felt like a full circle when I finally got to work with them. It’s a cliché that every other band says in interviews, but we wanted to capture the raw energy of their live shows and the sweat dripping from their rehearsal space walls!
Following the album release the band headlined some of the biggest ska festivals in Europe.
ROCK MY SOUL
- Helsingin Sanomat:
Albums of the Year 2015
Having been a ska kid as a teenager and later seeing some of the very first shows of The Valkyrians, it felt like a full circle when I finally got to work with them. It’s a cliché that every other band says in interviews, but we wanted to capture the raw energy of their live shows and the sweat dripping from their rehearsal space walls!
Following the album release the band headlined some of the biggest ska festivals in Europe.
![]()
PELLE MILJOONA UNITED
OLLA JOKU
Pelle Miljoona can be considered the godfather of Finnish punk rock. But what new can you bring to the table when an artist has tens of albums under his belt?
I was interested in the chemistry and lifelong friendship between Pelle and Tumppi Varonen -another Finnish punk legend and the bass player in the band. The songs they played for me had echoes from their teenage heroes, so I wanted the energy and production to have some of that innocence too. We ditched the headphones and went for on-the-edge-of-falling-apart-but-sounds-like-fun takes. Live in the studio.
I played tambourine and other percussion in the room with them, shouting cues, but also being someone they could perform to. The band told me that they had never made an album that way and that was so much fun, and I tapped myself on the shoulder feeling l had reached one of my goals.
![]()
HISSER
HISSER
I'm proud to call Miikka a friend and I've learned a great deal from him. He has also helped to produce some of my own music in the past so it was nice to return the favor.
On Hisser's debut album it was important for me to bring contrast to the songs and sounds. Sometimes it meant adding more organic instruments or textures and sometimes it meant re-imagining certain elements, trying to make them feel more magical and unreal.
This album also had some quite peculiar and unorthodox marketing methods including leaving mysterious CD-R's on the bulletin boards of grocery stores!
The release took Hisser to play around the world including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Germany.
![]()
THE SPLITS
II
Released by the legendary Dirtnap Records and distributed by Revolver USA, I consider the second album of The Splits to be one of the highlights of my production career. Sadly, it became also their swan song. As with any great album, it starts with great songs and from great songs it will be remembered.
At the time of its release the album got some good international press from the likes of Pitchfork, Noisey and NYLON.
Long live The Splits!
![]()
BIGG SOFT
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER
New outlet for my artistic visions and sounds. More music in a bit...
![]()
ISMO ALANKO TEHOLLA
BLANCO SPIRITUALS
Picture this: A Finnish legend of an artist who has pretty much seen it all decides to leave the safe surroundings of a long-time record label and get into business with young greenhorns who have “ideas”.
I was 23, working as A&R on Fullsteam Records and I was hoping to make up with vision for what I was lacking in experience.
Fortunately we were able to enlist Jori Sjöroos to produce the album with help from the amazing Mikko Raita, and it debuted at no. 1 spot on the Finnish album charts. By 2013 the album had gone Gold.
![]()
PARIISIN KEVÄT
METEORIITTI
One of the biggest compliments I've ever had was from Arto Tuunela of Pariisin Kevät. We had worked together before when Arto produced Damn Seagulls' second album Soul Politics with me. He had played me some demos of his own earlier and was now working on an album. He asked me to come to Finnvox studios because, according to his words, I was a "bank of ideas"!
I played some organ, synths and mellotron, and sang here and there. We had some fun throwing bits of melodies on the wall and seeing what sticks.
I'm proud of having been part of making the song "Pikku Huopalahti" which among "Samoilla raiteilla" kickstarted the amazing journey of Pariisin Kevät.
![]()
ATOMIROTTA
II
They told me they needed ideas and an extra pair of ears to take the songs a step further.
Well, I thought I was going to a meeting, but half an hour later I found myself in a makeshift vocal booth doing oohz 'n' aahz!
The first single “Nenä vie” got some heavy radio play and the following summer the band played pretty much every music festival and happening in Finland.
Client: Posti
Agency: Bob the Robot
Production: Koski Syväri Oy
