I didn´t expect to be so inspired by my own work long gone past. But listening to “fäänä: pathétique” reminded me of the pure joy of music making — not just as a composer but as a singer, instrumentalist and producer. The EP sure is wild in its solutions and expression. I honestly didn´t remember having had such an artistically free moment before as it is typical of me to always look forward and reject the past.
For some time already I have been working on a quartet with bass clarinet, strings and piano. Yes, I like the music a lot. But for some reason — after revisiting pathétique — I am starting to feel that my heart is telling me to look somewhere else. I feel the inspiration rising when I think about creating a new pathétique of sorts but clearly in my new art music aesthetics. At the same time I feel the quartet is starting to head under the header: “Music you are supposed to do.”
Well, I have a long history of eventually doing precisely the opposite than what I am supposed to do. Here I go again! Yes — why couldn´t a serious composer also be a singer-songwriter and a musician? Why couldn´t I compose also for the purpose of getting to go to the studio and record also my own singing and playing and enjoying it immensely? For years I have thought the musicianship would not be important to me. After listening to pathétique I stand corrected and feel I have neglected something vital.
So I am already planning a new concept. I will probably take a break from the bass clarinet quartet. I will probably create a multiple movement work and from the beginning arrange it so that every single track can be recorded in a studio — without using pro samples at all. In a world that is driven by computers right at this moment I feel I want to take my music to a more natural direction. Of course I have always been a fan of studio techniques and plan on remaining like that, but the actual tracks — I want them to be audio tracks from the beginning. Not midi or pro sample instrument tracks. To create powerful music and soundscapes with audio tracks, to let oneself run free not only as a composer but as a musician… This is something.
To get to open up my vocal chords I might even take some singing lessons again! I am also thinking about buying an electric cello. I do have a bowed bass and a 5-string violin with a low C string (same as viola) but a cello would be a lovely addition. With my aerophone, piano and acoustic guitars there is already a lot to compose for and play. Then to have some studio musicians on top of it. To get to sing! To really focus on composing something for my voice, concentrate on doing it well — and not just record something in a rush “because I am a composer, not a musician”.
Welcome on a journey! I call it the Path of a Composer. The idea is to post key pieces of my music from along the years and hopefully put some light on how I have developed aesthetically, in my craftsmanship and of course also artistically — resulting in these days where I am finally ready to proudly launch myself as a composer of modern art music. It is time for Chapter IV.
fäänä: pathétique (EP from 2008)
Chapter III was all about me finding progressive rock. It was wonderful to be the lead singer of a band and truly get to create the kind of rock I had always wanted to. It was a thrill! Nevertheless, like I wrote, great intensity tends to come with a price. In my case it meant that I got tired of the heavy democracy and constant negotiating and communication that surrounded the music making. Great rock intensity also resulted in me wanting a musical contrast.
No, I didn´t want to stop, I wanted to move forward and create more music to put out there but Discordia wasn´t ready to start creating another recording right after Utopia Perfection. That´s completely understandable — and so I quickly understood that I needed to create a solo EP.
My starting point for the EP was for the sound to be something completely different than the Discordia sound. First decisions: no electric guitars, no synthesizers, all vocals by myself and acoustic grand piano into every track! The second decision: I would do exactly what I wanted and not think for one second what other people wanted from the album!
I was very aware of the musical duality within me — the seemingly strong contrast between western (classical) art music and rock music. When I started to compose pathétique it was a given that the work would balance between the two worlds in a way that would be completely honest to myself. I thought it would even be likely that some if not most people would be surprised about at least some aspects of the music. Yet great contrasts within the musical material and expression while remaining coherent was a core value then and it remains a core value even to this day. I want to surprise even myself.
I Prelude is classical piano music in one of my favourite keys: C# minor. It sets the mood of the pathétique suite. In the very ending there are quotes of all the other 4 movements on top of the C# minor arpeggios — which of course indicates that the pieces are very closely related.
II Mist is a somewhat crazy piece! It has multiple dimensions to it. First of all I created my own samples. I recorded drum hits played by Otto from Discordia yet together with the sound engineer Harri Kentala we isolated the samples and put them where we wanted. I also sang samples for the repetitive type of sung gestures without words, inspired by “Leave it” by Yes. The saxophones were played by Henri Haapakoski without sampling and so were of course my lines that have lyrics to them, also longer melodic lines. There is no bass guitar or electric guitar but we put a grand piano through distortion and an amplifier. There is a lot of repetition in Mist which results in creating a rather impactful and majestic whole. I am particularly proud of my a cappella vocal polyphony in the middle section.
III Balloon is a classical influenced pop song with me playing the piano and singing on top of it, without vocal harmonies. Henri plays the flute. The middle section has him doing improvisation. Balloon obviously operates as the slow movement in the middle of the suite.
IV Pathos again features the grand piano put through distortion. I also sang glissandos and we created samples of those tracks and placed them around according to my score. The lyrics were so personal (I thought at the time) in this one that I decided not to print them out and have them whispered and obscured by reverb and delay instead. Well, it suits the movement well and people will get the anxiety even without any words.
V Via Delle Quattro Fontane has a funny story. We were in Rome in 2007. There were ambulances driving around and they had this crazy siren. I took the melody and rhythm of the siren sound and created a piece based on it! After all it was part of the soundtrack of Rome for us. The finale of pathétique is a peculiar piece in many ways: there is a 5 part rock canon in the middle, for example. 😉 It is a combination of classical music and progressive rock. It is indeed the only movement that actually features a drummer, a bass player and an acoustic guitar player (all from Discordia). Yet by discarding the piano distortion I aimed at getting rid of the “mist” that was put on top of everything earlier on. Henri plays the Bass Clarinet he bought from me after I decided I didn´t have enough time or energy to play it myself. The combination of acoustic guitar, bass clarinet and vocal harmonies is radiant just like the Roman sun.
I have composed only 2 love songs in my life — as far as I remember. Via Delle Quattro Fontane is the first one! It was our first trip abroad together. The lyrics of pathétique are more personal than those on my other albums and the finale, Via Delle Quattro Fontane, still manages to fill me with cathartic joy when the mist (echoed or distorted piano) finally vanishes and the sun begins to shine. Yes, we are still together — next year it will be 20 years! I let the lyrics and the music speak for themselves.
To be honest, despite the fact that I tend to be very critical of my own music, I was positively surprised when visiting pathétique again. There is something very honest and genuine about the 20+ minutes. Also, if I may say so, my vocals have never sounded better, as I did not have the pressure of doing it ROCK in this one. When I started this blog series I thought all of it would kind of lead to the symphony where I would be at my most authentic and finally freed myself. But I must say I seem to be artistically just as free in pathétique as I am in the symphony.
The questions I am asking now: why couldn´t a composer of art music be a singer-songwriter? Pathétique reminded me that I should not forget about my own musicianship. It is also pushing me to the direction of preferring acoustic instruments in the studio in the future.
My first solo album was liked by most who got to know it yet I do remember that it alienated many friends of Discordia music. I have considered myself an underground indie art musician ever since. Due to fäänä: pathétique many people in Finland still call me “fäänä”!
The next chapter (V) will feature a piece that was my first step into truly symphonic music — a piece I am still immensely proud of, one of my best ever. Yet it will also tell a story of a failure — biting more than I could chew while producing my next solo album, all 50+ minutes (too much!) of it. It is my only recording I have withdrawn and refuse to sell. Luckily a few tracks are amongst the best I have ever created.
Welcome on a journey! I call it the Path of a Composer. The idea is to post key pieces of my music from along the years and hopefully put some light on how I have developed aesthetically, in my craftsmanship and of course also artistically — resulting in these days where I am finally ready to proudly launch myself as a composer of modern art music. It is time for Chapter III.
Discordia: Foreseen — Interlude — Slave Planet II
Three songs from the progressive rock album Utopia Perfection (2007)
Like I wrote in Chapter II, eventually I dropped out of Sibelius Academy and changed to The University of Helsinki. That was also the time when I decided I do not want to be a professional musician. The idea of constantly trying to sell my work to everyone or applying for scholarships or stipends was just something that did not suit my temperament. Very crucial was also to realise that indeed I wanted to be a composer more than anything — not a pianist, not a singer, not a teacher… But a composer. And not just whatever composer but a truly independent and uncompromising composer who would be able to do what ever he wanted without the compulsive need to please other people. So I was on that road I had chosen for myself (I still am).
After Kilpilaulu I managed to in a small scale launch myself as a composer of western art music. In addition to student works, I had a few commissions and my works were performed in Finland. For example I composed a cantata for the 90th Year Celebration of The Library of Kallio (2002) to the also commissioned text by the Finnish poet Ilpo Tiihonen. I will also mention the song “Näin unta kesästä kerran” (2004) for soprano and alto which two famous Finnish singers Piia and Anu Komsi performed a couple of times in their concerts. (While I write this it is still possible that a recording of one of those performances could be found in the archives of Piia or Anu.)
Anyway, it just so happened that on the musicology mail list a progressive rock band announced they were looking for a new lead singer. I got interested and listened to the demos of the band and liked what I heard. The idea of getting to really hang out with musicians and create music together with other people appealed to me at the time. Also, I had been told before that some of my music was progressive rock. So I decided to audition for the band. I craved for powerful rock music as a contrast to the art music I was studying.
I got in Discordia. It was peculiar for me at first not the play the bass or the piano. I would have to be the lead singer. It certainly was a challenge. First I learned the old songs of Discordia and after a while I started to introduce my own ideas for the band. They seemed to like my music so they welcomed that I would be one of the new main composers of the ensemble. I also took my Bass Clarinet with a microphone to the studio a few times.
We did a 3 piece EP in 2005 where one of my songs were included. The EP got great feedback. It was a strange experience to really read reviews of my music. Encouraged, the band rather quickly started to plan a long play album. I contacted my friend and former fellow student from Sibelius academy, Riikka Hänninen, and asked her to become the other singer for the album, as vocal harmonies have always been very important to me. She came to a few rehearsals and finally agreed. There were also a couple of other changes in the band but eventually the core group was formed.
When it comes to the composition process, for the first time since my teenage grunge band, I took some riffs from the other members and forged them into complete songs. It has always been inspirational for me to do something like that. It was a great feeling to see and hear how the other members liked how I helped them forwards with their music. (Not that they always needed my help.) Anyway, the song Foreseen is the first song I co-wrote like that. The first two guitar riffs were by the guitarist Antti Tolkki and I created a song around them. With Foreseen I also for the first time abandoned chord sheets but put everything into the score. That has been my method ever since, allowing for more imaginative arrangements. Although some in the band didn´t read notes well, they had to learn — and learn they did!
The band was democratic. Every decision was made together. Nevertheless I practically became the executive branch — who lead the way and introduced the key points for the decision making. I was very serious about putting the 11 piece long play album together in a cohesive way. I wanted it to form a symphonic whole and have a logical and convincing arc to it. I think we succeeded in that. The three songs I selected for this chapter were part of the main dramatic narrative: Foreseen was the high energy first track, Interlude in the middle referred to both to the beginning and to the ending and Slave Planet II was the emotionally cathartic and story-wise high point of the album.
The sound of the Discordia band was very epic even before me. When Riikka joined, the music started to take the form of even operatic dimensions. The band never did love songs but their former lyrics were full of science fiction and philosophy instead. I have always read a lot of science fiction so as a lyricist I chose that path for the album. It is all high fantasy and science fiction, epic in character, out of this world. Just listen to Slave Planet II and hear for yourself just how intensively Riikka interprets her role as a psychic Queen.
As a visually impaired singer, Riikka´s perfect pitch and immensely powerful and present, here-and-now way of interpretation and stage presence became a crucial element of the Discordia experience. We called Riikka the Shaman. I was called The Visionary. Liisa (keyboards) who was a very eclectic educated musician was called The Sound Wizard. Otto (drums) with all his Rush influences was The Energy Generator. Petri (bass) in all his 70´s attitude was the Backbone of the Army. Antti (guitars) with his Marillion delays was The Hip. 😉
It was very interesting to have a look back at these songs musically. The influence of classical music can be heard everywhere, especially in my songs of course. For example the form of Foreseen is kind of like a huge development section, without clear verses or choruses. I have typically classical harmonies there. Also poly-rhythmics, some untypical scales and intervals. Interlude with all its repetition is obviously minimalist music, the middle section also highly polyphonic. Slave Planet II is in fact my first take on a longer progressive rock epos; it also has some harmonies, scales and intervals that some reviewers thought were out of tune! For example there is a minor 9th interval in the middle section. G# sharp on top of G major chord. Anyway, the influence of classical music is most obvious in the last section where I composed a somewhat baroque polyphonic section for the band. This recording is also the only testament to me playing the Bass Clarinet (Interlude and Slave Planet II). I also played some vibraphone for the first and last time in the beginning of Slave Planet II.
The album turned out to be a relatively great success in Finland — not so much commercially but critically as part of the progressive rock and rock scene. For some reason we also sold hundreds of copies to Japan! For me it was intoxicating to read reviews and get exciting feedback of our music. What is still mind-boggling to me is that in a major music magazine even I was said to be one of the best rock vocalists in Finland. I think that was an overstatement but I do agree that the vocals of Riikka and myself were a good match. Still it is a mystery to me why I wrote the higher part for myself in Interlude! That note is the absolute highest pitch I have ever reached, I think.
From my personal point of view, now that I am looking back, it is no wonder I got involved in progressive rock for many years. The feeling of performing such intensive, high energy and also sufficiently complicated music on stage was intoxicating. Also, the eclectic rock sound of Discordia still appeals to me. I really got to do in rock music what I had always wanted. Also, I really liked to get direct feedback. I liked the unformal contact with people. There is something about the formalities about classical music culture that has never appealed to me — but being in a progressive rock band had none of that.
It was so much fun to be in the band. We got along very well as people. But it needs to be admitted that I was a very ambitious band member. I was pushing forward all the time and I didn´t want to stop. In hindsight it´s clear it was too much for the band. I also found the democracy a very slow method. It took me years to understand and accept that if I want to execute my artistic vision to the maximum it needs to be stated out loud in the very beginning. The uncompromising attitude in itself is OK if made clear and it does not mean that I would be selfish as a person. For years I tried to balance between being a considerate fellow musician and at the same time uncompromising in my visions — and it didn´t work eventually through democracy at least. Yes, I cannot deny that I was a very strong-willed member of the band and it created quite a few clashes.
After Utopia Perfection and all the gigs we decided to take a break and I went to record my first solo EP ever. It balances between art music and rock music and is a great testament to the duality in me. Three Discordia members played on a few tracks, in fact. That will be the subject of Chapter IV.
