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.