It's always hard to write an autobiography. What to tell, what to conceal. Perhaps I will concentrate on things which are meaningful and essential for me being a musician – and far and foremost a Noumena member. I was born in November 1979 in Kuopio , a city with some 70 000 inhabitants back then. My family moved to Ähtäri when I was three years old. My first conscious experience of creating music was playing a recorder (a kind of flute). At that time I was in elementary school. Everyone had to play it, quite awful. This happened in the end of 1980's. In the beginning of next decade I got familiar with rock and heavy music, namely Guns n' Roses and Metallica. Seeing Jason Newsted moshing and James Hetfield singing on TV was awesome. I began to play guitar at school at the age of 12. I wanted to have drums, but my parents said no. So, I bought an acoustic guitar instead in spring 1993. Severe practising began and I took some lessons in music school. Next year I met Ville and we became friends. Ville was quite talented guitarist – at least from my point of view. For some years I played both guitar and bass mainly on session base with different musicians in Ähtäri. I didn't belong to ”core group” of young rockers (Orkesteri-pojat) in Ähtäri, not yet. Summer 1995 was pretty critical for my musical self-understanding. I was on a language course in England. A couple of metal heads from Finland taught me to listen Swedish death metal and other heavier shit (In Flames, Edge Of Sanity, Dark Tranquillity, Cradle Of Filth etc.). Of course I had listened to metal music before (Carcass, Amorphis, Paradise Lost), but this was really something. As years went on I got to know Antti, Tuukka and Ilkka. In senior high school Rage Against The Machine hit me hard. Year 1997 we (Antti, Tuukka, Ville and I) formed a rap metal band Conspiracy Within. It was the first real band for me: I played guitar, composed a lot and wrote lyrics with Ville and Antti alongside. I think it was something quite fresh and inspiring. Meanwhile, in the autumn 1997 and winter 1998 Ilkka and I had plans to form a grand metal band. We both listened to swedish metal and wanted to play something similar to that. And so we asked Antti, Tuukka and Ville to establish a new band, later called Noumena. I don't want to underline my and Ilkka's significance, because Noumena's uniqueness has always rested on five shoulders. Common past of friendship and playing has made Noumena's present situation possible. Ascend and hail! I have always been rather open to different kinds of music. Bands and artists from Soilwork, Children Of Bodom, Rammstein and Spinal Tap all the way to Turbonegro, Garbage, PJ Harvey and Finnish rock/metal (CMX, Kotiteollisuus, Niskalaukaus) inspire me a lot. As I compose songs for Noumena quite seldom, I contribute in arranging and making some brown noise. I also write lyrics for Noumena, telling stories and painting impressionistic glimpses of life.
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