Interview with Markku Louhio of Kiwa, Highpersonic Whomen and Headphonics

Date: 22.03.2007
Text: Katja Turpeinen



Sam: I’m talking to Markku Luio. Did I pronounce your name right?

Markku: Yes, well almost (laughter). It’s actually Markku Louhio.

Sam: Oh, Markko Ovhio. Was that better?

Markku: Ha ha ha. I think it’s close enough. You can call me Mark, it’s easier.

Sam: Ok I will. And I wont try it again. (laughter)

Sam: You have a project together with Matti Elsinen called Kiwa and you’re basically from Finland, which is a far away country for us Germans. You are quite busy at the moment, producing music since the 90´s and you are also involved in other projects such as Highpersonic Whomen and Headphonics. With Kiwa you have a new album coming out called: On the frequency.

Sam: Talking about Finland. I mean here in middle and south Europe, most of the people think that Finnish people are somehow more different, strange or special. What do you think about middle and south European people?

Markku: Well of course there is a huge difference because we are in a cultural gap between Western Europe and Russia and basically we don’t have anything to do with the Russian culture although we have a lot of influence from them since we’ve been under Russia before 1917 but we are considered to be a part of the Western Europe. I think that the Finnish people are not really like, it is hard to pinpoint and to compare with the surrounding cultures, but we are people of our own thing. It is just that we get a lot of influence from the cultures around us. The Finnish language for example. It’s not a Latin language. It is different from the Scandinavian languages and it’s different from the German and English language.
You also have to remember that Finland is slowly and more strongly becoming a part of Western Europe cultural wise. A lot more people, especially the younger people are travelling these days. And I think it brings the Finnish culture more closely to the western European people and culture.

Sam: Ok so then I can also understand the music from Kiwa as \"Finnish-central-European music\" bringing cultures together.

Markku: The new album is progressive and in some ways very international but when you listen to it you realize that it still has some kind of Finnish influence. I don’t mean to say that the Finnish music is very unique and special from anything else but if you have listened to Finnish sound, you realize that there is a difference. It is a mix of European sound with a Finnish originality.


Sam: So you were trying to be more compatible?

Markku: Well in a way but we also we do like the fact that the Finnish sound always has something a little bit more original to it and we like to hang on to this.

Sam: Finland also has a new electronic music magazine called Elixiria. Have you seen it?

Markku: Yes I’ve seen the first issue and I’m not really sure what happens to the next ones. I think that they are redesigning the magazine, but I think it’s a good thing that finally the psy trance scene in Finland got a magazine of their own. There are a lot of artists and a lot of people here interested in the music.

Sam: More people than in the past, is the trance scene growing?

Markku: Yes of course and if you look globally it’s growing everywhere. In some ways it’s becoming more commercial and more accessible to people from other scenes of electronic music. So yes it is growing here as much as anywhere else.

Sam: And yourself? Do you see yourself more attached to the trance scene or to other musical scenes since with your side projects you are also involved in other genres.

Markku: Let’s say that I don’t want to tie my own musical perspectives to any specific genre. Of course we have been involved in the psy trance scene since the mid 90´s so our roots are very strong and we mostly play at psy trance parties. But we like all kinds of music without genre limits. If its breaks, house, drum and bass, psy trance, trip hop, hip hop or heavy metal - as long as the music is good it’s our thing.

Sam: And you have albums coming up with all 3 projects?

Markku: The Kiwa album came out 3 weeks ago and the Headphonics album is coming out in April and the Highpersonic Whomen is coming out in May. Tommi is also working on the Haltya album – this will be released next fall.

Sam: Tommi is your partner with Highpersonic Whomen…

Markku: Yes, and Headphonics.

Sam: Thank you very much for the interview, good luck with all your projects.