Jukka Nousiainen, Jukka Nousiainen Trio Jukka Nousiainen Trio

This band was born out of Jukka Nousiainen’s love for rock music rooted in an energetic trio sound. Drummer Sini Suvanto and bassist Ninni Luhtasaari joined the project. Nousiainen, responsible for the compositions and lyrics, plays guitar and sings, as usual. The musicians were already familiar with each other: Suvanto and Nousiainen have played together in several bands over the years, while Luhtasaari and Suvanto are bandmates in Ninni Forever Band. This is the first time all three are in the same lineup.

The eight-track album centers around the sound created by the energetic trio and the sheer joy of playing rock. The contribution of each musician is clearly heard, and Luhtasaari and Suvanto’s vocal harmonies also play a significant role in the songs. This is truly a band – not just a backing group for Nousiainen. No second guitar or keyboards were added to the record. The songs must work as simple arrangements, shaped by the whole group.

On the self-titled album, the band presents outspoken views on current issues such as human and animal rights, biodiversity loss, equality, and the rise of racism and fascism. But the album also includes lighter tones – even playfulness. A good example is the cheeky trumpet in Mitä mä teen, tipping its hat to Michael Hurley, and the warm, singalong-style closing track Pispalan papan piippu, which celebrates a hippie character who honors peace and gives the finger to greedy developers. In contrast, Eläimet pois häkeistään goes completely wild, unleashing all sorts of creatures from their cages and turning it into a full-blown carnival.

“Every time I write a song, it’s a statement. I try to say something meaningful that others might find something in too,” Nousiainen explains. The most important goal is to spark hope – the kind of hope we need to survive in today’s often bleak world. Nousiainen also wants to show that straightforward rock can mean something more than the typical macho-rock formula. The keywords are ease and honesty. Many of the songs flow with a Crazy Horse–like naturalness.

The album was recorded at Nousiainen’s own studio, The Electric Töppöland. As with the previous album, the producer is the Norwegian Forest Cat Töppis, who also makes a small feature appearance alongside a singing cat from California named Kali. The album’s delicious sound was mixed and mastered by one of the most skilled audio wizards of our time, Pekka Tuomi, at Mäyrä-Studio in Luhanka.