Welcome to Antti Paalanen's world!
Prepare to encounter a force of nature. The musical shaman Antti Paalanen is a truly unique artist known for his distinctive blend of accordion, dance beats, and throat singing. His instrument—the diatonic accordion—is pushed to its limits in music that combines the pelimanni tradition (Finnish folk music) with techno and throat singing. The result is hypnotic, physical, and uncompromising. Like a rave in a Nordic forest.
As a graduate of the Sibelius Academy, he is not only a master of the accordion but also a composer and a one-man band capable of lighting up an entire dance floor—with bass-heavy accordion, pulsating stompbox grooves, and wild, throat-roaring chants. The result is a wall of sound channeling folk music, heavy metal, and electronic dance music.
Antti Paalanen's fate as a wild-hearted accordionist was sealed by a happy accident: as a young boy, he walked into a music store in Alavus with the dream of an electric guitar but was instead enchanted by a beautiful, mysterious accordion. There was no turning back.
Paalanen's musical concoction has developed naturally. As a child, he was equally drawn to local accordion courses and the hard tones of Kiss, W.A.S.P., and AC/DC blaring from MTV. He then delved into folk music at the Sibelius Academy. During his doctoral studies, he composed new music for the diatonic accordion.
Along the way, he also embraced throat singing techniques with Mongolian influences, which he channels in his deep, growling vocals. This unique recipe has so far resulted in four solo albums, most recently Rujo (2019), as well as many releases in various ensembles.
Antti's long career reached a new milestone this year when he came in second place with the song Takatukka in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (Finland's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest), and this spring he is releasing his new album.
Come and join us in the bar and listen to music before the concert—the doors open at 7:00 PM!
Note: Standing audience only!
Arr: Musik i Syd and Mix Musik