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Johanna Kurkela

Fugazi

By Fugazi
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Fugazi

Fugazi

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Starting a topic about Johanna, because why not? She's part of the family!

I was curious about her solo material, before Eye Of Melian and Auri and Scrooge and Altamullan Road. If Wiki is to be trusted she released 7 solo albums between 2005 and 2015, so she had plenty of material for shows such as this one recorded for Finnish TV in 2012.

My favourite at first listen, and her most successful solo song as far as I can tell, is the last of the show, Rakkauslaulu ("Love Song", 2010).

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  • 4 weeks later...
Fugazi

Fugazi

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For you guys in Finland:

Quote

Altamullan Road SuomiLOVEssa nyt tulevana lauantaina 12.3.2022!

Altamullan Road performing live on Finnish TV show SuomiLOVE this Saturday March 12! #suomilove #altamullanroad

"Altamullan Road is a cinematic pop band formed by two Finnish singer-songwriters Johanna Iivanainen and Johanna Kurkela. The music of Altamullan Road is an intriguing gathering of different genres and emotions, intertwined together by the unique symbiotic connection and harmony of their magical voices. Inspired largely by films, their music touches topics from simple life’s pleasures to mysteries beyond the veil of existence. Sorrow and joy hand in hand. A journey from the earth to the space." (from https://musicfinland.com/en/news/new-artists-to-follow-2-2020)

Their eponymous album was released in 2020, and I think there are plans for more.

https://www.facebook.com/AltamullanRoadOfficial/

https://altamullanroad.bandcamp.com/

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Edema Ruh Apprentice

Edema Ruh

Posted
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I met the two Johannas at the Helsinki and Porvoo Altamullan road concerts recently..    absolutley fantactic concerts.. and such lovely people...   breath taking concerts...  absolutley breath taking..  I'd love to get to the Delain concerts, but logistically ,  a nightmare.... and costly...  too costly for me..    

Edited by Edema Ruh
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Edema Ruh Apprentice

Edema Ruh

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14 hours ago, Fugazi said:

Hi Edemah Ruh, welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your insight, it's nice to hear that there are no hard feelings or any intention to break up the band in the near future. That and the 'multi-album' deal with Nuclear Blast will allay any fears of the band calling it quits.

So in 2025 it almost looks like a combined Auri+Altamullan Road tour! By that time the third Auri album will possibly have been released, so they will have plenty of material to pick from. I don't think that Auri will cross the pond to tour the US, unless as a support act for another group. Delain perhaps? Martijn Westerholt seems to be in very good terms with the Holopainen-Kurkela family.

i think Auri would be a little too large a troupe to be a support act.. though never say never...

Fugazi

Fugazi

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I tend to forget that Johanna has what... two Christmas albums?

Anyway I remember that a couple of years ago -- I can't find the quote right now -- Tuomas said that Johanna quit touring because it was getting too expensive, it's good to see that things have turned around.

  • 1 year later...
StarDragonX Minstrel

StarDragonX

Posted
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I have stated before that I hunt for hidden video gems on the internet. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Johanna Kurkela trying to get into Eurovision 2007. Nightwish tried year 2000 and placed 2nd in the Finnish qualifications. This year 2007 the band Thunderstone placed 2nd, same batch as Johanna Kurkela. I made an article about Thunderstone in the "Music" -section. It is mostly mixed by Mika Jussila (Nightwish etc.). This song is titled "Somewhere behind the forests". It tells the story about a lonely person walking in Finnish nature with storm clouds and other wether phenomenon. There are also a refernce of ships sailing out of the harbour. There is a hidden finnish meaning involved. In the 19th century, many savonian people moved to USA and went from Kotka harbour. Kotka (meaning eagle) is a port town near russian border. It is currently my home town. Kitee is also very near to russian border. Anyway, Savo is a province besides North Karelia, where Nightwish is from. I studied earlier in Kuopio (Savo), Marco Hietala's home town. Anyway many Karelian and Savonian people wanted to stay in Kotka and they are still there. Kotka is also on the highway between Helsinki and Kitee. Though, I have never actually heard Nightwish visit my home town. There might be a reason for it... which I don't know yet. Some Insomnium members are from my home town Kotka, at least Niilo Sevänen and Markus Vanhala. My home town Kotka got the name "America of the Savonians" in the late 19th century, and in a certain bar (Kairo) you can get a drink by that name, in finnish "Savolaisten Amerikka."

Actually, after some search, every artist performed 2 songs in the eurovision qualifications. The other one from Johanna Kurkela was "Uneni kaunein", meaning "You are the sweetest of my dreams" (loosely translated). This song speaks about love in a beautiful way. Eurovision facts are really messy, so it is difficult to get everything exactly right. BTW, this was way before Kurkela and Holopainen got married. Kurkela placed 6th in the finals in the Finnish Eurovision qualification year 2007.

3rd edit: Seems like this beautiful song "Olet Uneni Kaunein" (You are the sweetest of my dreams) has a very interesting television choreography. I wathced it after writing this post...

 

Edited by StarDragonX
Added the "Savonia of the Americans" reference, added Kurkela's placement, added certain comment
StarDragonX Minstrel

StarDragonX

Posted
Posted (edited)

Also, Johanna Kurkela did a collaboration with the above mentioned Kotka City guys. Maybe this would also belong in a specific Insomnium thread. The lead guitarist is Markus Vanhala, from my current home town Kotka, FIN. Niilo Sevänen plays bass. I think the song is very good if you are into this kind of metal. The Innsomnium album Anno 1696 (2023) speaks about some hunger years, which were happened regularly in old Finland. It also speaks about the Church, mainly the Catholic Church, which made Finland Christian in the middle ages. There was some problems concerning that crusade. Finland has a Lutheran state Church nowadays. There are also other churches and religious groups. Anyway... There is also a Shaman in the video, as Finland before Christianity had a strong shamanistic culture. That is why Markus Vanhala (guitar) has a nice "magic" necklace in the video.

Also, this is kind of obvious, but I will state it anyways. This video and some other Finnish material, also some Nightwish songs, take into account "war magic", in addition to normal shamanism. The references are not super clear, but Shamanistic war magic against russia etc. was quite common in Finland before Finland became Christian in the middle ages. This whole shamanism and especially war magic theme is a little bit sensitive in our secular world today. For instance, the Insomnium album "Winter's gate" talks about when these kinds of things go very wrong. This is a little bit of my own interpretation. But through art you can have a sneak-peak of sensitive subjects. 🙂 that is why in the Johanna Kurkela song "Kuolevainen" (the mortal one) she says that she has some witch skills, in a joking way.

BTW, we shouldn't call the Nightwish community the Nightwish Army anymore, but the Nightwish family!

 

 

Edited by StarDragonX
Added opinion on Nightwish army, added shamanism reference

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