THEIRSTORY

Back in the merry days of August 2004, in a momentary lapse of reason, in the tranquil suburb of Jokiniemi, Vantaa, Finland, a band was founded. The people responsible for this irresponsible act were musicians Ari Honkanen, Eevertti Kettunen, Pekka Pietarinen and Daniel Porschen and, most of all, future band manager Mikko Paasonen. These were rebellious young lads who had got sick of a great part of the music that controlled the airwaves, and were convinced that the only way to increase the amount of music with content was to stop whining and start making it themselves.

The following six months the bunch spent improvising and trying out new and ideas, which finally lead to a decision to record an EP. This naturally meant that the boys needed a name. For various reasons (to be uncovered thirty years from now) they became Circusfolk. The EP, recorded in the warehouses of the Vuosaari Harbour Centre with Nick o’Flare, and released in April 2005, was eventually called ‘Circusfolk Comes to Town’.

Even though the release of the EP was accompanied with an acoustic performance in a gallery room in Kallio (The Greenwich Village of Helsinki), the band did not take their stuff to live arenas before autumn when they hit the great outdoors in a hometown jam. This performance was followed by a half a dozen gigs during the winter.

A year after ‘Circusfolk Comes to Town’ the band recorded some new songs and released them in the form of ‘The Progression Bell’ EP, again recorded with o’Flare and in a warehouse studio. It featured a new musician, Charlotta Falenius. The viola player also joined the band live and was soon granted full membership. ‘The Progression Bell’ eventually brought Circusfolk bigger and better venues and, with the song ‘Haven’, a victory in a demo single contest on national radio.

After achieving a reputation as an energetic and enjoyable live act, Circusfolk set their sights on their first full length record. They recruited Tarmo ‘Tare’ Simonen to work the table and co-produce the album. The collaboration resulted in ‘Making Faces’, the purpose of which is to bring the Folk faces to the awareness of the general public for the first time.