Ismo Alanko

Biography

Ismo Kullervo Alanko (born November 12, 1960, Helsinki, Finland) is a popular Finnish rock singer/songwriter. Raised in Joensuu, Finland, he catapulted to fame in 1980 in a band called Hassisen Kone (Hassinen's Machine, named after a local sewing machine shop), which won the Finnish championship in a band competition. In the year 1982, the band started experiencing internal problems and broke up. Alanko started a new band called Sielun Veljet (Soul Brothers). Sielun Veljet's style was complete...

Ismo Kullervo Alanko (born November 12, 1960, Helsinki, Finland) is a popular Finnish rock singer/songwriter.

Raised in Joensuu, Finland, he catapulted to fame in 1980 in a band called Hassisen Kone (Hassinen's Machine, named after a local sewing machine shop), which won the Finnish championship in a band competition. In the year 1982, the band started experiencing internal problems and broke up.
Alanko started a new band called Sielun Veljet (Soul Brothers). Sielun Veljet's style was completely different from Hassisen Kone's, and some fans protested, but Sielun Veljet ended up another great success mainly for its famous aggressive live-shows.

In 1990, with Sielun Veljet becoming more and more inactive and (eventually disbanding in 91), Ismo Alanko started his solo career with the album Kun Suomi Putos Puusta (When Finland fell from the Tree), which was also made as an art project to Helsinki City Festivals. In the mid-90s Alanko worked with different contributors and recorded solo albums ranging from weird electronic/alt-dance of "Jäätyneitä lauluja" ("Frozen Songs") to the autumnal baroque feeling of "Taiteilijaelämää" ("Artist way of Life").

During 1997-2007, debuting with the album "Pulu" ("Pidgeon"), he fronted a band called Ismo Alanko Säätiö ("I A Foundation"). They started with a style combining Alanko's pop/rock songwriting with finnish folk music and other world music. In the later years the band moved towards a more traditional rock-oriented sound. Even though Säätiö was a band, it can be said that it was a solo-project of Ismo Alanko, as members of the band changed rapidly.

Alanko's next project was a sort of continuation of his previous band, Ismo Alanko Teholla (Ismo Alanko on intensive care). It was a project by Alanko and former Säätiö-bandmate, percussionist Teho Majamäki. Ismo Alanko Teholla released two albums: Blanco Spirituals (2008) and Onnellisuus ("Happiness") (2010).

After his project with Majamäki, Alanko has been releasing albums and touring with his own name. However, he has had a consistent band backing him. He did also do actual solo gigs in the late 2010s. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.