Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala, Renaissance Man. Photo Juliana Harkki.
Architects Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala are setting up house all over the world with music project Renaissance Man.
Even though Renaissance Man’s Jaxxon and Downtown are from Helsinki, you won’t find them there. Both have moved to Germany, where it’s a lot easier to make your living making electronic music than in Finland. During our interview, however, the duo is touring in Australia. From there, they will head out to New Zealand and China.
Downtown a.k.a. VILLE HAIMALA and Jaxxon a.k.a MARTTI KALLIALA are familiar names in the Helsinki club scene. Haimala runs his New Judas record label and constantly spins records both in Helsinki and abroad. Kalliala has been playing as Jaxxon in several Helsinki clubs for the past few years.
The renaissance men might have picked the name as a joke, but it’s based in reality. Both men are architects, and that’s how they originally met. Now they’re making less houses and more house.
“We met some years ago while working at TUOMAS TOIVONEN’s architect agency NOW,” the duo says. “After having designed the interiors for night club Redrum with NOW, we launched a club there called NOW!. Initially we just played records together, but at some point we felt that it might be fruitful to also produce music together. The result was the ironically named Renaissance Man in the summer of 2008.”
As 2009 draws to a close, Renaissance Man has achieved blog fame, classy international record labels and a slew of well-known DJs playing their songs. Dubbed the latest breakout prospect of Finnish house music, Renaissance Man has released one EP for British electro producer Switch’s label Dubsided, another for French label Sound Pellegrino and one track on a collection by trendy French label Kitsune.
In the spring of 2010, Renaissance Man will release another EP for Berlin-based label Made To Play. In addition, they’ve created remixes for numerous artists including Crystal Fighters, Sissy Nobby and Le Corps Mince de Françoise.
Renaissance Man.
International men of mystery
It’s obvious that there are only so many opportunities to play club dance music in Finland, so touring around the world is practically a necessity for an act like Renaissance Man. So far, they have mainly toured in Europe.
“With Renaissance Man, we felt it was appropriate to work on the project with an international viewpoint from the very beginning,” explains Haimala.
“Of course sometimes traveling becomes tough and gets on your nerves, despite all its benefits. However, in the year 2010 the state of the music industry pretty much requires artists to tour in order to make any money. This kind of pace might get tiresome year after year, though. The increasing cost of flying may well solve this conundrum for us and many others,” envisions the realistic Kalliala.
Despite traveling to and fro, the Renaissance men write songs all the time – not that all of the songs end up as finished tracks. They work on the songs on their computers, so a song may pop up anywhere. There’s no need for expensive studio equipment.
Explorers of house
Renaissance Man label their music pure house. On occasion, there may be ethnic influences or minimalist interpretations. Very often you will find strange, random sounds in the mix. The duo has said they want to explore the things you can do with house.
“Of course there is a framework behind Renaissance Man, albeit a fluid and changing one. Writing it out or saying it out loud always looks and sounds silly,” remarks Haimala. “we’ve been playing with an idea of a crossover collaboration on Senate square with shouting choir Mieskuoro Huutajat and lighting artist MIKKI KUNTTU, for Helsinki’s year as design capital in 2012,” quips Kalliala.
They might joke about ambitious cultural products, but Renaissance Man still aims to make music that has reach beyond just the dance floor.
“Making dance hits and nursing artistic ambitions do not cancel each other out. Renaissance Man aims to create electronic dance music that might, in the right circumstances, turn into a radio hit,” contemplates Haimala. †
www.myspace.com/renaissancemanmvsic
Text Teemu Fiilin Photo Juliana Harkki
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