Tuomas Kallio. Photo Verna Kovanen.
Being in charge of the lineups at Flow Festival and Pori Jazz has expanded the musical field of musician and producer TUOMAS KALLIO. However, the artist choices at especially Flow are still mostly based on fandom.
Reading through the list of performers at Flow Festival in early August, one can’t help but notice a definite African vibe among the current artist names – something that you would sooner expect to find at Helsinki Festival than Flow.
“Putting together this year’s Flow has been a fun exploration,” admits Tuomas Kallio, Flow’s artistic director. “We’ve brought in a deeper selection of world music. For example, we have the Syrian cassette king OMAR SOULEYMAN, the biggest pop star in Syria. I want to discover things, fun phenomena and music that people don’t yet know that much about.”
In addition to Souleyman, African artists taking the stage include the Ethiopian MULATU ASTATKE, whose music is featured in the JIM JARMUSCH film Broken Flowers, and the Malinese BALLAKÉ SISSOKO, who plays the traditional instrument kora.
Kallio, known from his r’n'b, jazz and soul background, seems to be quite far from where he started. “A strayed musician, yeah,” he chuckles.
Since he is in charge of the lineups of the hipster hit Flow Festival and the traditional Pori Jazz festival, he has little time to work on his own music. What’s more, the studio adjacent to the new Flow Festival and Ricky-Tick Records office is still under renovation.
The end of an era
Tuomas Kallio first acquired fame as a musician in the jazz ensemble The Five Corners Quintet. The record company Ricky-Tick Records was started around the ensemble. On the music field, Kallio has also been seen as a leading figure in the Nuspirit Helsinki collective that produces music as well as the Flow Festival.
“The circle is closing on The Five Corners Quintet,” says 33-year-old Kallio. “The ensemble started off as a studio experiment in 2003, and it became a much longer project than it was originally meant to be.”
“The Five Corners Quintet is very much a conceptual project, and it started off with a foundation that we don’t want to change. I think it has passed the point of what felt natural and refreshing. At least I don’t see where its music can go anymore.
Tuomas Kallio. Photo Verna Kovanen.
The Five Corners Quintet played what will most likely be its last gigs in May in Shanghai, Tokyo and Nagoya. Their fans’ agony will be at least a bit relieved by a live album recorded in early 2010 which will be released in Finland in November.
New influences, new music?
Kallio admits that events affect the time he has left for making music. Yet he finds many positive things regarding making music in organizing them.
“Thanks to Flow, I listen to a wider range of music than before. Events are probably the biggest reason why I have the energy to follow the music scene and fuddle around on different online forums,” Kallio ponders. “There’s an urge to find something new and interesting, which no doubt affects what kind of new music I make.”
Black music, like r’n’b, soul and hip hop were strong influences for Nuspirit Helsinki in the early 2000s. According to Kallio, it’s hard to find interesting black music these days.
“There’s been a shift of sorts in the musical field inside my head, and it’s hard not to react to it. The color of music is now quite white, and new artists and albums are flowing out of the indie rock-folk-electro field, maybe even too much. Recently, I’ve become more interested in folkier stuff like Fleet Foxes of Antony and the Johnsons – things that came half out of nowhere.”
“Now I’m really eager to do a new music project, something completely different from The Five Corners Quintet.”
Live matters most
The Five Corners Quintet is known for their energetic, enthralling gigs. At festivals, Kallio cares more about live shows than about the name of the artist. At a festival every artist is seen live, so it’s important to know what their live show will be like.
According to Kallio, he’s only seen a small portion of Flow’s artists before. It’s still important that a friend or an acquaintance has seen the artist live.
“Icelandic Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi will have the most interesting visual show of Flow. He’s bringing what can be described as a theatrical production to the stage,” Kallio enthuses. “There’s a video on YouTube of his US tour production.”
If Kallio had to choose only one show to see in August’s Flow Festival, he’d pick the aforementioned Omar Souleyman. “I’ve heard that his show a couple of years ago was the biggest thing in Sonar – his show is a homespun set with three people, a combination of dance beats and arabic melodies. It’s just such a strong package live: enthralling, energetic and fascinating.” †
Text Heini Lehtinen Photos Verna Kovanen
Clear 
