I
Maija Vilkkumaa

About:

9 November 1973

Maija Johanna Vilkkumaa was born in Helsinki, Finland. At the age of 16 she started playing the piano. In 1990 she started the band Tarharyhmä with some school friends (amongst whom later actress Minna Haapkylä). They started as an acoustic band playing children’s nursery rhymes but soon turned to more pop and rock music. Maija wrote and said most of the nurseries is also a group of tracks. Next to her band she enlisted as a student at the University of Helsinki studying language. They send a demo to Poko records and were signed. Oddly enough the demo also reached Japan where they became quite succesfull under a different name; Kindergarten. The two follow up albums ‘Tappopoppia’ and ‘Hysteerinen harmonia’ weren’t that succesfull however and in 1995 the band split up.

In 1999, Vilkkumaa started her solo career. A demo was recorded in the Harju juvenile hall which led to her debut single ‘Satumaa-tango'. This  became her first big hit and was soon followed by her debut album ’Pitkä ihana leikki’ ('The long wonderful game'). The follow up album ’Meikit, ketjut ja vyöt’ ('Make-up, chains and belts') confirmed her new status as a finnish popstar with over 36,000 copies sold. The sales of ‘Ei’ ('No') surpassed that amount easily with 120,000 sold copies and is one of the best selling albums in Suomi. The singles ‘Mun elämä’ ('I got life') and ’Ei saa surettaa’ ('Don’t be sad') became chart hits. After the somewhat lesser selling ’Se ei olekaan niin’ Maija went on an extensive concert tour called the 'Helsingin savoy' ('Truth and mission') Tour. This took her to several theatre venues and the show was recorded for a cd -release in 2007. In the same year she married bandmember and guitarplayer Mikko Kosonen in April 2007. They have one child, Saara. At the end of 2008 she released her fifth studio album called ‘Superpallo’ to raving reviews. She continues the quality of that album with her 2010 album 'Kunnes joet muuttaa suuntaa'.

On the web:

- Maija's official website: http://www.maijavilkkumaa.net

What do we think:

PR: Great female singer and songwriter from Finland. She combines pop and guitar rock with that typical Scandanavian-folky style. Her songs are catchy and they often have deeper layers. Maija's voice is dramatic and expressive, but at the same time elf-like Finnish. With every new album she (and her music) seems to evolve further. Her latest release - 'Superpallo' - is definitely her best album to date. I have very high expectations for further releases...

DB: Interesting singer from Finland combining her country's hang to rock with more pop-like melodies. And confincing me that Suomi is one of the most difficult European languages to grasp. But don't be afraid, her songs are so catchy that soon enough you'll be (phoneticly) singing along with choruses like 'Niin kuin muutkin', 'Mun elämä' or 'Auta mua'. Although you probably have no idea what your singing.

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Sebnam Ferah (Turkey)

Albums:

Pitkä ihana leikki - 1999

Meikit, ketjut ja vyöt - 2001

♪♪♪ - Ei - 2003

♪♪♪ - Se ei olekaan niin - 2005

lta Savoyssa (live) - 2007

♪♪♪♪ - Superpallo - 2008

♪♪♪♪ - Kunnes joet muuttaa suuntaa - 2010

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided