1. Hi Eki, please tell us a few words who is the man behind SIENIS!
My name´s Eki.... Eki Jokisalo.... with a license to drill your wave receptors with seriously unserious music! HEHHeheh...
I acquired this temporary vehicle the 23rd of August 1981 in the suburbs of Stockholm/Sweden with Finnish parents that kept my roots very alive by putting me in Finnish kinder gardens and schools while brainwashing me with Finnish tango on a regular basis.
My favourite colour is illuminating white and i like walks in the forest on a sunny and rainy day.
2. Why did you choose SIENIS as your artist name? Is there a special meaning?
The reason I chose it was partially because it sounded and looked good... but mainly because Sienis derives from the Finnish word 'sieni', which means 'mushroom' and 'sienis' is a slang word for 'on mushrooms' or 'picking mushrooms'.
3. What's your musical background? When did you get into trance? Did you immediately start with the production of psytrance or did you try other styles too?
Well I learned to play "Twinkle Little Star" on the piano around the age of 5, besides that I’m not much of a piano player... For some reason drumming was always easier for me… rhythms and beats was more fun! It probably has to do with growing up with hip-hop and reggae etc...
Though I have learned much about harmonies during my years of producing music and
I´m trying to teach myself to play piano more fluently!
I got into goatrance around 96´ or so, after my friend made me listen to "VA - Distance To Goa 4".
But first off, I started with producing hip-hop music which lasted about two years before moving to more experimental psychedelic electronic music… But I find it very limiting to spend all my time making only psytrance so I try to play with all kinds of styles and listen to everything I can so i can bring a fresh breeze into the scene.
4. How would you describe YOUR music and its focus?
Some guy described it well in my guestbook: "it´s like Jackie Chan... violent, but funny"
And if I have to put a label on it, I´d say "Seriously Unserious Psychedelic Electronic Forest Music". It is focused on grabbing all of your attention and more while setting a slightly surprisingly whacky atmosphere where you feel anything can happen, and you can truly let go and have fun.
5. Where do you get your inspiration from? Are there any special people, events, situations that inspire you?
I get inspired from all my experiences and any sound wave I hear... But certainly I get inspired from other artists like: Simon Posford, Squaremeat + ALL the other spugedelic finnish artists, Metzanima, Squarepusher, Verb, Talpa, Tamlin, Psysex, Procs, etc etc..
Also every time I get to my studio after a party, I´m filled with inspiration and ideas that I want to try out for the next gig. Most of the time I try to have a story to work around, it helps me a lot with the sequencing and the track pretty much builds itself from there, trough me.
6. You have had many releases on compilations on various labels... just to remember the real "ear catcher" "Psychedelic Pink". Which one was most successful? And which one was your personal favourite?
I think I was fortunate to have "Tales From The Trip" out as the first Sienis release because it describes very well the overall seriously unseriousness that I try to achieve and that´s the track I keep hearing most people comment on, so I assume it´s the most successful one.
Picking a personal favourite is impossible though, they´re all made in different mood sets and because I put so much time into every single one, they all are like my babies.
7. It has been pretty quiet about you during the last 2 years. And now you are back with your soon released debut album FROM A NUTTER PERSPECTIVE (GIIWA Productions). What may we expect from this one? How long did it take you to produce it?
Yeah, I was way too busy with the album and my personal life the past 4-5 years to concentrate on making more tracks for compilation releases.
There are 4 tracks just waiting to get released on compilations but due to delays and so on they aren´t out yet. From my album you should expect the fruits of manic tweaking and twisting sounds to perfection.
I´m very proud to have found a label like Gi'iwa Productions to release this nutty album!!! There will be everything from fullon, IDM, progg, funk and chillout moods...
The whole album took about 5 years to complete and I´m finally 120% happy with the results.
Many thanks to Rolando Cyril for his contribution for the cover gfx, Gary Golbraich for digital mastering and Michael Semprevivo for helping with the layout!!!
8. Do you only have the SIENIS project or are there any side projects too? What about DJing?
I´m involved with other projects like: Tarezen, HiTech LoLife, Arketyperna, Ill-Fated, Dirty Dreads, OOBE... I might have forgotten one or two on purpose...
And when it comes to DJing, I love spinning CDs!!!! It´s tons of fun to be able to play other artists stuff that I like and not just to choose from my own stuff.
9. In your discography I could not find any remixes. Are you against remixing (if yes: why) or didn't you just have had the chance so far remix a real "interesting" track?
I have made many remixes over the years, but mainly under another projectname, not to get screwed by copyright laws and so on... but there´s always the remix I made of Mandalavandalz – Merkababa for their new album.
I assure you there will be many remixes to come, now that I got more time on my hands after finally finishing off the album material.
10. A life without music would be...
Void...
