Heikki Ruokangas & Simo Laihonen

Heikki Ruokangas: electric guitar
Simo Laihonen: drums and percussion

Heikki Ruokangas is an improvising guitarist from Oulu. He is equally at home in atonal free music and jazz as in the melodic narration of folk songs and popular styles. At the intersection of these, Ruokangas operates at its best. In the fall of 2023, his latest solo guitar album ‘Karu’ was released on the famous US label 577 Records. He has collaborated with e.g. with guitarist colleagues Noël Akchoté, Killick Hinds and Alex Jonsson and multi-instrumentalist Landon George.

Simo Laihonen is a drummer and flutist from Tampere. Laihonen’s latest release is the laudably-received ‘Rauhan ja nauttinon puutarhassa’ with keyboardist Pasi Salmi. This album, which was originally released as a CD under the Pori Film Lab label, was pressed on vinyl by Ultraääni Records in the fall of 2023. He has played e.g. in the bands Black Motor, Sound & Fury and Oaagaada.

Ruokangas and Laihonen have been making music together since 2020 and released one EP and three singles. They are united by bringing together the universal melodiousness of music and the unfamiliarity of the moment. In the duo’s largely improvised music, you can hear echoes of folk music, Western art music styles and, of course, jazz. The duo’s song ‘Rainy day’s promise’ can be heard here: https://unseenaxismusic.bandcamp.com/track/rainy-days-promise

“The great thing is that while the interpretation is not really troubled by convention, it also does not fall into the special for the sake of special. The pair sled skilfully dances between the poles with a thread of glowing energy and the tension is maintained until the end. In fact, the tension builds, as a good drama should.”
-Editor Jussi Niemi from the ‘Suvivirsi/Den blomstertid nu kommer’ single in May 2023

Photos: Heikki Ruokangas – Katri Hänninen, Simo Laihonen – Johanna Hjorth

The concert is organised in cooperation with Viirus theatre.

The concert is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden, The Finnish Music Foundation and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).