Text: Saara Koikkalainen

Folkswagen is the world's leading band that sings in the Finnish, Russian and Carelian languages. Well, possibly it is among the very few that do sing in these languages, but that does not diminish the importance of the folk band which started as a duo of two fans of Russian rock music in Joensuu, Eastern Finland, in 2000.

Timo Munne and Suonna Kononen, the two vocalists and founder members of the band, first performed cover versions of Russian rock and underground hits that had not been heard in Finland before. Both are also natural born songwriters who draw their inspiration from the rich musical culture of Carelia on both sides of the Finnish-Russian border. Joonas Ojajärvi (acoustic bass, mandolin) has played in the band since February 2004 and Jari Lappalainen (drums, percussion, bouzouki) since July 2005.

Folkswagen has a curious relationship with Russia and the border. The band plays songs by, for example, Vladimir Vysotski and the Russian Carelian rock band Santtu Karhu & Talvisovat, but their own songs are the most memorable or them all. With the sympathetic yet clever lyrics, the band does more to question the concept of a border dividing peoples than most official cooperation projects put together.

In a unique way the band manages to combine Finnish nostalgia of the Winter War (1939-1940), the life of a factory worker now unemployed in a town formerly known as Leningrad, a gloomy but poetic vision of Murmansk in the same mixture with joyful visits to Russian Carelia, where people are friendly and vodka is cheap.

Folkswagen discography:

Stolichnaya (cd-r, Levyasema Lempi 2001)
Matkaselän asemalla (cd, Pilfink Records 2003)
Karjalan balsamia (cd, Pilfink Records 2005)
Kosmonautti (cd-ep, Pilfink Records 2006)
Tienhaara (cd, Pilfink Records 2007)
Kyläkaupan rappusilla (cd, Pilfink Records 2008)

Folkswagen contact:
Manager Timo Munne
email: timo.munne at pilfink.com
tel (international): +358 400 952 924
tel (Finland): 0400 952 924

Click here to go back to the Finnish version of this site, with Folkswagen's concert agenda, band member introductions, detailed discography, photo gallery, plethora of mp3's under the Rintamakarkuriradio tag etc.

Click here to visit Folkswagen's MySpace page with more information in English, songs and videos.