Kaiku in Brooklyn

With aplomb and a minimum of fanfare, Jaana Kantola, one of three Finnish women settling onto a Lower East Side club’s stage announces, “We are Kaiku.” Clad in an array of fashionable tight shirts, hip huggers and a sparkly white kaftan, Kantola, Paula Jaakkola and Erja Vettenranta begin to sing hauntingly ethereal harmonies. There are touches of accordion, percussion and cello from their American band mates, Rob Curto, Scott Kettner and Christopher Hoffman, respectively. The rhythms are an uncategorizable fusion of Finnish folk, tango, pop, waltz and what even sounds like a polka-esque marching song. There is smiley stage banter between songs, Jaakkola even gleefully recounts the coincidence of their next song about a cockroach, and the real one that crawled across the cellist’s face during the sound check. But the minor keyed harmonies, both gorgeous and melancholic, can’t be ignored and the audience is frozen, captivated.

Finland, a country of 5 million people, considered part of Scandinavia, but whose language is not indo-European, doesn’t have a royal family, and has been independent from Russia only since 1917, is a mystery to most Americans. “Some people have told me that I’m the first Finnish person they’ve ever met,” pronounces Kantola. “Nobody even knows that Nokia is a Finnish company,” she says. Vettenranta adds with what sounds like resignation, “It’s a characteristic, we’re kind of shy, modest.” Kantola chimes in a wry, ‘Silence is Golden.’ Vettenranta shoots back with mock piety, ‘Modesty makes you more beautiful.’” “Not Kaiku!” retorts Kantola laughing, “We’re not modest, we milk it!”

Although the Kaiku women are fluent in English, they sing in Finnish with only sprinklings of English and one tango in Spanish. Lyrics are taken from Kalevala, the national Finnish epic, or Kanteletar, an 1840 collection of poems about leaving your homeland, nature, and endless freezing winters. They also write their own lyrics, “People say we’re always singing about men,” Kantola scoffs. Their sublime harmonies glide, dip, soar, and seamlessly mix with the rhythms of the unlikely grouping of instruments. Music for the songs are either composed originals, or reworked folk classics.

Did they ever envision themselves singing Finnish inspired songs in the hip clubs of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and a venue such as Symphony Space? A resounding, “No.” Growing up in different parts of Finland—Lapland, Helsinki and Jurva, they were exposed to Finnish folk and tango, classical, as well as foreign pop, such as Michael Jackson, Modonna, Duran Duran, “I had posters of Simon LeBon all over my wall,” recounts Jaakkola. All three women arrived in New York City independently, for various combinations of school, language, adventure, and marriage. They bonded under a year ago over their shared vision of what could be done with their unique array of musical knowledge. “We didn’t have any expectations, and suddenly, we started getting all this amazing feedback,” recalls Kantola, “People would come up to us and say, ‘This sounds amazing, what is this?’”

They are currently at work translating several verses into Spanish and English for their upcoming show. “We’re here in Brooklyn,” says Jaakkola, “with such an international audience, why not do a tri-language performance?”

In early 2005, they released their first, self titled, 6 tracked cd, “Kaiku,” and are included in the recently released, “NYC Subway: Songs from the Underground,” a compilation cd, featuring musicians from the New York City subways, where Kaiku plays twice a month. There choice spot is either Grand Central Station, or Times Square, where they occasionally run into surprised Finnish tourists, usually expressed by a breezy, “Oh, look at that,” pointing to the band, as Finns are not known for their effusiveness.

“There is a saying in Finland,” says Jaakkola, “that if you talk to strangers, you’re either drunk, trying to hit on them, or crazy.” In New York City, the Kaiku women enjoy not only the social freedom to indeed talk to a stranger, give a random compliment, flirt with a bartender without it meaning too much, but also the musical freedom to experiment with their Finnish musical roots from afar.

Kaiku will perform on September 16th at Joe’s Pub as part of the NYC Subway cd release party.