Joni Heinäkuu & Pekka Saukkonen: Toisin tuntevat - Open Stage

Joni Heinäkuu is a mature, gender-neutral poetic figure who never grew up. His music is lyric-driven indie-iskelmä, rooted in emotion - in the melodies, song lyrics, and humanistic spirit of the compositions. His influences come from independent Finnish pop and rock artists.

Heinäkuu describes his songs like this: "I've been writing songs for years, mainly as therapy for myself while struggling with my emotional life and mental health. The songs are a mix of dreams, lived experience, and fates that I've encountered, met, or sometimes even invented for people I've seen on the street. But most of them are also concretely true. My hope is that people could find something positive for their lives in these songs. If that holds true for even one person, then they were worth making."

Producer Pekka Saukkonen has, alongside Heinäkuu's music, created countless iskelmä songs, hit singles, and queer anthems. At Espa, he also performs his own songs - selected gems from decades past.

For the summer Espa show, the ensemble is a quartet: Heinäkuu and Saukkonen combine guitar, vocals, keyboards, and live electronics with Joose Vihreä (drums) and award-winning violinist High-D.