Tuomo Puntila is a rising musician from Tampere. In May 2019 he released his first EP under the title PILGRIMAGE with an amazing intro and five inspiring self-written and produced songs called Secrets, Ghosts, Funerals, Themes and Sleepless. I talked to Tuomo in order to get to know more about his music and inspiration for the songs and why music is playing such an important role in his life.
Interview with Tuomo Puntila about his debut album PILGRIMAGE
Finntastic:
Moi Tuomo, hauska tavata! Nice to meet you! Just tell us a bit more about yourself! Why does music play such a leading role in your life?
Tuomo Puntila:
Hi! Thank you so much for getting the chance to tell about all this! The answer is simple: I like music! Music is also a language that has been with me forever. And I don’t know any other ways to communicate complicated moods, some of the most humane phenomenons. So I am not really aware of a time without that form of art.
Finntastic:
When did you start making music? Are you coming from a family with a musical background?
Tuomo Puntila:
Music has always been surrounding my family but never really as anything professional. The radio was always on and someone was playing some instruments or singing when I was growing up. After some happy coincidences I ended up in Tampere Conservatoire and spent plenty of my childhood and teenage years there playing trombone and studying music.
Finntastic:
In teenager times, you started to teach yourself playing the acoustic guitar. How easy is it to learn guitar in self-studies?
Tuomo Puntila:
It wasn’t easy. But it was something completely different to the strict rule-based world of classical music. But of course what I knew about musical theory helped a lot.
It was a time before streaming services and I really wanted to hear this one song I heard from a radio again. I couldn’t find any mp3’s or such, but I did find chords for the song. So I just picked my dad’s old acoustic guitar and slowly learned the song. And then I continued from that.
Finntastic:
As a teenager you have already been guitarist of the Finnish rock band “dEEP glance”. Tell us about the band. What music did your band play?
Tuomo Puntila:
Oh. This is awkward. The genre was most likely some “glammy” rock which was rather popular those days. But it was a good school for performing live and finding some limits of how to act as a person when life isn’t like it seems in 80’s rock band lore. Luckily it was just enough time before internet became such a thing and pretty much all the traces have disappeared 😉
Finntastic:
You have been a member of Finnish bands like “Suicide Love Boat” and you have already been also live on stage as a solo artist under the name Mr. Puntila. Just tell us about your music career. When did everything start?
Tuomo Puntila:
In my mother’s womb. There used to be some rock’n’roll intro for a sports program on TV in the late 80’s and everytime it was on, I started moving wildly in the tummy. But yeah, I don’t feel like I ever had an option. I think everyone has this need to express themselves through arts. And it’s a shame that it has became like a set of skills that one either has or doesn’t rather than a natural way of being. I feel like it’s crucial to find some expressive language and just express.
Finntastic:
Now you are a solo musician. How would you describe your own music style? Which genre of music do you like the most and why?
Tuomo Puntila:
Oh, this is hard. I struggled with the genre, when I had to decide on one in order to publish the stuff. I boldly went and checked the genres of music that I like and has some similarities and decided on just “Alternative”. As a genre it’s a bit abstract, I know, but it’s kind of the philosophy behind my stuff; to offer an “Alternative” option for the listeners.
While making this EP I really focused on not making things too complicated (I know that I at least used to have this tendency) because I was also making music for myself to enjoy. I have always loved blues but of course I understand it’s a long step from those roots. But I like chords, I like sad chord progressions and some musical “easter eggs” every now and then. Those I tried to hide there in between.
Finntastic:
In spring you released your first EP called PILGRIMAGE with five self-written and -produced songs. What’s the meaning behind the album title “PILGRIMAGE” and what kind of songs do we find on your first album?
Tuomo Puntila:
The meaning is a bit hard thing to point to. I mean while making it I had this strong sense of “moving”, also some personal psychological horror of myself, but mostly just throwing these “Themes” for people to interact with.
Finntastic:
Where can we listen to your music in the near future? Do you have some live gigs in Tampere, somewhere else in Finland or abroad? And can people book you for live gigs too?
Tuomo Puntila:
The concept of making all the stuff by myself really doesn’t allow live performances (because obviously I cannot play all the instruments at once). At the moment it’s enough for me just to publish music I enjoy listening myself. To kind of just letting go of these stories. For the songs to go and live their own lives separate of me.
Finntastic:
Is there some special place in Tampere or elsewhere, where you really would love to make a live concert?
Tuomo Puntila:
Well it doesn’t seem reasonable at the moment for me to perform those songs live anyways but let’s say I managed to form a “perfect trio” and could choose whatever I want… I would like it to be intense. Like not a big stage away from the crowd. I like smaller venues, these club like places. “Telakka” in Tampere for example is one of my favourite venues to see live music.
Finntastic:
In autumn you’re planning to release a new single and your second EP. Can you just share some first information with us? What are the new songs about?
Songs will be about what people will think they are about of. But that’s not a good answer… Most likely the EP has plenty of my annual dark time terrors and down moods. In the autumn we’ll hear, not too positive, but maybe bigger, open sounds with smaller story of a small place with big feelings.
Finntastic:
Kiitos paljon mukavasta haastattelusta! Thanks for the inspiring interview! Next time, when I will come to Tampere, it would be great to meet you and see you maybe live on stage! Looking also forward to your second EP!
Tuomo Puntila:
Thanks a lot for allowing me to share my stuff for more people who might enjoy it but just don’t know of it yet. Let’s see what the future brings!
About Tuomo Puntila
Tuomo Puntila is a 32-year-old Finnish solo musician from Tampere. Music is his life and it makes him happy. Without music he cannot exist. That’s why his musical career started just as child. With the age of seven he started a classical music education at Tampere Conservatoire and learnt to play the trombone. In teenager times he began to teach himself to play the guitar. From 2003 to 2005 he played also several live gigs in the Tampere region with his fist rock band “dEEp glance”, with whom he had been on tour also in South Korea.
As a high school student at Tampere Arts-Oriented Senior Secondary School (“TYK”), he learnt more about sound recording and during this time he learnt some other instruments such as keyboards, bass and drums. As a Trio: Muko, he played some gigs during these days. But one day in 2010 he stumbled by chance across an announcement on facebook, published by the metal band “Suicide Love Boat”, who were searching for a new singer and lead guitarist. He applied for it and became part of the band. With the guys of Suicide Love Boat, he had live gigs in many amazing spots and locations in Tampere and around the country. As the main band was “put on dock” in 2013 for some time, he first concentrated on his real job as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital. But music couldn’t let him go. He was missing it so much.
So two years ago, when he turned 30 years old, time has come for him, to step back to music business. He started to write and produce his first own songs. His debut EP called PILGRIMAGE with five songs and an intro was released in May 2019. In autumn his next single and also a new EP with new inspiring songs will be published.
More about Tuomo Puntila and his music you will find on Facebook or Instagram. Check also out his music on Deezer.