Sir Christus (born Jukka Kristian Mikkonen; April 10, 1978 – December 7, 2017) was a Finnish guitarist, best known as the former rhythm guitarist of the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band Negative. His father was Arwo Mikkonen, guitarist of the Finnish rock band

Popeda Popeda is a Finnish rock band hailing from Tampere and one of the staples of Manserock. Epe Helenius, who signed the band for Poko Rekords in 1977, called the band "Finnish Rolling Stones". Musically their style is a combination of rock 'n' ...

. His father died in 1986, leaving eight-year-old Christus and his four-year-old brother Matthau, without a father figure in their life. On Negative's single "Fading Yourself" (March 14, 2007), Sir Christus did vocals for a bonus track: "Lost in America" (originally by

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

). Negative has never performed this song live. Christus performed this song live, with the band

Private Line In telecommunication, a private line is typically a telephone company service that uses a dedicated, usually unswitched point-to-point circuit, but it may involve private switching arrangements, or predefined transmission physical or virtual path ...

, on November 28, 2007.

Previous projects

SnoWhite

SnoWhite, formerly known as Blaquarium, was founded in winter 2007 by Dino, Purtsi, Julius and Vode. In June 2008 Rafaello joined the band, and their first gig was in Amadeus during Tammerfest, supporting another band. After that Vode decided to leave. Dino, Purtsi and Julius gave free hand to Rafaello to choose a new guitarist. He decided that Christus would be the best choice. The first gig as SnoWhite and not Blaquarium was in Vastavirta Klubi, Tampere supporting The Bitterlicks and The VooDoo Nights. "Is it my body" and "Number of the beast" were the only two cover-songs they are playing. SnoWhite's second gig, taking place in Vastavirtaklubi in Tampere September 13, 2008, has got positive reviews by

Aamulehti ( Finnish for "morning newspaper") is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland. History and profile ''Aamulehti'' was founded in 1881 to "improve the position of the Finnish people and the Finnish language" during R ...

. Sir Christus left SnoWhite on 3 January 2010. Line up: *Julius - vocals *Dino - drums *Purtsi - bass *Rafaello - guitar *Sir General Christus - guitar

Black Jesus

Christus has had a side project since fall 2007 that is called Black Jesus - the name was later changed to Black Jezus and then changed back to Black Jesus. When he left Negative, at first people thought Christus had disappeared but then there were dates announced in February. There were speculations about Christus and his position in this band, and the band was thought to be what it was to begin with: a side project, a mere base for playing some shows and cover songs and have some fun. The band split in late 2008 and played their last gig in Somero in November 2008. Line up: *Madbone Macceus - vocals *Sir General Christus - guitar and backing vocals *El Rafaello - guitar *Jimmie Sweat - bass *E.Ådolf Maniac II - drums

Matthau Mikojan

Shortly after Christus' leaving Negative, there were rumours that he would join his brother's solo-project on bass. It was not until late that Matthau himself announced his line up that the rumours were confirmed. Christus played the guitar still, and not the bass. He was thought to be only a part of the live shows, like the rest of the line up. Matthau announced on his website after the German Tour (Schraubelocker Tour 2008) that the three-piece band is now a band and not a solo-project with a live band. In March/early April a music video was shot for the song "Too Fortunate to Cry", in which Matthau and Christus appear. Line up: *Matthau Mikojan - vocals and second guitar *Sir Christus - guitar and backing vocals *Teemu Broman - bass *Simo Stenmann - drums Christus left this project after three months and the band will not replace him.

Negative

Negative is a Finnish glam rock band located in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

. They released their first album, ''War of Love'' in 2003. ''War of Love'' has sold gold in Finland and is now close to platinum. In 2004 they came with their second album, ''Sweet & Deceitful'' that has also sold gold. Late 2006 ''Anorectic'' made its appearance. Christus joined the band in 2002. Line up: * Jonne Aaron - vocals * Larry Love - guitar * Sir Christus - guitar * Snack - keyboard * Jay Slammer - drums * Antti Anatomy - bass As of January 15, 2008, Sir Christus was no longer a part of this band.

Bloodpit

Christus was in Bloodpit from 2000 to 2002, playing the bass guitar. In Bloodpit he used the stage name Christian Grigory. Line up ''at that time'': *Matthau - guitar/vocals *Christian Grigory - bass *Paavo - guitar *Arnold - drums

Lavasäteily

This band existed from 1999 to 2004. Christus seems to have been the vocalist rather than the guitarist. In this band and other former bands before/simultaneously, he used the name Claudio Emil. Line up: *Claudio Emil Christian Mikkonen - guitar/vocals *Derek - guitar *Catte - bass *Anttoni - drums

Other bands

*Korbamosh *Ripuli *Lovebuzz *Bonemachine *Light Honey Pea *Lovemachine *Kuusinen *Claudio & Sateenvarjolakanat *The Salvation

Death

He died December 7, 2017. No cause of death was revealed, although his father died of heart failure in 1986.

Guitars

* The Pink Lady was Christus' signature guitar and of the brand Flying Finn. * The Pink Indie. Purchased shortly after Christus joined Matthau. * Les Paul, black with stars. He called this guitar "Musta Tähti", which means "black star" * ESP LTD Devil Girl, Limited Edition. Red; 1 Humbucker, 1 Vol. controller. * Doubleneck by Ibanez in brown. * The Black Pirate, also a "Flying Finn". Skullblack-transparent. * Dean guitar army style * Gibson Explorer, Ison-Britannian lipun kuvalla * Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, goldtop * Gibson Les Paul standard, tobacco sunburst * Tokai Les Paul, Heritage dark cherry * Hagström * Self-painted Les Paul Older guitars include: * A golden Les Paul (heaven and hell) * A black/Orange golden Les Paul * Red and white Gibson Firebird with gold buttons.

References

External links

Unofficial German Sir Christus fansite

Official Black Jesus Myspace

Official SnoWhite Support

The WarSchool of Black Jesus

Negative Official Site

Negative Myspace

Interview with Sir Christus "Girls Should Get Horny " September 19, 2009

Sir Christus` interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christus, Sir 1978 births 2017 deaths Finnish rock guitarists Place of birth missing Finnish male guitarists 21st-century guitarists 21st-century male musicians