Ari Peltonen (born ), also known by the mononyms Paska () and Anssi, is a Finnish radio persona,

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer, reporter, writer, and television host.

Musical career

In 1985, Peltonen took part in the pre-qualification of the Finnish Rock Championship as a one-man

a capella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

band called "Paska" (). The band performed music consisting solely of Peltonen's shouting. A debut EP, named ''Superdoublemegamaxihits!'', was released in 1989. Over the following years, Paska performed in some fifty international venues, including Germany, Mexico, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. In 2015, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine highligted Paska's cover of

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

's "

Ace of Spades The ace of spades (also known as the Spadille, Old Frizzle, and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The ornate design of the ...

" as "one of the weirdest, most deconstructed versions out there". The band "broke up" in the 1990s due to "musical differences", and returned briefly in 2005.

Radio and television career

Peltonen transitioned to radio in 1989, hosting ''Paskalista'' () on Radio City. The show consisted of Peltonen's renditions of the Finnish top-ten singles chart. He soon began hosting a show called ''ANSSI!'' on

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

Radiomafia Radiomafia was a Finnish radio station owned by Yle and mainly directed to teenagers and young adults. It was established on 1 June 1990 and decommissioned on 12 January 2003. It was followed by YleX, with some of the programmes moved to other ...

. The show became a subject of criticism following a TV special report, and the coarse language of the show was brought up at least two times in the Finnish parliament. As a result, the show was initially suspended but later allowed to resume pre-taped. Another of Peltonen's shows, ''Vihatut levyt'' (), consisted of listener-submitted music that they least wanted to hear. Since 2001, Peltonen has hosted the show ''Paskalista'' on . The entertainer has also appeared on television. In 2008, he hosted ''Paskareissu'' () on

Sub TV MTV Sub (formerly TVTV!, Subtv and Sub) is a Finnish television channel owned by MTV Oy. The previous owner Alma Media sold Sub and its sister channels (MTV3, C More Max, MTV Ava Radio Nova and Sävelradio) to Swedish Bonnier and Proventus in ...

. The show investigated some of the "worst" Finnish municipalities.

Reporter and writer

In addition to his career as a musician and presenter, Peltonen has worked as a reporter for ''

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

'' magazine and ''

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

''. He has authored five books.

Other activities

In 2006, Peltonen claimed to have founded a

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

called () in Lapland on a plot of land owned by his reporter colleague Ilkka Malmberg. The microstate was the subject of multiple stories in ''Helsingin Sanomat''s supplemental ''NYT'' and was "occupied" in 2007 by reporters of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) (; ) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy, and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime, the Finnish Border Guard becomes part of the Finnish Defence For ...

' ''Ruotuväki'' magazine.

Discography

* ''Superdoublemegamaxihits!'' (EP, 1989) * ''Buy Play Throw Away'' (EP, 1989) * ''Heterosapiens'' (EP, 1997) * ''Christmas Album'' (EP, 2002) * ''Women Are from Venus, Men from Anus'' (2005)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelton, Ari Finnish musical groups Finnish comedy musicians Musical groups established in 1985