Mika Tapio Vainio (May 15, 1963 – April 12, 2017)
was a Finnish
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
ian. He was best known as a member of
Pan Sonic. In addition to his real name, he recorded under the aliases Ø, Kentolevi, Philus, and Tekonivel.
He has worked with artists such as
Alan Vega,
Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)[Biography]
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...
,
Charlemagne Palestine
Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine (born August 15, 1947), known professionally as Charlemagne Palestine, is an American visual artist and musician. He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school of minimalist music, first initia ...
,
Alva Noto,
Peaches
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...
,
Kevin Drumm,
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
,
Stephen O'Malley,
Keiji Haino,
Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of ...
,
Chicks on Speed,
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...
, and many others.
Life and career
Mika Vainio was born on May 15, 1963, in Helsinki, but grew up in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
.
In the early 1980s, he played in the group Gagarin-Kombinaatti while also working at a slaughterhouse.
In the late 1980s, Vainio began
DJing
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
and organizing parties, playing
acid house
Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...
. It was here that he met
Tommi Grönlund, who would later found
Sähkö Recordings.
Sähkö would release much of Vainio's music.
In the mid-1990s, he formed the group
Pan Sonic with
Ilpo Väisänen and later Sami Salo (who would soon leave). Pan Sonic disbanded in December 2009, playing their final concert on December 18.
Vainio died on April 12, 2017, in
Trouville-sur-Mer
Trouville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Trouville on Sea''), commonly referred to as Trouville, is a city of 4,603 inhabitants in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville across the ...
, France,
after falling six meters off a cliff into the sea.
The exact circumstances of his death are unknown.
References
External links
Mika Vainioofficial site
Mika Vainiofansite on
pHinnWeb
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*
Mika Vainioremembered by Blast First boss Paul Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vainio, Mika
1963 births
2017 deaths
Ambient musicians
Experimental musicians
Finnish electronic musicians
Finnish techno musicians
Musicians from Turku
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in France