Aksel Kankaanranta said that he lives on unemployment benefits – This is the situation now

In March 2020, Aksel Kankaanranta stood on stage at the New Music Competition. There was only one thought in my head.

– What the hell has been done here?

Kankaanranta won the pre-favorite Erika Vikman in the competition. Kankaanranta himself said that he was going towards Eurovision one step at a time without any high expectations, but believed that the journey would be great.

However, the opposite happened.

Eurovision was canceled due to the corona pandemic. The following year, some people expected that the artist would get a free ticket to Eurovision, after all, he had already won a place once. However, the artist participated in the competition again, but Blind Channel won.

Kankaanranta, 27, therefore never got to feel the snow under his feet. He continued making music, but that didn’t stop him. The artist and the record company Warner Music had different views on what kind of music Kankaanranta should release.

Kankaanranta made about 60 demos, but no album was produced. The cooperation with the record company ended last year after years of trying.

Are you bitter about what has happened since UMK?

– Not really. Everyone asks my thoughts on when the Eurovision Song Contest was canceled due to the corona virus. I think that nothing could be done about it. If the whole world went into lockdown, a small person alone can’t do or say anything. Why would I be bitter about that? The following year again, the profit went to the right address, he says.

– And yes, I finally got there in Rotterdam, but as a spectator, Kankaanranta laughs.

Yle offered Kankaanranta the opportunity to go see visas in Rotterdam. Kankaanranta got to see how Blind Channel performed to a full arena and Måneskin won the fives in 2021.

– Of course, it would have been cool to perform for an audience of five, but if you think about the precise stage changes and all the other rotation, yes, it would have taken a young ukkel. The head would have been right on the bike, he continues.

Kankaanranta says that he has always been a person who thinks that patience is rewarded. Now there is more cover for the idea than at the moment, because he has just released his first album Blackbird. The album release gig was organized on Friday, February 13, at Korjaamo in Helsinki.

– The main thought is that it was about time, he laughs.

Although the artist twice participated in the New Music Competition with songs in English, the debut album is in Finnish. Kankaanranta himself says that in the end the singing language does not matter, but the poetry of the Finnish language attracts him.

– In Finnish, you can play with words and inflections. You can get a lot more content into one sentence than in English. I don’t think I’m a poet, but maybe that’s also hidden in the songs.

A new job

In the summer of 2025, GramexPress published an article about Kankaanranta with the title “intermediate”. Kankaanranta signs the term, at least partially.

– In a certain way, yes, I am an interventionist. But if I think about gigging, for example, it’s really nice for me, but it’s also really taxing. I wouldn’t want to be an artist who spends many months of the year touring around Finland. I want to sneak in a gig there and another one here, but everything in moderation, he says now.

– I don’t think that UMK’s past has created pressure. Of course, it’s always worried if you win a TV competition, that now you’ll only be remembered for that and if you try something else, no one will be interested anymore. But I don’t think so myself, that was the time and it’s different now. I just want to make music myself and it’s valuable if someone listens to it and posts a message about it.

But where has Kankaanranta been after UMK? He describes that he currently lives a “good life”.

– I have been able to work in a place where I like to be. I get to tinker with computers and I can also make music on the side.

Even last summer, he had to raise unemployment benefits.

– Ever since I was young, I’ve thought that I want to make music, but also work with computers. Now it has come true. The work is shift work, so I sometimes also work at night. It’s nice, says Kankaanranta, who has been interested in computers since childhood.

An arresting loss

However, there has been a lot of sadness and sadness in the past years. Three and a half years ago, a close friend of Kankaanranta committed suicide. The situation stopped Kankaanranta’s life completely.

– Of course, you always want to turn back the clock and do things differently, but then you realize that it’s impossible.

– A friend’s suicide opened my eyes to what life can be and completely changed the way I think about things. I never wanted that to happen. But in a way, it’s good that it happened. If I had to learn something in some way in life, let it happen at the latest as a result of this, Kankaanranta thinks.

The death of a friend especially taught me about presence. This is what he deals with in the title song of his album Blackbird.

– I learned to appreciate small things in the world around me. Before my friend’s death, for example, I couldn’t hear or react to birdsong. After that I learned to listen to what and where they sing.

Kankaanranta says that after the death, the worst crisis lasted two years. However, you can never completely get over the loss of a friend.

– I remember reading the idea that the dead move on, but you stay where you are. That’s a really apt description. I will carry this with me for the rest of my life and that’s the way it should be.

A friend comes to Kankaanranta’s mind in very everyday situations. In the ones he’s gone now.

– Sometimes he comes to my mind when a random passer-by looks like him. It’s exciting how your own mind works in these situations, says Kankaanranta gently.

Kankaanranta wants to remind people that sadness should not stop you from living.

– With the loss, I learned to give myself time and set myself limits. I also learned to understand other people better. Dealing with grief is a very interesting process. Everyone deals with grief and loss differently. What works for me may not work for someone else. I still haven’t stopped living.

During the interview, Kankaanranta makes an observation about his life.

– Speaking out loud, I realize that I have things going pretty well in my life right now. We just have to continue steadily on our way forward, even though this has already been quite a crusade.

– I guess I slipped into my own little compartment, Kankaanranta smiles.