The Elonkerjuu band has gone through many phases. Despite the changes, the band has persistently continued its journey.
In December 2023, there was sad news about the Elonkerjuu band. The band’s longtime bass player Antero Naali died after a rapidly progressing illness.
Naali played in Elonkerjuu since the beginning of the band. The sudden death stopped fans as well as the band itself.
When the bandmates accompanied Naal to his last journey at the blessing ceremony, all kinds of thoughts crept into my mind.
– Singer Juha Lagström admits that in addition to burying a friend here, also burying an orchestra here, he thought at the funeral.
Lagström himself had not been in the band for years when the news of Naali’s death came. He was the soloist of Elonkerjuu from 2012 to 2017, until he left the band. Of course, Lagström had kept in touch with the band.
However, in the spring of 2024, Lagström received a request. The trip to Elonkerjuu would continue and Lagström was wanted as a singer.
– When the question came to me, it was an immediate yes. It wasn’t the kind of thinking that I want to think about for the day, but it was clear right away, says Lagström.
Soon the new Elonkerjuu lineup was assembled. There were now two soloists, Juha Lagström and Osku Ketola. The band’s original members Simo Ralli and Fly to Paarma continued in the thong as well. New blood was also obtained when Hank Mannio and Jussi Haavisto jumped on the band’s journey.
Elonkerjuu has experienced many changes. Pasi Liesimaa
New lineup
In mid-May, Elonkerjuu released a new album Between two worlds. It is the band’s first album in seven years.
Naali’s legacy can be heard on the album, because some of the previously released songs on the album feature his playing. The album also has a dedication to Naali When it’s time to go -paragraph.
The death of a friend and longtime bandmate has been a touching matter for the band members.
– It has been such a big deal for us that we still have to think about it every day, says the band’s longtime drummer Lenni Paarma.
When you ask the band what kind of mark Naali left on the world, the answer is clear.
– What did he talk to people over there, that man was “Mr. Smile” on that stage. The gang remembers him for that, Paarma states.
The group has received thousands of messages about Naali’s smiling nature. Lagström describes Naali as having been in the right place and in the right job.
– On stage, he didn’t break a single bit. Everything was left somewhere else when he got on stage, Lagström recalls.
– It might have been a bit overwhelming for us sometimes, guitarist Simo Ralli laughs.
– But not on stage, Lagström adds.
Even if there was something outside the stage, it was not visible at the gigs.
– He was indeed the epitome of a performer, says Osku Ketola.
The death of Antero Naali touched the Elonkerjuu band. Pasi Liesimaa
Changes
Elonkerjuu, which has remained active for almost thirty years, has experienced many changes over the years, of which Naali’s death is just one.
Over the years, the members of the band have changed sometimes at a fast pace, which has naturally brought differences in tone to the band and the music.
Someone could experience the band’s internal changes as crises, but the band has persistently continued forward. Although, for example, the songs from the Lauri Tähkä era have a different take than the current production, the core has remained the same.
– The only thing that remains is change, Lagström says.
The band seems to be more than satisfied with the current situation.
– At the moment, I feel that hopefully there will be no change. You don’t apply by applying, Ralli laughs.
Elonkerjuu has remained active for almost 30 years. Pasi Liesimaa
Outspokenness
In the past, at least the Kuumaa band has said that they will visit together in therapywhere mutual interaction has been taught. Lagström states that the band is, in a certain way, the most challenging work community there can be.
Elonkerjuu hasn’t been to therapy, unless you count band and song sessions as such. In the case of Elonkerjuu, the best keyword for different views has sometimes been honesty.
– In that sense, we are quite a band from Southern Pohja, that we don’t give each other therapy talks and talk about feelings. More than that, it’s frankness that you have to say when you pee, because then it explodes at some point. I think that frankness at the right moment has saved us from quite a lot, Ketola states.
One of Elonkerjuu’s tools for solving things is humor. Even though there are many stages behind them, even sad ones, the band wants to keep playfulness in their work.
With this attitude, the band is ready to head to the summer concerts soon with the new album.
– This should not be taken too seriously, Ketola says.
In Elonkerjuu’s ranks, things are discussed directly. Pasi Liesimaa
