Vesala released the third solo album of his career on Friday and will soon be on a years-long hiatus.
Musician Paula Vesala, who is going on a years-long hiatus this year, says in the article published on Friday Helsingin Sanomat in an interview about why he has decided to leave the public eye and what he plans to do in the coming years.
Vesala, 41, makes it clear in the interview that in the next few years it is pointless to hope for him to give interviews about his life in the pages of magazines. According to HS, Vesala has received an exceptional clause in the contracts of his future projects that he does not have to give interviews related to them. For example, Vesala is acting in a film that will be released next year, but he does not make any public comments about it, nor is he seen at the film’s press conferences.
Vesala says in an interview with HS that he decided to take a break already a year ago. He doesn’t give an exact reason, but he admits that he was tired of the commotion and spinning that happened in the last couple of years.
– I wouldn’t have made it through last year if I hadn’t made the decision to take a break from all of this: publicity, social media and Vesala performances, he says.
During the corona virus, Vesala defended the cultural sector publicly and he was the target of many kinds of verbal attacks.
– It’s hard to talk about this, because I don’t want a situation where a public figure complains about how tough publicity is. But that’s it. I have no other stressful things in my life, except publicity and social media. I won’t deny that I wouldn’t have cried when we were raging.
Paula Vesala plans to withdraw from the public eye completely. Atte Kajova
Vesala also reveals to HS that he has made certain policies regarding his gigging. He has made experimental solutions in his performances, as a result of which, for example, at the Iskelmä festival, the audience has left the gig in the middle of everything. However, he prides himself on not being able to please everyone. He doesn’t even want it.
– For a long time, I have refused midsummer concerts, because when I came from them, I had the feeling that now I’m making an itsar. The gang is waiting there with cardboard on their heads for a hit potpourri, says Vesala.
During his upcoming break, Vesala plans to focus on creating music, making scripts and audio recordings, and a research project through which he aims to reflect on the structures of cultural politics.
Vesala’s last album for the time being, Näkemii, melankolia, was released today, Friday. The album includes the song Why do you cry, on which her fan Aali, who the artist found through Tiktok, sings with Vesala.
In the video below, Vesala presents his duet pair.
See you, melancholy is the third solo album of Vesala’s career. The first album Vesala was released in 2016. The singer’s second album Etsimäsä rauhaa was released in 2020.
Vesala rose to prominence in the early 2000s as the second singer of the band PMMP. The band ceased operations in 2013, after which Vesala has been making music under the stage name Vesala. Vesala’s best-known songs include Tequila, Sinuun mien jäjen and Pahanilmanlinnut.