Antti Tuisku’s career served for a long time as the backdrop of a broken man: “I have literally been hurt”

Antti Tuisku is currently preparing for the last performance of his career. That moment is only a few weeks away.

– I have such conflicting thoughts. Basically, my general feeling is that I am curiously waiting for a new phase of life. It means that that career as an artist is naturally not part of it, Tuisku states.

The thoughts are already on next fall. Tuisku will no longer be one of the brightest stars in the Finnish artistic sky, and his life will no longer consist of performing in front of seas of audiences, chart hits and cover photos. Tuisku jumps into a completely unpredictable new life.

– I have never been the type to rest on my laurels. Saatika on top of nothing. I believe that life in general has a lot to offer even if the artist’s career ends, says Tuisku.

Although the decision feels good, Tuisku is also prepared for the fact that his own reaction will be the complete opposite. Ending his career has been thought about for a long time and thoughtfully, but finality is an exciting thought for Tuisku. He reflects on the fact that he cannot yet know how life feels without music. After all, he has been an artist throughout his adult life.

The end of a career is accompanied by uncertainty – even fear. However, they are not dominant emotions. Tuisku’s life has been predictable during his career as an artist. Next, he has to learn to build his own life without the schedules set by others.

– This is the reason why I want to leave this period of life behind. Although it’s scary, I think most of life is good to lean into not knowing what the future holds. Although there is fear involved, there is no regret. I wouldn’t do anything differently.

Preparing for the final performance

Tuisku’s last performance will be seen at Ruisrock’s Niittylava on Saturday, July 8. Before then, he will also perform in Himos Juhannus and Provinss.

Tuisku wants to finish his career in Ruisrock, because he loves the atmosphere of summer festivals. Also, the fact that he gets on stage for the last time, surrounded by other artists, music industry professionals and other people, feels like the right decision. Tuisku performed two concerts at the Olympic Stadium in the summer of last year and performed on a sold-out arena tour last year. It’s good to stop here.

The arena tour ended at the Helsinki Ice Hall. Thousands of fans surprised Tuisku by raising a white heart in the air. Thank you was in my heart. Tuisku admits that he is a sensitive person, but still his own reaction completely surprised him.

– I completely collapsed during the last song. I practically couldn’t even sing from halftime on, I just cried.

– It’s quite rare that my artist self crumbles. It requires quite a lot, says Tuisku.

Tuisku is afraid that nothing will come of his last appearance if he consciously thought it would be his last. There is still mental preparation ahead.

A 20-year career

Tuisku became known to Finns exactly twenty years ago. In 2003, he participated in Finland’s first season of Idols. Tuisku finished third in the competition and his career took off with the competition.

However, the early years of Tuisku’s career were anything but glamorous.

– In retrospect, it’s sad that the first years of my career were in many ways a challenging time in my own life.

The move of a young man from Rovaniemi to Helsinki, the whirlwind of the Idols craze and the unpleasant experiences of his own life together caused Tuisku to say that the early stages of his career are still shrouded in fog.

– On the second day I was carrying the Finnish Olympic torch and on the second day I was doing something completely different. Idols as a phenomenon was completely absurd, Tuisku adds.

When Tuisku looks back on his long career, he says that the most memorable moments have been a kind of backwater stages. They have been stages from which he has had to fight his way up, build a new identity and weigh his own motivation towards a music career. Those moments have required struggle, determination and a lot of work.

The most significant of these backwater stages occurred in 2008 and 2009.

– I lived from hand to mouth. Everyone saw that my popularity was declining, says Tuisku.

The artistic career was no longer viable. Tuisku put his own apartment in Helsinki up for rent, because he could no longer cope with his loan repayment expenses. Tuisku lived here and there: in the north, in the south, in friends’ corners.

Tuisku was offered opportunities to take his career in new directions. For example, he was offered work on television. The host’s washes and the judging of the competitions. Well-paid ones too.

Despite everything, Tuisku decided to give up the offers. Through long reflection, he came to the conclusion that he prioritized his artistic career. Despite financial difficulties, Tuisku spent time in the studio and learned to write songs with the help of Paula Vesala.

In 2009 was born I breathe-album and Roots-paragraph.

– I had the feeling that maybe I was on to something. I had to make a nest separation between the boy band phase and the Idols format, where I had been seen. It was worth it.

New beginning

Tuisku’s career was saved, but it took several more years before Tuisku’s explosive turn to superstardom took place.

I will not comment, The beast is unleashed, Let’s rock – 2015 was the year that sealed his fate and laid the foundations for everything that his music is even today.

– I sprang to life. That’s all I had in me. Until then, everything was budding little growth. Only then did I understand what kind of artist I really am. I really can and am able to laugh at myself, I have something to say, I want to be brave and I can convey a message to people that you can be the way you are, says Tuisku.

In retrospect, not everything was quite right even then. Tuisku now says that at that time his career was, as it were, a struggle of a broken self-esteem and ego.

Why he was broken is the sum of many things and the product of a long time.

Tuiskus became the star of the whole nation at a very critical age – only 19 years old. Like other young people, it was not possible for him to search for himself among all the attention and other people’s opinions.

Tuskus grew into an insecure person. It drove him to places and people who were not good for him.

– I have literally been hurt. Physically and mentally. That hurt already happened during school days, but unfortunately it didn’t stop there. The same has also happened in adulthood, even after starting an artist career, he says.

Tuisku carried the burden of painful experiences for a long time, which made him codependent. Tuisku feels codependency as if it has blinded him. He could not see the true faces and nature of the people around him.

Tuisku feels that he has learned the hard way that he is not in this world for other people. He has realized that he doesn’t need other people’s approval to live his own life and be happy.

– Those same traumas are still there in the background. The same experiences and bumps that have made me insecure.

Today, those experiences are years away. The journey to the present has required therapy visits and growth.

– When you make such deals with them, and don’t hang on to them and let who I am define the rest of my life. Understanding such things is the reason why I feel I am in a better place today, Tuisku smiles.

Future

As said, Tuisku is immensely proud and grateful for everything he has built. In recent years, Tuisku has given everything to his artistic career. In addition to famous chart hits, Tuisku’s live performances have been completely in their own class with all their choreography and effects.

Ultimately, a successful career has also made it financially possible for him to continue pursuing his dreams in Spain. You don’t have to worry about money anymore. Tuisku can focus peacefully on everyday life with his two dogs in Spain, just Anttina.

Tuisku has studied to become a solution-oriented brief therapist, which is his new profession. Tuisku feels that the professions of therapist and artist have a lot in common. In his opinion, the most rewarding part of making music has always been how he has seen the songs help other people.

Tuisku has received questions about whether he will disappear from the public and whether he plans to update his social media channels, for example. In Tuisku’s opinion, he cannot completely leave the public eye, even if his career as a musician ends.

– I don’t have any need to cut off all ties to people like a wall.

– As long as people recognize me on that street, I can’t withdraw from the public eye. I’m in the public eye, and it’s not up to me. Maybe in 20 years, if nobody remembers me anymore, I could withdraw from the public eye.

The last album

Tuisku’s last surprise for his fans is that he will release another album today. On the album In and out there are five old and seven new songs. There are familiar songs Home, Life winds up baby, Grindr Mayhem, Baila por mi and The car stays.

Tuisku had no intention of making another long play. The album was born as if by accident with his team. The atmosphere at the song camps has been sprawling – there have been tears and laughs.

– Creating new music in a good group has always been one of the best things about this job and I will miss it enormously. The reason was purely selfish; I wanted to experience that process again and I thought that if new music is still being created, I could imagine that the fans can also appreciate it.

– Of course, it’s wonderful to end my career before the release of a new album, which in the end I think turned out to be one of my best ensembles, Tuisku reveals.

The album doesn’t have the same theme as, for example Master Workout or The chosen people albums.