Olli Halonen’s path to performing the hit song required more than ten years of work.
Singer-songwriter Olli Halonen34, pieces North has already been listened to millions of times, but few know the path that has taken Halonen to the top of Spotify and radio charts.
Parental support
Halonen was not born into a particularly musical family, but she found her inner fire at music as a child. Halonen’s parents have always believed in encouraging and supporting their offspring towards new passions, so the son was undoubtedly given the necessary instruments after the musicality appeared.
– I wanted to start playing drums and they bought me drums. We had those instruments. The soundproofing in the detached house is not very good, so they had to listen for hours to the drumming, but that was no problem, Halonen laughs.
Playing became a big career dream for Halonen. When it was time for Halonen to go to study, she informed her parents that she would move to Helsinki and apply for music studies. Halonen’s parents did not despise her son’s ambitious choice for a moment, but encouraged him on his career path, for which Halonen is still grateful.
Satin Circus
However, Halonen’s path to a promising strike star has not been easy and she has faced many disappointments and closed doors in her career. It took more than ten years to get to the surface.
In addition to his studies, Halonen played jazz in Helsinki, but secretly dreamed of a career as a pop musician. Through a few twists and turns, he met young men dreaming of the same things in his new hometown.
In 2010, a boy band called Satin Circus was born. In addition to Halonen, the line-up was joined today by, among other things, those familiar with his solo career and television programs Paul Uotilaie Paul Elias.
Satin Sircus participated in the new music competition in 2015. Matti Matikainen
The start of Satin Circus was promising and the band was meant to fulfill the young men’s dreams of stardom. However, that was not the case.
Halonen says that she only realized later that the band experienced irreversible losses in their first years, even though they were determined to pursue their goals. There was no launch shot on the world map despite the attempts, so the men decided to try a completely new route.
Satin Circus participated in the 2015 New Music Competition with the song Crossroads. Halonen and the other members of the band believed that Eurovision was a decisive factor in their careers, but the opposite happened.
Satin Circus lost to Pertti Kurikka’s Name Days by 11 percent.
After that, Satin Circus members took a month-long break from the band, but the break proved fatal for the band. After a month, members were already ready to embark on their own careers or study. According to Halonen, the last years of the line-up went “idle” and Satin Circus was officially discontinued in 2018.
– All the cards had been looked at and there were no routes left, Halonen sums up.
The economy collapsed
Halonen did not want to give up her dreams. Even the mere thought that he would not achieve his dreams seemed distressing to him.
– I have always had the strong idea that we only have one life. It’s the scariest thing I know that one day I would be 77 years old and at the end of my life, and I wouldn’t be at all happy with my life and would always have wanted to do something else.
– It has always been important for me to take as much risk as I need to take and feel that at least I will try, Halonen says.
Olli Halonen has experienced many disappointments in his career, but surrender has never been an option. Inka Soveri
Halonen did not want to throw away the information and experience she had gathered over the years. He wrote songs for Satin Circus for a long time, so he found a natural direction in his career in writing other songs – this time in Finnish. One day Halonen was sending a song he had written to record companies for listening, but something stopped him.
– I listened to that demo at the gym over and over again. I got the feeling all the more so that if I give this song to others, then I’m the one who watches it from the audience as it pulls my song. I realized I couldn’t do it, Halonen says.
The insight led to a rocky road to the doors of the record companies, which closed one after the other. The record companies praised Halonen’s songs, but the dreams of a hopeful musician were always shot down for one particular reason – age.
According to Halonen, an artist in his thirties who is starting his solo career is a big risk for the record company. It can take up to ten years to build an artist’s career, so an artist in their twenties is a safer option for record companies.
The failures began to weigh. Halonen had at times even lived below the poverty line and done occasional part-time work, as she had spent most of her time making music.
– I actually literally starved in between. I really had a carefully calculated budget. At one time I ate food for about six euros a day. I counted the rice on the scales and wondered how many medals I could drink coffee for, Halonen says.
Halonen, who always believed in herself, found herself among such desperate thoughts that she had wasted her life in her musical dreams.
Then one record company showed the green light.
North
Mökkitie Records, known as Arttu Wiskar’s record company, saw potential in Halose.
The singer’s first single published through Mökkitie The age of his father, was moderately successful. Halonen’s second single North did better than anyone could have expected. The song reached the top of the radio charts and found its millions of audiences.
– Yes, I realize that now that my dream came true. Even better than ever I expected to get that kind of mega hit.
– It feels crazy and feels so wonderful to finally be in this situation, but I think I’ll realize how big this thing is later, Halonen said.
Olli Halonen’s Nordic hit slowly grew in popularity, but eventually reached peak levels. Inka Soveri
Halonen dreams that she will be able to make music for the rest of her life. He mentions artists such as Juha Tapio and Vesala, who have succeeded in creating careers that have lasted for decades.
Halonen released her new song today, May 6th Finnish summer and looking forward to a summer filled with gigs all over Finland. This summer, Halonen is realizing what she has long dreamed of.