Introduction

Hi, I am Jere Kilpinen, a Finnish experimental artist, musician and writer to put it short. I try to give you a brief glimpse of what I do, but I might forget something. I don't drink or do drugs, besides few limited experiments I did in the past. I scream in a grindcore band Cut To Fit. I play guitar in a psychedelic blues band Harhakuvia and sludge band Usko. I also play bass in a newly formed sludge band Taser. But above all, most active things are my solo works (Junkyard Shaman is my most prolific solo output with nearly 120 albums and EP's of all kind of experimental music, mostly noirish ambient drones, bluesy melancholia and experimental folk AND Electric Hobo for harsh noise and drone) and our avantgardist, free improvisation collective Käki. Mostly my music and its aesthetics include using junk and scrap metal other people threw away, finding sounds in the environment and building funny sounding little instruments.

Käki is pretty much my way of inviting other people into the space we created with the super duper awesome musician Cédrik Bano. There is no line ups, no fixed songs, just handpicked individuals who get together for few hours, play music that exists then ant there. So there's the music part, I guess! Here's a couple of examples of those

Käki

Harhakuvia

Cut To Fit

Junkyard Shaman

The Tribe, 2017

Then there are the visual arts. I make trippy videos, animations, I paint, sculpt, draw and try to learn and come up with new ways to express myself. Most of my art, whether it be music or writer or whatever I consider to be conceptual art. The music may have some element or tone that I further observe in visual art or writing. It is a synesthesia of all sensory and mental input, they entangle and become something else entirely. Some people find my art disturbing or raw, but to some people it offers the comfort in knowing they are not alone with their mental struggles and suffering. Most of my art comes from a kind of a bleak mental space, since that is the "normal" state of my consciousness and I am too introvert and honest to sugarcoat it in anyway. Mortality just gets the best of me in most days, the Beckettian "can't go on, I'll go on"-scenario. Those who know what I am talking about in my art will get it. And I always try to reach out to those people, because I know how lonely we tend to get. There are more of us than you think, you are not alone. And that is the message I try to get across with my art. Since this space is rather limited, skip to the links to see more at Instagram!

Me standing next to my painting I Want To Get Out Of Here, 2017

Now, the writing. I have always written almost obsessive-compulsively, both in Finnish and in English, since I've known both languages since early childhood. I have written two collection of short stories in Finnish, and two collections of poetry. In English I have written two collection prose and poetry, I'll Grow My Hair Thick And Long So I Don't Need A Rope When I Decide To Go (2016) and A Man Who Eats Fire (2016). My biggest works, (ie, the ones that got the most rejections in the shortest time period) are my full-length novel called Katoaminen (The Disappearing) and the new poetry book called Sähkö (Electricity). The aforementioned is a noirish, maybe a loosely sci-fi-ish story about losing ones mind, about existential agents of the fourth dimension, a floating 2D city of murderers and junkies in the sky, paranoia and fear and existential anxiety. If I won't get anyone to publish it in Finnish, I will translate it into English myself and try again. Sähkö is a poetry and art book which kinda expands the world of the book, it is about mechanical insects, urban anxieties of living in a post-industrial society and trying to maintain your sanity in a city and country that have completely lost theirs. I already translated it into English, but I will first take self-publish a limited edition of 50 copies in Finnish, then maybe 30 or 40 copies in English later on. With my writing the same rules apply. This is conceptual, experimental form of self-expression where I dive headfirst into the deep end of my mind and see what comes out. It might not always be a success, but I try to maintain the transparency and honesty through and through. I am always willing to collaborate, make album artwork or mix albums, to help in any way I can, to share what I know with other people and to interact. I am also here to learn, because I know I don't know a thing about anything. So this is my, if you managed to read it all the way, congratulations! And honestly, thank you. I know most people don't read anymore and I appreciate your time and effort.

Jere

Here are links to my sites so you can look for more of what I do, I tried to keep this as short as possible.

Facebook for music and art and to keep up with all the things:
https://www.facebook.com/kelanvihollinen/

Instagram for visual art:
https://www.instagram.com/a_man_who_stares_at_the_walls/

Junkyard Shaman, on the right side you'll find links to most other projects too.
https://j-kill.bandcamp.com/

Käki, both live albums with one mic and records
https://kaeki.bandcamp.com/
https://soundsculptures.bandcamp.com/

Electric Hobo
https://electrichobo.bandcamp.com/

Cut To Fit
https://cuttofit.bandcamp.com/