From the world of lost souls: SAKARI VIITTALA’s ‘Stranded Future Soho Dream’
FINLAND’S singer-songwriter SAKARI VIITTALA has just released his fourth album, ‘Stranded Future Soho Fugitive,’ (Ainoa Productions Oy,) based around his two years working for a club owner called ‘Slippery-Nick,’ in the heart of London’s seedy underbelly, the world of lost souls, Soho.
“Even though the album is biographical it is not a memoir,” he said. “I wrote these songs while they were happening to me in real life.”
“This record is more personal than a couple of previous ones, so it does feel a bit like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now this one is out. The story behind it? I was working for an unusual man called ‘Slippery-Nick,’ going out six nights a week for two years in Soho and getting swamped into that lifestyle, it always felt like a story worth telling.
“But a story that I could not tell with just words, it required music. The fantastic, magical thing about music is that it can really make the listener feel what you felt, very strongly, even stronger than books, I think.
“With friends and family living in London it was not that difficult to come. Also, as an artist I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I always thought if I’m gonna have anything interesting to say, I need to experience other cultures, and not as a tourist. Staying in Finland seemed too safe, too easy.
“Production in this record is a bit more edgier than the previous record. I really wanted it to sound a little rougher and have more muscle so to speak. I also think my songwriting is a bit different because the songs are longer and have more parts, which to me as a songwriter was more challenging to do.”
Connect with Sakari: Music | Forwardman (bandcamp.com
