Janne Johannes Puurtinen (born 17 October 1974), better known as Burton or Emerson Burton, is a Finnish musician. He is best known as the keyboardist of the Finnish
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
band
HIM, with whom he has released six studio albums, and has gone on to become one of the
most commercially successful Finnish bands of all time. Outside of HIM, Burton has performed and recorded with various bands, including
Daniel Lioneye
Daniel Lioneye is a Finnish rock band formed by members of the band HIM. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalist Mikko "Linde" Lindström, bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen and drummer Ville Valo, the group released their debut album ''Th ...
,
Suburban Tribe and Torpedo.
Early life
Janne "Burton" Puurtinen was born on 17 October 1974 in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
.
[Juho K. Juntunen (2002). "HIM – Synnin viemää" p.179. WSOY] Born to an artistic family, both Burton's parents were
ballet dancers, as was his sister.
Burton himself took up ballet for a few years but quit due to a lack of interest, after which he began taking classical piano lessons at the age of five, which he continued well into his twenties.
[''Metal Hammer'' Presents HIM: ''Tears On Tape'' Fanpack Magazine – pg. 99] During his
civilian service
Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...
, Puurtinen worked as a lighting engineer at the
Alexander Theater in Helsinki.
[Juho K. Juntunen (2002). "HIM – Synnin viemää" p.180. WSOY] He later worked as a stage manager at the
Helsinki Opera House
The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...
, a concert janitor at the Sibelius Academy, as well as a cook.
Career
HIM
In 2001, Puurtinen joined the band
HIM, with whom he had already played one show in the mid-nineties performing
Type O Negative
Type O Negative were an American gothic metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums, percussi ...
covers.
[Juho K. Juntunen (2002). "HIM – Synnin viemää" p.51. WSOY] After the addition of Puurtinen, HIM released the albums ''
Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
''Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights'' is the third studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM, released 27 August 2001. The album was produced co-produced by the band, T. T. Oksala and Kevin Shirley. The record had a troubled production, ...
'' and ''
Love Metal
''Love Metal'' is the fourth studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM (Finnish band), HIM. Released on 11 April 2003, HIM began recording demos for the album in northern spring 2002, after an exhausting touring cycle for their Deep Shadows a ...
'' in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Both cracked the top ten in several countries, and became the band's first albums to chart in the United Kingdom and the United States.
After relocating to the US, HIM released ''
Dark Light'' in 2005, which became the group's most successful album to date, going gold in Germany, the UK, the US, and platinum in Finland.
In 2007, HIM released ''
Venus Doom
''Venus Doom'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. The album was recorded at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki with producers Hiili Hiilesmaa and Tim Palmer, both whom had collaborated with the band on various occasions, and ...
'', which went gold in Finland and Germany, and gave the band their highest US-chart position at number 12.
After 2010's ''
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice'', the band went on hiatus after drummer Gas Lipstick was diagnosed with a repetitive stress injury and nerve damage in his hands.
[''Metal Hammer'' Presents HIM: ''Tears On Tape'' Fanpack Magazine – pg. 10] After eight months of uncertainty, the band regrouped and eventually released the album ''
Tears on Tape'' in 2013.
In 2015, Gas Lipstick announced his departure from HIM after 16 years, to pursue other musical projects.
He was subsequently replaced by Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger.
On 5 March 2017, HIM announced the end of the band following a
farewell tour in 2017.
The band played their final show on New Year's Eve 2017 as a part of their annual
Helldone Festival.
Other work
While in school, Burton played in a variety of different bands, but the first "real" group he played with was Cosmos Tango, who won the Finnish Rock Championship in 1997.
Cosmos Tango released one album in 1999, by which point Burton had already joined
Suburban Tribe, with whom he recorded the album ''Elektro 57'', which was released in 1998.
Around the same time, Puurtinen also played one show with
Amorphis in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
.
[Juho K. Juntunen (2002). "HIM – Synnin viemää" p.182. WSOY] In 1999, Puurtinen joined Torpedo, who released a self-titled EP in 2000, as well as the album ''Polttonestettä'' in 2001.
In 2010, Puurtinen joined
Daniel Lioneye
Daniel Lioneye is a Finnish rock band formed by members of the band HIM. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalist Mikko "Linde" Lindström, bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen and drummer Ville Valo, the group released their debut album ''Th ...
, the side-project of HIM's
Linde Lindström
Mikko Viljami "Linde" Lindström (born 12 August 1976) is a Finnish musician, best known as the guitarist for the gothic rock band HIM. Influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath and Steve Vai, Lindström began playing guitar at age ten, joining ...
.
The band released the album ''Vol. II'' the same year, and in 2011 toured the US, supporting
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...
.
In June 2016, it was announced that Daniel Lioneye would release its third album ''Vol. III'' on 19 August 2016.
The band also announced five tour dates across Finland for September 2016.
Daniel Lioneye was also scheduled to perform several European shows later in the fall, but the dates were cancelled after drummer Seppo Tarvainen broke his arm.
Following HIM's retirement, Burton joined the Finnish
world music duo Solju, who released their debut album ''Ođđa Áigodat'' on 27 April 2018.
Personal life
Burton has two children with his wife.
The nicknames "Burton" and "Emerson Burton" were coined by two friends, with "Emerson" being taken from Puurtinen's refrigerator.
[''Metal Hammer'' Presents HIM: ''Tears On Tape'' Fanpack Magazine – pg. 101]
Discography
HIM
* ''
Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
''Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights'' is the third studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM, released 27 August 2001. The album was produced co-produced by the band, T. T. Oksala and Kevin Shirley. The record had a troubled production, ...
'' (2001)
* ''
Love Metal
''Love Metal'' is the fourth studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM (Finnish band), HIM. Released on 11 April 2003, HIM began recording demos for the album in northern spring 2002, after an exhausting touring cycle for their Deep Shadows a ...
'' (2003)
* ''
Dark Light'' (2005)
* ''
Venus Doom
''Venus Doom'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. The album was recorded at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki with producers Hiili Hiilesmaa and Tim Palmer, both whom had collaborated with the band on various occasions, and ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice'' (2010)
* ''
Tears on Tape'' (2013)
Daniel Lioneye
* ''Vol. II'' (2010)
* ''Vol. III'' (2016)
Other appearances
*
Suburban Tribe – ''Elektro 57'' (1998)
* Cosmos Tango – ''Helmi'' (1999)
* Torpedo – ''Torpedo'' (2000)
* Torpedo – ''Polttonestettä'' (2001)
References
External links
Official websiteof HIM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton
1974 births
Heavy metal keyboardists
Finnish heavy metal keyboardists
HIM (Finnish band) members
Living people
Musicians from Helsinki