Vesa-Pekka "Costello" Hautamäki (born 11 September 1963 in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

) is a Finnish musician and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He is known especially for his career as a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

with Finnish rock group

Popeda Popeda is a Finnish rock band hailing from Tampere and one of the staples of Manserock. Epe Helenius, who signed the band for Poko Rekords in 1977, called the band "Finnish Rolling Stones". Musically their style is a combination of rock 'n' ro ...

, but he has also forged an international career with

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving acciden ...

as their guitarist during 2001–2003 and has actively performed and recorded as a solo artist. Hautamäki's first group was Sensuuri, who were active between 1978–1981. Hautamäki joined Popeda in 1981 after graduating from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. He made an impact on Popeda's

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and founding member

Pate Mustajärvi Pauli Antero "Pate" Mustajärvi (born July 12, 1956) is a Finnish rock singer. He is known as the vocalist, frontman and only original member of Popeda as well as a solo artist. In his birthplace of Tampere he is known as "Ikurin turbiini" (" ...

by buying all of Popeda's earlier records before his first rehearsal with the group. The guitarist at the time, Arwo Mikkonen feared that Costello could take his place in Popeda, however after Hautamäki's arrival Mikkonen remained in the group for years, until his departure in 1986. After Mikkonen left, Hautamäki became Popeda's sole guitarist and frontman. In the course of his career Hautamäki has released three solo albums. The first of these, ''A Little Bit Crazy'' was released in 1988 was followed by ''13 Reasons to Rock'' in 2003. His third and only Finnish-language album, ''Kun mies unelmoi'', was released on 8 March 2013. Hautamäki has two children, sons Jimi and Alex "Allu" Hautamäki, who appeared in their own group Rockwall (Jimi on drums and Alex on bass). They have also played with Popeda at gigs and on several of their albums, as well as at their father's solo gigs. Since 2013 Hämeenlinna store Finlandia Instruments have produced a guitar called Costellobird (the Costello Bird) in his name, of which ten or so have been made so far.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''A Little Bit Crazy'' (1988) * ''13 Reasons to Rock'' (2003) * ''Kun mies unelmoi'' (2013)

Solo singles

* ''Mun sormuksein / Tuhat yötä'' (1985) * ''Aurinko valvoo'' (2012) * ''Matka tuntemattomaan'' (2012) * ''Pintakiilto'' (2013)

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hautamäki, Costello 1963 births Living people musicians from Tampere Hanoi Rocks members Finnish guitarists Finnish rock singers Finnish rock musicians Finnish lyricists