Heikki Johannes Silvennoinen (born 27 April 1954) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was a guitarist and a songwriter in several notable Finnish bands in the 1970s and 1980s, and has also recorded solo albums. He is best known in Finland as a member of comedy group

Kummeli Kummeli is the name of a Finnish comedy crew formed by Heikki Silvennoinen, Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Hela from Tampere. They are also the heads of ''Porkkana Ryhmä'', the crew's production company. Other famous members have included Olli Keskin ...

, which started a television show in 1991.Sihvonen, Lauri (12 December 2012)
Kummeli: ”Itkettäjiä on tässä maassa ihan tarpeeksi”
''

Seura ''Seura'' is a Finnish magazine published 49 issues per year in Helsinki, Finland and has been in circulation since 1934. History and profile The first issue of ''Seura'' was published in 1934 by Yhtyneet Kuvalehdet. A sample issue was publishe ...

'' (in Finnish) Silvennoinen owns a production company named ''Pirkka-Hämeen Apina & Gorilla Oy'' ("Ape and gorilla of Pirkka-Häme Inc."). With his fellow comedian

Timo Kahilainen Kummeli is the name of a Finnish comedy crew formed by Heikki Silvennoinen, Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Hela from Tampere. They are also the heads of ''Porkkana Ryhmä'', the crew's production company. Other famous members have included Olli Keskin ...

he owns ''Porkkana Ryhmä Oy'' ("Carrot Group Inc."), which produces Kummeli's output.

Life and career

Tabula Rasa

Silvennoinen was born in Kiviapaja,

Sääminki Sääminki (; sv, Säminge) is countryside and former municipality of Finland. Most of Sääminki municipality was incorporated in 1973 with the Savonlinna town and the rest with Punkaharju municipality. It is located in the province of Eastern ...

. As a young boy he admired the music of

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. He learned to play the guitar and formed a rock band called

Tabula Rasa ''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...

,Harri Uusitorppa: Kitaristista kuoriutui koomikko. Kummeli-mies Heikki Silvennoisen kanssa ei kukaan tule haastamaan riitaa. ''Helsingin Sanomat'', 27.4.2014, s. C 33. one of the most important 1970s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

bands in Finland. When the group released their debut album, Silvennoinen started to realize that music was likely to be his primary occupation. His later career has not been associated with progressive rock, but during the Tabula Rasa years he composed almost all the songs that the group recorded. After Tabula Rasa came to an end, Silvennoinen joined

Juice Leskinen Juhani Juice Leskinen (officially Pauli Matti Juhani "Juice" Leskinen; 19 February 1950 – 24 November 2006), better known as Juice Leskinen ( as if the word ''juice'' were Finnish) was one of the most important and successful Finnish singer- ...

's band.

1980s

In the 1980s, Silvennoinen became a professional

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and collaborated with many significant bands. He played guitar in bands called

Frendz The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...

and

Catwalk A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...

, and in 1987 he formed a group called Q.Stone with singer

Mikko Kuustonen Ari-Mikko Kuustonen (born 4 March 1960 in Leppävirta, Finland) is a Finnish singer-songwriter and television personality. In 1998 Kuustonen was the first Finn to be nominated as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador __NOTOC__ UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador ...

. This band was English singing blues-rock group that released four relatively well-received albums. Kuustonen decided to leave the group and concentrate on his solo career. Silvennoinen continued to play the guitar on his albums.

Solo albums

In the beginning of the 1990s Silvennoinen released his first solo album, ''Mature And Cool''. It included his own songs and a cover of Blind Willie Reynolds song "Outside Woman Blues" (popularized by Cream). His second solo album, ''Bobcat'', was released in 1997. It includes Silvennoinen's own song "Sun Don't You Shine" and a cover of "Fire" by

. On the sleeve notes of the album he thanks his idols, not just Hendrix and Clapton, but also Peter Green and

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

(he has personally met Vaughan and Clapton). His next album, ''Sweet Surrender'', was released two years later. In 2000 Silvennoinen founded his own label and released the album ''Blues Blue Sky'', which contains mostly old blues songs. The album ''Miehet kaatuu'' was released in 2003, and is his only album containing lyrics in Finnish.

Kummeli

In the beginning of the 1990s Silvennoinen became more popular in Finland due to the television show Kummeli. Of the four member group, Silvennoinen had the largest number of different roles (including reporter Mauno Ahonen, summer

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

neighbour Martti Mielikäinen, Matti Näsä who complains about everything, and officer Jaakko Parantainen who is concerned about environmental questions). The show and group had phenomenal success in Finland in 1994, when they also made their first stage appearances and toured all of Finland. After that Kummeli has continued its existence in various forms. Silvennoinen has stated that their best gag was the one about Lada summit, since it gave an inspiration for the real Lada summit event that still takes place yearly in Finland. The most lucrative song – from the point of view of royalties – Silvennoinen ever wrote was "Jumankauta juu nääs päivää" that he claims to have done in 20 minutes. It features the Kummeli character Matti Näsä singing about his car, a

Toyota Mark II The is a compact, later mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed in Japan by Toyota between 1968 and 2004. Prior to 1972, the model was marketed as the Toyota Corona Mark II. In some export markets, Toyota marketed the vehicle as the Toyota Cres ...

. Despite of the popularity of Kummeli, Silvennoinen also worked as a

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

in the late 1990s.

2000s

In 2002 Silvennoinen formed the group SF-Blues with well-known Finnish musicians

Pepe Ahlqvist Pertti "Pepe" Kalevi Ahlqvist (born July 4, 1956) is a Finnish blues singer and musician. Notes External links * Living people 1956 births Blues guitarists Finnish blues musicians Finnish guitarists Finnish male guitarists 20th-c ...

(harp, vocal) and

Dave Lindholm Ralf-Henrik ”Dave” Lindholm (born 31 March 1952, Helsinki) is a Finnish guitarist and singer-songwriter who has made a career under his own name and also participated in some noteworthy groups.CD.html" ;"title="ytmi-lehden kustantama CD">ytm ...

(guitar, vocal), with all members sharing songwriting duties on their first album. In the following year, singer

Erja Lyytinen Erja Lyytinen (born July 7, 1976 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Youth, studies and influences Erja Lyytinen began playing the guitar when she was 15 years old. Around the same time, she started writing h ...

replaced Lindholm for next album. In 2005 guitarist

Jukka Tolonen Jukka Jorma Tolonen (born 16 April 1952) is a Finnish jazz guitarist.Lönnqvist, Niclas.Jukka Tolonen är musikern av Guds nåde (in Swedish), Hufvudstadsbladet, August 3, 2018. Tolonen became famous as guitarist for the progressive rock band T ...

and singer Mikko Kuustonen joined the group in order to make their second album, ''Joutomailla''. Other musicians that have been involved with the band include singer Eero Raittinen and keyboardist Jukka Gustavson. In the 2000s Silvennoinen did voice acting work for some children movie characters needing Finnish overdubs.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Mature And Cool'' (1992) * ''Bobcat'' (1997) * ''Sweet Surrender'' (1999) * ''Blues Blue Sky'' (2000) * ''Miehet kaatuu'' (2003)

Tabula Rasa

* ''Tabula Rasa'' (1975) * ''Ekkedien Tanssi'' (1976)

Q.Stone

* ''Q. stone'' (1988) * ''Pink on blue'' (1990) * ''Q. stone III'' (1992) * ''No substitute'' (1993)

Kummeli

* ''Artisti maksaa'' (1994) * ''Kummeli Stories Soundtrack'' (1995)

SF-Blues

* ''SF-Blues'' (2002) * ''Joutomailla'' (2005) * ''Man – Be Careful!'' (2007)

Filmography

As writer, actor or voice actor: * '' Kummeli Stories'' (1995) – screenwriter, actor * '' Kummeli Kultakuume'' (1997) – actor * ''Johtaja Uuno Turhapuro – pisnismies'' (1998) – actor * ''

Kummelin Jackpot ''Kummelin Jackpot'' is a 2006 Finnish comedy film directed by Pekka Karjalainen. It features the Kummeli group of comedians. Cast * Heikki Silvennoinen - Pertti 'Pera' Järvelä * Timo Kahilainen - Pasi 'Japa' Jaatinen * Heikki Vihinen - Anss ...

'' (2006) – actor * ''Autot'' (2006) – voice actor * ''Karvakamut '' (2006) – voice actor * '' Kummeli Alivuokralainen'' (2008) – actor *Ralliraita (2009) - actor

Television programs

* ''Q-Klubi'' (1991–1992) – actor * ''

'' (1991–) – writer, producer, actor * ''Lihaksia ja luoteja'' (1996) – writer, producer, actor * ''Aatami & Beetami'' (1997) – actor * ''Lääkärit tulessa'' (1998) – actor * ''Herra Heinämäen Lato-orkesteri'' (1999) – narrator * ''Mankeli ''(2000–2001) – writer, producer, actor * ''Jurismia!'' (2002) – actor * ''Beatlehem'' (TV-movie, 2003) – actor * ''Nyrölä 3'' (2004) – actor * ''Hopeanuolet'' (2007) – actor

References

External links

home page

Heikki Silvennoinen on MySpace
*https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0798628/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvennoinen, Heikki 1954 births Living people People from Savonlinna Blues guitarists Finnish male actors Finnish male guitarists Finnish record producers 20th-century Finnish male singers Finnish blues musicians 21st-century Finnish male singers