Jori Hulkkonnen (aka Zyntherius): Finland's First Superstar DJ

"It's hard to be ignorant these days, especially in the West. There so much information and life experience that historically speaking, we should be looking at our era as a peak, golden age for humanity. These are very crucial times."

Some years before co-producing electroclash's biggest anthem Sunglasses At Night (with DJ Tiga), Jori Hulkkonnen studied philology, 'the analysis of ancient text".

"There's a lot of wisdom around today," he told Skrufff's Benedetta Ferraro, comparing the past with the present. "But we have to use that wisdom in order to make it work."

Jori was chatting about the release of his upcoming album Different, which comes out on the mighty F Communications label shortly. The Finnish producer has also mixed one CD of the label's superb new retrospective compilation Classic And Rare- La Collection Volume 3, with label chief Laurent Garnier handling the other. For Jori, who several months ago was appearing in the likes of Smash Hits under his Sunglasses At Night pseudonym Zyntherius, it's been a busy and fulfilling period.


Skrufff (Benedetta Ferraro): Your press release describes you as Finland's most famous export, do you feel a certain responsibility-

Jori Hulkkonnen: "No I don't feel like that, I think what I do is quite marginal. Music wise we don't really have very much going on here in Finland and we have even less if you think in terms of exporting it. We don't really have artists who are building their careers outside Finland, and I am pretty much unique in that respect. In terms of responsibility, I don't like to think I have any, but I suppose I do represent my country when I'm out on promotional trips or playing gigs. However my focus is solely on my music, everything else is part of my work and what I do."

Skrufff: Your latest album on F Communication is entitled 'Different'; do you feel yourself to be different-

Jori Hulkonnen: "The title has many different connotations, but on a simplistic level I wanted to make it easier to remember, since my previous albums had quite long titles. However it is a very different album from my previous ones in terms of songs. On a bigger scale it reflects my approach to electronic music, which I first started listening to on the radio more than a decade ago. House and techno are not the objective of my music, rather a starting point. I take the rhythms from house and the sounds of techno and start building from there. The end result is related to these genres, but it's not house nor techno."

Skrufff: You do seem to choose very deep titles for your albums in general, such as "When nobody's watching we're invisible" and "The Spirit Inside Me", do you actually believe in aliens or life after death-

Jori Hulkonnen: "I am not really religious, but I feel very spiritual. Music is an outlet on which I concentrate 100%, so if I'm happy with the end result, giving titles to my songs and albums becomes a big part of the whole process. Titles evoke a reaction, an atmosphere and create a connection with the music. The artwork is also very important to me, they all work in synchronicity in taking you to the next level. To me music has always been about more than just sounds coming from a speaker."

Skrufff: Tiga's vocals are featured on one of the tracks what made you choose him, given that he's more of a DJ/producer than a singer-

Jori Hulkonnen: "I have known Tiga for a long time, and "Sunglasses at Night" was the first track he ever sang on, but I always liked his freshness and spontaneity. These qualities give him a certain uniqueness and that usually happens when you do something for the first time. Nobody's told you how to do it, and that's one of the Tiga's great strengths of Tiga; his originality in the way he does things."

Skrufff: your well known in dance circles under your own name, yet thanks to your pop song "Sunglasses at Night", the wider world knows you as Zyntherius, is that at all strange-

Jori Hulkonnen: "I thi Tags

• Jori Hulkkonen
• Zyntherius