Biografie1984, PEER GÜNT holds all the triumph cards in their hand and are about to play a winning hand in the poker game of rock and roll by accepting a golden trophy for the annual battle of the bands. Drunk and loud but with the biggest groove and most fabulous heavily rocking boogie style they show that rock ´n´ roll is still alive and kicking strong. Just a few months back the guys didn´t even know that they would be playing in the contest. It was the band´s bass player Tsöötz who insisted that Peer Günt would send in a demo. Meanwhile, the rest of the group weren´t too keen on the idea claiming that they were too old and hairy to take part in a teenage pop-rock contest. Tsöötz Kettula didn´t give in. Finally, the rest of the band agreed to record the required six minutes on a c-cassette with two accordion microphones, of which only one fully functioned. They made sure to cut the recording exactly at the required six minutes! Without listening to the tape they wrapped it into the middle page of a gentlemen´s mag, in protest to the superficiality of the contest, and sent it off to the jury.



1976-80



Some time 1976, in a Finnish railroad town, south-eastern Finland, Kouvola - also known for the remorseless reputed army base located nearby - the first version of PEER GÜNT was beginning to form. The name comes from a rose and it wasn´t until later that the band discovered, the Danish playwright Ibsen had a play by almost the same name based on the Norwegian composer Grieg´s music. Nevertheless, right from the beginning, the spine of the band has been Timo Nikki. In his home town, he was also known as the guy who used to play his guitar loud, with the window wide open, through a stack of old tube valve radios as his amp. (This "amp solution" was also used with the band´s first rehearsal sessions). The first form of Peer Günt was a trio with the following line-up: T. Nikki, guitar, P. Johansson, drums, and V. Suopanki, bass. After this constellation there were a couple of different line-ups. 1978, Peer Günt consisted of T. Nikki, guitar and vocals, the band´s later-on trusty sound technician R. "Boss" Saarinen , drums, J. Loikala, bass, and Sefi, keyboard/synth.



Soon after this, the line-up had ghanged to T. Nikki, guitar and vocals, R. Saarinen, drums, a later-on famous entertainer T. Kipahti, (now known as Toni Rossi and who was in charge of PG:s stage lighting at a later stage), guitar and vocals, and P. "Crow" Korppi , bass. T. Kipahti´s singing from his Peer Günt times can be heard, for instance, in "Dead Dog Blues" . (This is a legendary power blues, which in the author´s view should definitely be re-recorded and released).



Already back then, Günt was the loudest reputed band around where they come from and when they played their audience chose to stay 30 meters away from the stage. The band´s music was solidly rhythm ´n´ blues with a hard ´logger´ touch. They released two singles at their own expense but never made any profit on them: ("Never Said I´ll Fall"/"Don´t Wanna Speeding", "Animal Lover"/"Liqueur and Drugs") . As T. Nikki remembers in an interview 1987: "The singles were sold for 10 cents each or sometimes some of the toughs around would threaten to bash the shit out of us unless we gave them a free copy of our single".



1980-84



1980, when PG’s drummer R. Saarinen was called in to do his national, almost a year long service within the Finnish army Teijo Erkinharju joined the band to fill in for Saarinen until his release. Pretty soon the band realised that they couldn’t afford to let go of this animal behind the drum kit. Later better known as Twist Twist, T. Erkinharju remembers in an interview 1997 how he had always dreamt of getting to play together with Nikki since he saw Peer Günt play live for the first time. He referred to Nikki as the wildest guitarist he had seen playing live back then. Surely, Nikki was and is a God damn wild guitarist but so is Twist Twist the wildest drummer ever! (Double kick drum kit - double the Twist).



1981, Peer Günt got an opportunity to record their first single for a record label named ‘Johanna Kustannus’ – now also known as ‘Megamania’. This was thanks to a certain rhythm ’n’ blues musician (Pekka H., alias ´Coupe De Ville´) who had talked the manager of the record label into giving the band a try saying that Peer Günt is a promising blues band. However, in the middle of the recording session the manager ‘Atte Blom’ walked into the studio swearing "This is freaking punk, not blues!" and left the building at once. Just for that very single Peer Günt experimented with their music, being a trio again, with what Nikki has afterwards called "echo heavy".
Nevertheless, the result of this session was a weird covered (black and white stripped bunny themed) single including the songs "Woman on the Radio"/"Drivin´ Like a Mad" (See Discography). Peer Günt’s live performing was shock-treatment to the majority of the Finnish audience (coming from the middle of the woods, as the band too): Loud, and extremely energetic with a double bass drum kit and the band wrecking their instruments at the end of the shows. In retrospect, Nikki and Twist Twist have commented how totaling the instruments was a heck of a lot fun, but they just couldn’t afford to do it with the new equipment:). Fair enough. Around that time the band already had approximately 50 songs of their own, which they kept recording on C-tapes on a regular basis.



After this single, the band’s then bass player and ´manager´ Luigi Sawaletto alias J. Loikala got disturbingly distracted from the dedication of being a band member by his girlfriend and therefore Twist decided to sack him without Nikki knowing. "Oh well, I guess that was the right thing to do anyway", remembers Nikki afterwards in an interview. Whilst they were searching for a new bass player, Nikki and Twist Twist (then also known as Quartz Örwin) found themselves not only working at the same local slaughterhouse during the day time but also rehearsing remorselessly after work. Being the loudest band, Nikki and Twist didn’t always have the best of luck in trying to find, let alone keep places for rehearsing. This went on until 1983 when they bumped into Twist’s old acquaintance and co-band member from Colombo, Teijo Kettula alias Tsöötz at a local bar where all the old musicians, ´wanna-be´ musicians and new musicians used to hang out. Tsöötz declared that he was just the man they were looking for to play the bass in the band. So, the very next day the newly formed trio had their first rehearsal with the legendary ‘Rock Me Baby’ classic as their first song together. There was no return – the trinity had been formed and Nikki started writing songs like never before. Peer Günt’s music had come back to the roots; heavily played loud boogie mixed with slightly ´drunkish´ machinegun rhythm’ n’ blues.



T. Nikki , spicing it up with tasty bluesy slide, and roaring lead vocals; Twist Twist Erkinharju and his legendary double kick drum kit, banging the drums like it was the last day on earth and Tsöötz Kettula in bass guitar –keeping the rhythm! Yet, just as the band had come together and they enjoyed playing as a group Tsöötz was sent behind the bars for four months for his disobedience against the national service, which he had refused to do. However, when the trio had been formed no little obstacles could split the band –Twist and Nikki knew to keep rehearsing until Tsöötz was free to rock ‘n’ roll again. Finally, when Tsöötz was released he was full of determination and also sure that the band had a future if they only wanted so. He made sure to get Peer Günt to participate in the annual battle of the bands in 1984 with its final in Helsinki. He did this regardless of the rest of the band’s resistance, who cynically believed that the contest was only for pop bands.



Nevertheless, Tsöötz had learnt that nobody would pick you up from home: "You have to try getting your foot in the places yourself for you to be noticed if you want to make a living of rock ‘n’ roll". …After the first heat, Peer Günt didn’t hear anything from the contest. The boys thought: "too bad, that’s what always happens with a band like us". However, after some time, the band received a letter apologising for a terrible mistake that had happened and invited the band straight to the semi-final. The band packed their van with the guitars and an extra kick drum and drove to the semi-final (in Kuopio, eastern Finland). It was their turn to play first - they played and didn’t bother staying back for the results but drove home for a sauna.



Six bands of the semi-finals would make it to the final. Peer Günt guessed that they would be the seventh. Their friend (T. Kipahti), who was working at the restaurant where the semi-final was held, rang and confirmed their assumption. Hence, that was the end of the competition for Peer Günt. Nonetheless, for some reason, that particular year seven bands of the semi-final were accepted to the final. "Yes", now the band got an opportunity to play in Helsinki and the gig would be televised throughout the country.



1984-85



…At the time as the winning bands of the competition, starting from the third place, were being announced Nikki had passed out backstage. Once the band was accepted into the final they thought they would end up with the third place. They were even surer about that after their turn on stage thinking that they had played an awfully bad gig, knowing that the press already had their own favourite. The press favouritism had gone to the extent where a winner party for the favoured band had already been set up before the results had been made public at a restaurant nearby the final. However, when the results were announced for the third and second place and the loudspeaker said that the winning band came from Kouvola, Twist Twist and Tsöötz had to hurry to wake Nikki up for an encore. The band that was expected to win was placed third. Therefore, Peer Günt got to enjoy the party originally organised for the other band. Being gentlemen, Nikki, Twist and Tsöötz made a point of congratulating the local, supposed winner band, saying that they felt horrible about winning the contest, ha.




The victory of the contest gave the band a fair deal of publicity within the press, as well as interest from record companies. Moreover, various gig organisers around the country had noticed the existence of the band. In fact, already before the contest Euros Records had been interested in the band but weren’t completely convinced about Peer Günt selling well enough to be a worthwhile investment. Hence, they offered Peer Günt a deal for recording a 7" single to start off with. But the band was determined: "All or nothing" –"No long play, no singles either". The Euros Records still wanted to see the band play live in Helsinki: The success in the national rock contest allowed the band’s aim of a full-length album to be made possible.



1985-86



T. Nikki & Co. had found the recipe: "Slide blues based hard rock ‘n’ roll with the speed of an express train". Their first album bearing simply the band name "Peer Günt" was released in 1985. All the songs on the album were ready made before entering the studio and recorded live with the exception of some of the rhythm guitar and vocals. The album was recorded in a studio which was built in an old outdoor sauna in the middle of the Finnish country side with the temperature being closer to + - 0 C degrees inside. However, with a whole lot of raw energy and the right kind of attitude anything is possible, (even though the producer T.T. Oksala wasn’t too keen on the place in the beginning). Consequently, the album tells what Peer Günt’s world is made of. Featuring the songs "Fuck the Jazz", "Bad Girls", "Wild Women", "Big Tits" etc. The opening track "I Don’t Wanna be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star" has always been the motto of the members of the band. To quote the beginning of the song:



"Swaggering guys like Kansas city fags/ sucking their cheecks like hungry shads/ if that´s a look of the rock ´n´ roll there´s something wrong /I know the business will take a part of me, in sunshine dreams I do not believe/ but there is one thing I wanna say it never kills my blues /I don´t wanna be a rock ´n´ roll star/just wanna play my honky guitar/I don´t give a damn to fortune and fame/ just wanna do this in my own way".



The release of the debut album was followed by intensive touring around and across Finland with some 150 gigs in dance halls, bars and at almost all of the summer rock festivals. In addition, both readers and editors of the leading Finnish music magazine (Soundi) ranked Peer Günt as the best "new comer" of the year. Needless to say, their debut album was a welcomed package, which sold really well. Soon, Peer Günt was known as the wildest, loudest and simply the best live act ever in the history of Finnish rock ‘n’ roll. Consequently, in 1985 the band even got to taste their fair share of the "little girl boom of the eighties" when playing at some summer festivals. The band was rather amused by it but did afterwards admit that seeing little girls crying after them, banging on the tour bus made them think of quitting…



In the end of 1985, Peer Günt went into the Euros studio for the second time to record a single. But why make a single if you can make it a mini album? So, the legendary "Through the Wall" mini–album featuring songs as "She was Here for the Rock ‘n’ Roll", "Red Chevy", "Loosing My Mind" etc was released. The length of the album was 5 songs as a vinyl and 6 songs as c–cassette. The tape version includes the bonus track "Behind the Line" from the b–side of the first Peer Günt Euros single (See discography). The first edition of "Through the Wall" was sold out in no time.



1986-87



Summer 1986, the band released their second album titled "Backseat" , which climbed up to the top of the Finnish charts immediately. This album, that sold gold, is known for the evergreen classics such as "Backseat", "Let Her In", "Bad Boys are Here", "I Take Your Money (and Honey)","Hole in the Door´, as well as "Liquor and Drugs". Peer Günt had made their audience hungry for more. The band had a lot to do in order to keep up with the pace of 20 gigs per month and playing all the summer rock festivals in the country – sometimes 2 gigs a day. Backseat was noticed also abroad and released officially in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and France. The release of the album was accompanied by maxi-single "Bad Boys Are Here" and a 7" single "Backseat/Little Squeezer". The modified version of "Bad Boys are Here" on the maxi-single became a relatively big ´disco´ hit of the year in Finland along with "Backseat". (Back then even real music was played in ´discos, which were mainly arranged in conjunction with live band performances). Little Squeezer was a Peer Günt live standard, which was also added as an extra track on the Swedish, English and French editions of Backseat, (note that not all of these editions include "Little Squeezer" as an extra track). In Finland, it wasn’t released together with the vinyl version but was to be released on the cd–version of Backseat next year. The Finnish rock audience and music magazines once again praised Peer Günt: The band topped all the possible categories for bands, songs and musicians in the music press. Moreover, Peer Günt also visited Stockholm for the first time where they played at Gröna Lund park festival for the joy of Swedish summer festival organisers.



The members of Peer Günt also made deals with different equipment brands: Twist Twist with Pearl Drums and Paiste cymbals, whereas Nikki and Tsöötz made an arrangement with the Finnish Tokai-guitar dealer and started using Rocktorn and Sundown amps. A video clip of "She was Here for the Rock´n´ Roll" was also shot this year. Accordingly, the Peer Günt fan club was busy writing back to fans around the country and abroad. In the beginning, Tsöötz´s mum helped out with the fan club. This was when, fans could receive hand written answers to their letters with an autographed band photo.




1987-88



Although, Peer Günt’s live act never consisted of tasteless clichés they made history in Finland with their stage set up: Huge stacks of loudspeakers and amps together with stylish computer led spot lights, as well as bombs and Twist Twist’s legendary drum kit. Musically, there have never been any extra effects other than just the trio and a great deal of raw energy with loud music and a stylish set of lights. Based on all this, the band earned their reputation as the number one live band in Finland. As a gig review from ’87 states: "The band members may be hicks from the woods but they surely have an understanding for real rock ‘n’ roll". 1987, just prior to all the summer festivals, Peer Günt released their third full-length album "Good Girls Don´t…" with songs such as "Midnight Train", "Bartender", "Let the Boys Run the Business", "Boys Got Rhythm", "Years on the Road", "Good Girls Don’t Drink Whiskey" etc.



This was the first Peer Günt album to be released as a CD with a bonus track "Boogie Man". At the same time, "Backseat" and PG’s debut album including "Through the Wall" were released as CDs. The 7" single released from "Good Girls Don’t…" had "Bartender" on side A and "Girls are Gonna Play the Game" on side B (See Discography). The album was a guaranteed success for the summer and topped the Finnish album charts until late autumn. Subsequently, Peer Günt was busy playing at most of the summer festivals and touring across the country with the rate of over 150 gigs a year. Peer Günt also played at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and did a short tour of Sweden. Still, these gigs weren’t being promoted well enough for people to know about them, as many Scandinavian rockers have afterwards regretted. However, Peer Günt did a couple of gigs in Russia for the first time with great success.




Furthermore, that year Peer Günt did a Hard rock tour with Zero Nine and Backsliders. Twist Twist remembers in an interview in 2005, where one night the three bands got a hotel bin and filled it with three bottles of vodka and Sprite and passed the bucket around. This tour became a tradition for Zero Nine and Peer Günt for the next three years with the third band varying from Backsliders to Stone. 1987, Twist Twist had his legendary mirror covered Pearl double bass drum kit tailor made. Similarly, Nikki and Tsöötz had the cover of "Backseat" painted on their guitars. The band members appeared in the Finnish music media advertising their instruments, although in a way that suited them and the band´s image as an honest rock´n roll band.



"Good Girls Don’t…" was also released in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and France. Besides, Twist Twist played together with the legendary Hurriganes bass player, Cisse Häkkinen, guitarist Albert Järvinen, and one of the founders of the Leningrad Cowboys Mato Valtonen on a 7" single under the name "Bad Boys Club". In addition, a video clip for "Backseat" was filmed during 1987. By then, Peer Günt´s trusty old tour bus had already taken the band around and across Finland many times. The bus was covered with graffiti greetings from PG fans; one of them stating simply: "Tsöötz is a tuoghie". By many, Peer Günt was considered as "the band for roughies".



At the end of the year, Peer Günt released a mini live album "Bartender" including an ‘abused’ disco version of "Bartender", "Boogieman" on side A and four live songs on side B (See Discography). The live songs on the mini album were recorded at Tavastia club in Helsinki two nights in a row. Moreover, Peer Günt was asked to play a gig together with the Sleepy Sleepers (now known as the Leningrad Cowboys). Many Peer Günt fans were wondering what this thing was all about: The two bands on the stage playing one another’s songs all dressed up and with one of the most impressive light shows that had been seen so far in the legendary Tavastia rock club. The whole orchestra on stage was ‘conducted’ by Matti ‘Peltsi’ Pellonpää (The on-screen leader of the Leningrad Cowboys, a Finnish actor and a bohemian legend).



Consistently, Peer Günt kept touring around Finland playing 2-3 gigs a week mostly in halls, since they had simply grown out of playing in clubs/bars since 1985 because of their largish stage set. In addition, the band went to introduce themselves to the British audience twice during the year playing in London at the Marquee and Hippodrome clubs. Once again, the promotion of the gigs wasn’t properly taken care of and it didn’t lead to any further action, although a legend like Lemmy Kilmister was present, as well as some music reporters and the Girlschool. (Well, it resulted in PG being handed the honour of being in charge of the music of the official Motörhead Head Bangers –club anniversary at Hippodrome, London. This time, both Lemmy & Animal Taylor were present). Peer Günt´s own fan club issued a booklet that was sent out to the fan club members. Also, t-shirts and sweat bands were sold at summer festivals where Peer Günt played. Nonetheless, the private company who took over the running of the club failed to keep the ball rolling and therefore many loyal fans were let down in 1989.



1988-89



In the autumn, the band went into the studio for a couple of weeks to write the songs for and to record their new album. Just in time for the Christmas (’88) rush, a new album titled "Fire Wire" was released. Including classics, such as "Fat Girls", "Moses on the Mountain", "Who’s Gonna be Elected", "Wake me Up", "T-Bone Steak and a Bottle of Beer", and a bluesy "Handful of Sand" the album deserves its place in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Furthermore, the album includes a heck of a tight and heavy cover of the legendary "Rock Me Baby", which the band makes sound like one of their songs. As the previous two albums, "Fire Wire" was also released in Sweden, Denmark, England and France. The ´Swedish´, ´Danish´ and ´English´ edition had a more marketable cover than the ´Finnish´ and French editions. Although, also this edition of "Fire Wire" was printed and sold in Finland as well. This blueish covered version was launched after the first 10 000 ex. of the first edition were sold. The original bomb covered edition was also, eg, sold in Sweden with the difference that the year on the cover had been changed to 1989 from 1988 (See Discography). The cd-version of "Fire Wire" includes an extra track: "Lay Your Money Down". Similarly, the 7" single from the album includes an additional song on its B–side: "Go Home and Eat Your Fish", which is dedicated to Twist Twist (See Discography). Although, the album was more of a rush job (according to Twist Twist), right down to the cover picture, it still managed to be a tight and well-considered package of Peer Günt. As Nikki reasons in an interview: "Peer Günt wouldn’t be Peer Günt if our albums were planned in each detail before entering the studio". Peer Günt fans had been waiting for the album for closer to two years and the album sold well (followed ´Good Girls Dont.." in being number one in the Finnish charts), as well as got flattering reviews in Middle-Europe.



Even though, it didn’t sell as well as the previous two albums Peer Günt still continued dominating the top ten of the Finnish charts (or the top 1, as the band members point out themselves). Besides, the video clip for "Bartender" was filmed at one of the summer rock festivals in Finland (Kuusrock ´88). Furthermore, the band went to play in Russia and Estonia for a second time, which resulted in a video clip for "Wake Me Up" being shot in "Linna Hall" by the Kaurismaki Film Crew, Estonia (the huge hall was literally full-packed!). Also, several Peer Günt live gigs were televised by the Finnish TV during 1987-88. On top of this, the band did a tour of Norway and toured across Finland together with the Girlschool, as well as did a few gigs in North-Korea with another Finnish group "Sielun Veljet" as a part of a Finnish/North-Korean culture exchange project.



1989-90



Peer Günt kept touring around the country stubbornly with a pace of 2-3 gigs a week, 150 gigs a year and their songs were common knowledge to most of the Finnish boys, girls and even the more mature audience. The band spent most of their time on the road and therefore logically their first compilation album was titled "Years on the Road". Although, with some hassle from the band’s record company, this package was released in spring 1989 containing some of the Peer Günt evergreens known of by heart by the vast majority of the Finnish youth and the rest of Peer Günt’s audience (See Discography). In addition, the compilation was released in France. Nevertheless, towards the end of the eighties the international music business with a by–taste of multinational economic rationalism was focused more on producing technical, machine made dance and pop music. This development didn’t leave too much space for genuine/"think for themselves" rock ‘n’ roll musicians as Peer Günt. Other bands around Peer Günt started splitting up or changing their styles in order to secure their position in the limited Finnish music scene. Luckily, Peer Günt’s not one of those bands and have rock ‘n’ roll as their life style rather than only a way of making a comfortable living.



The years of fame hadn’t changed the way these small town rockers saw the business greedy and remorseless. Peer Günt decided to fulfil a plan that they had had for more than two years: (Peer Günt had principally grown out of rock clubs and bars.) A club/bar tour with a very basic stage set and equipment, such as limited lighting, Twist Twist´s drum kit with only one bass drum (although a double pedal) and less of everything else, and one third of the usual loudspeaker/amp set. The band did this with playing both their own songs and covers from the time the band started playing together. The set list, including not only well selected covers from such artists as Ted Nugent, George Thorogood, Rory Gallagher, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Johnny Winter and Rick Derringer but also old Peer Günt songs, proved that the band was still them selves but only better than ever! To quote Nikki in a radio interview before going on the stage during the club-tour: "This time the playing is done by men not by stretch pants". Already earlier P.G had played gigs that were reminiscent of the club tour, where the band, including the drummer, would stop and chat to the audience in between songs. Sometimes Twist Twist would even perform his own guitar solo for the audience.



"Fuck the Jazz", "Behind the Line" and, of course "I Don’t Wanna be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star" in the set list were pure statements against the state of rock ‘n’ roll and the shallow plastic way of living adopted by the majority. In other words, Peer Günt returned to their roots, playing in pubs and clubs for their most faithful audience that had started reaching the legal age. Prior to the tour Peer Günt released a single at their own expense including their cover prelude versions of two rhythm ‘n’ blues/boogie standards "Messing With The Kid"/"Tube Snake Boogie" (See Discography). "Tube Snake Boogie" then became a Peer Günt live standard with Tsööz in vocals. This single was never sold and was only made for promotional use, mainly for radio stations.



1990-91



Shortly after the month long tour, during which Peer Günt had one gig per day (See Club–tour add), the band went into the studio to record their fifth full-length studio album. The band was well warmed up by the tour, which can be heard on the album released in July 1990 named: "Don´t Mess With the Country Boys". One look at the cover picture is enough for one to realise that teasing country boys is perhaps not the best idea (See Discography). This brilliant album shows that the band is tighter and heavier than ever but still has its roots deep in the blues. The album starts with ‘a kick in the teeth’: "When Hell Breaks Loose". It is a convincing song about how the whole system is going down the drain if people don’t take their heads out of their arses and have a good look around: "Who rules, you choose, what ya gonna do when the hell breaks loose…".



Additionally, the album includes songs such as "Southbound Drivin’ Man", "Red Head", "Let the Fools do the Runnin’" (another ‘participating’ Peer Günt lyric in line with "Behind the Line"), and a pure blues song "You Let a Good Man Go". Moreover, motivated by the club tour Peer Günt paid tribute to the great Irish rhythm ‘n’ blues legend Rory Gallagher by recording a fine cover of Rory’s "I Take What I Want". Nonetheless, the CD edition includes two extra songs that can’t be found on vinyl, which are not just left-overs but part of the best songs on the album: "Silver Bullet" and "She’s Got Legs". Furthermore, a 7" single with "Let the Fools Do the Runnin’"/"Fat Man’s Boogie" and a maxi single with "Let the Fools Do the Runnin’"/"Southbound Drivin’ Man" were released from the album.



As with the previous three albums, Nikki had received some help with the lyrics from Esa Kaartamo, (a musician also known from the ancient "Broadcast" band), although lyrics have never played a major role in the band’s music. Tsöötz remarks in an interview: "Rock ‘n’ roll is not too much about the lyrics...the three words that are most often repeated in our songs are ‘boy’, ‘girl’ and ‘whisky’ and I think the latter two are important for every young male". Although, the excellence of the album it only sold passably due to the changed focus towards machine made dance music within the main stream. The album was also released in France with the difference of the album title being on the cover, which isn´t the case with the Finnish edition. The video clips from "Don´t Mess With the Country Boys" were the anti-yuppie themed "Let the Fools Do the Runnin´", starring the man from the cover and also "You Let a Good Man Go", which was a bit of a TV hit. Nevertheless, the release of "Don’t Mess…" was followed by intensive touring around the country at festivals, and in clubs and dance halls. Initiated by the club tour, Peer Günt now toured with a remarkably lighter and simpler stage set. Because of the interest of the main stream laying in techno music, as well as the generation of the eighties having started establishing their families and so forth, many concert places around the country were forced to close down. Therefore, Peer Günt started focusing on playing in bars instead. Yet, Peer Günt didn’t completely abandon their younger fans, and played a couple of gigs a year in places where alcohol wasn’t served. The band kept playing an average of 2-3 gigs a week until 1991. This year, Peer Günt also did another Hard Rock Tour with the Zero Nine. So far, the last so called Hard Rock Tour including Peer Günt was a short tour together with the Royal Tramps and Boycott in 1991.



Over the years, there had been a number of people involved in Peer Günt´s road crew. The regulars were: R. "Boss" Saarinen; (main)sound technician, P. "Pena" Varpa, sound and lights, O. "Royal Tramps" Kykkänen, sound monitoring, as well as, Spede, drum monitoring. Furthermore, J. Marjaranta (also known from the Leningrad Cowboys and Guitar Slingers) and S. Kiiski (also known from the Royal Tramps) were part of PG´s road crew during the late eighties. Other people involved in P.G´s road crew were T. Kipahti (alias Hooli/Toni Rossi) and Matti Lakka (alias Mootte). T. Kipahti was in charge of P.G´s lighting for about 100 gigs in the mid ´80´s and even did some backing vocals on the band´s albums. M. Lakka also worked as P.G´s lighting man for about 150 gigs and was in charge of the fan club.



1991-93



However, since nothing new had happened and the band now, more than ever, experienced what you could call a ‘vicious circle’ with touring around the same country playing the same songs for the same audience and having to pay off the mortgage for all the equipment. On the top of that, the economic depression of the early ‘90’s forced the Euros Records into bankruptcy. The reduced audience and fewer selling albums meant less pay and harder work for the band. In 1991, Twist Twist was asked to join the Leningrad Cowboys, which was also the final thing for Peer Günt’s faithful sound technician Reima Saarinen to decide leaving the band for other projects. Consequently, Peer Günt was also forced to cut down on the amount of road crew. Furthermore, Nikki was working in the band’s Pee Gee studio producing bands like The Royal Tramps, The Blue Yodle, Francine (Pääesiintyjat), Whizz Kids, Kalevi Kullasvaara & Tom Roinila and Dragon’s Tail, and was also becoming interested in sky diving, whilst Tsöötz was busy fiddling with his Harley. The band would have needed a break but couldn’t afford it because of the bank loan. However, being survivors and owning their own equipment the band was able to keep touring in pubs and clubs around the country with a pace of 90 gigs a year playing their own songs spiced up with tasty rhythm ‘n’ blues classics with their own extremely energetic and heavy touch.




1993-94



In October 1993, Peer Günt organised the band’s 10th anniversary together with the Royal Tramps who were celebrating their 5th year of existence in Helsinki at Tavastia under the heading "15 Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll". (T.Nikki produced the first Royal Tramps album. Twist Twist featured on the same album as a guest musician playing the percussions). Both bands were on stage simultaneously playing songs from both bands. The gig was recorded by R. Saarinen but the tape was unfortunately never mixed and got later ruined by savage water from a leaking pipe. At last, in November 1993 Peer Günt released a CD single with three songs "Shotgun Wedding", "Small Town Maniacs" and a bluesy "Not This Time" as a pre-taste of their new album (See Discography). Megamania (Johanna) was Peer Günt’s new record company and the band’s new sound technician was Mikko Engberg. Finally, the 6th of April 1994 a new Peer Günt album with the name "Smalltown Maniacs" was released.



The album was welcomed by Peer Günt fans who had anxiously been waiting for new material for four years. The album sold well and the release of it was followed by intensive touring around Finland, always when Twist Twist wasn’t on the road with the Leningrad Cowboys. (Twist’s Leningrad Cowboys appointment set limits for Peer Günt’s touring and sometimes even caused cancellations of pre-arranged gigs). Nevertheless, Smalltown Maniacs proved that the band is still alive and well; many journalists had already assumed the band having quit since they hadn’t actively searched into the media spotlights. A band, which keeps a low profile in the media and on the stage, doesn’t need to mean a dead band. Songs like "Shotgun Wedding", "Dying Ducks in the Thunderstorm", "Ghost Town", "Midnight Shuffle", "Smalltown Maniacs", "Hot Shot", and "Woodpeckers on a Run" slam the message of hard rock ‘n’ roll in everybody’s face with such force that no space for doubts about its honesty is left! In addition, this wickedly raw album includes the traditional and required blues per album "Not This Time".



The little surprises of the album were "Kinky Love" without the guitar but with mouth organ and the last song "Lost in Life" about the danger of living with a bottle. Clearly, the album proves that the band’s music has only got tighter and better over the years (including some of T. Nikki’s cynically realistic lyrics). All the songs on the album were written by Nikki and took over a year to record. In addition, the album was also produced by T. Nikki. In essence, Peer Günt had moved from being in the media spotlight to being more of a cult band amongst the real rock ‘n’ roll audience. In regards to this, in an interview in 1994 Nikki pondered over how the challenge for Peer Günt was to learn how to handle the more matured crowd that goes to see live music in rock clubs. The video clip for "Smalltown Manics" album was "Shotgun Wedding", which was filmed for a TV show.



1995-98



Peer Günt kept obstinately playing around 70 gigs a year whenever the band members’ other projects allowed time for it. While Peer Günt wasn´t on the road, Nikki played the guitar and accordion in pubs around the country with the Border Devils, which is an acoustic trio playing blues covers. However, in late September 1996, Peer Günt was, more or less intentionally, put in depot for two years until September 1998 when Peer Günt did a 10 gig tour of Finland once more. Just prior to the break and in conjunction with the tour in September ´96 Peer Günt was invited to visit a ´pop chart show ´on the Finnish TV as the ´live act of the week´. In the TV show, Peer Günt performed two live songs and was then interviewed by the hosts, (of whom the other one was "Remu/Hurriganes" Aaltonen). In the autumn 1997, Megamania released a new Peer Günt compilation album "Golden Greats" with 20 songs featuring "Woman on the Radio" from 1981 as a rarity (See Discography). Although, offering a relief to the urge of real rock ‘n´ roll and radiating a fair bit of nostalgia the album can be said to be more of a compromise in terms of the song selection and the representativeness of the package. However, it has been selling well and steadily ever since its release in accordance to Peer Günt´s gigs. Moreover, the tour in September 1998 had a great groove and fans welcomed the band back. This time Tsöötz performed as a guitarist on stage during "Tube Snake Boogie" and Twist Twist’s drum kit had grown almost to its original 80’ size and the entire stage set including, lighting and special effects, was more like the eighties (not completely though).




The sense of nostalgia was so thick that one could grab hold of it and the Peer Günt standards followed each other at a remorseless pace, leaving no room for anybody to question the trustworthiness of the band. Peer Günt’s fans hadn’t ever disappeared anywhere; it had more been the question of the band being taken for granted whilst it had been touring such a small country for such a long time. Many of these gigs were sold out - The fans had realised how dull it is to live without Peer Günt (it is just like for a Finn to live without sauna and spirits)! Besides, many fans from the eighties had now had enough time to settle down and build their families and therefore it was a great time to go and experience their old idols and the feeling of real rock ‘n’ roll again.



1998-2001



For some time, Peer Günt’s touring had not only been limited by Twist Twist’s doings. After producing various bands and artists in the Pee Gee studio, Nikki became a part of one of the Finnish pop rock legends Kirka’s road crew being in charge of the lighting and sound department together with Peer Günt’s mixer Enberg. Tsöötz had also started playing the guitar in two local bands in Kouvola: "Lucky Seven" and "Oldies but Baldies" playing rock ‘n’ roll covers as the names anticipate. As well as this, Twist Twist had another cover band project "David & Goljat" together with some Leningrad Cowboys members. Furthermore, the band members had established their own families, which also set limitations for Peer Günt’s touring. Nevertheless, in the summer of 1999, Peer Günt played at a couple of festivals and success was guaranteed. For the older audience, it was purely nostalgia and the honest joy of reuniting with the music of Peer Günt. For the younger audience, many of whom saw the band for the first time, these PG gigs provided a fantastic opportunity to experience some of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll music ever played live with such skill, groove, attitude, and energy that left them standing open mouthed for days! Literally, that was the case: hundreds of young music lovers found Peer Günt, or became music lovers after having seen and heard the band playing live!



Between September 1998 and September 2001, Peer Günt played approximately 20-30 gigs a year in music clubs, halls and at summer festivals. The success was guaranteed with sold out clubs and people particularly visiting summer festivals for Peer Günt. Furthermore, in January 2000 the Finnish National Broadcast Corporation (YLE) televised a Peer Günt gig from the sold out Tavastia club. This was another opportunity for new fans to discover the band and for old fans to enjoy the force of the Peer Günt classics. As previous year, Peer Günt was to play at three festivals during summer 2001 but due to the Leningrad Cowboys could only play at two of them. Nonetheless, to make up for that loss, the band toured across Finland several times during the year playing mainly in rock clubs.



During the year of 2000, all the Peer Günt albums up to "Don’t Mess With the Country Boys" were re-released by Warner Brothers in Finland. Yet, "Through the Wall" mini -lp and some of the CD bonus tracks from the original Euros CD:s, as well as single b-sides weren´t re-released (See Discography). Peer Günt´s sound technician in 2001 was Richard Hiles. In 2002, Antti Vuorela was in charge of this.




Additionally, Twist Twist was also playing the drums in a band called "No Problems" and the legendary "Road Crew" (alongside the band’s original drummer), as well as on other band’s recordings. For example, he was involved in an show arranged by a group called "Osmos Cosmos". Twist Twist appeared in the live show on the white screen playing the drums with his legendary Peer Günt drum kit - (the part of the show was named "The war of drummers", which took place between Twist and Osmos Cosmos´ drummer). (This ´war of drummers´ ended up on Osmo´s Cosmo´s album in 2002). In 2003, Twist Twist also played drums in a song titled "Erkinharju Twist" on Turo´s Hevi Gee´s album. Obviously, this song is all about Twist Twist himself.



2001 was Peer Günt´s 25th anniversary, a special limited edition t-shirts, sweaters and caps were sold during the band´s short Finland tour in late August and early September. In May 2002 Warner Bros. Finland released another compilation including tunes from the first five Peer Günt albums (Fire Wire being the last).



Sadly, in July 2002 The Royal Tramps bass player ´Welle´ lost his life in a traffic accident. Both Peer Günt and The Royal Tramps got together for a special gig in the memory of Welle at the ´Torvi´ club in Lahti, Finland, where the proceeds of the gig went to Welle´s family. (Although, the gig was only advertised on the day it was completely sold out. According to Twist Twist the gig remained very much of those extremely raw and energetic gigs Peer Günt played in 1984!!).



2002-03



After a year´s break (Sept. 2001 - Sept. 2002) Peer Günt was steadily back on the road again, playing an average of eight gigs a month. The band had also become the boys´ main focus and project again - no other commitments in other bands restricted the touring of P.G anymore. To prove that they were seriously back in business, the band made their first international performance since the late 80s playing the Sweden Rock Festival 2003. The PG Rough Time Crew consisted of Pasi Vanhatalo: lighting and stage monitors, Mikko: sound monitoring and Marko "Hämppy" Hämäläinen: bus hire and ´occasional drum-technician´:). Peer Günt merchandise was (and is still) sold by Longplay (Kaarle Viikate & Kimmo H.) at P.G gigs and on the internet.



2004


During 2004, Peer Günt recorded a new studio album in the Sound Track Studios with Olli Kykkanen (The Royal Tramps). In April, Peer Günt fans could already get a first taste of the forthcoming album with the release of the band´s new single ´Backdoor Men´, (which was mixed by T.T Oksala). The single containing two thorough-good Peer Günt songs (Backdoor Men/Flying Man) was released on the 7th of April and climbed straight to number 3 on the charts. This was a long anticipated event - ten years to the day! Partly a result of this, Peer Günt continued to tour intensively throughout the year.



The release of the second Peer Günt Ranch Label single ´Motorcycle Woman´ on December 2nd proved again that the band hadn´t changed a bit. The two songs ´Motorcycle Woman´ and ´Scarecrow Shoes´ rock more than convincingly - the band´s playing and Nikki´s vocals are tight as hell. The single is also mixed in a manner, which knows no mercy for your loudspeakers (mixed by Mikko Karmila). Clearly, a piece of Rock ´n´ Roll that the band members ought to be proud of!



2005



After nearly 11 years, a brand new Peer Günt album ´No Piercing, No Tattoo´ was released on February 22nd through the Ranch Label. The album´s blunt title manifests the band´s healthy stance in the rock ´n´ roll industry - too often bands´ images are pre-designed and entirely built around their looks and decorations rather than their musicianship. To quote T.Nikki in a recent interview: "So many of these so called stars have bolts and nuts screwed everywhere in their bodies..." The album contains a raw but powerful dose of Peer Günt from 2004, including three of the tracks from the previous two singles. Not too much detail, polishing or corrections, but a whole deal of the famous P.G country-boy attitude and feeling. The tunes on the CD (which will also be released as a limited vinyl edition later during the year) fit like a clove into the cavalcade of old P.G standards - these songs are ideal for live situations and guaranteed to ´kick some serious arse´! (After five weeks the album had already sold over 10 000 ex., which is in today´s measure is quite a recognition for a band playing hard boogie based rock´n´roll!)



In January, a video clip of ´Motorcycle Woman´ was shot depicting an arm wrestling contest where the band plays in the background. The director of the video clip Aleksi Koskinen described the script as having ´that old road movie feeling´ - It sure does. The clip brings to the fore the ´Finnishness´ of the band and its surrounding circles in a trustworthy but humorous manner.



The band continues to tour constantly, playing an average of 2 gigs per week. Watch out for these ´night time rollers´! It is fair to say, that Peer Günt has over the years functioned as a platform and a common nominator for many Finnish rock bands, musicians and the surrounding circles. Peer Günt is not just a band but a rock´n´roll ´institution´ (without the negative connotation that usually goes with the word), which keeps inspiring new and old rockers by spreading the rage of rock´n´roll!



In summing up, well over 1500 gigs proves that Peer Günt is one of its kind; A bunch of modest, but stubborn "Don’t wanna be rock ’n’ roll stars" owning their own system within the big machinery, playing by their own rules in their small town midnight howling band: A mighty frontal assault of volume demanding a great deal of ancient raw country boy attitude, energy and most of all a whole lotta Rock ‘n’ Roll! As the saying goes: "A Tractor is a tractor". Long live Peer Günt - "The leaking beer can"!!!



Good time rock´n´roll!

Quelle: http://www.peergunt.com/pgindex.htmlDiscografiesiehe Homepage www