Mika Vainio (1963-2017)

From 1993-2010 Vainio was part of a duo called Pansonic together with Ilpo Väisänen. The band was inspired by bands from the early 1980s such as Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, electroacoustic composers for reggae dub. Pansonic wanted to mix different sound styles, the hard and clean sound from industrial techno that was expanded to long soundscapes with inspiration from reggae and dub. All compositions were made without the use of computers and the sounds were made from homemade and modified synthesizers. All recordings and concerts were performed live. Pansonic made several sound installations and participated in exhibitions such as "Sonic Boom" curated by David Toop.At the same time as Vainio was part of Pansonic, he also published music under his own name and the alias "Ø". In the beginning, a few releases with the Ø alias were expressed as minimal techno-like compositions. But over time, the releases under the "Ø" alias have taken on a slightly different expression, such as the latest Konstallatio. The Ø albums have a poetic approach and slow melodies evolving from warm sounds. Under hs name Mika Vainio he also published releases. Some of the compositions evolved out of life sets and others had specific themes or expressions. Most of Vainio´s material were made by using different synthesizers. 

Vainio had on several occasions collaborated with musicians with other instruments such as Stephen O`Malley which resulted in the release Aanipaa - with lyrics by the poet Anna Akmatova. Vaini had long been inspired by guitarists like Loren Connors and Keiji Haino and made his first album with guitar in 2013 as "Life… It eats you up". Over the years Vainio had a number of collaborations with other musicians, where they have composed music together, such as Arne Deforce (cellist), Charlemagne Palestine, Alan Vega, Franck Vigroux, Joachim Nordwall, Lucio Capece, Stephen O`Malley. Of other projects Vainio made a number of sound installations. Carsten Nicolai / Alva Noto collected a selection of the sound installations that were made over a 10-year period in the publication "Time Examined" published on the record company Raster Noton.

Some of the installations have been in direct response to space and architecture, such as at the Berlin Biennale. Others have had a specific context, such as a composition for the work "Trollveggen" by Hannah Ryggen which was performed at the National Gallery in Oslo and the Museum of Modern Art, Malmö. In 2015, Vainio was commissioned to make a sound installation for the performance of Reingold at the classic muster Ruhr Triennial in Bochum. In connection with the same event, he worked with the conductor Theodor Currentiz and his orchestra "Musica Aeterna Ensemble" for contributions to the staging of "Das Rheingold" by Richard Wagner. The contribution was a 15 minute prelude, a 15 min composition with the percussionists in the middle of the piece, as well as some smaller contributions.

Significant collaborations have taken place with the Finnish artist and composer Erkki Kurenniemi. The first time Vainio worked with Kurenniemi was with the duo Pan Sonic in 2002. Pan Sonic got to use his restored instruments, many built by Kurenniemi himself, from the 1960s. 

In 2013, Vainio got the opportunity to work with Kuriennimi's instruments again, where I made new compositions based on his instruments. The composition was performed at Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.  Other significant collaborations have been with Alan Vega and Martin Rev (Suicide) and Keijio Haino.