Islaja – an alternative star

Islaja, a.k.a. Merja Kokkonen, is a rising name on the alternative music market, and her achievements abroad have finally begun to cause people in Finland to sit up and take notice.

Islaja is pursuing an upwardly mobile international career yet remains largely unknown in her native country. Her three albums have been well received by critics in the music media abroad, and musicians such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth have been following her career with interest.

The fact that Kokkonen is an un-celebrity in Finland despite her appearances at significant international music events is probably largely due to her idiosyncratic musical style. Her intimate performances invariably prompt gushing adjectives such as ‘ethereal’ or ‘evocative’.

Adjectives are not the only problem. A great many genres have been invented specifically to describe her music, such as ‘avant-garde pop’, ‘forest folk’ or ‘psyche folk’.

“I often prompt confusion in people simply by not living in the forest and not busying myself with picking autumn mushrooms. I am a child of the city, and I reckon my music ultimately is just rock.”

Hasten slowly

Kokkonen is no longer annoyed or amazed by far-fetched pigeon-holing of her art, but she is irritated at the low level of interest in Finland in what she is doing. “I believe that very few people here know that I am going to tour China and Japan.”

Nevertheless, Kokkonen is not bitter — on the contrary, she is very happy with where she is now. Her album Ulual yyy, released in the spring, finally sparked some interest in Finland, apart from selling very nicely abroad.

Kokkonen records for the small but energetic Fonal Records label, which has been releasing her albums in a number of countries. She is content with hastening slowly.

Recently, she has had time for very little besides performing and travelling. Among other things, she is opening for Animal Collective on their three-week tour of Europe.

A few dozen thousand souls should be enough

But time must be found for writing songs and recording them. Kokkonen does not describe herself as a recluse, although she enjoys creating and recording her material all by herself. “If you really want to concentrate, you need to exclude the noise and stress of the outside world. I like the idea of withdrawing to a sanctum for creative work.”

Kokkonen knows that her music is in a challenging and marginal genre, although she never really thinks about it when writing songs. She is fully aware that her music requires patience and that there are people whom it simply does not suit.

Her relaxed attitude dates back some three years to the time when she started the Islaja project almost by accident. She never intended to become a songwriter; instead, the project somehow took on a life of its own.

She has also found to her delight that it is possible to make a living on marginal music. It was just a question of learning the right channels. Just over a year ago, she had no interest in becoming a member of Teosto; the 100-euro fee seemed like too much. Today, she has recouped that fee many times over in performance royalties.

Text: Tomi Nordlund
Photos: Maarit Kytöharju