Episode 7: Helena Hiltunen: Kohti Tuhoa, Kylmä Sota, Selfish and more!!

In a world where punk sometimes feels like an endless production line of manufactured rage, with bands simply going through the motions, there are still voices that cut through the noise. Voices with a texture and presence that transcend language, grabbing hold of even those of us who don't understand a word of Finnish. Helena is one of those voices. She has what a certain clever French bloke once called the grain of the voice.

Intelligent, humble, idiosyncratic and fiercely enthusiastic, Helena takes us through a life shaped by music, from growing up in small Finnish towns and learning the violin through fear and discipline at music school, to discovering punk and searching for a place within the scene. We talk about struggling to find bands that would accept her, the two punk girls at high school who took her under their wing, and eventually finding her feet in the Finnish hardcore underground. Having played in bands including Kylmä Sota and Selfish, Helena tells us about taking matters into her own hands in 2012, deciding to try singing and forming Kohti Tuhoa with guitarist Ville. We discuss the importance of friendship and trust within a band, the remarkable fact that Kohti Tuhoa have maintained the same line-up since the beginning, and the determination to keep pushing their music forward rather than simply repeating themselves. With a fourth album on the way, that creative restlessness is clearly still alive.

We also explore the less glamorous but equally important realities of playing in bands: being organised, making things happen, balancing touring and creativity with parenthood, and finding ways to keep music an essential part of life as circumstances change. And, as if she wasn't busy enough, Helena has now taken up the drums in black metal band Frigid Winter! From the young outsider searching for a place in the scene to the vocalist who went on to create one of Finnish hardcore's most distinctive bands, Helena's story is one of perseverance, friendship and doing things on your own terms. Helena talks about making space for new, young and upcoming bands on the  Helsinki punk scene, even English pop singer and former glamour model  Sam Fox gets a mention.

Bands:

Transkaakko (Violin) Khatarina (bass) Kylmä sota (bass) Stumm (bass) Palace Beautiful (guitar) Selfish (bass) Kohti Tuhoa (vocals) Frigid Winter (drums)