Malian and Finnish musicians founded the Sinimuso band without a common language

Imagine a band whose seven members do not share a common language.

And not really a musical language either, but everyone hears music differently.

Such a band is Malian-Finnish Sinimuso.

On paper, the problems could seem insurmountable. But when the band members first met, there was no problem.

“We just started playing,” says the band’s chanter and singer Marjo Smolander.

Now, a couple of years later, Sinimuso already has an album and a tour covering the Nordic countries.

Band gives a video call interview from a training camp in Pieksämäki.

Finnish members Marjo Smolander and Jenni Hanikka act as “talkers”, others lie on the sofa in the background, walk around the room and quietly chat about something that causes small bursts of laughter. The atmosphere is warm.

The Malian members of the band do not speak English. Therefore, with the help of Smolander and Hanika, the language is changed from Finnish to French, and with the help of a few other members, it is further changed from French to Bambara.

The idea for a Malian-Finnish band originally came from Smolander and Hanika.

Both had fallen in love with Malian music a long time ago and had also been to Mali on a student exchange. The idea was presented to a Malian singer known from the exchange years Salome Dembélélle.

In September 2022, the group met each other for the first time in the capital of Mali, Bamako.

The atmosphere was enthusiastic, Hanikka recalls.

Sometimes still frustrating. How do you arrange music if the other person hears it differently, and the matter cannot be discussed in a common language?

The most important thing is to let go.

“If others don’t catch on musically or linguistically to their own idea, it’s better to let everyone do as they see fit,” says Smolander.

“In this kind of music, for example, you can’t always find number one. But then you can think that it matters.”

Balaist and singer Ouassa Sogoba identify the “number one” challenge.

“The place where we meet the song [malilaiset] we start singing is strange to a Finn and vice versa. In that case, it sounds wrong to someone else.”

Bambara speaking the word sinimuso means the woman of the future.

The theme fits the stories of Sinimouso people that the status of women in Mali, located in West Africa, is changing.

“Women have become more aware, and men no longer make decisions for them. Women’s self-confidence has grown,” says Sogoba.

Smolander thinks that the change happened thanks to social media.

“Women are finding new models on social media, and gender roles are changing,” he says and explains that many of the band make Tiktok videos.

Calling is still rare among Malian women. A woman’s role is to take care of the home.

The members of Sinimuso say that almost every female musician is judged by her family or relatives.

Certain musical instruments are also not seen as suitable for women, or they may even be forbidden to them.

“And when women get married, they usually stop calling,” says Smolander.

On the other hand, there are many female singers in Mali. It is a more traditional and accepted instrument for a woman.

The situation is pretty much the same in Finland, at least in popular music. Even in Finland, a woman is seen more often as a singer than, for example, behind the drums.

Genre however, it has a lot to do with what it’s like to be a Finnish woman in the music industry, thinks Marjo Smolander, who works in the field of folk music.

“I haven’t been where the girls are,” he says.

There is rather a shortage of men in the folk music field, he says.

Hanikka, on the other hand, brings up the sometimes difficult relationship between femininity and musicianship.

“The music industry is pretty fierce as a woman. All concerts are booked a year in advance. What if you do get pregnant. This industry doesn’t really take femininity into account,” he says.

”

“You can’t expect independence in handling any matter.”

Tempted The Nordic tour is currently underway. Smolander and Hanikka run everything related to the band together, because the project stems from their vision.

Another reason for doing things together is practical.

“Three of the Malians are illiterate. Organizing things in a foreign country and culture in a foreign language is very challenging,” says Smolander.

Things that work differently in Mali and Finland are, for example, salary payment, insurance, booking accommodation and going to the store.

“You can’t expect the same kind of independence in moving around or in taking care of any other matter. This is very intensive and comprehensive for us,” says Smolander.

The practical arrangements are difficult for Hanika and Smolander. At the same time, you should focus on the main thing, i.e. playing. In the future, Sinimuso would need a bigger team behind him.

Although there are indeed “many different worlds” within the band, playing works smoothly.

Musically, everything has gone smoothly from the beginning. Even lightly.

At the training camp, the atmosphere is starting to get restless. An intensive training week takes its toll.

“We are just about to start a break,” says Smolander.

Then the Malian members of the band join in a happy final dance in front of the camera. The joy of music and working together shines all the way to the other side of the camera.

Sinimuso will perform at the Etnosoi festival in Helsinki’s Kanneltalo on Friday, November 15. at 6 p.m.