A group of famous Finnish artists are moving to a new record company that plans to do things differently

Tampere

Litku KlemettiSpice girls, Saimaa, Risto, YonaUrsus Factory, Figaro.

These and seven other bands will release their records in the future through a new record company called Lördag. The record company, founded in Tampere at the beginning of the year, is run by music industry giants Aki Roukala and Mikko Meriläinen.

As a photographer, and among other things, Maustatyttök and Miki Liukkonen Roukala, who became known as a manager, has been running Is This Art! -music company, whose “extension” Lördag is now born.

Roukala lives part of the year in Hailuodo, which will continue to be the second home of the Lördag company.

Meriläinen, from Lempäälä, has been the editor-in-chief of Soundi magazine for the last few years.

The financial support for the duo’s new record company is provided by the Swedish parent company Playground Music, where Lördag’s office is located in Tampere.

At thirteen with his artist fixation, Lördag launches himself in an exceptionally spectacular way.

The duo says that many of the new company’s bands and artists will release a new album already this year. Lördag’s first album release is Figaro’s album. It will be released in February.

The eagerly awaited comeback album of Risto, one of the most respected cult names in Finnish indie, will be released in the fall.

“One of the central tasks of this record company is to get the appreciation of artists like Risto to the level they should be,” states Meriläinen.

Roukala says that in order to fulfill this task, Lördag plans to act “in many respects completely opposite” to the Finnish units of the multinational record companies that run the “mainstream pop industry”.

“We are going to go completely against the current.”

“And above all, we are going to give a voice to those artists who are now unable to make their voices heard in the breads of the big companies,” Meriläinen continues.

Many of the artists attached to Lördag have previously recorded for Warner or Universal Music Finland labels, among others.

We intend to go against the current, both in terms of the criteria on which artists are hired, but also in formats and marketing.

Lördag’s number one product will be an album, not a single hit song competing for streaming numbers or an attempt at such.

“Basically, all Lördag albums are released both digitally and as physical editions. We listen to the artist’s own voice in everything”, Meriläinen promises.

Strikingly many of Lördag’s artists are the biggest names in Finnish indie, who already have a ready-made audience base. That kind of gives a nice arm rest to the new record company.

Meriläinen says that as Lördag’s A&R, he plans to carefully rake the so far hidden undergrowth of Finnish indie music.

“I promise to listen to all the demos,” he says.

Roukala believes in the power of community and existing networks in finding artists. Lördag also started from this basis.

“When I heard that Mikko was leaving Sound, I immediately suggested to Playground that this guy should be hired.”

Meriläinen and Roukala assure that Lördag will be a record company based on artistic values.

“We decide on attachments and publications independently,” says Roukala.

Saturday other operations will continue to be the responsibility of Roukala.

Lördag organizes popular summer events such as the Bättre Folk festival in Hailuodo and the Festival festival in Tampere’s Pyyniki.

He wants to put to rest the easily arising suspicion that Lördag’s events will turn into promotional events for artists who record for the company.

“That would be short-sighted. We don’t start peeing on our own cereal.”

Read more: Aki Roukala left the advertising agencies in Helsinki and moved to Hailuoto, now he always organizes a sold-out festival and creates gold mines from the phenomena of small circles