Finnish artist Kaspiann is a new name to the wider Ukrainian audience. He is a DJ, sound producer, and one of the key figures on Helsinki’s electronic music scene. Over the past few years, he has developed a striking vision for his own sound — a psychedelic, immersive, almost shamanic trance that transports listeners to Finnish forests. He conveys this vision of music and parties — with a ‘sound in the fog’ atmosphere — through his own label, Vala, and the eponymous series of events.
Outside of Finland, Kaspiann performs primarily live. He will make his Ukrainian debut with a live set on April 4 in Kyiv at a major event celebrating Rhythm Büro’s 11th anniversary. Co-founder of the project, Vera Logdanidi, says that the magic of Kaspiann’s performances allows audiences to travel not only through Finnish forests but also to nostalgically return to the forests of the Natura Festival near the Kyiv Sea (the last Natura by Rhythm Büro took place in the summer of 2021, and in 2024 the team announced the closure of the format. — Note from DTF Magazine).
DTF Magazine spoke with Kaspiann before his performance in Kyiv — about finding his own sound, his music-making routine, the place of live performances in the modern scene, and the common context of Finland and Ukraine in their opposition to Russian imperialism.
— For those hearing about you for the first time, how would you describe yourself as an artist, and how has music become a part of your life story?
—I’ve always been very interested in music. As a kid, I used to bang my grandmother’s food containers turned upside down to make my own drum kit. Later on I started playing guitar and did that for a few years before discovering that you could do electronic music with a computer and everything kinda started from there.
I would describe myself as a doer — someone whose curiosity led me to organizing parties, building sound systems, starting a label, and making music in general. I enjoy making things on my own and appreciate a strong DIY attitude.
— Under what circumstances did you start producing your own tracks?
— When I was a kid, I heard this huge Finnish trance hit — ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude, which turned 25 years old last year, and decided that I wanted to make something like that as well. So I started looking for ways to make music on our family computer and I stumbled upon a tracker called Jeskola Buzz which I used to fiddle together what you could call my first track. From there it has been just years and years of trial and error in search of pleasing rhythms and sounds.
I still have that very first mp3 saved in my archives. It’s good to have a listen every now and then to get perspective on how things have progressed, if they have… (laughs)
About the transformation of music and ‘swampiness’
— How has your music changed over the years, and how would you describe your sound now?
— In my first releases there was a sense of naivety that is hard to achieve again. From a technical point of view, I feel like I’ve moved light-years ahead, but I also feel that, with improved knowledge, I’ve grown more uncertain — whether small details and mixing tricks are enough to keep a track in balance, or whether my opinion of the mixdown is good enough. It’s still the same everlasting learning process: discovering new tricks and loving the way small details matter.
Over the years I think I’ve developed a more and more psychedelic approach to making tunes and am always on the hunt for some uncanny tones. One friend once called my music swampy and would say that it has been the best description so far. It kinda clicked into place after years of dabbling with forest psytrance influenced sounds.
In general my aim is to make the listener feel like dancing in the Finnish forest wherever they are hearing my tracks. Strolling along forest trails like some sort of troll.
— What is your general approach to producing music? What inspires you to sit down and start creating — a cool sample you’ve heard, an event from your personal life, or an idea that suddenly pops into your head?
— Usually, I start by finding or making some sort of hooky pattern — a bassline or synth idea — that feels like it could work as the basis for a track.
Sometimes I go over my old jam recordings and find some cool bits that were previously unused that with a fresh pair of ears might spark an idea for a track. Everything usually starts rolling from there and then where it ends up is always a matter of iterations the track goes through.
Sometimes I end up making the track much faster or much slower than it initially was and just seeing what sticks and works. I like to imagine my tracks within some sort of context where they could be played, to find an aim and purpose for the tricks I try to use.
About the track-writing process
— What do you pay special attention to in the creative process? What conditions are most conducive for you in this context?
— The most important thing for me in the process when making music is that it needs to be fun and something that I truly enjoy doing. If it ever stops bringing me joy or being fun, then it’s a good time to stop trying to make tracks happen.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sometimes work through some boring or not-so-fun parts but in general it should be something that gives inner peace or a sense of meaning to the time spent sitting in front of the machines.
The final mixing phases and iterations of trying to find the correct balance between elements are always such a burden but the outcome should feel like relief and something that I myself would enjoy listening to. After all, the most important person who I make my music for is myself. It needs to be something that I care about and enjoy to be worth releasing to other people.
But from a more technical perspective for me personally, I really need a good working environment / setup with a working keyboard, big enough screen, good headphones and a mouse to efficiently get my ideas down. Everything else can be extra fun or just disrupt the process but if the basics aren’t properly there, then the fun won’t even begin.
— What equipment do you usually use? What do you like most about it right now?
— I’ve noticed over the years that less is more for me and because of that I don’t want too many synths to be lying around in my studio setup. I’ve started to appreciate a more neutral and balanced sounding environment so lately I’ve been aiming for that and trying to get rid of all the excessive gear I don’t use.
But the few things I wouldn’t want to part with would be my small modular case, Moog DFAM and Make Noise 0-Coast. I like to use my modular case as an extension of DFAM or 0-coast or just the latter two as a combo. At some point I didn’t use anything else except DFAM and 0-coast along with my RME sound card. Sometimes limiting yourself is the best way to spark inspiration.
About the love of live performances
— Why do you prefer live performances?
— I didn’t really prefer live performances in the beginning. I was asked to do a live set for a party organized by my friends here in Helsinki and I found out that it’s pretty fun to play live and people seemed to like what I did. That was quite a few years ago but that’s where my live set journey started. From that point on, I was asked to do live sets every now and then, and now I mostly play live when performing outside of Helsinki. I can’t really complain, but I also love doing long DJ-sets.
I really do love playing live as it feels like the greatest honor possible to me — to be invited to play my own music for an hour or so and give an impression of what a live set in this kind of music should be. It feels very personal when playing and can really tear open some scars if you’re not really in the mood but as the opposite it can also generate the most memorable feelings when everything aligns. That said there is a huge spectrum of emotions to experience when playing live and I really hope that those are transmitted to the listener.
