Name:
Matti-Juhana Ikonen

Instrument:
Synthesizers

History joining the band:
I first started playing music in high-school, with Thomas, Jukka and a couple of other friends. I started on the bass (I sucked) and moved on to singing (Bad idea). I slowly realized that I had absolutely no musical talents (What's a note?), so my interest vaned and I quit. I moved on to partying and boozing, which I was great at, but kept a close eye on my former band mates' new projects... Dandy, Powder Blue... And finally, Daisy. I also acquainted a certain Mr. Vesa through a certain BBS and introduced him to Thomas. So, in a way, I had my hand in Daisy long before I joined ;)

Then, in 1996 or 1997 I visited Daisy's "studio" at the legendary Pommari -complex in Raisio and came across something that literally changed my life: a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer. I had seen and fiddled with synthesizers before, but they were nothing like this. The Juno had tons of sliders, buttons and knobs, a magnificent layout and look... And most importantly, it had that sound. A magnificent, warm, analogue sound. A sound I knew from countless of my favourite songs... From the moment I reached for the filter cutoff slider, my life had changed. This may seem odd to some people, but for me, it was like a religious experience.

Pretty soon I acquired my own analogue synth (a Juno-2, which was in many ways inferior to the 60) and started learning analogue synthesis. And then, in 1999, Thomas and Heikki invited me to join Daisy to replace their former keyboardist, despite the fact that I relly couldn't PLAY keyboards... Suckers!


Favourite food:
Pizza, Pasta Tonno, Pizza, Subs, Pizza

Favourite bands/artists:
Stevie Wonder, Flaming Lips, Depeche Mode, ELO, Orbital, De La Soul, Pantera, Marvin Gaye, Afghan Whigs, Spearmint, Prince, The Carpenters, Sonic Youth, The Smiths, etc...

Favourite musicians:
Stevie Wonder, Candida Doyle

Favourite movies:
Coen brothers, Kubrick, Almodovar, Mamet, Solondz, Me, Myself and Irene, Bladerunner and the original Star Wars trilogy

Favourite actors:
Victoria Abril, Dana Elcar

Favourite TV shows:
British comedy and detective series, Twin Peaks, documentaries, Seinfeld, South Park

Cool people:
Carl Sagan, Bob Moog, Thor Heyerdahl, Wendy Carlos, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, Brian Greene and whoever invented pizza.


Gear:
Korg R3, Oberheim Matrix-1000, Roland MKS-50, Studio Electronics Omega8, Yamaha Motif 6

Links:

Blue Synths
Vintage Synth Explorer
Sonicstate
Google News
muusikoiden.net
huuto.net
my favourite eBay search