Manserock evolves as Eppu Normaali ends its live career

Eppu Normaali’s final concerts in Tampere mark the end of the band’s 50-year career, but manserock is not disappearing, Yle reports. Instead, the genre is changing shape as a new generation of musicians carries on its spirit.

The band will perform for the last time at Ratina Stadium this weekend. The occasion also marks the end of an era when manserock brought large parts of the Finnish public together.

Tampere has also hosted a memorial concert for Pate Mustajärvi, the former frontman of Popeda, as well as a joint manserock concert featuring several long-established musicians from the city.

A living genre that keeps changing

Antti Granlund, a radio presenter and journalist at Tampere-based Radio 957, considers the weekend a clear end to an era.

Jukka Junttila, a promoter of small-press culture and founder of the record label Hiljaiset Levyt, does not believe manserock has reached the end of the road.

“No, manserock is not dead. Manserock is something lively that keeps changing shape,” Junttila says.

He points out that the original manserock of the 1970s, represented by bands such as Alwari Tuohitorvi, Kaseva and Tabula Rasa, sounded very different from Popeda and Eppu Normaali, which are now regarded as leading acts in the genre.

“Manserock is about community, bands working together, music in Finnish and lyrics that make manserock what it is,” Junttila says.

Fewer huge rock phenomena

Although the spirit of manserock lives on, the environment around music has changed.

Junttila says music has become less central to people’s everyday lives. A vast range of other media and entertainment now competes for people’s free time, weakening the shared culture that once existed.

“That means phenomena as large as Eppu Normaali can no longer really emerge,” Junttila says.

He wonders when Finland last produced a major rock band that truly broke through.

“Perhaps Haloo Helsinki is the last one, and they have already been working for several decades,” he says.

Record labels have less patience

Another major change concerns the structure of the music industry. Granlund highlights the importance of Epe Helenius, founder of the record label Poko Rekords.

Together with the rock magazine Soundi, the label helped create a distinctive ecosystem in Tampere that gave bands time to develop.

“Epe had patience. Popeda only broke through with its fifth album. Epe trusted the band. There were flop albums along the way, but Epe continued to believe in them,” Granlund says.

He says the situation is different in the current music business.

“There is no chance that record labels would wait until a fifth album before the goose starts laying golden eggs,” Granlund says.

Junttila says Tampere had a functioning network during manserock’s heyday, giving bands favourable conditions. The city had record labels, media outlets and recording studios.

A new generation is emerging

Manserock is not being consigned to the history books. It is being passed on to new musicians.

Junttila says the strongest current generation in the scene is part of an indie community that has formed around Keltainen talo, a cultural centre.

He names Jukka Nousiainen, Mara Balls, Silli Siltanen, Joni Ekman, Ville Pirinen, Kalevi Suopursu and Amuri among the musicians and bands involved. In his view, they work in the spirit of manserock.

Granlund also mentions the Tampere-based bands Luuseri ja Lulua and Kormus.

Junttila sees potential among even younger musicians. Roskis, a punk band made up of 12 and 13-year-old girls, is already performing and preparing its debut album.

“I have seen them live, and they have exactly the right attitude. The seed of the next manserock generation is growing there,” Junttila says.