Hausmylly’s Enzo faces incurable lung cancer and reflects on life

Hannu “Enzo” Pulkkinen, known for the 1990s dance-pop band Hausmylly, is receiving palliative care for incurable lung cancer and says the illness has made him reconsider his life choices. Yle interviewed the 64-year-old musician at his home in Haukipudas.

Pulkkinen’s ability to walk has declined in recent weeks, and he relies on a walking frame. He says the illness has kept him at home because he struggles to use the stairs in his two-storey house. The physical difficulties and the psychological strain have taken a heavy toll, he said.

Pulkkinen was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. The tumour could not be removed surgically, so he received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The treatment kept the cancer under control for several years, but it became active again in 2025. In September, Oulu University Hospital concluded that medicines to slow the disease were no longer providing enough benefit. His current care focuses on easing his symptoms.

The diagnosis prompted Pulkkinen to think about his choices, including starting to smoke. He says he smoked heavily for nearly 50 years. He has also said that he regrets drinking too much over the years. Pulkkinen had previously spoken publicly about having lung and prostate cancer in the 2010s.

He founded Hausmylly in 1989 with two DJ friends, initially as something of a joke. The band’s early progress was slow, he said, with Raptori dominating the music scene. Hausmylly later broke through, bringing a stream of live bookings. Its best-known song, “Ikävä lokakuu,” has been played more than 13 million times on Spotify, where the band still has over 90,000 monthly listeners.

Pulkkinen said he is happy to have made a living doing something he was good at, and that the band brought him lasting friendships and memories.

Yle reports that the number of new cancer cases in Finland is projected to rise from about 38,000 a year to nearly 45,000 by 2035 without additional measures. The national cancer strategy estimates that 480,000 people in Finland will be living with cancer or will have survived it by then. It identifies factors including excess weight, smoking and alcohol use as cancer risks.

A cancer organisations expert says hospitals should more systematically assess the psychological support needs of patients and their families. Pulkkinen’s wife, who also had cancer, died about a week after the interview.