Jimi Sumén
Jouko "Jimi" Sumén (7 August 1959), originally hailing from Lappeenranta, Finland, started as a Jimi Hendrix-styled virtuoso guitarist and won the Finnish Rock Championships of 1977 with his band called Dreams playing Hendrix covers.
Jimi Sumén covering 'Hey Joe' by Jimi Hendrix in 1978
In 1978 Love Records released Jimi Sumén’s debut LP Key West, a funk and new wave-influenced psychedelic hard rock album on which Sumén played most of the instruments himself, though he was joined occasionally by Ari Erkko on guitar, Veijo Naakka on bass, and Lauri Valjakka on drums.
By 1979, after having spent six months in London and witnessing the new styles, Sumén had moved on to a totally different kind of musical territory, influenced by David Bowie, David Sylvian's Japan and the burgeoning synth pop scene in general. Wanting to expand his sound, Sumén recruited additional musicians, Illi Broman (drums/percussion), Johnny Gustafsson (drums/percussion/vocals) and Kari Virta (keyboards/vocals), and under the name Jimi Sumén Projekt, recorded 1980's Screenplay, which drew on more electronic influences. However, internal conflicts pulled the band apart.
Jimi Sumén Projekt - 'Katsu!' (1980)
In 2023, DJ Shadow (USA) licensed Sumén's track 'Katsu!' from Screenplay and used the re-recorded version of its part A as the basis of his own single 'Ozone Scraper'.
For 1981's Between Orient And Accidents Sumén included the covers of David Bowie's 1974 hit, 'Rebel Rebel' and 'The Other Side of Life' that David Sylvian wrote for Japan in 1979. Although similar in style to Screenplay, Jimi Sumén elected to record the overwhelming majority of the album himself as he had previously done with Key West. Guest musicians consisted of Heikki "Häkä" Virtanen on bass, Lauri Valjakka and Ippe Kätkä on drums, Jay Havanna and Hedu on keyboards, Marga Jatkola on violin and Keimo Hirvonen on percussion.
Sumén’s single from the album, '(No More) Home Movies', also became known as one of the first Finnish music videos. As background vocalists on the song are heard Kaija Kokkola, later better known on Finnish pop charts as Kaija Koo, and Pekka Hakala, also known as Jay Havanna.
Jimi Sumén - '(No More) Home Movies' music video (1981)
A culture magazine called Uusi Laulu ("New Chant") had arranged in July 1981 at Klippan, a traditional club-restaurant located in an island in front of Helsinki, a "Narcissist" theme disco called Jouluksi kotiin ("Home for Christmas"), inspired by the Futurist/New Romantic clubs such as London's Blitz. Lots of local celebrities were attending and Jimi Sumén, now called "Finland's David Bowie", was heard as a DJ. The event gathered a lot of publicity, also notoriety in Finnish media, who probably didn't get the inherent self-irony contained in the club's "narcissistic" claims.
Having played with Maukka Perusjätkä and then at Pelle Miljoona's band, from late 1981 to early 1982, Jimi Sumén performed in February 1982 as a warm-up act of the well-known British synth act Classix Nouveaux at the nightclub of Hotel Presidentti in Helsinki. [Video]
After this Classix Nouveaux recruited Jimi Sumén to their ranks and he moved to live in England, where he played on their final album, Secret (1983). Jimi Sumén toured with Classix Nouveaux in such exotic locations as India, Hong Kong, Israel, Iceland and even Eastern Block countries. Also in Finland Classix Nouveaux were an extremely popular live act, their fame probably aided by having a local guitarist in their ranks.
However, the rock and roll fame was not what Jimi Sumén had expected it to be. He was seeking to constantly improve and evolve as a musician, and the frenetic gig schedule didn't leave much time for rehearsing. The popularity of Classix Nouveaux was waning, anyway, as UK's music press and the record-buying public was already seeking after some new trends to replace the early-1980s New Romantic craze.
After having returned to Finland, Sumén concentrated on a career of record producer for many Finnish rock acts. From 1980 to '85 Jimi Sumén produced several domestic bands, such as Stressi, Tom Dozen, Twiggy Oliver, Musta Paraati, Hefty Load and Päät. In 1983 he had produced with Kari Kalén a compilation album The Art of Breeding, featuring such acts as Hefty Load and Twiggy Oliver, also the pioneering Finnish rap artist General Njassa (a.k.a. Jyrki Jantunen). The album also featured Jimi Sumén's cover version of the Martha and the Vandellas' 1965 soul classic 'Nowhere to Run'.
Jimi Sumén's 1993 solo album Paintbrush, Rock Penstemon stylistically approaches jazz. Jimi Sumén also played guitar in Sound & Fury, an ensemble led by the Finnish jazz legend Edward Vesala. Sumén’s most recent release is City Of Women II, which was published in 2019, having already been recorded in 1998 with Vesala (who passed away in 1999), Jimi Tenor and Iro Haarla.
At the turn of the millennium, falling ill with multiple sclerosis almost put a complete halt to Sumén’s musical career but medication, healthy living and learning new guitar techniques enabled him to continue playing at least part-time.
Tosi tarina: Jimi Sumén – sairaus parantaa (trailer, 2011)
There's a short documentary film on Jimi Sumén, made in 2011, called Tosi tarina: Jimi Sumén – sairaus parantaa ("True story: Jimi Sumén - how the disease cures", 28 minutes), produced and directed by Tommi E. Virtanen and Lari Seppälä.
Nowadays Jimi Sumén lives as a pensioner in Helsinki.
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