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Baker's Dozen

Pan Sonics: Mika Vainio's Favourite Albums
Albert Freeman , September 1st, 2014 07:19

Our series of articles curated by Kevin 'The Bug' Martin continues with a Baker's Dozen from Mika Vainio, solo artist and former member of Pansonic. He tells us about how the likes of Suicide, Neubauten, the Alex Harvey Band, King Crimson and more soundtracked a life of working in slaughterhouses and vegetarian restaurants

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Einsturzende Neubauten - Halber Mench
This album came out in the time when I was working in a slaughterhouse. My work started at six o'clock in the morning, so I had to get up at half past four before walking one hour to work, and I used to listen to this with my breakfast to wake up. Neubauten was a big influence amongst the groups like Swans and Test Dept., for example. I was a member of an industrial and noise group at that time called Gagarin-Kombinaatti ; its translation would be 'Gagarin And The Kosmonauts.' Neubauten also played in Helsinki at this time. They were throwing these big metal springs at the audience… One passed very close to my head. At the end of the concert FM Einheit turned his back to the audience, and I saw him soaking a blanket with gasoline. Then he lit it and threw this flaming blanket in the audience, and that was the end of the concert. People were furious. I loved it because it wasn't some kind of stupid rock & roll show; it was the real, real thing.