Juho Martikainen x Harmony Tracks

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Juho Martikainen, Genelec's Brand Art Producer. Additionally, my two siblings and I represent the second generation of family entrepreneurship at Genelec, which was founded by our father in 1978.

At age 9, I started to play classical double bass, and later in life, I began playing and teaching double bass as a profession. My formal education in music is mostly classical, however, I've always enjoyed playing in bands of various genres, and recently I've been making and releasing my own solo music.

My second main instrument is electric bass, and I mess around with guitar and other stringed instruments, which I can play well enough to get my ideas flowing.

Can you tell us about your usual creative process?

I love tweaking different sounds and effects, so usually, I find an inspiring sound that I start to experiment with. Most of the time, I have a certain visual image or emotional feeling in mind that I'll try to capture musically.

Sometimes melodies just seem to appear, and sometimes I need to work hard to create them. I use a lot of live looping techniques, which has a significant effect on the way I construct my music. I'm a big fan of minimalism – Philip Glass is a great example – so that also guides my approach to music.

How did you apply your creative process to this Harmony Tracks challenge?

I wanted to create something that connects to Genelec’s name, so I started to think about chord progressions including G, C and E chords. To make the progression more natural, I added a D chord to those three. So, the progression is G-D-e-C. To celebrate our 45th anniversary, my Harmony Track is 45 bars long for the 45 years of Genelec, and the tempo is 78 BPM, which refers to our founding year.

What is behind your choice of sound and what fed your inspiration?

I would say my roots are deep in Finland's folk music, and in our national epic, the story of Kalevala. On the other hand, I believe that music is a universal thing, which to me means that there actually is no need to be cultural boundaries and limitations between us human beings. When it comes to music, we all share the same language!

Playing and especially double bass as an instrument is the most natural way for me to express my feelings and emotions.

What advice do you have for our community who are about to create their Harmony Track?

Just let go and see where the music takes you! Be free!

Do you have a nice memory of Genelec you would like to share with us?

I remember how nice it was to listen to music at my childhood home, where my father had designed the living room to be a perfect listening environment. I especially remember how Dire Straits' song Telegraph Road made a huge impact on me - not to mention Iron Maiden! We had Genelec’s 1022As and then later 1022Bs at our home, so in that sense, I realise I've been spoiled from the start regarding the quality of sound reproduction!

Juho's music links:

Apple Music ›
Tidal ›
Spotify ›

To join in with Harmony Tracks, visit https://genelec.com/harmony-tracks