Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät performing at Provinssirock in 2013
Background information
Also known as	PKN
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	2009 (2009)–2016
Labels	Red Lounge Records, Sony Music
Website	www.pkn.rocks
Members	Pertti Kurikka Kari Aalto Sami Helle Toni Välitalo

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN, Finnish for "Pertti Kurikka's name days") were a Finnish punk rock band, formed in 2009 in a charity workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. They are the main focus of the Finnish documentary film The Punk Syndrome. In 2015, they qualified for the finals of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, which they later won; they represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 but got knocked out in the semi-final. The band disbanded in December 2016 when guitarist Pertti Kurikka turned 60 years old and retired from playing punk rock.

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät began in a workshop run by Lyhty, a charity for adults with developmental disabilities. In 2004, Pertti Kurikka, the future guitarist of the band, met organizer Kalle Pajamaa of Lyhty. Pajamaa, who remains manager of the band today, noticed Kurikka's potential and sought to establish a band based upon him. They worked on the band's formation over the next five years, and in 2009 the band made its debut.

In 2009, Finnish director Pekka Karjalainen sought music performed by people with disabilities for the film Vähän kunnioitusta, which tells the story of a young girl with a learning disability aspiring to live an independent and normal life. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät is featured in the film with their first-ever demo: "Kallioon!". The song became a hit, and the band soon discovered that they had a following outside the circle of disabled people.

In 2012, their fame grew as they were the main subject of The Punk Syndrome, a Finnish documentary film. The documentary, depicting the band's story from its outset to their first European tour, earned them a following in Scandinavia and Germany.

In 2014, the band performed in a charity concert with Mr. Lordi of the Finnish rock band, Lordi. The charity concert was held in Rovaniemi on 23 May 2014 for benefit of the mentally-disabled community of Mozambique and the Lapland Metkat Association. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät's bold and unusual take on Eurovision has been compared to that of Lordi, Finland's 2006 Eurovision entry and the winner of that year's contest.