Uniklubi

Uniklubi
Uniklubi performing at Rockcock, 2008
Background information
Origin	Finland
Genres	Alternative rock, Hard Rock
Years active	1999–present
Website	www.uniklubi.net
Members	Jussi Selo Janne Selo Pasi Viitala Teemu Rajamäki Antti Matikainen

Uniklubi is a Finnish alternative rock band. It was founded in 1999. The band became well known for its hit Rakkautta ja piikkilankaa in 2004. The band's lyrics are in the Finnish language. All members are from the town of Hämeenkyrö, except the bassist Teemu Rajamäki, who is from Ikaalinen. Originally they called themselves 'Pincenez' but they did not get much positive feedback about it, so they renamed their band 'Uniklubi', a Finnish word that means 'Dream Club'.

Teemu Rajamäki left the band in 19.3. 2012. This was informed on the band's homepage.

The band was founded in 1999 by Jussi and Pasi. The name "Uniklubi" didn't exist at the time; they went by the name Pincenez (type of glasses without spectacles; it's a French word). The first songs they played were covers of their favorite bands, in English. However, as they began writing their own songs, Jussi felt more confident with his mother tongue, Finnish. They eventually changed the name to Uniklubi ("dream club"), which has no significance for them, really.

By playing their first gigs, they earned some money they used to go into studio and record their first demo-tapes.

While recording the first album "Rakkautta Ja Piikkilankaa" (Love and Barbed-Wire) the drummer left the band. Antti Matikainen replaced him and has been part of Uniklubi ever since.

The first single was "Rakkautta Ja Piikkilankaa". It was voted by YleX as the most popular song of the year. The album got into the charts (Top 4) and Uniklubi got their first important award: They won an Emma Award (Newcomer of the year). "Rakkautta Ja Piikkilankaa" reached platinum in Finland (They sold more than 30,000 copies of the album). Other releases of "Rakkautta Ja Piikkilankaa": Kylmää, Näiden Tähtien Alla and Totuus.

The second album, "Kehä" (Circle) was released on November 2 and the album entered the charts at number one. It stayed in the charts for more than 20 weeks in the Top20 and even the first release of the album "Kaikki Mitä Mä Annoin" (All that I gave) entered the charts at number one. The second release was "Kiertää Kehää" and entered the charts at number ten.

During summer 2006, the singer was diagnosed with a bump on his vocal cords, after losing his voice repeatedly during concerts. The band had to cancel a tour in Germany, which would have been their first outside Scandinavia, for Jussi to undergo throat surgery. Everything went fine, and the few gigs performed during the Christmas holidays were marked by a beautiful, new clear voice.