A b o u t i S i r i E l w o o d i n i h i l j a i s e t i v ä r i t

Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit is a Finnish rock band, which plays moody and a bit melancholy rock-jazz. Elwood has been a distinctive part of Finnish music for almost twenty years. From small smoky bars of the early years the band has found its way to the biggest concert halls of Finland. In the beginning it was a band of small circles of students who liked the beer-jazz, as the band calls its music. During the years Elwood became more and more popular, and nowadays the band is one of the most liked bands in the country.
Elwood´s lyrics are very warm and personal. They tell about every-man-life; love, travelling, and sorrow. The music has been built around the lyrics. The band says they paint and colour the stories with music.
Elwood has played in the biggest rock-festivals and concert halls, but still the most appropriate places for the gigs are smoky rock clubs. Although the band has done well, the success has never been the aim. The music has been done with heart and for people, not with money and for business.
 
A i s h o r t i h i s t o r y i l e s s o n
 
J. Lehti and J. Saaresaho met in 1988 while they were both working at the Myyrmäki Youth Center. After P. Loikala joined in with his bass, the group began to give life to songs. In December '88 the trio put together a demo called Olinhan siellä minäkin 1. Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit played a few gigs as a trio in the beginning of 1989, until A. Leskinen and his drums joined into the effort.
In the fall of `89 they recorded a single Tango/Karhubaari in the closet of the youth center. R. Järvinen played the violin on the single but became the band´s bass player in the beginning of 1990 as P. Loikala left the band. Later on Gabi Hakanen and Kauko Röyhkä heard them play and wanted the group to record a live-album for the new Herodes record label.
The album Varjoissa vapaan maailman was recorded at the Vernissa club in Vantaa in the beginning of 1991 with the help of M. Joenpolvi and Sasu Moilanen.
H. Saarinen's saxophone playing and Jogi Kosonen's trumpet were recorded later on. The group's first album saw the daylight in June '91. During the autumn of the same year H. Saarinen and his diverse repertoire of instruments officially became part of the group.
The next album Yö tekee meistä varkaat began forming in the winter and was published in the fall of 1992. The single Neiti Kevät hit the charts earlier on in the year. The album did not become a particularly big success but the band was quickly gaining popularity.
The winter of '92-'93 took Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit into the studio for the first time. The previous records had more or less been live versions, so it was clearly time to record an entire album in a studio. J. Virtanen played the guitar on this album, and later officially joined the band, in 1997. The third album Kymmenen tikkua laudalla, released in '93, brought change along with its release. The single Viimeisellä rannalla became a huge success and the group became more popular than ever before. Startled by the sudden interest people were showing toward them, the members of the band decided to take a break.
In April 1995 the fourth SEhv album Puoli viisi aamulla was released. The general sound was much darker than that of all previous ones, and all hints of the pop style of the third album were gone.
At the end of 1996 the single Vanha Valokuva was released as a teaser of what would be coming in the future. The fifth album was to be made without hurry, and the group had already started recording parts of it in the spring of '96. A year later, in the spring of 1997, Puunukke, the fifth Elwood album, was released. The single Perunamaa received quite a lot of airtime on the radio and the album climbed rather high on the charts. Some of the older fans were slightly taken aback by the hard and considerably louder style the band had adopted, but altogether Puunukke received a warm welcome.
After a low-profile year, the fall of 1998 saw the release of the collection Varjoja, varkaita ja vanhoja valokuvia,with an accompanying music book containing, along with a history of the band, the songs that made the group what they are today. In October the group began an 11-concert tour.
The next single Kollikissa came out in the end of March 1999 and a TV-document of the band was shot at a concert at the Tavastia Club in April.
On the 13th of August 1999 Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit gave a concert in the Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, during which they played all the new songs of their sixth album, Pyhää Kamaa, which was released in October of the same year.
The beginning of the year 2000 saw Elwood on tour in northern Finland and during the summer the group travelled wider all over the country. Next November took the band for a few more gigs, and after that the group kept out from publicity for a few months.
In April of year 2001 a new single Kekkonen was released. In June the first album Varjoissa vapaan maailman was republished after ten years with the first music video and a couple of released-only-on-a-single -songs. Another single Torkkelinmäki came out in July, and the band spent the summer in a studio recording a new album.
Elwood's seventh album came out on the 15th of October 2001 and was called Pohjoisesta tuulee taas. The band was on the road for almost two months in October and November of the same year. After having a break for the first months of the next year, Elwood was seen on stage during the summer of 2002. On September 23rd the band released a 2 cd live-collection called Ilta illan jälkeen. The other cd includes a whole consert set of songs, and the other one has 12 strange versions of old songs. All the songs on the collection have been recorded on gigs and conserts during the past five years.
In October of 2002 Elwood had a two week consert tour, and they spent November and early December touring Finland and its clubs.
Information released in the spring of 2003 tells us Hansu Saarinen has chosen to pursue his professional ambitions in other projects, and is no longer a member of the band.
Unofficial Elwood Homepage staff expresses its gratitude and wishes him all the best.
Elwood spent the spring and the summer of 2003 making their 8th album that was recorded in June in an old villa in Finnish country side. The album named 18. tammikuuta was released on September 19th. Elwood got kind of back to their roots, the new album having the same acoustic feeling as the band's very first LPs.
Late autumn the group travelled around the country, and the tour continued after a christmas break with a couple of gigs in January and February. Spring 2004 was spend out of publicity.
On Monday the 14th of June came information about the death of Riku Järvinen, groups bass player. Riku had died in an accident the previous day. Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit cancelled the tour planned for the summer 2004.
Unofficial Elwood Homepage staff represent its condolences; big kind man will never be forgotten.
A memorial concert for Riku was held on the 18th of November at Tavastia Club in Helsinki. Riku's old friend Puppe Luomanmäki was playing bass there, and after the gig the band desided to ask him to join them officially. Puppe agreed, and so the band was ready to think about continueing.
Elwood's latest release, a collection and a DVD called Varjoja, varkaita ja vanhoja valokuvia, osa 2, was released on the 16th of March 2005. The album included one new song that still had Riku playing his bass. The lyrics of the song were all new and made for the collection. Later in the spring the band had a small tour in Finland, and the first gigs with Puppe Luomanmäki as a official member of the band.
During the summer of the year 2005 Elwood was seen on stage in a few rock festivals and clubs. In the autumn the band recorded the first shots of their new album, and the studio sessions continued in 2006.
In the summer of 2006 Elwood played at some festivals and clubs but most of the year was spent on making the new album. The first single from the new album was called Suomineito and released in the summer.
In early 2007 two more singles were shared out from the newcomer. Finally, on the 11th of April Elwood's 9th album saw daylight. The album was called Sattuman kauppa and included 11 songs. The album was followed by a concert tour that started in May and continued til August 2007 with some 20 gigs in festivals and clubs all around Finland.
In 2008 the band had a few gigs at summer time. However, most of the year was spent making a new book, a collection album with 4 discs and planty of material from tv, live concerts and other sources, and a concert tour with four conserts that will be held in January 2009. The main birhtday concert will take place in Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki on 31st of January 2009. That is 20 years after the band had their first gig in the same place.