JANNE HALONEN

My name is Janne, I’m a music enthusiast, which means I play, write, arrange, orchestrate, produce, record and first and foremost constantly study music. My main instrument is guitar, but I also play various other string -instruments, keyboards, sing and have passion for all kinds of drums. However, since committing to the art of film composition, The Computer has also become my second main instrument. 

Background:

Born and raised in Jyväskylä, Central Finland, I got my guitar playing routine together by playing endless nights on the famous stage of Jazz Bar in, downtown Jyväskylä, at fairly young age. Also a year as a high-school exchange student in north-west USA contributed a lot to my musical upbringing.

After moving to Helsinki in the year 2000, for the first 10 years my professional life consisted mainly of 2 things: theatre and substituting for different guitar players. During that period I was part of approximately 20 theatre shows within 10 years, which included works done at the Finnish National Theatre, Swedish Theatre, Lilla Teatern and Theatre Academy. My roles varied from a composer / arranger to a musician, on- and off-stage. 

I wasn’t really a regular member of any band, but I became a professional substitute guitarist for a large number of acts. Looking back It was kind of tough ride to prepare for a new show basically every week for years, but I learned a lot of songs! I worked with Top 40 bands, jazz groups, Finnish- and foreign artists and also a bunch of independent acts.  

I also wrote a lot of music during that period but not so much got released. Despite my jazz roots, I specialized sort of by accident on Soul and modern R&B, and kept getting work especially from those genres. Towards the end of the decade I even joined some bands regularly, such as Boston Promenade (2006-2010) and Axl Smith & The Neotronics (2009-2013). I also worked as a bandleader for Gospel Choir ”Higher Ground” from 2011 to 2018. 

2012 was the year when my musical life took an unexpected turn: I travelled to Benin, West Africa with two close friends of mine, bassist Sampo Riskilä and drummer Juha Räsänen. We had decided to work for 6 weeks with a singer percussionist Noël Saïzonou, and record an album, come what may. The next thing I know it’s 2023 and Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble is about to record it’s 6th album and visit the 20th country. I have co-written, arranged and produced all the music and also produced a large portion of our tours in Finland and abroad. 

When the global pandemic stopped all the normal music life in 2020, I decided to reach after my long-time dream of becoming a film- and game composer. I moved in to the creative community of Sonic Pump Studios, got myself some assisting work in film music productions, wrote a lot of music for a number of film music competitions and short films, and completed a 1-year film-and game scoring post-graduate program at the Film Scoring Academy of Europe.

In addition I have music degrees from Mertropolia (previously Stadia) University of Applied Sciences (Bachelor) and Sibelius Academy’s  GLOMAS -program (Master). 

In the fall of 2024 I released my first-ever solo album ”Janne Halonen – Music From The Zone”. It’s available on all streaming services, so go check it out!