As a child, Niila Arajuuri wanted to become a professional football player. But, as so often happens in life, things turned out completely differently. Instead of expediting his career in sports the Finn decided for his love of music. Today, the Finnish singer-songwriter is one of today’s most exciting Scandinavian newcomer talents. The 28 year old gained his first enthusiastic fans as a special guest on Sunrise Avenue’s German tour, and is now presenting his debut EP, „Sorry“. His exceptional talent is evident instantly, both in his live performances and through the captivating but never invasive, subtle nature of his songs, which enamour you immediately.
Niila comes from one of those sleepy little towns in southern Finland that you usually only hear about from insider travel reports. It’s about half an hour’s drive from Helsinki. Inspired by his father’s record collection, Niila started writing songs when he was 15, later posting them on YouTube. „I come from a musical family“, the singer and multi-instrumentalist recalls. „Our house was crammed with countless musical instruments. My dad was a songwriter and taught me the basics of playing the drums and the piano. Also he had a very broad taste in music, so I grew up with a variety of genres: rock, pop, hip hop…“ all elements that can be found again in Niila’s own songs. His first musical attempts were discovered and supported by his good friend, none other than Sunrise Avenue’s frontman Samu Haber. Samu recognised Niila’s exceptional talent and flair for captivating songs early on, and now, after more than seven years of tireless work, the time has come.
„I didn’t want to just quickly release something that doesn’t reflect me as an artist“, Niila says. „Sometimes you have to trust your gut feeling, even if it means waiting a long time. Often your instinct will tell you when it’s the right time to do certain things. It has taken a lot of work and patience but looking back, I’m really glad I took the time to develop as an artist and a songwriter and finally after all the wait, the time seems right and I’m so hungry and ready!“ A tiny part of the world has already heard Niila’s songs. After playing small club gigs in his home country of Finland, Niila is the opening act for Sunrise Avenue’s tour of Germany beginning end of June, playing to an average of 25,000 enthused concert-goers.
Niila mixes the stripped-down singer-songwriter sounds of vocals, acoustic guitar and piano with modern programming and low hip hop beats. His spine-tingling voice is a combination of urban/pop, big emotions and pure energy. Niila worked on the „Sorry“ EP with the producer Jukka Immonen (Sunrise Avenue, etc.) at his studio in Finland. „The atmosphere of the EP ended up being pretty melancholic”, he explains. I’ve been privileged to have a loving family and a happy childhood but life can’t be all about happy moments and everyone has their own battles. For me personally, it’s during those times that the most powerful lyrics tend to come. For example The title track and „forgive me brother“ are both extremely personal. Luckily „Smell the roses“ is there to light up the mood! It’s simply about trying not to worry too much since there’s really no way to predict what the future holds, so all you can really do is stop and try to enjoy the things that are good in your life at the moment.“
Right now, Niila is working on his yet untitled debut album, whose release is scheduled for end of 2015/beginning of 2016. In December this year, he’ll hit the road for a tour of small clubs in Germany.