VICEVOIDS is the audiovisual creative outlet of musician Markus Nylund from Finland. It began in 2020 during the pandemic/lockdown amidst personal katharsis with a collection of songs “Music For Lost Souls” released later that year. The eponymous debut album was released the following year exploring various styles from techno to prog rock including the +13 minute modern space rock opera “Neon Thunder”. Markus has been making music for most of his life, starting on piano and guitar. He has also been travelling the world since age 6, living in many countries and meeting all kinds of people along the way. A bold new album of 12 songs entitled “Songs For Babylon Vol. 1” is currently in the works that brings a more traditional guitar/voice approach to the repertoire combined with a fierce political and spiritual theme throughout. It is set for release in spring 2022 with live shows performed throughout the summer around europe and the rest of the world. The second volume will be released later in 2022. Stay tuned and be sure to join the mailing list for the latest news and updates.
If you want to dive a little deeper into the world of Markus and his 38+ years as a musician/poet/performer on planet earth, fasten your seatbelt and read on…
LONG VERSION:
I was born in 1983 and the first song I loved was Alice Cooper’s Poison when I was five. I still have the cassette my friend’s big brother recorded it on. I packed my bags when I was 6 and travelled the world for the next 30 years living in many countries. I began playing classical piano at age 7, took jazz drum lessons for a month a few years later and began guitar at 11. I went through all kinds of musical phases learning new things as I went along. I never cared much for genres. Music was about elements. I just wanted to hear great songs that made me feel amazing like Wonderwall, Imagine, Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway To Heaven, Who’ll Stop The Rain, Pull Me Under, and Comfortably Numb.
Early Influences: Lennon, Queen, Oasis, CCR, Metallica, Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses, Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, SRV, Dream Theatre, Satriani, Clapton, Kingston Wall, HIM, Radiohead, Muse, Mew, Sigur Rós and Coldplay.
Those were the bands and players that really inspired me deeply during my first few decades. I bought their albums and learned their songs. I read about them in music books and magazines and dreamed of one day also living they did, making records and touring the world. I was kind of a dumb happy kid who was into sports and video games but things started going sideways and life was getting more difficult. Music was the only thing where I still felt free and fully alive. Eventually, making music became my video game. I realised I could just be a kid forever.
When I was 15 we lived in Helsinki beside this famous musician who took me to the local music shop to get me a sweet discount on my first 4-track recording machine. I started singing and writing songs about how I felt. At first I was too embarrassed to show them to anybody but gained more confidence throughout the years. I also got a drum machine which helped me produce songs beyond just voice and guitar. I started experimenting with different sounds and instruments. The rest of life paled in comparison and I just wanted to live inside my songs and headphones. Everyone was so tense and serious. Lighten up folks I thought secretly. I liked writing songs that forced me to dig deep and get better, otherwise I couldn’t play them. There are endless levels to the music game. I was determined to access and master them all.
I played in bands and studied privately with teachers. I saw my heroes live at concerts and festivals, often feeling that I could do better if given the resources to succeed. I kept writing/recording my songs, performing and taking part in different kinds of projects, working with all kinds of talented freaks and weirdos I seemed to always attract. But life was hard. I worked all kinds of jobs to get by. Got my own place. Had girlfriends. Went to bars. Got drunk. Read books and watched movies. Did my time in the military. Graduated from high school. Got a driver’s licence. Ticked the boxes. I continued travelling and exploring the world. I didn’t really have any concrete plan or strategy besides enjoying life and following the muse. Somehow I survived through the trials and tribulations of this material realm.
“The years came and went. I lived fast, burned bright and died hard in cities. Then disappeared for months to work alone on my songs and skills, to grow as a man and musician. I seemed to go through these cycles of continuous re-invention and renewal as a part of my creative process. As my standards and expectations increased, so did my disappointments. But it’s all part of the game. Hungry for more. Living the dream! Loyal servant of the muse.”
It was the year 2019 and I decided to finally unpack my bags in the town where I was born just near the Russian border in south-eastern Finland. I got myself a nice little apartment with a kitchen my uncle renovated. Hung up some art on the walls with two-sided tape. Borrowed my cousin’s hifi gear, bought some used furniture and sat down to listen to the great sound emanating from the speakers. What the hell have I been doing all my life? i wondered. Lovers, friends, addictions came and went like they always did and always will because desire makes us human.
Then the pandemic started and this vicevoids project was born. Because of the lockdown I couldn’t perform so I thought I’d just become one of those stay-at-home musicians. Is it a brand? A band? Is it my new identity? I didn’t know but it felt powerful visually and sonically. So I rolled my sleeves up, bought a little midi keyboard, thanked the gods, took a good pull on my BPA-free water bottle and got to work on an old MacBook Pro from 2011 with GarageBand.
I have recorded three solo albums: Lions (2007), Nobodyland (2010), and Dukkha (2015). You can find these on Spotify under my alter-ego Markus Nylund. I have also performed and recorded under many other names. I guess they are all part of me somehow. I released a double EP in 2020 as vicevoids and then a full album one year later in October of 2021. You can find these all on the music page. Now I am working on a new collection of songs but there’s so much material that I will have to release them in several albums. I have always been quite prolific. And I like to try different things otherwise I get bored very quick. There’s always something in the pipeline. New dreams being born. Songs just keep on arriving.
I am going through covid as I write this so been sick for the last few weeks, at home resting. Honestly it’s been a blessing in disguise as it forced me stop and ask some deep hard questions regarding my predicament. So if the initial lockdown a few years ago was the first catalyst that gave birth to vicevoids, this second one is my own personal rebirth. Both were necessary to make this happen. No more drugs. No more war. I am the drug! I will emerge from this like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I’m watching this new show Severance. I really like the 1984 vibes. The other day Will Smith punched Chris Rock at the oscars because he insulted his wife. I’m sick of these Hollywood idiots getting too much attention. It’s time for a new era of artists to step out of the shadows and RISE to power. And give it back to the wild people.
Well, thanks for being here and reading my story so far. Plenty more action and plot twists to come. I am just getting started. I bloom slow. So stick around. I would like to travel again with my songs and stories. Let me know what you think about all this in the guestbook. See you out there somewhere!
Arrivederci,
Markus Rafael Nylund
March 31, 2022