Kirkkonummen Steel Band ry
The Steel Band Association of Kirkkonummi, Finland
By Panu Leislahti
www.steelpan.org
BRIEF IN ENGLISH - Steelpan in Kirkkonummi
THE STEEL BAND ASSOCIATION OF KIRKKONUMMI
Who are we?
The Steel Band Association of Kirkkonummi supports the local
steel pan culture by providing and maintaining the instruments
in order to organize its activities: rehearsals, gigs, concerts
and recordings. The association co-operates with the Kirkkoharju
Junior High School. The instruments are available for teaching
music in the school’s auditorium. This is the basic idea of
the steel pan culture in Finland, which has spread from Karjaa.
Today the majority of steel band leaders are music teachers who
explore the possibilities of this flexible and fun instrument
in their schools’ curriculum.
Where are we?
Kirkkonummi is a small town with a population of 30 000,
located 30 kilometers (18,5 miles) west of Helsinki, the
capital of Finland. We rehearse at our school auditorium,
and we usually perform all around the southern part of
Finland.
A brief history
The first steel band in Kirkkonummi was founded in 1995 by
music teacher Satu Jämsä with her students, inspired by
the well known Finnish steel band Steel Pan Lovers. To get
started, a bit of help was needed from the Lovers’ leader
Ari Viitanen, who supported the new steel pan enthusiasts
by borrowing some instruments to the Kirkkoharju School.
Collaboration with helpful parents and friends led to the
foundation of the Steel Band Association of Kirkkonummi.
The association was founded not only to obtain insruments
for the school’s music teaching, but also to secure the
hobby of those students who leave or graduate the school.
The association makes it possible for anyone to join the
activity. Nowadays the association has three kinds of
steel pan players:
1) students of the school,
2) children who join “junior clubs” led by older players and
3) teenagers or young adults who play in larger bands.
Today
Our association can provide steel drums (or steel pans
as we call them) up to more than twenty players. All of
the sound ranges are represented in the instruments made
by Finnish pan tuners Esa Tervala, Ari Viitanen and Simo
Tiainen. Esa Tervala is an honorary member of the Steel
Band Association of Kirkkonummi, even though he lives
in Switzerland! Esa is also our unofficial “godfather”.
Playing steel pans is popular among the students and
the activity at the school is outstanding, but the most
visible part of the association is the largest steelband
in Kirkkonummi called Stainless Pancake.
THE BANDS
Stainless Pancake
The slightly weird name of this 20-piece band has an
explanation: it is a fusion of originally two school
steel bands formed in the mid-90’s. These two separate
groups were called Stainless Steelband and Pannukakku (pancake in English).
Stainless Pancake blends the musicianship, experience
and the energy of its predecessors. Now the players
are young adults, their average age is above 20.
The leader of Stainless Pancake is Satu Jämsä.
Founded in 2002, the band was new and it was a fresh
start for experienced players. The fusion enabeled the
band to perform with a larger group and a wider reper-
toire at the Angostura Steel Pan European festival in
France, May 2002. Stainless Pancake did not participate
in the European Championships, but the group was voted
by the audience as the seventh best band. According to
the poll, Stainless Pancake was the most popular
Scandinavian steel band at the festival.
You can hear Stainless Steelband and Pannukakku together
as one group on the Stainless Pancake album “Lifespan”
(2003) or separately on the album “Pantastico” (1999).
If you wish to order our recordings, please e-mail us!
Panstreet
This is our answer to the question of how to fit a steel
band into your living room. Panstreet was formed when
a demand grew for a smaller group. The band consists of
less than ten members of Stainless Pancake. Originally
ment to be a temporary project, it now performs mostly
in private occasions. This band has no leader.
Steel Bands of Kirkkoharju School
Each semester there are a few steel bands that consist of
8th and 9th grade students who have taken the project
as an optional course from the school curriculum. These
groups are taught by Satu Jämsä, and they perform every
now and then in smaller occasions.
The Junior Pans
Twice a year a few small groups of children get acquainted
with steel pans led by older players. The “junior club” is
very popular: elementary school kids or younger girls and boys
from Kirkkonummi, Siuntio and Espoo have joined.
CD´s
The association has published three albums:
The Magic of Pans (KINUCD-01, 1997)
a document of that era with three school bands
Pantastico!(KINUCD-02, 1999)
Stainless Steelband and Pannukakku show their skills
Lifespan (KINUCD-03, 2003)
Stainless Pancake plays Stevie Wonder, Abba,
The Beatles, smooth jazz and even some Sibelius.
You can order our recordings via e-mail.
Contact Us:
Satu Jämsä
leader of the steel bands
teacher at the Kirkkoharju Junior High
and Porkkala High School
Panu Leislahti
chair of the association
project producer
