There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money.
How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape).
In this edition, we chat with Eero (guitar/backing vocals) of Sumu, a “sotecore” band from Finland. What does that mean? It’s all explained below. The band recently released an eponymous EP.
Scene Point Blank: First, what is your job title? To compare it to terms I know from the USA, it sounds like Social Work as an unemployment coach, of sorts?
Eero Heinonen: I work as an “Individual Coach” in Tampere, Finland. My clients are unemployed individuals from Tampere region and most of them have been unemployed for several months, some of them even several years. My main goal is to find a new path (school, job, or something else) together with the client. Our company offers rehabilitative work activities for the unemployed and individuals facing employment challenges and we have five different workshops in Tampere. My youngest client is 20 years old and the oldest one is 64 years old, so the age scale is quite wide.
Scene Point Blank: How would you describe "a day in the office?" Is it therapy sessions, home visits, paperwork, etc? Do you have a specific focus? Be as open, or private, as you want to be in answering this.
Eero Heinonen: Mostly my day in the office consists of interviewing my clients. When a client starts rehabilitative work activity, the client and I set goals for their period in rehabilitative work activity. For example someone’s goal might be “writing a new CV,” “searching for a place to study,” “drink less alcohol,” and stuff like that. The periods in rehabilitative work activity range from 3 months to 6 months and I have to interview my clients before their period in rehabilitative work activity is about to end. Then I write these interviews down and send them to my client’s social worker or social counsellor.
Some of my clients have substance abuse and/or mental health concerns and with those individuals I have discussions about substances and how they affect their daily life. I don’t want to preach or tell my clients what they should do, because they have been through some rough stuff and they don’t want anybody to tell them how they should live.
Mainly I help my clients to find their assets and that’s why I love my job so much. I also help my clients with paperwork because, when you’re unemployed, you have fill lots of forms and they are quite hard to understand sometimes. I also make budgeting plans with my clients, visit financial counseling clinics with them, etc.
Scene Point Blank: What led you to this work? When you initially pursued social work, did you have the goal to focus on mental health specifically? What was your previous job history? Did you have other part-time/full-time jobs?
Eero Heinonen: My work history is really long and I have worked in different fields. I was born in 1985 and I graduated from high school in 2004 and then I got my first “proper” job as an design assistant. I drew technical drawings with computer-aided design programs in a really big company. Then the recession in 2008 hit quite hard, I got sacked and I was unemployed for three weeks before I got the job as a janitor/secure guard/universal handyman in the University of Tampere. Working as a janitor was quite easy and laid back, because I’ve always been social and I like interacting with people. While I was working in the university, I started to think about my future and I didn’t want to retire from that job. Then I applied in Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2017, got accepted and graduated as a Bachelor of Social Services in 2020.
During my studies, I worked in service housing and the residents were individuals with mental health concerns. Well some residents had also drug and alcohol abuse related long term illnesses. During that time I knew I wanted to work in the mental health/substance abuse field. After graduation I worked in child welfare unit which was specialized in parents who had substance abuse concerns. After working in that field for two years, I decided to try something totally different and got this current job.
Scene Point Blank: How long have you played music? How has that overlapped with your career? Were you doing one before the other?
Eero Heinonen: I have played guitar for over 30 years and bass guitar for over 25 years and I have been a part of some band as long as I remember. My first band was called Helpotus and we played sloppy punk rock in the late 1990s in my room while my parents were sitting downstairs and watching TV. I’m forever grateful to my parents for encouraging me to make music. When my other band, The Fërtility Cült, played their first gig abroad in 2018, my parents flew from Finland to UK to watch the show.
I have played almost every kind of music you can imagine -- from electro pop-rock to stoner/doom/jazz/prog. Sumu is my newest band and it found its true form in September 2024. All my previous and current bands are not money making machines and we play just for fun. But it’s still one of the best feelings ever when people buy our music and come to see us play live.
Playing music didn’t influence me but the phenomena around our society and in my work field influence Sumu’s lyrics. And of course if the world around you makes you angry, I want to make some angry and nasty songs too.
Scene Point Blank: Do the two worlds meet? Does music come up on the job, either as an outlet, interest, or that you're in a band? Have your experiences from the music scene, such as playing in front of people and meeting new people through music influenced your day job(s) in any surprising ways? Does it help you connect with strangers, or anything like that?
Eero Heinonen: Actually, sometimes I use music as a client work method and I tend to ask my clients about their favourite music or favourite bands, because sometimes we might share the same taste in music which makes communicating and getting to know each other much easier. Sometimes me and my clients have these “my favourite song at the moment” hours. [We] listen to some songs and after listening, we discuss the feelings they gave us. These “sessions” have always been really, really touching and it’s always heartwarming when my clients can share their feelings and thoughts through music, because it’s not always easy to express yourself.
Sometimes I tell my clients that I play in bands and sometimes me and my clients even share our own music between us, because some of my clients play in bands or make electronic music. It’s fun and I have learned lots of electronic music during my current job. It’s always a pleasure to learn new things and widen up your views. I don’t think that my clients have seen my bands live and I wouldn’t mind if I would see them amongst the crowd.
I have played at least 250 gigs and playing gigs is fun. At least usually, when you get the energy levels right and you communicate with the audience. That’s why I like to interact with the audience because seeing the audience enjoy our music -- it gives me the energy to perform and give my best every night. Music is the universal language and music and playing gigs have also given me confidence to meet new people.
Scene Point Blank: Does your work directly influence your music, whether that means specific lyrics or moods, or even your practice or touring schedule? How do you balance everything? Do you set schedules or block off time to make music?
Eero Heinonen: Scheduling the rehearsals is sometimes difficult, because me, Juspu (drums) and Anton (vocals) play also in other bands and Maissi (bass) is studying to be a registered nurse so she’s quite busy with the school and exams. Me, Juspu and Anton also have full-time jobs from Monday to Friday and Anton might have also some work shifts on weekends. But usually we rehearse on regular basis once a week and, for example, if Anton can’t attend the rehearsals, the rest of the band compose new songs at the rehearse place. After we’ve made a new song, usually I record it on my phone and send it via WhatsApp in Sumu’s band chat.
Scene Point Blank: The rest of the band also works in health care or social work. Did you meet on the job, or was it a coincidence of shared interests? I think your line of work fits the hardcore tradition of community and well-being as an emphasis, but it also sounds like you directly pull from on-the-job experience when writing music. Why or how did you land on the term "Sotecore"?
Eero Heinonen: Me and Juspu have known each other for about 15 years and we have played together in We Are NKL (a cover band which plays only Glenn Danzig-era Misfits songs) and Santeri Suokukko & Ruosteinen Pasuuna (a cover band which plays almost everything from punk rock to Irish folk songs). Juspu is also a Bachelor of Social Services and he works in school. Me and Anton met in 2019 when we both worked in the service housing and we instantly connected through music and because we both liked the same music. Then when we needed a new singer I knew I had to contact Anton and ask him to join Sumu.
We draw the inspiration for the lyrics from the phenomena from our society, and our society is really fucked up right now. Our right-wing government and their policy has made really stupid and short-sighted decisions which have negative effects in our clients’ everyday lives. The poverty will increase and people who need help (medical or economical) don’t get help. Sad and hopeless times ahead and probably the only good thing about this situation is that these times provide things to sing about!
"We draw the inspiration for the lyrics from the phenomena from our society, and our society is really fucked up right now"
We like to call our music sotecore because we all have experience of working (and Maissi is currently studying) in the social and health care field and “sote” means social and health care in Finnish). That’s quite unique when you invent your own style of music.
Scene Point Blank: How do you switch gears from coaching about serious personal issues with clients to writing/playing hardcore once you're off the clock?
Eero Heinonen: I have my own work role and I don’t think about any work related stuff when I’m home. When I started working in the social and health care field, my former colleague said that you have to have hobbies which clear your mind after work. I clear my head by exercising three times a week, reading books, listening to music, playing in bands, meeting my friends, etc. Last year me and my friends started to play Dungeons and Dragons and these game sessions have been truly awesome! We don’t get to play DnD quite often but, when we play, that’s a whole different dimension and universe. You just can’t think anything else but dwarfs, orcs and the story. Highly recommended! I’ve also been sober for almost two years so I have all the energy in the world to do all these things! Ha!
Scene Point Blank: Anything you'd like to add?
Eero Heinonen: My recipe for perfect life: respect nature, love passionately, be humble, be curious, be respectful toward others, try to sleep well, remember to treat yourself with things which make you happy and listen some Sumu!
Check out previous entries in the Don’t Quit Your Day Job series.
