WOMEX opens tonight, and our Musical Road to WOMEX 2025 reaches its final stop: the city hosting it all. After weeks of travelling across continents and sounds, we arrive in Tampere, Finland, to spotlight one of its most fearless musical innovators: Kimmo Pohjonen.
Often described as the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion, Pohjonen has spent three decades dismantling the instrument’s limits and rebuilding it into something entirely his own. His music stretches from folk and classical to avant-garde, rock, and theatre, but none of those labels quite fit. Whether performing solo or with collaborators like Kronos Quartet, Trey Gunn, or Pat Mastelotto, Pohjonen treats the accordion as an engine for invention: wired through effects, lights, and surround sound to create what he calls “multi-layered electro-acoustic music.”
To close our series, we couldn’t think of a more fitting figure. A local artist whose vision has travelled the world, Pohjonen stands for the spirit WOMEX celebrates: curiosity, risk, and reinvention. In our Q&A, he reflects on the performance that first set his career in motion at WOMEX 1997, the ways Finnish landscape and weather shape his sound, and why this year’s Tampere showcase feels like coming full circle. He also shares a new playlist curated especially for this episode: a glimpse into the artists and ideas that continue to drive his creativity.
How would you introduce your music to someone discovering it for the first time, and what roots and influences define your sound?
I would say: please come and listen to experimental accordion music that tries to completely change your image of the instrument. During my musical journey, I’ve taken influences from all over the world, but the main idea has always been to create my own personal sound — and, if possible, even my own genre.
Can you share a personal moment that had a lasting impact on your journey as a musician and shaped the music you create today?
One of them was WOMEX 1997 in Berlin. I had a solo concert there, and after that performance my show became the topic of the weekend. It immediately gave me the opportunity to start my international solo career. It also helped me realise that I had chosen the right path, as I began composing my own music for the accordion with the idea that I should not try to please anyone but myself. I’m still on that path today.
This year WOMEX lands in Tampere — the so-called Manchester of Finland, known for transforming factories into culture and for its endless saunas. Since the city feels close to home for you, how does it feel to see such a globally minded event taking place practically on your doorstep?
It’s super great. Tampere is a very innovative and beautiful city that values different cultures. It’s also one of my favourite cities in Finland. I’m sure visitors will see that when they arrive. And you must visit the saunas and ice-swimming places in Tampere — they’re my favourite form of relaxation. I couldn’t live without this experience, which I call “Finnish natural heroin.”
With so many traditions and genres represented at WOMEX, what makes your music distinctive within this global context, and what do you hope people hearing you at WOMEX take away from your music?
I’ve always tried to make my sound different from everyone else’s, and I believe people will hear that when they come to the concert. Over the last five years, I’ve been developing my accordion into a machine that creates multi-layered electro-acoustic sound live. It’s a new technique for me and feels like a completely new instrument compared to WOMEX 1997. I’m very happy to share all this in Tampere. The music is also freshly composed, so you can’t find it on recordings yet. If you want to hear something different, be there!
WOMEX in Tampere will host artists from across the world. Are there particular showcases or musicians you’re especially excited to meet or hear while you’re there?
The Zawose Queens are an absolute must for me. I studied in Bagamoyo, in a very small village under Hukwe Zawose’s guidance, during three sessions between 1989 and 1991. Hukwe Zawose was a genius. I’m very excited to see his children perform at WOMEX Tampere.
Tampere’s venues are known for their intimacy and strong sense of audience connection. Being used to performing there, how has that kind of environment shaped the energy or spontaneity of your performances?
Every venue is special — and Tampere has many of them. I feel that each venue requires a different approach when you play, and each gives you its own impact in return. I have many good memories from Tampere, from both small and large stages.
Much of your work seems to draw on Finland’s raw landscapes — from silence and isolation to physical extremes. How do these surroundings influence the way you compose, rehearse, or translate sound into live performance?
Finnish weather is one of the biggest influences on my music. I mostly compose during the winter. If I lived in the south of Spain, my music would be completely different.
Finland often serves as a space for reflection and experimentation, especially in times of global uncertainty. Do current social or environmental issues find their way into your artistic thinking or performances?
Most of my influences come from my environment. The problems we face today — both in society and globally — are so strong that I can’t help but address them in my music. Nowadays I feel increasingly political in what I do on stage. To be only an entertainer would be a waste of this life.
Looking beyond your WOMEX showcase, how do you see this moment feeding into your next steps? Are there new projects, collaborations, or releases on the horizon?
The next recording sessions will take place in Vienna in February 2026 with the great saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. After that, I’ll turn my attention to my next solo album. So yes — new projects, new recordings, and new collaborations. That looks like my life until I die.
If you could write a personal invitation to WOMEX attendees and Tampere locals to come and experience your set, what would it say?
I’ve been trying to change the image of the accordion for 30 years, and still, after every concert, I see happy faces — surprised and moved by the experience. That makes it all worthwhile. The Tampere programme is brand new, so there will be surprises even for those who’ve seen me before. Hope to see you there!
Tonight, for the grand opening of WOMEX 2025 from 7PM, Kimmo Pohjonen takes the stage at Tampere Hall’s Main Auditorium, bringing his unmistakable sound home to the city that shaped it
PLAYLIST: KIMMO POHJONEN X RHYTHM PASSPORT
You can find all the previous episodes of Musical Road to Womex HERE
Photo ©: Petra Cvelbar