Jarkko Martikainen is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 singer, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and member of the rock band YUP

YUP (band)

YUP is a Finnish rock-music group. The band arose amongst three students of the Savonlinna senior high of arts in 1987 and played some rather primitive, progressive hard-core punk with English lyrics...

. In addition to his musical career, Martikainen has worked as a columnist

Columnist

A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....

, a record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and a documentary

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 filmmaker. Martikainen has also illustrated his first solo-album Mierolainen (2004) and YUP's third album, Toppatakkeja ja Toledon terästä (1994).

Martikainen has a very versatile and distinct voice. His lyrics are satirical and have taken lots of influence from old Russian authors like Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...

 and especially Daniil Harms. Martikainen's lifestyle could be described as "a bit of a Tolstoyan

Tolstoyan

The Tolstoyan movement is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy . Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mount....

".

In 2005, Martikainen published a collection of short stories, Pitkät piikit ja muita kertomuksia, which, among other things, criticizes modern lifestyle and consumerism.

Discography

• Mierolainen (2004)
• Rakkaus (2006)
• Hyvää yötä hyvät ihmiset (live album) (2007)
• Toivo (2009)
• Usko (2011)