Pekka Tolonen is one of the pioneers of Finnish electronic music. He is known from 80’s Argon/Organ synth-bands, and from compilation of Aids virus DNA code into music, stored in a time-capsule buried into the foundation stone of Science Centre Heureka.
Other 80’s works by Tolonen include computer-poetry Runerberg/Satunai with Arto Kytöhonka, Matrix Mind MUU group’s videoart with Otso Pakarinen, and Kalle Home-Psychiatrist program, which Jyrki Kasvi (now Finnish politician) converted to Commodore 64 for MikroBitti Magazine, and Erotic Virtual Personality Lulu debuted in Heureka’s Artificial Intelligence and Hyvinkää Erotic Art exhibions.
“It was continuum of my 70’s period, when I was building musical electro-shock machines, reverbs, flangers, synthesizers, run pirate radio stations and played progressive and heavy metal. Programming came up naturally when I got Apple computer in -81”, Tolonen remembers.
In Akusmata Tolonen plays analog plasma music, which has been made from realtime satellite data, measuring coronal mass ejections of the sun – and talks about modular synths and methods, which are suitable for artists interested in functional data-art genres.