She’s the star behind the smash hit with DNS Project “Mindful” and “Oceanblue” with Jason van Wyk and Vast Vision. Unlike most vocalists we come across, Johanna Siekkinen, or fondly known as Johanna, has already had tremendous commercial success in Finland. About 2 years ago, she made a bold leap by moving to Netherlands to work with world class producers such as Ernesto vs Bastian and Vast Vision. Her new publishing deal sees her starting a new chapter in her music, and besides providing her vocals to her songs, she writes the lyrics as well.

She’ll be guesthosting this week’s Radio KUL alongside Super8 & Tab. Here is our Extra interview with her.


Johanna

Johanna, this is great that we’re talking to you. How are things and where are you currently?
Great talking to you guys! Things are really nice at the moment, been quite hectic couple of weeks but now I am enjoying a day off in my home in Espoo, Finland.

You started making music in 1995 to 2002 with much success in Finland, even releasing several albums, participating in Eurovision, touring heavily, being a TV personality, scoring #1 on airplay charts, and selling platinum. But there was a hiatus between then and 2009. What happened during those years Johanna?
A lot happened during that time :) One could say that my whole life changed when I was offered a TV-job in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The show was done in Netherlands but broadcasted via satellite to Finland, and I hosted it for 6 months. After the show ended I decided to stay in Netherlands and see what kind of opportunities there was to make music as I really wanted to do something internationally. I ended up living in Amsterdam for 5 years and during those years I had to start everything from scratch but in the end I managed to reach my goal – I made a publishing deal with prestigious Cloud9music and in 2009 I got my first EDM release.

With all that success in the commercial pop scene, what do you think attracted you to work on the trance genre? Were you always interested in this type of music, or was there a catalyst, perhaps something or somebody that you came across?
I think the biggest reason why I got in touch wit trance scene was my moving to Netherlands where the EDM scene is really big. I still can remember my first nights out clubbing when the DJ played some big trance anthems – I completely fell in love with this type of music :)

Of course we have to ask you about “Mindful.” This track with DNS Project got so much support and remains a fan favourite today, with a brilliant remix by Ronski Speed. How did this collab come about?
DNS Project is signed by Cloud9music so we have the same publishing company and they actually introduced us to each other. Rene showed me track and the minute I heard it I knew it was a special one – I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work on it! “Mindful” will always be a special track to me and I can say that I am truly proud to be part of this production.

“Oceanblue” is another track of yours that we really love. What was it like working with Jason van Wyk and Vast Vision? Tell us about those guys.
They are all extremely talented young, energetic guys who will for sure go far in the business. Working with them was fun and it would be nice to do another track with them again in the future :)

And we hear you have a new track coming out with DNS Project again. Can you tell us a bit more about this?
Yes, a new track is coming out with DNS Project and I hope this one will be also well received just like “Mindful” was. I don’t want to reveal too much but the remixes are almost ready now and hopefully you guys won’t have to wait too long to hear this new track – I am personally loving it soooo much!

Are there any particular DJs or producers that you’d be keen to work with?
Well, I guess all vocalists in trance scene would be excited to make a track with Armin van Buuren himself :) So that is something that would be a dream come true as I really love his productions. But there are also so many other great DJs and producers around – there is just not enough space here to list them all ;) But I do have to say that I always listen to the track first; if I cannot connect to the track at all it will be very hard to write anything good on top of it or bring emotion to the vocals. Therefore I only work with tracks I like.

Share with us something about yourself that not many people know about.
I can speak Dutch :)

What are the other plans like for the rest of the year? Will you perhaps be going on tour or crafting an album?
At the moment I am working on number of different collabs so I hope these tracks will see the daylight soon! An album would be awesome too but let’s see what this year brings..I love performing live so I hope I will have the opportunity to perform a lot more too.

And any message to your fans and supporters reading this.
Follow your dreams as they can come true, never give up! :)

Johanna will guesthost Radio KUL 144. The first hour will be mixed by Simon Lee and Alvin and hosted by Johanna with a selection of some of her discography, followed by a guestmix from Super8 & Tab. Airs Friday, 11th June 2010 at http://www.radiokul.com/ and available as a podcast on iTunes and on Mugasha. Radio Hi-Tec Netherlands and 1Mix Radio UK will also stream the show live, see website for schedule.

“Mindful” is out now on Armada.

More info :

  • Johanna – http://www.officialjohanna.com/