Helsinki Psych Fest, organized now for the sixth time, took place at the Playhouse Bar in Vallila, Helsinki. The three-day festival kicked off on Friday, May 3rd, 2024, and wrapped up on Sunday, May 5th, 2024. The first two days were mostly comprised of musical performances, even though there were some dance numbers as well, and an art exhibition lasting for the whole three days. On the festival’s final day on Sunday, however, the focus was on comics with some interesting comic artist interviews, and comic sales tables – not forgetting about music either.
On the comic-focused Sunday afternoon, there were two interviews with comic artists: the legendary Juho Juntunen and the Norwegian-based comic artist Karstein Volle, who also performed with his band KARSTEIN VOLLE & THE TELOMERES. His band used a variety of Nordic languages, plus some nice little tricks like a “guitar solo” done by Volle himself singing through a toy megaphone to a highly echoed microphone – which actually sounded surprisingly good, in addition to the surprised laugh it pulled out of us. It’s not all tricks, though – the songs are melodically nice and have a mellow, wistful feel to them. In addition to Volle and his band, there was a soundscape performance by MOTHER JOONAS and a more prog-leaning show by the band FEATHERFOOT on the stage on Sunday.
All-in-all, Helsinki Psych Fest showed again there’s a place and demand for a small festival focusing on psychedelic music. They have steadily managed to find some interesting acts with different approaches to the psychedelic music scene and brought some intriguing visitors to Finland as well. Check our photos of the festival’s final day here…
Featherfoot
Mother Joonas
Karstein Volle & The Telomeres
Photos by Arto Alho
