J.M.K.E.
From Unearthing The Music
J.M.K.E. is an Estonian punk rock band, formed in Tallinn on January 18, 1986.
Biography
J.M.K.E were formed in 1986 as a four-piece, with their singer, Mati, leaving the band soon afterwards. The rest of the band continued as a trio with Venno on drums, Tarvo Hanno Varres on bass, and Villu Tamme on vocals and guitar, sometimes working together with guest singers (with Tõnu Trubetsky from Vennaskond playing under the name "Vürst Trubetsky & J.M.K.E."). For the first three years they mainly played concerts in Estonia, with a few also in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia due to the Soviet Union's restrictions on performances outside its borders. The band's energetic and aggressive performances coupled with ironic and anarchist-leaning lyrics were not appreciated by the authorities, and at one point singer/guitarist Villu was briefly arrested by the KGB.[2] Later on the band would tour Europe several times.
They became one of the more popular rock outfits in Estonia. In 1987 Villu wrote "Tere Perestroika", initially singing it alone with guitar. Later the band made numerous different versions of the song. It became a big hit because of its humorous topicality (Perestroika) and in 1988 won a song contest on a popular Estonian TV show. In 1988 a first line-up change occurred – Tarvo Hanno Varres[1] left the band, later to join Estonian indie rock group Röövel Ööbik and a new bass player, Lembit, joined the band.
In 1989 the Finnish record label Stupido Twins was created with the aim of publishing some Estonian bands. J.M.K.E.'s "Tere Perestroika" was its first release. The winds of change in the Soviet Union had removed some of the constraints on artists, and so J.M.K.E. were able to travel abroad for the first time in April 1989, playing their first concert in Finland at the Leftist Forum in Helsinki. Later that autumn they recorded their first LP for Stupido Twins, "Külmale Maale" (To the Cold Country), which was the first Estonian rock record recorded abroad. Maximum Rock'n'Roll called it "absolutely excellent". At the end of 1989 Venno left the band declaring that J.M.K.E. had “Become too commercial for me”, and Ardo took his place.
The band toured Estonia, the Nordic countries and Germany, and released a couple of EPs, but only started to record a new album, "Gringode Kultuur" (Culture of Gringos), around 1993. Meanwhile, Estonia had regained its independence and J.M.K.E. had thus lost their "target", the Soviet Union. Their lyrical focus thus shifted to a new "enemy", found in the invading "burger-culture" of American capitalism, increasing poverty, and other early-capitalistic distresses. Lembit left the band in 1994 and was replaced by Sten. J.M.K.E. got also a new drummer, Andres.
Their third album, "Sputniks in Ресторан" ("Sputniks at the Restaurant") (1995), is an eclectic collection of popular Russian songs, sung in high energy Russian. The cover versions include the national anthem of czarist Russia, old revolutionary marches, soldiers' songs from World War II, and melodies from popular cartoons.
In January 1996 J.M.K.E. celebrated their 10th birthday with the longest concert in their history, with a performance which included almost every musician who had ever played with the band, permanently or temporarily, and with a cassette-only-release, "Rumal Nali" (Silly Joke, on Fucking Cunt Records). This contained old D.I.Y. recordings mainly from 1986 and 1987. J.M.K.E. didn't make their first "professional" studio recording until 1989, in Finland, although by that time they had enough songs for three or four albums, due to constraints by the communist government.
J.M.K.E. have gradually abandoned their directly political lyrics, branching out into other topics. Their fifth album, "Jäneste Invasioon" (Invasion of Rabbits, 1996), is a good example of their present character. In 2000, after 4 years of silence, they released the "Õhtumaa viimased tunnid" album, which included the new back-up singers Tirts and Promille who had recently joined the band.
In 2006 J.M.K.E. released another album celebrating their 20 years of activity, called "Mälestusi Eesti NSV-st"("A Memoir Of The Estonian SSR"), which includes songs that were recorded in a professional studio for the first time, for example "Ma ei saa sust aru", "Rumal nali", "Veri mullas" and many more.
Discography
Studio albums
- Külmale maale (1989)
- Gringode kultuur (1993)
- Sputniks in Pectopah (1994)
- Rumal nali (1996)
- Jäneste invasioon (1996)
- Totally Estoned - The Best Of J.M.K.E (1997)
- Õhtumaa viimased tunnid (2000)
- Rotipüüdja (2000) (Vürst Trubetsky & J.M.K.E.)
- Ainult planeet (2002)
- Mälestusi Eesti NSV-st (2006)
- Jasonit ei huvita (2011)
EPs
- Tere perestroika (7" EP, 1989)
- Pieni mies, iso tuoppi (7" EP, 1990)
- Savist saar (12" EP, 1991)
- Maailmalõpp koju kätte (7" EP, 1993)
References
- "Ajakiri MAJA". www.solness.ee. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
- The band's official website
Text adapted from Wikipedia.