PISTONHEAD RUN, FINLAND....part three

The show was held on a local camp-site close to Mala's house. It was a small and intimate gathering with some interesting people turning up. Friday night, a 2 piece band SPOON HILL played (bass drum, tuba, acoustic guitar and harmonica) I ended up joining them on percussion. Oddly enough ....a guy from Lancaster rolled up....it turns out we share the same barber!

PISTONHEAD RUN, FINLAND....part two

I woke up to a warm, sunny day. Mala cooked a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs with 4 different Scandinavian cheeses and the local wholemeal flatbread. This was washed down with cinnamon tea.
I spent the morning mooching around the house and yard, absorbing the ambience. Hese from ROAD-WEIRDOES, who I met the last time I came to Finland, showed up with his buddy to work on one of the various trucks parked up. Mala hooked me up with some wheels for the weekend... a brand new 'Retro' 125cc scooter from India with only 280km's on the clock. It was great to have some independence and not be reliant on anybody to get around. In the afternoon Eski and Masa arrived and I pitched in and helped load the vans and trucks with musical equipment, merch and camping stuff for the show.

PISTONHEAD RUN, FINLAND....part one

Just back from a 5 day trip to Somero, Finland representing Sideburn Magazine at The Pistonhead Run.

I was shown some warm Finnish hospitality from Mala Malk, boss of KOPTERI, Finland's best chopper mag!

He picked me up at Helsinki airport and we drove 100 kms to Somero. We stopped on the way to buy sleeping bags etc. The first thing I saw was a pensioner in a THRASHER hoody followed by a monochrome, floppy-mohawked punk sporting TAMPERE SS, DISFEAR and GISM patches.

Mala resides in a huge converted dairy factory, built in 1928 and closed in the mid 70's. Downstairs is an open plan garage/workshop/storage space with living quarters on the second floor. Mala has spent his adult life collecting Americana, so that's cars, trucks, motorcycles, pinball machines, musical equipment, buses, clothing, hats, boots, food products, hair products, gas station ephemera, beer, toys and records....oh and a crane (though technically, that's English). The factory sits way out in the countryside and the surrounding sprawling plot is full of outhouses bursting with the aforementioned stuff.