Kingston Wall was a
Finnish rock group that was formed in 1987 by lead
singer/
guitarist Petri Walli and
bass player Jukka Jylli. At first, the trio had
Petteri Ståhl on drums, then
Timo Joutsimäki. After things didn't work out with Joutsimäki, Walli called
Sami Kuoppamäki and got him to join the band. Their
psychedelic hard-rock debut album, which was
untitled (simply known as "Kingston Wall" - afterwards, in the re-issues, titled as "
Kingston Wall I") was released 1992 in
Finland under the band's own
record label,
Trinity - the records were distributed by
EMI.
The band's playing was influenced by such groups as
The Jimi Hendrix Experience,
Led Zeppelin,
Cream and
The Who. Also, the fans of groups such as
Pink Floyd,
Porcupine Tree,
Ozric Tentacles and
Spirit might feel themselves at home with Kingston Wall's musical soundscapes.
Kingston Wall is often thought as a
1960's/
1970's influenced
hippie-
rock group of the 90's, but it's not the complete picture. The band used to
play and
jam cover songs at their gigs varying from
Donna Summer's
disco hit
I Feel Love (available on "Kingston Wall II") to
The Prodigy's
Out of Space. The band also did a few
Jimi Hendrix cover songs - one of them, a redone of the classic tune "
Fire" was included in their debut album.
After albums "II" (1993) and
techno-influenced "
III - Tri-Logy" (1994) the band split up due to Walli's decision. The group members head out separate ways and sadly, as Walli committed
suicide on
June 28, 1995, Kingston Wall came to an end.
The original
Trinity copies of the
trilogy (and the four singles) are long-ago sold out and are high-priced collectors' items as well. On
February 25, 1998, on Walli's 29th birthday (if he had lived), the three Kingston Wall albums were re-released with bonus material in
Finland by
Zen Garden Records.
As a tribute to Kingston Wall and Pete Walli, on
June 2000, a trance
remix CD "Kingston Wall -
Freakout Remixes" was released. It contained
psychedelic trance remixes of classic
Kingston Wall songs made by
top-notch Finnish underground trance artists, such as
Texas Faggott,
Squaremeat,
Possible Apple and
Accu. Kingston Wall's influences to the
Finnish underground culture are undeniable and the band's music is appreciated both in the
Finnish rock scene as in the
techno scene also.
Group members:
Other artists appearing on Kingston Wall albums:
See also:
Discography:
Albums:
Singles:
Sources:
http://mirrorland.goa-head.org/ (Official Kingston Wall website)