Band Line Up: 
Pauli Lyytinen - tenor saxophone
Sigurdur Rögnvaldsson – electric and baritone guitar
David Meier – drums

Bio:
Equally Stupid was founded as a duo in 2009 by Finnish saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen and Icelandic guitarist Sigurdur Rögnvaldsson, both of who enjoyed playing energetic and rhythmical music. The duo served that purpose; Equally Stupid’s music is powerful and furious, with fast and often complicated melodies that still remain melodic.

Equally Stupid played a few gigs in Scandinavia in 2009 but then laid low for a few years. As a result of Pauli and Sigurdur’s attempts to revitalise Equally Stupid, David Meier, a Swiss experimental jazz/rock drummer, joined them early in 2013. David, with whom Sigurdur had been playing in other projects, proved to be the perfect drummer for the band.

In the summer of 2013 the band spent three days in Magnusborg Studios, a legendary Finnish studio, where they recorded their debut album Exploding Head. Located in the countryside in a beautiful wooden building, Magnusborg Studios has a great collection of old microphones, some of which were bought from the Finnish National Radio. The album was recorded live in the studio with all three members playing at the same time.

Exploding Head was mixed by Petter Eriksson at Studio Epidemin in Gothenburg, Sweden. Eriksson´s approach to mixing, which includes a hybrid of analogue and digital mixing with a multitude of outboard gear, suited the band well. The band’s sound expanded and came alive with his mixing. The cover art for the album was designed by two Norwegian designers, Espen Aeng and Kim Holm. The artwork was made from scratch with 3D modelling software.

Equally Stupid´s music is on the border of jazz and rock. Pauli, Sigurdur and David have all studied jazz and improvisation for many years. Having a listening background in a variety of music, they grew up listening to the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Sting as well as rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Guns N` Roses. Later, they developed an interest for progressive music such as King Crimson and Mr. Bungle as well as for jazz music. In Equally Stupid, the attitude of rock music can clearly be heard through the heavy beats and riffs as well as sounds created with the help of Pauli´s and Sigurdur’s effect pedals. The jazz and progressive influences can be heard in the complicated rhythms, melodies and solos.

Equally Stupid has been performing regularly in Finland and will participate in festivals in the summer of 2014. In September the band will tour in Finland and go to the studio again to record their second album. In 2015 the band is planning to tour in Europe to celebrate their second release.

The members have been performing actively with their own music for several years throughout Europe and even in Africa and Asia. Some of their most active projects from the past few years are Elifantree, SchnellerTollerMeier, DEFEKT, Laser, Raoul Björkenheim Ecstasy and Trio Riot

Equally Stupid - Exploding Head

EquallyStupid