Stories, concerts and celebrations: the first months of 2026
2026 has started in a special way for Uusikuu. Which is perhaps not surprising, as this is a very special year for us. This year marks our 20th anniversary (yes, we know!), and the first months of the year have already been full of music, travel and wonderful encounters.
In the spirit of birthdays and anniversaries, we also celebrated the first birthday of our album Piknik on 14 February. The past twelve months have been quite a picnic, taking us to many stages and audiences. Here’s to the second year of Piknik!
Hyvää syntymäpäivää Piknik!
The year began with a series of lovely concerts. We opened the year in January in the very special and warm atmosphere of Jazzclub Armer Konrad in Weinstadt (it was like a sauna!). We also got to play at the beautiful Villa Domnick in Nürtingen (possibly the most inspiring and art-filled stage ever!), at the Nordklang Festival in St. Gallen (this has been a long-standing dream!), and most recently at Old Hamburg in Rottenburg (we do love the sea, and everything to do with it!).
Each evening reminded us how much we value the close connection with our audiences. The warm atmosphere, shared laughter and the special moments that live music creates. And stories. Our music is about stories anyway, but every evening creates new ones. Possibly even material for new songs!
Photo: Franz Bornheim/Jazzclub Armer Konrad
In the last week of January we also spent a few inspiring days at the Internationale Kulturbörse Freiburg, one of the most important networking events for music and the performing arts in Europe. Together with Björn Reinemer and Steffen Wallendorf from our booking agency Dynamite Konzerte, we represented Uusikuu at our stand, performed a showcase, and met many friends and colleagues, both old and new. And some of it was helped along by exquisite wines from Saxony (where the Dynamite Konzerte HQ is) and some very special drinks from Finland. Long live the Nordic Happy Hour!
Playing a showcase in Freiburg is always an honour and a privilege. It tends to come with its challenges too. Last time (in 2019), just before going on stage, Mikko dropped his violin onto the concrete floor of the exhibition hall. We pulled ourselves together and played the showcase like true pros, but Mikko had nightmares about it for years afterwards. The violin itself ended up being repaired for well over a year.
This time the curse struck again. Firstly, as fate would have it, James coincidentally had a showcase scheduled at exactly the same time with his music comedy troupe Die Grabowskis, so our fantastic friend Zura Dzagnidze was kind enough to step in for him. But then, on Sunday evening Flo sent a message saying that he was in bed with a very high fever, and playing the showcase in Freiburg on Monday was obviously out of the question. After a frantic round of phone calls we decided to perform as a quartet. It was one of the properly wintriest spells of the season, but the roads were mostly clear. We missed our soundcheck slot after getting stuck behind a road closure caused by an accident, but we still made it to Freiburg just in time for the showcase.
And it was a great experience. All’s well that ends well!
Long live Nordic Happy Hour(s)!
February also brought some exciting media moments. We returned to the Finnish television morning programme Huomenta Suomi (MTV3) for a conversation with conductor and composer Atso Almila. It is the best-known and longest-running morning show on Finnish television, and appearing on it is always a great honour. On that very cold morning in Helsinki, we also had the pleasure of being part of a particularly music-filled episode of the programme. Other guests included such stars of Finnish music as the Manserock legend Juha Torvinen of Eppu Normaali, Noora Louhimo (formerly of Battle Beast), and the always inspirational Ismo Alanko.
Laura, Mikko, and Atso together with Huomenta Suomi’s Eerikki Pitkänen
On the same day we released a new music video to celebrate the first anniversary of Piknik: “Mata Hari’s Eyes”, directed by Chris Parkinson and filmed at reBOOTS Bar in Stuttgart. The very first preview of the video was shown live on Huomenta Suomi, a fitting way to celebrate both the video and one year of Piknik.
Uusikuu - Mata Hari’s Eyes (Official Music Video)
The year is still young, and many exciting projects lie ahead. Among them are two upcoming concerts with the Nürnberger Symphoniker, which we are very much looking forward to. We will share more about that project very soon. And while we are celebrating this year, so are they – the Nürnberger Symphoniker turn 80! In a way, that means we are celebrating 100 years of music together. Wow!
Thank you to everyone who has joined us on this journey so far in 2026. See you somewhere very soon! And if you haven’t got your copy of Piknik yet, you can order yours directly from us. We would really appreciate it.