Interview: Päivi Hirvonen

Päivi Hirvonen is a Finnish singer who plays in a trio with Mirva Ormin and Tero Pajunen. They mostly play the fiddle and sing. Päivi's songs are focused on women's strength and the tough times one can have in life.

Vilja-Linnea from Young Voices interviewed Päivi about the music she makes.

You sing a lot about female strength and tough times, what inspired you to create your lyrics?

Päivi says that she has been inspired by stories she has heard and about her own experiences, she mentions that not everything is true and that some things have happened in books she has read, but that there is still an important message in it. "It's important that people are heard regardless of age gender or reason" - says Päivi.

You're a group of three, how did you find each other and how did you decide to make music?

Päivi and Tero had already been in a relationship for over 10 years and they played a lot of music together. "It had always been a dream to play in a band," says Päivi, who knew she wanted there to be three of them, all playing string instruments. She had known Mirva to be a good guitarist and good at playing music in general, so she decided that this was the group she had always dreamed of.

When I asked if they all shared the same passion for the fiddle, Päivi says that they all loved playing the fiddle, but of course they had other instruments they played a lot.

When you sing, you're really good at hitting very high notes perfectly, how did you manage to learn that? Was it from taking singing courses or from singing in the shower?

"Both!" says Päivi with a laugh. She took singing lessons for a little while, but she says it's not just because she sings well, but there's a slightly different and powerful way the notes hit when you sing in the Uralic and Finno way. "This is a very common way of singing in Finland, Estonia and the Baltic countries."

Before we finish, I have one last question, do you have any inspiring words for people who might be having a tough time in relationships or life in general?

- "Don't give up because things can get better, and talk to someone you trust because you never know how much words can help," says Päivi, adding that it's important to think positively and never stop dreaming!