Kumea Sound

About Kumea Sound

The music of Kumea Sound (Lauri Wuolio) can be described as ambient chamber music from the future. With handpans and electronic instruments Kumea Sound weaves together diverse elements from both old and contemporary music traditions. 
 Wuolio studied sound art and site-specific art at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating he worked a few years as a street musician in Helsinki, Finland, while developing his concepts of site-specific music. He played in locations that allowed him to improvise with the sounds from his surroundings, such as passing-by trams, the gentle waves of the Baltic Sea or church bells. 
 In 2013 he released his first self-titled album, Kumea Sound, that explored some of his street music compositions in a more electronic context. Two years later he released his second album, "Real Music for Unreal Times", that explored themes of death and grief. The album featured a live solo performance recorded in virtually recreated 3D acoustics of a 15th century Russian monastery. Five years and one album later Wuolio returned to Real Music for Unreal Times, releasing Volume 2, that was built around the globally shared experience of emotional emptiness during the first spring of the pandemic. 
 In addition to releasing four solo records, Kumea Sound has collaborated with artists such as Felix Zenger, Sarah Palu, Ilkka Heinonen, Rinneradio and David John Sheppard. Wuolio is also the founder of the record label Future Rust and International Handpan Day.