Eternal Erection, founded in 1994 in Helsinki, is one of the pioneering Finnish funk orchestras. Unlike most earlier acts back in the days merely fusing some influences into rock or progressive jazz-rock, for these cats the foundation was always based on funk. Eternal Erection is also one of the most reputed Finnish party bands, known especially for their energic live performances, which have always been an essential part of their fame. The band has released five studio albums, a live effort, an EP as well as numerous singles and music videos. Their latest effort titled It’s Easy was issued in 2014. They are currently on an indefinite break since 2018.
The music of Eternal Erection, stylistically based on George Clinton’s p-funk and James Brown production, draws elements from pop music, old school rhythm’n’blues as well as the disco funk of the 80’s. The legendary Prince also inspired them a lot during the years. They say that the original agenda was to liberate the body of each listener into a wild dance so that their minds can follow.
The frontman of the band from the get-go has been singer and keyboard player Sam Huber, also known as Rick Lover. Following the footsteps of their idols, they also came up with alter egos named in English for each member of the orchestra, spoke only in English on stage and always wore funky pretentious costumes. Besides Huber, the founding members are Joakim “Ray Slick” Guthwert, bassist Pontus “Chanell” Gylling and drummer Hemu “Jack Russell” Häsänen. Later saxophonist Markus “Furillo” Holkko, trumpetist Tero “T-Roy” Saarti and percussionist Ville “The Hook” Hukkinen also joined in.
Even if fame, popularity and fans of Eternal Erection have always mainly been found on their home turf in Finland, the band has also performed in Russia, Germany, United Kingdom and Cuba. Their live shows have often featured guests, including Marjo Leinonen, Sami Saari and Niko Ahvonen as well as rock icons Michael Monroe and Lauri Ylönen (The Rasmus). In 1999, they got the honour to warm up for the legendary George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars at Pori Jazz festival. During the peak of their popularity, Eternal Erection performed also on the Funky Elephant Festival several times as a nearly mandatory part of the event. Nowadays, they are considered as an important part of Finnish black rhythm music history and especially a specific era of it.
In the 2020’s, the story of Eternal Erection has continued in the form of a new act named as Elliot’s Crazy Compass. Founded by the original founding members of Eternal Erection, they do not want to get categorized in any specific genre but instead eclectically fuse influences from different fields of pop and jazz all the way to electronic music, country and hip hop. Their debut EP titled Snapshot Gallery was issued in 2020 and they worked on the tracks together with producer Tomás Doncker in NYC. The band has also said that their aim is to combine music and visual arts on their colourful live performances.
Text: Joonas Kervinen / Funky Finland
