Samuli Putro

Born in Helsinki in 1970 and raised in Raahe, Samuli Putro first made his name in Finland as the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of Zen Café, a band active from 1992 to 2007 in alternative rock and pop rock sung in Finnish. This initial period established a direct writing style in Putro, focused on the song and on spare arrangements where the lyrics remain central. In parallel, he released a first EP in 2004 tied to the film Lapsia ja aikuisia, and he properly launched his solo career with the album Elämä on juhla in 2009. He continued with Älä sammu aurinko (2011), Tavalliset hautajaiset (2012), Taitekohdassa (2014), Valkoinen hetero (2017), Pienet rukoukset (2019), Keskellä kesää (2021), Ikävä mummoa (2023) and Viime yöltä (2025). His solo work remains rooted in a form of melodic pop rock, sometimes more stripped-down, attentive to the nuances of the Finnish language and to observations of everyday life. Beyond records, Putro has also composed for cinema and television, notably for Menolippu Mombasaan, the documentary Freetime Machos and the second season of the series Kaikki synnit.