Bio

Jüppala Kääpiö (literally "woops" in Swiss-French and "gnome" in Finnish) is a Swiss/Japanese duo formed in 2006 by Carole and Hitoshi Kojo. They are settled in Belgium since 2011 after living in Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Mongolia.
The duo uses various folk/ethnic instruments, handmade devices, found objects, field recordings and voices. They delicately weave them into colorful and textural organic sound tapestries through electric devices. This hybrid style crosses over various fields which would be described as cosmopolitan folk, psychedelic drone, authorial ambient, atmospheric noise, psychic field recordings… However, the inspiration has always been derived from the nature and the supernatural on the earth.
Their recordings have been mostly released by their own label omnimemento, except two cassette releases from Peasant Magik (USA) and Lal Lal Lal (Finland). Their later titles from omnimemento are presented in crafted packages made by themselves, which are also a vital part of their work.

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Carole Kojo is a book lover (professional librarian), a needleworker, a singer and primarily plays viola in Jüppala Kääpiö.
Her handmade stuffed-animal/spirit and other figures are deeply related to the world of Jüppala Kääpiö, so that the works have been featured in the album cover of Jüppala Kääpiö since the beginning.
Her sensitivity for contemporary folk music and European classical music creates an unique reaction to Hitoshi's sensitivity for ethnic music and abstract sound, which also gives intimacy to their experimental approach.
She also played viola as a member of In Gowan Ring during his tour in 2006.

Kero Kero Craft

Hitoshi Kojo is a Japanese artist living in Brussels.
Since the late 1990s, he has been creating compositions that combine intuitive performances using natural and found objects such as stones and trees, field recordings, and recordings using voices and instruments as object-sounds.
Recorded materials are often tuned so that they resonate within a composition, but they are open to chance combinations and treated equally without master-slave relationships. This policy remains the same in the occasional performances and installations.
The recorded compositions are presented in self-design and produced packages, and are published and distributed primarily through his label "omnimemento" but also on other labels in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Then, some works are released under other names such as "sonomono" or "Spiracle" depending on the direction.

Hitoshi Kojo website



Past Activities


2023 Oct

Owlora Muskaria (full album version) / File / omnimemento (Belgium)

2014 Nov

Black Blossom (w/ My Cat Is An Alien) / CDR, Cassette / omnimemento (Belgium), Neurec (Japan)

2014 Nov

Landing Clouds / Cassette, File / omnimemento (Belgium), Neurec (Japan)

2014 Aug 16

Cumbria Concert / Concert / Parish Rooms, Ulverston (England)

2014 Apr

Zakuro / Rutsubo (w/ Jani Hirvonen, Valérie Magisson) / CD / omnimemento (Belgium)

2014 Jan

Passage / Concert / Café Central : Brussels (Belgium)

2013 Oct

Marolles Home Concert / Concert / Chez Kojo : Brussels (Belgium)

2013 Oct

Alpen Ocean / LP / omnimemento (Belgium)

2013 July

The Other Side of Sarfsalo / Compilation / File / 267 lattajjaa (Finland)

2013 Aug 23

Aarhus Sound Festival / Festival, Concert / Institut for (X), Aarhus (Denmark)

2013 Apr 19

Mental Alaska - Lal Lal Lal Festival IV / Festival, Concert / Vapaan Taiteen Tila : Helsinki, Titanik-Galleria : Turku, Westers : Kemiö (Finland)

2013 Apr 19

Owlora Muskaria (mini album version) / Cassette / Lal Lal Lal (Finland)

2012 Dec

Rewound Groves / CD / omnimemento (Belgium)

2012 Feb

Animalia Corolla / CD / omnimemento (Belgium)

2011 Apr

Three Days of Struggle 4 / Festival, Concert / Codalunga : Vittorio Veneto,
Malacarne : Verona (Italy)

2010 Dec

Animalia Corolla / Concert / Cinema Oblò : Lausanne (Switzerland)

2010 Nov

Tomentum Totem / Cassette / Peasant Magik (USA)

2010 Aug

Ullakkopalo / Participation in Kemialliset Ystävät / LP/CD / Fonal Records (Finland)

2010 May

Rainbow Mask / 12" Vinyl / omnimemento (Switzerland)

2010 May

Sporing Promenade / CD / omnimemento (Switzerland)

2010 Feb 12

A Centre of Steam / Concert / Dampfzentrale : Bern (Switzerland)

2009 Dec 15

The Animated Sea / Performance with drawings and short animated movies of Stefano Ricci / Teatro Comandini : Cesena (Italy)

2009 Oct 24

Favre Concert / Concert / Maison de Champittet : Yverdon (Switzerland)

2009 Aug 22

Honey for the Ears / Art Symposium, Concert / Moks : Mooste (Estonia)

2009

Crows of the World Vol.2 / Compilation / CD / Last Visible Dog Records (USA)

2008 Dec 15

Eggishorn / Concert / Guest: Patrick McGinley, Co-star: Lau Nau / Cave12 (l'usine) : Genève (Switzerland)

2008 Dec 05

Marriage / with an improvisation scene and crazy kids playing / Lausanne (Switzerland)

2008 Apr

Found-Sound Workshop / Khovd University : Khovd (Mongolia)

2008 Mar - Jul

Stay in Mongolia

2007 Sep 29

Fiesta Gnomesque 2 / Concert / Souffle : Montréal (Canada)

2007 Aug - Dec

Stay in Canada

2007 Jun 29

Skype Fiesta Gnomesque / Skype Concert / Bridge : Osaka (Japan)

2007 Jun 23

Fiesta Gnomesque 1 / Concert / Fête de la Musique : Genève (Switzerland)

2006 Sep

Rainbow Mask / First recording sessions / Genève (Switzerland)








Site design: Hitoshi Kojo + Carole Zweifel, 2008