Eicca Toppinen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eicca Toppinen
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Toppinen performing in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Born | 5 August 1975 |
| Origin | Vantaa, Finland |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, songwriter |
| Instruments | |
Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen (born 5 August 1975) is a Finnish cellist, songwriter, producer, and arranger. In 1993, he formed the famous band Apocalyptica.
Contents
About Eicca Toppinen
Eicca Toppinen grew up in Hakunila, a part of Vantaa, Finland. He has three sisters and one brother. All of them took music lessons when they were young. Eicca started playing the cello when he was nine years old. He and his sisters often made fun recordings for their family, especially around Christmas.
His Music Education
Eicca went to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. This is a famous music school. There, he met his future bandmates for Apocalyptica: Paavo Lötjönen, Antero Manninen, and Max Lilja. Eicca played in many orchestras, like the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also helped start the Sibelius Academy's Cellosextet.
How Apocalyptica Started
In 1993, while Eicca was still studying, a young orchestra called Vivo Christian Orchestra played three songs. These songs were from the Metallica album, Ride The Lightning. Eicca has said he only had the guitar music book for that one album.
Two years later, Apocalyptica played a show in Helsinki. A week after that, a record company contacted Eicca. They wanted to make Apocalyptica's first album. This album was called Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.
Other Creative Projects
After writing songs for Apocalyptica, Eicca also worked on other projects. He helped with a play called Paper Rain. He also worked on a Finnish movie called Milja.
In 2007, Eicca wrote the music for the Finnish movie Musta Jää (Black Ice). On 3 February 2008, he won an award called a Jussi Award for his music in the movie. He also wrote the main song for the movie, which was sung by Hanna Pakarinen.
In December 2007, Eicca was invited to a special party. It was the Finnish Independence Day Presidential Reception in Helsinki. He went with his wife, Kirsi. This party was shown a lot in the news. Because of this, he missed an Apocalyptica concert in France. It was the first time he had missed a show in 14 years!
Eicca also wrote the music for a special show called Wagner Reloaded-Live in Leipzig. This show mixed classical music with metal. It was recorded live in July 2013 and released as an Apocalyptica album later that year.
Eicca and his Apocalyptica bandmate Perttu Kivilaakso also wrote an opera. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung. Their opera is called Indigo. It tells a science fiction story about a big company and people looking for happiness. It was first performed on 22 January 2016.
In 2020, Eicca was a guest on the TV show Masked Singer Suomi. He helped guess which famous people were singing in costumes.
Eicca says that Apocalyptica is his biggest achievement. Besides playing cello in Apocalyptica, he was also the drummer for a Finnish rock band called Cherry & The Vipers. His ex-wife, Kirsi Ylijoki, was also in that band.
Eicca's Personal Life
Eicca Toppinen married Kirsi Ylijoki, a Finnish actress, in 1997. They lived in the countryside in Sipoo, Finland. They have two children: Eelis, born in 1998, and Ilmari, born in 2002. They divorced in 2020. As of 2023, Eicca lives in Oslo, Norway, with his Norwegian girlfriend.
Eicca's Cello Equipment
Eicca uses special equipment for his cello playing.
Cellos
- Lupot (made in 1787)
- Postiglione (made in 1857)
Bows
- Guillaume
- A. Vigneron
Strings
- Thomastik-Infeld Spirocore
See also
In Spanish: Eicca Toppinen para niños
