KAJ: With humour and music
What connects music, humor, and the Vöyri Swedish dialect? The comedy group KAJ. GramexPress interviewed the Finnish band KAJ in 2016 and is now republishing part of the interview in honor of the band’s victory in the Melodifestivalen final.
From School Celebrations to Theatre
Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård became friends back in school. The trio, born in 1993, started making sketches and comedy for friends’ birthdays and similar events.
“When our friends got tired of listening, we made them for ourselves,” Åhman says. In 2009, they got the chance to perform in their hometown. They had two songs ready, but more were created as gigs started coming in. The group’s name came from the initials of their first names.
When they had enough songs, the idea of making an album emerged. Multi-talented producer Janne Hyöty from Vaasa joined them, and their album Professionella Pjasalappar was released in 2012. The album brought more gigs. “Every time felt great, and we created new material,” Norrgård says. “After the shows, people came up to praise us — they were happy.”
KAJ was something new. They performed various music genres, spiced everything with humor, and topped it all off with their own dialect. “We didn’t apologize, we just did it. It was obvious to us, even if it wasn’t to the audience,” Åhman says.
Their popularity grew in Ostrobothnia, and in 2014, Wasa Teater added a KAJ show to its program. “The planned three shows sold out immediately, and in the end, we performed 24 sold-out shows,” Kevin Holmström says.
That same year, KAJ released a new album, Lokalproducerat Pjas, and created Svenska Yle’s Christmas calendar.
Jåo nåo e ja jåo YOLO ja nåo
Their big breakthrough came in the summer of 2014 with the tongue-twisting song Jåo nåo e ja jåo YOLO ja nåo. The story of a man from the village of Pensala who gets a little too excited at a disco became a Swedish-Finnish summer hit.
The success wasn’t surprising. The carefully made video featured a solid storyline, upbeat vibes, and funny lyrics. The YouTube views have surpassed a million — an impressive number considering the limited audience who understand Vöyri Swedish.
The following year, KAJ embarked on their first Finnish tour. The show traveled extensively across Swedish-speaking Finland, selling out performances. Ostrobothnian humor resonated elsewhere too.
“The feedback was great, and many people laughed,” Holmström says. “And they laughed at the same parts, whether in Uusimaa or Ostrobothnia,” Åhman adds.
The Foundation is Humor
“We try to reinvent ourselves all the time,” Norrgård says, explaining the group’s versatility. KAJ doesn’t follow any specific music genre — their music can be of any kind.
“We start with a feeling, a strong vision for a new song,” Åhman says. “It’s fun when you don’t have to decide what genre to make.”
They want to tell stories, but the form is open at the beginning and varies with each project. Once the form is found, their producer Janne Hyöty, skilled in multiple music genres, becomes a great asset.
The group enjoys creating for different platforms, with nothing ruled out from the start, according to Jakob Norrgård. Their concept covers music, videos, and live shows.
But at the heart of everything is humor.
“It’s convenient because you can play around with different performance forms, like theatre,” Holmström says.
Live performances are essential for the group. Humor has to be live, they emphasize. What does humor mean to the band? Read more in the full magazine! (in Finnish)
Next Stop: Eurovision
KAJ won the Melodifestivalen final on Saturday, March 8, 2025, with their song Bara bada bastu, and they will represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, this May. GramexPress interviewed the band in 2016 and is now republishing part of the interview digitally.
