Living in Ulvila (a small town of 12.000 residents in the west coast of Finland, close to the city of Pori), grade school classmates Jussi Ylikoski and Mikko Hakila started playing together at the age of 12. The dynamic duo learned their instruments by playing Metallica and AC/DC songs in Hakila’s parents‘ shed or outdoors. Having incorporated a bass player and a singer, the group played their first live gigs in 1997. After a while, they chose to be called DisCo. The name was born out of tongue-in-cheek idea of people thinking that they’re going to a regular disco but end up at a punk gig.
Digging bands like Refused and Snapcase, DisCo. got to play in the local punk shows, mostly in the cellar of a semi-legendary squat/culture centre Annis in Pori. Around the year 2000, Miikka Koivisto, the vocalist of another local band, was asked to join DisCo. to play second guitar and eventually sing. Being a fan of the group he agreed instantly. Around this time, a pop band also called Disco emerged. Our quartet added the word ‚Ensemble‘ into their name to avoid awkward mix-ups.
After the release of Ghosttown Effect EP. (2001) the boys started to work with a D.I.Y. agent Juha Kyyrö, who eventually signed the band for his newly-founded Fullsteam Records. Mikko, Jussi and Miikka all moved to Helsinki to study. Helsinki-born Lasse Lindfors was found for the bass. Lasse had plenty of experience as he had played with numerous groups, and was a miraculously good fit.
In 2003, the debut album ‚Viper Ethics‘ received rave reviews and gained Disco Ensemble a pole position amongst the indie/punk crowd. Splitting the time between studies and rock’n’roll became harder and harder as the band continued to play tons of club shows and festivals in Finland and embarked on their first European tour.
The following albums First Aid Kit (2005) and Magic Recoveries (2008) gave D.E. an even bigger push up the ladder. Both records were released in over 20 countries and hit the top ten in the official Finnish album chart (FAK #9 and MR #1) and the foursome were now considered to be the most popular alternative rock act in Finland. Boasted to become the next big Finnish rock export, D.E. stepped on the main stages of the biggest festivals on their home turf, earned slots in Roskilde, Hultsfred, Rock am Ring/Park and Glastonbury, to name but a few, and toured clubs relentlessly around Europe and the UK. The guys suddenly noticed that a vague dream had become reality and a dear hobby had turned into full-day mayhem.