My father Heikki Lajunen was a guitarist and singer of Cuban Son music. Band rehearsals were held in our living room when I was a kid. I started playing drum kit in age of 8 years. Next year I got into Helsinki Pop/Jazz conservatory. My older brother Vili Mustalampi is a composer and in our teen ages we were into 1970s progressive rock music. Realizing at age of 15 that Finland is full of drum kit players I changed totally to hand percussion. Then we noticed with my brother that Cuban rhythms were strong and we had been emersed in a lot to them and we started a band of Son called Kuukumina (1999-). Pop/Jazz did not offer me a percussion teacher for Cuban rhythms so I started travelling to Cuba at age of 19 to get deeper into Afro Cuban traditions.
My studies at Sibelius-Academy have given me valuable tools for group working and especially in leadership. As a percussionist I was quite experienced when entering into the school. I had been playing with many projects and bands of pop, hip hop, soul, reggae, folk and Cuban music for many years. But searching the artist in me with the feedback and resources given was new. Forming the Vodoo Vibration band and having a big concert at Music House where I was the center of the world was an interesting trip. Before that I was always just one member in my bands.