Jari Mäenpää

Jari Mäenpää (born 23 December 1977, in Finland) is a Finnish guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, songwriter and vocalist. He is the founder of the band Wintersun in which he performs vocals, plays guitar and keyboards. He also played bass on Wintersun's first album before hiring a full-time line-up. Before forming Wintersun, Mäenpää was best known for his time in the folk metal band Ensiferum, which he joined in 1996 after leaving his prior band named Immemorial. Wintersun was initially planned as a parallel project alongside Ensiferum, but in January, 2004 he was forced to leave Ensiferum due to clashes between their touring schedule and the studio recording time he had booked for Wintersun.
In 1997, Mäenpää had to put his musical career on hold to take part in Finland's compulsory military service. In an interview, Mäenpää admitted he disliked the time he spent in the military and suspects it's where he acquired tuberculosis.
Jari was also a member of the band Arthemesia, and participated in Kimmo Miettinen's sideproject Lost Alone.

Writing style

Jari's style of guitar playing utilizes tremolo-picked melodies and phrases and the heavy use of extremely fast sweep-picking solos and breaks as heard on most of the songs. The speed of Wintersun's music is due in part to the use of blast beats and quick, spacey keyboard lines. This gives the guitar a charging, power metal feel for the most part.

Notable instruments

• Tokai Telecaster
• Ibanez RGD(25½ scale)Custom
• Ibanez RGD(26½ scale)Prototype
• Ibanez JEM
• Ibanez PGM301
• Jackson DR3 with EMG
• Mesa Boogie Mark V
• Mesa Boogie Triaxis Pre Amplifiers
• Peavey 5150
• Fractal Audio Axe-FX II

Discography