Riku Lätti

Riku Lätti (11 June 1973), is a South African singer, songwriter and writer. After Riku matriculated in 1991 at Hoërskool Florida, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, he studied philosophy at University of the Witwatersrand where he finished his honours degree. He changed his name to Victor S. Wolf and claimed that Riku Latti is "dead". Since then he composed the complete film score for Jans Rautenbach's film "Abraham" on which he was credited as Riku Lätti, thereby being effectively resurrected.

In South Africa Riku collaborated with superstars such as Steve Hofmeyr, Laurika Rauch, Paul Riekert among others. His songs have been performed and recorded by people like Karla du Plessis, Theuns Jordaan, Laurika Rauch, Jakkie Louw, the all-girl punk band The Pheobes and the jazz outfit Tsunami and Izak Davel.

In 2005, he broke onto the international music scene when he completed his first tour in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2006 during a follow-up tour through Europe he performed with Stef Bos. On October 1, 2007, Lätti releases his first album in the Benelux (Akoesties). For this album he re-recorded some of his best songs in a stripped-down version, using only his voice and a piano or a guitar.

Riku together with Jahn Beukes wrote the music for the award-winning SABC television series Hopeville. Hopeville won the prestigious The Rose d'Or in Switzerland for best international TV series. It was also nominated for an Emmy Award. Other scores include the soundtrack for KykNet series Wie lê waar and the drama series Vlug na Egipte.

He won a South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for his sound design and film score for the feature film Die Wonderlike Avonture van Hanna Hoekom.

Other awards Riku has won include 2 GMT (Geraas Musiektoekennings). (The first for best Alternative Artist for his album Pleister vir my Nerwe. The second for best male vocalist for his album Aan't sterre tel.) And a Vonk Music award for his album Die President se keuse.

His greatest work before his death was a collaborative album Radio Lava with Jahn Beukes and Arnaud van Vliet featuring original work from Huyser Burger.

In his last act before his death he accused the South African media of not having transformed after the end of Apartheid.

He is also the chief in charge of zimdollar, an Afrikaans cult newspaper.

There is also a Finnish pop singer of the same name.

A few years ago Riku Lätti started recording many different artists all around South-Africa. Wherever he went he took his recording equipment with and before he knew it artists started featuring on each other’s tracks, collaborating and performing together, and so Die Wasgoedlyn started and Die Wasgoedlyn CD was released in 2015. Die Wasgoedlyn (The Washing Line) is a concept centering around Afrikaans musicians telling and singing their stories in their natural habitat: at their homes, around braais, with friends. These informal gatherings are recorded by Riku Lätti with his mobile studio set-up ensuring that the music is not overproduced in a studio giving a sense of the real and the unpretentious.

The name, Die Wasgoedlyn (The Washing Line), was chosen for two reasons. The first being that a washing line (in literal terms) is not usually a place where you would take your guests. It is usually in your backyard where things are a lot less presentable than the front (street view) of your house. In the same vain Die Wasgoedlyn attempts to unearth these raw performances of artists in a space (mentally and physically) that they take comfort in - in which they do not have to pretend. The second reason is that on a washing line you'll find a large variety of items, from work-shirts to church-blouses, patched socks, vest with holes in it, underwear from Jockey, petticoats, etc. Die Wasgoedlyn is as much about putting the artist in their most natural surrounding as it is about surrounding them with other artists - enabling the somewhat mystical bond between creatives to flourish resulting in instinctive collaborations.

In 2014 Riku Lätti collaborated with Kilroy Was Here! Productions (Charl J. Naudé and Gideon Breytenbach) in attempts to turn Die Wasgoedlyn into a TV series with the same concept. The first season will feature approximately twenty artists including Lochner de Kock, Ryno Velvet, Willim Welsyn, Frazer Barry, Tribal Echo, Piet Botha, Jacques “Jake Gunn” Groenewald, Dana Snyman, Gert Vlok Nel, Jannie du Toit, C. Johan Bakkes, Churchil Naude, Laurinda Hofmeyr, Andre van Rensburg, Rian Malan, Dozi, Liela Groenewald, Mervin Williams, Adries Bezuidenhout, Fran Veda (Bonsai), Charles J. Fourie, Andra, Gerald Clark, Mauritz Lotz, Les Javan, Riku Lätti, Bacchus Nel, Loit Sôls, Francois van Coke (Van Coke Kartel), etc.

• Me and Mr. Sane

Featuring musicians Peter Auret, Max Loubscher, Justy Range, Willem Moller (who played with Johannes Kerkorrel) and Stefan Ackermann

• Pleister vir my nerwe

Featuring musicians Peter Auret, Max Mikula, Brendan Ou Tim, Bob Biggens Hendrik Coetzee The album won the GMT Award for Best Alternative Afrikaans Album

• WOKNAKWYF!

• Jean Marais - Nou

The album was a collaboration between Riku and Jean Marais (MoShang) with contributions from Ewald Cress. It was hailed by the media as "the most progressive Afrikaans album ever".

• Aan't sterre tel (2004)

Featuring musicians Peter Auret, Jonathan Crossley, Cesare Cassarino, Rory Gaddin The album won Riku the GMT Award for best male vocalist.

• Radio Lava (2007)

Featuring Jahn Beukes and Arnaud van Vliet.

• Akoesties (2009)

Benelux-release only, acoustic recordings with Riku on piano and guitar.

• Die Ongelooflike avonture van Hanna Hoekom (2010)

Original soundtrack for the film available from Gallo Records

• Janneman in die Diereryk (2011)

Kinderalbum/Children's album Stories and songs available from AKA Records

• Die Wasgoedlyn Volume 01 (2015)

• Die klankbaan van Jans Rautenbach film - Abraham (2015)

Original soundtrack for the film, available from Vonk Musiek.