Finnish Jukka-Pekka Kervinen is a prolific multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, visual artist, and the founder of Sphicot Records. He lives in North Karelia, in the middle of the forest, between two lakes. Kevin Miller is an American, New York-based guitarist, composer, and music educator. Kervinen and Miller never met in person, but Primordial is already their sixth duo album released in the last two years.

The eight pieces were created through file-sharing between January and February 2025. Kervinen (who also did the cover artwork) sent his improvisations on bass, guitars, trumpet, and electronics, with no predetermined parameters, and Miller’s improvisations shaped the final form of the pieces. Miller thinks of Kervinen as an extremely gifted improviser who can «pick up any instrument and improvise with others on a high level without being encumbered by any knowledge or lack of knowledge he may or may not have in regards to the tools he’s working with».

The album has the urgent, raw, and intense atmosphere of a live, spontaneous, and highly physical improvisation of two kindred but restless souls who rely on deep listening but refuse to subscribe to familiar conventions and are determined to experiment with sound and space. This stimulating synergy feeds Primordial with creative tension, a constant need to expand the sonic palette of the respective instruments, and a provocative imagination. Kervinen and Miller say that all the pieces’ titles are completely random, but all radiate a strong sensibility of precariousness that captures their unpredictable and uncompromising approach.

Eyal Hareuveni  

Jukka-Pekka Kervinen (electric bass, electric guitar, trumpet, electronics), Kevin Miller (electric guitar)