ERNIE HAwks & THE soUL INvEsTIgAToRs

“I don’t really follow zodiacs… but I do look at the stars”

“I’ve always been most impressed by strong performers, with strong stage presence…” Standing over two metres tall, this Helsinki born and bred multi-instrumentalist is built to be noticed. He won’t be drawn on his real name or age, and answers Uncut’s questions with Zen-like precision: ”People call me Ernie Hawks. I’m a man in his prime.”

A seasoned session player, Hawks has been working on the Finnish music scene for 17 years: “Soulful Trip”, his first single with the Soul Investigators (the in-house band for Timmion Records), arrived back in 2005. “That was my very first recorded flute solo, and the guys have been suggesting we should do an album since. Finally, we had the time to make it happen!”

Three members of the Soul Investigators – Jukka Sarapää, Sami Kantelinen, Seppo Salmi – also make up Cold, Diamond and Mink, the meticulous production team behind Scorpio Man’s deep vintage grooves. The track titles, like the music, rightly belong on a lost ’70s funk soundtrack: “Still Trippin’”; “Windy City Blues”.

It’s a great record, a spiritual cousin to Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man, but with extra flute. Those astrological references, though, aren’t as important as they seem.

“I don’t really follow zodiacs,” Hawks admits. “Maybe in a weak moment. But I do love to look at the stars every now and then.”