Islaja is Merja Kokkonen, a visual artist and musician living and working in Berlin, Germany. Her debut album Meritie (Fonal, 2004) gained praise in international music media such as The Wire, Dusted Magazine and WFMU. The follow up release Palaa Aurinkoon (Fonal 2005) caused even more excitement and created quite a stir. 2007 saw the release of her third album Ulual yyy (Fonal 2006) and released a live cd "Blaze Mountain Recordings" on Ecstatic Peace label. Islaja records her music at home using a rainbow of instruments to accompany her personal vocal delivery sang in Finnish. She has already played numerous large festivals including Eurosonic, by:Larm, Sonar, Itsenäisyysyö at the B2 club in Moscow, Russia and All Tomorrows Parties 200 curated by Thurston Moore. Animal Collective invited Islaja to play a two week support tour with them in Europe. Islaja is also a member of Hertta Lussu Ässä, a free folk super trio with Lau Nau and Kuupuu.