Mige Biography

Mikko Heinrik Julius Paananen, better known as Mige Amour, is the current Bassist in the Finnish rock band, HIM.

He was born on the 19 of Dec. 1974, in Helsinki, Finland. Mige lived in Olunkyla until the age of 13, when his parents divorced. When Mige's parents got divorced, his father moved away & Mige chose to stay with his mother. They moved to Tuusula, about 30km north of Helsinki.

Mikko grew up in a musical/ artistic family. His father played the Oboe, and was a member of the Helsinki Orchestra. Mikko's mother was an actress, named Riitta Elstela. She came from a family well known for its association with the theatre scene.

Mikko was heavily influenced by music & spent a lot of time with instruments as a child. His father liked Classical music, his mother Opera and his brother Hip-hop. Young Mikko followed his older brother's lead.

After school, Mikko went to Sibelius Academy (a music school). While at the academy, after much moving around, Mige finally graduated from the academy and got his white hat.

Mige has many hobbies, his main one, photography. He took all the photos for the first Daniel Lioneye album. His photography knowledge inspired the title of HIM's album 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights'.

Mige met Ville when he was in 5th grade (about 12 years old) in school. Since they both played bass, they often were together.

Mige currently uses vintage Fender Jazz basses with Basslines pickups. In the past Mige has used Fender Precision Basses, Gibson Thunderbirds and Rickenbackers. He currently uses Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ amplifiers with Mesa/Boogie 4x10 and 2x15 cabinets. He has used Ampeg SVT amplifiers and cabinets in the past. He uses Dunlop bass strings.

"Be careful with alcohol, sex, drugs and other temptations."

"When we're touring in America we'll be cracking up. Then we will be real rockstars and we're only giving interviews for cash, hahaha!"
- German magazine RockHard 03/2000

"I like twisted things"

"An old chevrolet would be cool!" (what he would do with his millions)
- German magazine RockHard 03/2000

"My dad had sort of the same attitude toward music like a plumber would say to his son, 'Don't become a plumber.' It was an attitude that you couldn't earn a living from it. Of course, it turned out that I was in a good situation, and HIM later had great luck. My father didn't give any bad advice, but on the other hand, people should do what interests them even though it might not turn out very well. It's better than not trying at all." -in the HIM biography, 'Synnin Viemaa'