The Rasmus

The Rasmus

The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (lead singer/songwriter), Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Janne Heiskanen (drums). Heiskanen quit the band in 1998 and was soon replaced by Aki Hakala.

Before releasing their fourth studio album Into (2001), they were simply known as Rasmus, but changed their name to The Rasmus in order to avoid being confused with a Swedish DJ of the same name. They gained international fame with their 2003 album Dead Letters which went gold and platinum in several countries, accompanied with the single "In the Shadows" which reached number 1 in a number of countries. Their follow-up album Hide from the Sun which was released in October 2005 also went platinum in Finland.

The band is one of Finland's most successful with more than 3.5 million sold albums worldwide, eight gold awards and five platinum awards. They have released seven studio albums, two compilation album and 21 singles. Some of the band's most famous songs are the singles "Liquid", "F-F-F-Falling", "In the Shadows", "First Day of My Life", "Funeral Song", "No Fear", "Sail Away", "Livin' in a World Without You", and "Justify". Their most recent album, titled Black Roses, was released in 2008. Immediately it replaced Metallica's latest album Death Magnetic in the Finnish Album Charts and went gold after one week. In early 2010, The Rasmus started working on their next album, which will be released by the band's personal record label due to their contract with their previous label dissolving at the end of 2009.

Most recently, Ylönen announced a solo album scheduled for release in March 2011 with the first single "Heavy" being out in February. The material will have its premiere at Emma Gala on February 26, 2011. Ylönen stated that he wanted several songs that didn't fit The Rasmus to be released as a major record rather than a demo. The album will be self-produced with his record label Dynasty Recordings. In summer The Rasmus will team up again to finally produce their long-awaited eigth studio album.

Music videos

Main article: The Rasmus music videos

The Rasmus have released a total of twenty music videos. Niklas Fronda and Fredrik Löfberg of Baranga Film have directed three of the band's videos, all from the Dead Letters album. Dead Letters is the album with most music videos: seven videos have been released from that album, including three versions of "In the Shadows". The videos of Immortal and Your Forgiveness were directed by bassist Eero Heinonen. The first video they ever made was for Funky Jam in 1996.

Band members

The Rasmus in concert in Tampere, 2006

Line-ups

(1994–1998)	Lauri Ylönen – vocals Eero Heinonen – Bass Pauli Rantasalmi – Guitar Janne Heiskanen – drums
(1998–present)	Lauri Ylönen – vocals Eero Heinonen – bass Pauli Rantasalmi – guitar Aki Hakala – drums

Lauri Ylönen

Main article: Lauri Ylönen

He is the lead singer of the band and was born Lauri Johannes Ylönen in Helsinki on April 23, 1979. His parents names are Matti and Liisa Ylönen and he has an older sister called Hanna, who was the muse of the song "P.S.", a song about Lauri's love/hate relationship with his sister. Lauri is the main song writer and has also worked on various collaborations with fellow Finns Apocalyptica and Ville Valo from the band HIM. He has also worked in the production of music for fellow Dynasty members Killer and Kwan, together with bandmate Pauli. In 2007, Lauri and other Dynasty members opened their own recording label, Dynasty Recordings. Lauri's nickname is "Lintu" which is the Finnish equivalent for bird which explains the crow feathers he once used to wear in his hair since just before their fifth album Dead Letters was released. He has been dying his hair black since early 2007 but dyed it blonde for their album Black Roses. Shortly after the band started touring for the Black Roses Tour, he changed his hair back to black. He was on MTV for the first time in July 2005. Was a presenter at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2008 he composed the score to Finnish thriller Blackout. He has a son named Julius Kristian Ylönen with Finnish PMMP singer Paula Vesala who was born in April 2008. In November 2010 he announced the release of his first solo album which will hit stores in March 2011.

Pauli Rantasalmi

Pauli is the guitarist and was born in Helsinki, Finland on May 1, 1979. He helped design the "dynasty" logo on two of his guitars. He co-owns the record label Dynasty Recordings with Lauri Ylönen, who is the singer in the band. Together they have also produced one of the Finnish band Killer's album before they split. Pauli has a Singaporean wife and his first child (a baby girl) was born August 13, 2008, in Singapore where he currently lives.

Aki Hakala

His full name is Aki Markus Hakala. He is the drummer and was born in Espoo, Finland, on October 28, 1979. He joined the band in 1999, after the former drummer, Janne Heiskanen, left the band to "find himself". Aki originally sold band merchandise at their shows and joined the band after jamming with Pauli. He says that the only thing he was ever good at was drumming, and he "sucked at everything else", although he has done some acting in the past in Siamin tytöt (a Finnish drama series) and can play the guitar. Before joining The Rasmus, he was a drummer for Killer and Kwan, (he was replaced by Risto). In 2006, Aki decided to finally have LASIK eye surgery, and ceased wearing his trademark black glasses. Early 2007, he stopped dying his hair black, opting instead for platinum blond. In July 2007 he welcomed his first daughter.

Eero Heinonen

He is the bassist and was born Eero Aleksi Heinonen in Helsinki, Finland, on November 27, 1979. Eero is a follower of Sahaja Yoga and is a quiet and well-balanced person, but also well-known for playing tricks on bandmates and others. He was the first member of the band to get married and he is also a father of two young daughters, 2 and 4. After playing in Korpi Ensemble for many years he now has a new side project (since 2004) called Hay and Stone, where he is bass player and lead singer. Eero also plays the violin.

Lauri Ylönen in concert in Milan, 2005

Discography

Further information: [[:The Rasmus discography]]

Studio albums

Year	Title	Record label
1996	Peep	Warner Music Finland
1997	Playboys	Warner Music Finland
1998	Hell of a Tester	Warner Music Finland
2001	Into	Playground Music Scandinavia
2003	Dead Letters	Playground Music Scandinavia
2005	Hide from the Sun	Playground Music Scandinavia
2008	Black Roses	Playground Music Scandinavia

Compilations

Year	Title	Record label
2001	Hell of a Collection	Warner Music Finland
2009	Best of 2001–2009	Playground Music Scandinavia

Tours

Years	Tour	Countries	Cities	Concerts
2003	Dead Letters Tour	29	107	296
2005	Hide from the Sun Tour	36	110	249
2009	Black Roses Tour

Dynasty

Main article: Dynasty (association)

The Rasmus were part of a brotherhood of Finnish bands known as "Dynasty", along with the hip-hop band Kwan and the now-separated modern rock band Killer. Dynasty also have a studio in Helsinki, where they recruit new Finnish talent. Several members of Dynasty have tattoos with the Dynasty text; one can be found on Pauli's left and Lauri's right arm. Pauli and Eero also have instruments and gear bearing the Dynasty logo. Pauli has helped with the production of Kwan, winning an EMMA for Producer of the Year in 2001.

See also

• Timeline of alternative rock

External links

• The Rasmus.com Official website
• Playground Music Scandinavia