The Rasmus

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The Rasmus
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Alternative rock Funk rock (early)
Years active	1994–Present
Labels	Playground Music DRT Entertainment Interscope Records (US) Motor Music (Germany)
Associated acts	Hay and Stone Killer Kwan
Website	www.therasmus.com
Members
Lauri Ylönen Pauli Rantasalmi Aki Hakala Eero Heinonen
Former members
Janne Heiskanen

The Rasmus is a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school.^[1] 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.^[2]

The band is one of Finland's most successful with more than 3.5 million sold albums worldwide^[3], eight gold awards and five platinum awards.^[4] They have released seven studio albums, one 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.^[5]

In an interview held on June 10, 2009 before their performance at Halberg Open Air in Saarbrücken front singer Lauri Ylönen announced that the highly anticipated duet with Nightwish singer Anette Olzon "October & April" was expected to be released in October on a new compilation album being released in order to celebrate the band's 15th anniversary. Furthermore Ylönen revealed that a new studio album was to be released in 2010.^[6]

In an interview held in June, the drummer Aki Hakala revealed that a compilation of all the band's success from the last 10 years would be released in the fall, and it would contain also the duet with Nightwish singer Anette Olzon.^[7]

In late August the compilation's title was revealed: "Best of 2001-2009" and a month later also its cover and the tracklist were revealed too.

The duet with Anette Olzon, titled "October&April" appeared first on its official preview Friday 9th of October on a Finnish radio and was released digitally on November 17, 2009.^[8]

Music videos

The Rasmus have released a total of eighteen 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 first video they ever made was for Funky Jam in 1996.

Band members

The Rasmus in concert in Tampere, 2006

Line-ups

Lauri Ylönen

He is the lead singer 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 blonde since early 2007 but has recently changed back to black for the Black Roses Tour. He was on MTV for the first time in July 2005. Was a presenter at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. On April 12, 2008, he welcomed a baby boy named Julius Kristian Ylönen with Paula from PMMP. In 2008 he composed the score to Finnish thriller Blackout.^[9]

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, Tinka.

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.^[10]

Lauri Ylönen in concert in Milan, 2005

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Tours

Dynasty

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.^[11] Dynasty also have a studio in Helsinki, where they recruit new Finnish talent.^[12] 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.^[13]

See also

• Timeline of alternative rock

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Rasmus

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Rasmus

• The Rasmus.com - Official website
• Playground Music Scandinavia