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Rasmus in the shadows year of release. Biography

Although the world learned about this Helsinki team in 2003, by that time it had already existed for almost ten years. The first version of "Rasmus" was assembled at the end of 1994 and included vocalist Lauri Ylönen (b. April 23, 1979), guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi, drummer Jarno Lahti and bassist Eero Heinonen. The quartet debuted at a school Christmas party where they performed a program consisting mostly of covers. On next year the guys started thinking about the original repertoire and along the way changed Lahti to Janne Heiskanen. By the end of 1995, the group released their first single, released by an independent label "Teja G". In a short time, about 1000 copies of this disc were sold, and a few months later the Finnish branch of Warner Music became interested in the group. First, "1st" was re-released, followed by "2nd", "3rd" and the debut album "Peep". The playful mix of funk-rock, hip-hop, ska and alternative appealed to Finnish listeners, and the feature quickly gained gold status.

The next year "Rasmus" won national award"Emma" (as the best newcomers), in connection with which Lauri and Pauli decided to abandon training and focus entirely on the group. In 1997, the band played more than a hundred concerts, including club sets as the opening act for "Rancid" and "Dog Eat Dog" and a performance at the 40,000-seat "Olympic Stadium", and also recorded the disc "Playboys".

The album and accompanying single "Blue" also went gold, but the band's popularity still remained within Finland. A similar fate befell the third full-length, but the minion "Liquid" (supported by the corresponding mutish clip) was awarded the status of "Single Of The Year" by critics. In 1999 "Rasmus" was headlined on several national festivals and opened for the visiting Red Hot Chili Peppers, but after that, Heiskanen's departure nearly put the band on the brink of collapse. In fact, the team survived, and after the team got the drummer Aki Hakala, new horizons opened up before it. After moving to the Stockholm label "Playground Music Sacndinavia", the quartet was renamed " The Rasmus", but more important was the change in style.

On the album "Into" Lauri abandoned his previous flirtations with hip-hop and funk and sang in a normal voice, which made the sound melodic and radio format. Switching to straightforward pop rock, the group took the right step towards success, and soon their album "Into "rushed to the very top of the Finnish charts. The record brought the Rasmus home double platinum and became the first release published in other European countries.

The track "F-F-F-Falling" was in special demand, which did not get out of the air for many months and received "Emma" in the category "Best Song" (in addition, the team was in the lead in the nominations "Best Group", "Best Album", "Best Pop / Rock album"). The Rasmus reached their peak in 2003 with the blockbuster Dead Letters, which became calling card band with the song "In The Shadows". Heavier guitars, increased melancholy and an abundance of melodies elevated the album to the top lists of many countries and provided it with a million copies. Five awards "Emma", sharp increase fan base, extensive touring around the world and the recording of the live DVD "Live Letters" are some of the results of the "dead letters". And although when creating the sixth full-length album "Rasmus" used a similar formula, the success of "Hide From The Sun" turned out to be two times more modest. In 2008, the team collaborated with producer Desmond Child and under his leadership recorded the CD "Black Roses".

Several tracks from the record fell under the category of "symphonic metal", but in general, the sound in relation to "Hide From The Sun" was noticeably lighter. And if it was not possible to brag about the increase in sales, the main achievement of "Black Roses" was that it threw off the "metallic" "Death Magnetic" from the Finnish pedestal. In 2009, the contract with Playground Music expired, and in 2011, the Rasmus signed a deal with Universal Music. The eighth album, released in a new place, according to the musicians, brought them back to the sound of the "Into" times.

Last update 18.04.12

25-05-2012

Finnish rock band The Rasmus formed in the mid 1990s. in Helsinki - it was brought together by school friends vocalist Lauri Ylönen, guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi, bassist Eero Heinonen and drummer Jarno Lahti. The guys performed at school parties and enjoyed some popularity. In 1995, after the arrival of a new drummer, Janne Heiskanen, the musicians, then just Rasmus, recorded an EP 1st, which was released on a local label and quickly sold 1,000 copies. Soon the guys were noticed by representatives of the Finnish branch of the label Warner Music and the contract was signed. Reer's debut album was released in September 1996 and received a "gold" status in his homeland, and also became popular in Estonia and Russia. Then the group released two more singles - 2nd And 3rd which were also successful. At the end of the year, Rasmus received a Finnish award EMMA.

Second album playboys was released in August 1997 and was also very successful, going gold pretty soon. The material could be described more as a mixture , And . At the same time, the album was recorded with the participation of a large number of invited musicians, mostly brass players. It is noteworthy that some of the musicians decided not to graduate from school due to fairly good popularity. The most successful single from the album was " Blue».

Third album - hell of a tester"- was released in November 1998, and he was also waiting for a good success. The single "Liquid" hit the Scandinavian hit parade TOP-40, and also received the status " Single of the Year". The music video for the song received a Finnish video award. new material turned out to be less funky. In 1999, Rasmus actively toured the country, periodically participating in various music festivals, as well as warming up. At the end of the tour, Heiskanen left, which drove the rest of the musicians into depression. The problem was solved by a certain Aki Hakala, a drummer who played in local groups killer And Kwan with whom the Rasmus musicians were friends. Hakala was a Rasmus fan and went on tour with them as a merchandise salesman. At the same time, the bands Rasmus, Killer and Kwan founded the organization Dynasty, which helped young bands. Subsequently, the Killer group broke up, and its members were deleted from the list of founders.

In 2000, it became clear that the group's popularity could no longer be limited to Finland, and the group was signed by the label Playground Music. At the same time, the sign changed a little, and the band became known as The Rasmus, to avoid confusion with the fairly well-known Swedish DJ Rasmus. The first recording with the new line-up was Into, released in 2001, which many listeners considered the band's very first album, as it was the first to be released in Europe. The disc became "gold" in Finland, and the musicians received 4 more EMMA awards. In the same year, a collection Hell Of A Collection, which includes re-recorded versions of songs from different releases.

The real success brought the group album Dead Letters, released in March 2003, and in 2004 in the US and UK. Total sold over 1.5 million discs. Single " In The Shadows was also an international success. "Gold" and "platinum" statuses literally rained down on the group. The Rasmus received 5 EMMA awards and an Echo award. 2004 also saw the release of the Live Letters DVD of a performance in Switzerland. Next album Hide From The Sun was released in September 2005. He did not repeat the success of his predecessor, but sales were still good - over 400,000 discs Worldwide. The group again received several awards and played a huge number of concerts. During this time, drummer Hakala stopped wearing his signature glasses as he solved a vision problem, and bassist Heinonen released the Making Waves album with his side project. Hay & Stone.

Work on new material began in 2007 - The Rasmus musicians were assisted in this famous producer and songwriter Desmond Child. Disk Black Roses was released in September 2008 and literally broke into the charts different countries. The single " Living in a World Without You". In November 2009, a collection of the best things recorded in the current line-up (since 2001) was released, including the previously unreleased song " October & April"with the participation of Annette Olzon (). In 2009, the contract with the label also expired, and the next album was released on the band's own label.

In 2011 vocalist Ilonen released his debut solo album new world, made in the genre of electro / pop music. These songs were originally going to be used for The Rasmus, but they didn't sound right and it was decided to make a separate release. Accordingly, the musician went on tour, which slowed down The Rasmus' work on new material a bit. The group reunited in the studio only at the end of 2011. The single " I'm a mess"was released in March 2012, and the album itself, entitled The Rasmus, went on sale in April 2012.

About Finnish music team The Rasmus became known to the world in 2003. By that time, it had existed for almost a decade, but one day the guys decided to switch to " dark side”and record a particularly gloomy and depressing album that made them famous not only in their homeland, but also in Europe. Today, the group, as before, is surrounded by fans, and its romantic soloist, although he no longer wears bird feathers on his head, is still full of creative energy and youthful enthusiasm.

History of creation and composition

As is the case with many other rock bands, history creation of the Rasmus originates at a time when the soloists were still schoolchildren. Four friends - Lauri, Jarno, Eero and Pauli - united against the backdrop of a passionate love for music and decided to create their own team. Then they were 13-15 years old.

The name for the team was chosen arbitrarily: Rasmus is a male swedish name, which does not have any special significance, which just turned out to be moderately sonorous and short. Prior to this, the friends rejected the Sputnik, Trash-mosh and Anttila options.

The group began by performing covers of their favorites at school balls and local discos. Classmates and friends were delighted, but for the musicians themselves it was then just entertainment. Over time, they realized how great they were doing, and firmly decided to become famous, but it would be difficult to do this with someone else's material. Young Talents started writing own songs in the genre of alternative rock.

The main part of the work was undertaken by Lauri Ylönen (in Russian, his surname is sometimes written as Ilonen, but this is not entirely true) - his biography lists a full-fledged musical education. IN summer holidays the guys found a job to save money for a professional recording. After a couple of months of putting up ads and packing parcels in the mail, the future stars of the scene earned enough to record a demo.

Music

Their debut recording hit a Finnish radio station by a stroke of luck. After the song appeared on the air, the DJ immediately began to receive calls and letters from listeners who wanted to know more about the unknown band. The radio station's management realized that Rasmus had a bright future ahead of them and pledged their support to the band.

A year after the founding, the first single 1st was released by the independent label Teja G. Records. Warner Music immediately became interested in young musicians and offered them a long-term contract. Peep's full length debut album, released in May 1996, sold 10,000 copies and immediately topped the charts in Finland. After that, the group went on tour and played more than 100 concerts not only in their homeland, but also in Estonia and Russia.

By the time the 2nd work was released, Rasmus had already become recognized rock stars at home. The Playboys album also quickly overcame the “gold” mark of 10 thousand copies sold, and the guys themselves became Finnish Grammy winners in the Best New Act of 1996 nomination. In the same year, the group played another hundred concerts, including sets “on warming up for the famous teams of the time Dog Eat Dog and Rancid, and also performed at the stadium in front of 40 thousand people and appeared on television.

The song "Liquid" by The Rasmus

In 1998, their next single Liquid was announced by fans and critics as the song of the year. Rasmus released their 3rd album and continued to tour. A year later, the musicians performed at combined concerts as headliners.

Shortly after that, there were changes in the composition of the band - the place of the former drummer Janne Heiskanen was taken by Aki Hakala, and the name was changed to The Rasmus. There was a 3-year break in the band's discography: the guys signed a new contract with the Playground Music Scandinavia label and decided to look for a new sound.

The next disc, Dead letters, was significantly different from the previous ones. Firstly, all the songs were recorded in English with an eye to the European audience, and secondly, the musicians generously added gloominess and depressiveness to the style, without canceling the energetic presentation. This idea was given to them by the producers - earlier this “chip” was already used by the HIM group.

Lauri complained that on the recordings he was forced to make his voice rough with the help of a huge amount of cigarettes, and to create the right mood, the guys had to watch endlessly horror movies. The musicians, taking a break from the Stockholm video libraries, obtained a whole mountain of disks with "horror films" and, after watching them, fell into such a depressed state that they began to have nightmares at night.

The song "In The Shadows" by The Rasmus

The children's suffering was not in vain. A clear and fashionable sound, combined with thoughtful image support, helped their songs quickly climb to the top of the Scandinavian and German charts. The main hit of the disc was the song In the shadows, which is still considered by many fans to be the best in the work of The Rasmus. The Dead Letters album brought the musicians not only a record amount of money, but also many prizes and awards.

In subsequent years, the performers went on a tour of Japan, released new job Hide From The Sun and live DVD, starred in documentary about my creative way and recorded the song October & April with soloist Annette Olzon.

The song "October & April" by The Rasmus

The release of the next Black Roses album was delayed due to happy event in the vocalist's family - Lauri's girlfriend, singer Paula Vesala, gave birth to his son, who was named Julius Christian. The first single from the Black Roses was "Livin" in a World Without You.

In 2009, The Rasmus visited 9 cities in Russia as part of the Monsters of Rock tour, and 4 years later the Finnish band came to the Ybitsa festival dedicated to Finno-Ugric culture, which was held in Komi.

The song "Livin" in a World Without You" by The Rasmus

Despite the dark and gloomy image, the musicians are big romantics. Lauri admitted in an interview that he considers the Icelandic singer to be his guardian angel - in honor of her, he made a tattoo in the form of a bird on his shoulder. They never knew each other, but her work inspired and supported him in difficult times.

Ylönen also said that he loves Russian songs and takes small figurines of heroes with him on tour Russian cartoons- And .

The "trick" of Lauri's stage image for a long time there were long dreadlocks, to which he added black feathers on the set and concerts, but on recent photos it is clear that he decided to abandon the extravagant appearance in favor of a modest short haircut.

The last complete one for today studio album became Dark Matters, released in 2017. In it, the team again experiments with the sound, this time adding to it electronic music. The group maintains an official website and account in "Instagram".

The Rasmus now

In 2018, the team released new single Holy Grail. A video was made in his support: the shooting took place in Japan, and the process was directed by director Jani Klemola. Lauri wrote this song during a long tour of Russia and dedicated it to "anti-heroes" - those fans who stand behind the concert and are not visible from the stage, but whose energy he feels and perceives especially keenly.

The song "Holy Grail" by The Rasmus

“I often think about them, standing where the light from the spotlights cannot reach, and I see myself in them,” the musician explained.

In the spring of the same year, The Rasmus went on a tour of Russia, traveling the whole country from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok and giving concerts in 22 cities. Now they are working on new material and promise fans that their creative passion will last at least another 10 years.

Discography

1996 - Peep
1997 - Playboys
1998 - Hell of a Tester
2001 - Into
2003 - Dead Letters
2005 – Hide from the Sun
2008 - Black Roses
2012 – The Rasmus
2017 – Dark Matters

Clips

2001 – Chill
2001 - F-F-F-Falling
2003 - First Day of My Life
2003 - In My Life
2004 - Guilty
2004 - Funeral Song
2005 - No Fear
2006-Shot
2007 - Immortal
2008 - Justify
2008 – Livin' In A World Without You
2009 - Your Forgiveness
2009 – October & April
2012 – Mysteria
2012 - I "m a Mess

Although about Finnish group Rasmus (The Rasmus), whose work is usually called a hybrid of Savage Garden and HIM, the whole world learned only in 2003, by that time it had existed for almost 10 years. It all started, as usual, from the school, where in December 1994 Rasmus were formed. By the way, Rasmus is just a Swedish name, which means nothing to the band members themselves. They just liked that word. The guys wanted to come up with an easy-to-remember name that sounds good and doesn't mean anything in particular. Four fans of Metallica and Nirvana, namely vocalist Lauri, guitarist Pauli, drummer Janne and bassist Eero, initially played covers of their favorites at graduation balls. Their peers were delighted, since in the early 1990s they were the main teams and it was nice to hear their songs, albeit in a "foreign" performance.

For Rasmus beginners, this could only be child's play, but after one of the "concerts" someone approached the future "stars" and said that guys, you're doing great, come on, don't give up! But, as you know, you can't go far on someone else's material, and the guys began to compose their own songs. The leading role in this was played by the leader Rasmus Lauri, who began his music studies at the age of five. One day, they decided to dedicate the summer holidays not to rest, but to building up for the future. After working there and there (they even had to put up ads and work at the post office), they saved up enough money to record the first demo. By some lucky chance, this very demo ended up on one of the Finnish radio stations. With Rasmus, almost the same thing happened that once happened with the members of Roxette. The DJ "accidentally" put the song on the air and after that he was literally flooded with letters and calls with the question "what kind of group was this ?!"

And now, a year after its founding, the group Rasmus on the independent label "Teja G. Records" released their first single, appropriately named "1st". Almost immediately, the Finnish branch of "Warner Music" showed interest in young musicians. In February 1996, a contract was signed with this company, and in May the debut album, "Peep", was released. The disc sold 10,000 copies and received "gold" in its country. Also in 1996, Rasmus toured extensively, playing over a hundred shows in Finland, Russia and Estonia.

By the time the second album was released, the guys had achieved "star" status in their homeland. "Playboys" also won "gold", and the team itself was awarded the Finnish "Grammy" in the category "Best New Act of 1996". In 1997, the band again played over a hundred shows, including club dates supporting Rancid and Dog Eat Dog. But the most significant event was the performance in front of an audience of 40,000 at the Helsinki "Olympic Stadium", where many teams played, and the appearance of Rasmus on national television. At the end of 1998, the single "Liquid" was released, proclaimed by fans and critics as the "song of the year". After the appearance of the third album "Hell of a tester" the band continued its live activity.

In 1999, the Rasmus group had the opportunity to open the performances of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Garbage, as well as to be in the status of headliners at the combined stadium concerts. The following year, several changes took place in the life of the team. Firstly, Aki took Janne's place on drums, secondly, the English-language sign was changed to The Rasmus, and thirdly, a new contract was signed with "Playground Music Scandinavia".

The musicians decided to fulfill the maximum plan with their new disc "Dead letters". The album was already deliberately made in English, for purposeful export to Europe. Everything was written at the cool Swedish studio "Nord Studios", consciously exploiting the "trick" of gloom, darkness, depressiveness, which was pressed down by HIM, but with a very energetic presentation. "Swedish producers on the recording of the album made me stoned on cigarettes to the point of stupefaction to make my voice sound as rough as possible," vocalist Lauri complains. gloomy that jumped up even in a dream from creeping nightmares. But "Dead letters" turned out exactly the way the prudent producers wanted: "Each song on this album is a message to someone ... An apology, or an accusation, or a complaint, or a plea for help. All my lyrics, of course, filled with something personal, they remind me of my sorrows," paints Lauri, who is also the author of the lyrics.

We can say that the idea justified itself. More "image" sound and good promotion helped the disc to get into not only the Scandinavian, but also the German charts. A significant role in the success of "Dead letters" was played (and will still play) by the song "In the shadows", which the musicians chose as the first single. Currently, it is still one of the biggest hits in Europe. The album was at the top of the charts in Germany, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, and the hit "In the shadows" received worldwide recognition. And most recently, Rasmus successfully skated a short tour with Evanescence.

The new hero of Finland, a favorite of schoolgirls, vocalist Lauri Ilonen, in addition to space dreadlocks, wears a secret sign on his shoulder - a bird tattoo with Björk's head. Icelandic diva Lauri considers his guardian angel, although he does not even know her. The other members of The Rasmus" are not as romantic as the lead vocalist, but they know their stuff: Pauli Rantazalmi, in fact, is engaged in sound, song arrangements; Aki Hakala charges everyone with a completely non-Finnish temperament and energy; Eero Heikonen, on the contrary, contributes, when necessary, a pacifying stream, fortunately stubbornly engaged in meditation and sahaya yoga.

The members of the Rasmus group themselves are in no hurry to divide success into four - they work hard on themselves. They promise that they have come for a long time and that they will have enough fuse for another ten years. You can't really blame them for not wanting to work. Their concerts are the strongest shows in terms of energy, and the work in the studio is debugged like a Swiss watch. Well, their perseverance was already appreciated in America, at the end of 2003 "In the shadows" sounds there too!