Skyward - Guardian
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The whole story began in the year 2000. It was just another alcohol-fueled Friday night, and after a while the boys (Ville and Sakke) decided that the world needs another melodic metal band. There can never be enough those around. And since they had been playing in bands practically all their lives, they felt that this should be a piece of cake. After all,how hard can it be to form a band? A rehearsal was scheduled.
Ville whipped out a couple of songs, and they rehearsed them as a duo for a while. A bass player was sorely needed. As it would happen, they found one in a bar just a couple of blocks away.A rehearsal was scheduled and later re-scheduled, since none of them remembered when it was supposed to be. Arto was his name, and he has stayed with the band from those early moments.
The songs were piling up, and they had no singer. They looked for awhile, and somehow found an american girl called K. For the next year or so, she handled the vocals.
The second guitarist seemed impossible to find. A bunch of different characters tried & auditioned, but it never seemed to "click".
In 2003 our singer made it clear with her persistant absence, that she is no longer a member of the band. Things looked dark (for 5 minutes), until someone remembered the girl from the hairdresser´s close by. A friend had recommended her some time ago, and they had forgotten all about it. Sanna was her name, and she impressed the guys immediately. She was in.
Ready to record?
They found theirselves an excellent guitarist, and decided to record something in a proper studio. Too bad (for him?) that he mysteriously disappeared just before the recordings.
The demo-ep was released early 2004, and received tons of positive feedback. This encouraged them to make a full-length album. They got a friend of theirs to play the 2nd guitar, and needless to say, he quit just before the recordings. This added Ville´s misery, who soon found blisters in his fingers. Naturally they did´nt even think about slowing down, but focused on the album and looked for another player later.
A guy called Antti Roksa answered the ad, and he was in from the first rehearsals.
The quest for a record deal
In the following months, Skyward looked for a recordcompany to release their album. The most serious answer came from France. A company called Thundering Records was willing to release it. The actual contract was signed in May 2005, between Ville and Laurent, the manager of the company in Lille, France. The releasedate was scheduled for September/October
The curse of the missing bassist
For those of you who find line-up changes boring, stop reading now. After the recordings, Arto quit the band due to creative differences.(not really, but finally a chance to use that line)
A man called Jaska Koivusilta was the next bassist for the following months. With this line-up Skyward finally started playing live. They landed some pretty good gigs around the country until the inevitable break-up with our bassist.
As unstable as it was, they never considered cancelling any gigs. Mikko Kivist.. of Pain Confessor came to rescue and played four gigs with Skyward. Unfortunately he was unable to continue with the band any further.
Enter Jyri Helko, the next replacement. A young, promising bassvirtuoso who helped out on the following few shows. Already busy with his studies & work, he was unable to continue with the band.
After him, it gets difficult to keep track. The average careerspan for the following players was now measured in days. The winner having spent just two days as our official bassist. (unless you count the guy who quit before he started)
Meanwhile in France
The debut album of Skyward was released in October 2005. At first, it was released in France & Belgium. In December 2005, Dynamic Arts Records launched the album in Scandinavia. In the spring of 2006, Thundering Records struck a deal with Twilight Distribution, which meant a wider european release for our album. In June, the first edition of the album was sold out. The 2nd edition was released later in the summer, with the video of Guardian as a bonus.
The curse has been lifted
Pete Kaipanen was to be our next (and last) bassplayer. A man with a talent with the acoustic guitar, and an excellent singing voice was eager to pick up the 5-string. After the first gigs with him, it was clear that he would stay with the band.
Time to move onwards
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