About Me
The Finnish quartet The Rasmus were friends at school, and messed around in different band constellations before emerging as Rasmus, releasing three albums for Warner Finland, all out before their 19th birthday (PEEP (1996), PLAYBOYS (1997) and HELL OF A TESTER (1998)). Their style ranged from funky pop to rap rock and they were not afraid to do funny Christmas songs in Swedish or even do a cover of the Ghostbusters theme. They experienced superstardom at home with the early records, they toured massively and built a solid fanbase. When they had done everything a band can do in Finland, they began looking for a foreign record company to help them get out in the world. The band changed their drummer, added a definite article to their name and found Swedish indie label Playground, who signed them up on the spot after having seen an explosive concert in Helsinki. The next album showed a big progress in songwriting and production, and INTO (2001) was released in several countries. The Rasmus toured all over Scandinavia and Germany. With the following album, DEAD LETTERS (2003), it was time for their big international breakthrough. It featured the mega hit 'IN THE SHADOWS' and was released in almost every country in the world, including the USA. The album went on to sell 1,5 million copies and earned several platina and gold awards in the UK, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden etc. Following the release, The Rasmus went on a 1,5 year long promotion/touring trip all over the world. A couple of weeks after their last tour to Japan, in January 2005, they went back into the studio and started working on the follow-up, HIDE FROM THE SUN, released in most countries in September 2005. A world tour followed, with dates all over Europe but also Latin America and Asia. The members of The Rasmus, Lauri Ylönen (vocals), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar), Eero Heinonen (bass) and Aki Hakala (drums) still live in Helsinki, Finland, where they enjoy spending time in the stillness of the wild and vast Nordic nature.
