The story of The Rasmus starts in late 1994 in Helsinki. One band was formed for Christmas Celebration at school. In the start the name was "Sputnik", but they changed it in "Anttila" before his first live.
Soon they changed the name again - because at the time there was a store chain with the same name (the store chain still exists).
So they became "Rasmus", not yet with the article "The" in front of the name. This name was a modified version of a nome suggested by Janne, drummer of the band at the time. Rasmus were Lauri, Pauli, Eero and Janne. Some sources sais that before Janne there was another drummer, a guy called Jarno. Before of the Christmas Celebration The Rasmus performed some gigs in youth centers and at the club Oranssi - the same place where Teja Kotilainen discovered the band. Kotilainen became their manager and together they signed a triennal contract: first Helsinki, then Finland and after the whole world.
The first single to be released was "1st", pubblished on December of 1995 under the label Teja G. Records. In February of 1996 The Rasmus signed a contract with Warner Music Finland, and in March they released their debut album "Peep", which became gold. In the same year the band performed in more than 100 gigs in Finland, Russia and Estonia. The band released the second album "Playboys" in 1997. Like the predecessor, it became gold! In 1997 Rasmus released also the single "Blue", gold as well.
But this year Rasmus got the great chance to perform live in front of an audience of over 40.000 people at the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, followed by the tv viewers at home. The same year they won Finnish Grammy (Emma) as the band newcomer of the year.
In September of 1998 the "Liquid" single was released. It went straight to the MTV Nordic Top 40. "Liquid" was voted by boyh critics and fans like the best music piece of the year. And in November their third album, "HellOfATester", was released and once again The Rasmus obtained the gold: both for new album and the "Liquid" single! Around the year 1999 Rasmus get a little break and Janne left band for his necessity. He was replaced by Aki who sold Rasmus T-Shirt and hats at Rasmus concerts.
In April 2000 the band signed with Playground Music Scandinvai and they changed the name in The Rasmus. The new album "Into" was recorded in Sweden and the main single "F-F-F Falling" was released in 2001 in Finland. The single went straight on the top of the charts where it remained for three monts and - surprise - became anotger gold disc for the guys. The album "Into" was released in Finland at March and in May it was already GOLD! In 2001 "F-F-F Falling" became a smash hit and it was one of the greatest breakthroughs of The Rasmus. The same year the band toured in Scandinavia and Germany and the same summer "Chill" was released in Scandinavia. Into was released in August in Sweden and Danimarca, and in Denmark, and in September in Germany.
In 2002 the single "Heartbreaker" was released and it became #1 in Finnish charts in the spring of the year. After that the band took a break for prepare their following album, "Dead Letters". It was released the following year in February, anticipated in January by "In The Shadows".
"In The Shadows" is a part of the soundtrack of "Pahat Pojat" ("Bad Boys" in English). In the August of 2003 "In The Shadows" litterally exploded in Germany single charts, then always in Germania and in the rest of Europe it became another smash hit together with the album "Dead Letters"!
2004 was a remarkable year for four young men from Helsinki. After 11 years together as a band, and each still only 24 years old, they finally captured Europe with the release of their fifth studio album, "Dead Letters". With over a million and a half copies sold worldwide, eight Gold and five Platinum Awards, and Top 10 placings in eleven countries for their signature anthem "In The Shadows", which was the #1 Most Played Video on MTV Europe, THE RASMUS had finally made it.
In the UK alone, debut single release "In The Shadows" entered the singles chart at #3 in April, remained in the Top 10 for seven weeks, sold more than 180,000 copies and was one of the Top 20 Best Selling Singles of 2004. The video reached #1 on the UK TV Airplay Chart. "Dead Letters", also out in April, sold Platinum sales of over 300,000 copies, and was in the Top 50 best selling albums of the year. They sold out two UK tours, in April and October, plus two stand-alone consecutive nights at the London Astoria in June, and were nominated for two Kerrang Awards for Best International Newcomer and Best Single.
And now, the Finnish Grammy Award winning quartet are back with the follow-up to "Dead Letters". Set for release on September 12th, "Hide From The Sun" is the Helsinki-based foursome's sixth studio outing. Displaying striking new textures through bold arrangements, the addition of strings and piano to the band's signature infectious dark rock sound, topped off with Lauri's smoldering vocal, results in an injection of Muse-like drama. It's an album the band found easy to write despite the obvious pressures which come in following the success of smash hit singles "In The Shadows", "Guilty" and "First Day Of My Life", singles which shot the band to the fore, took them around the world and saw them building up a massive and loyal fan base. «There are more contrasts in the music this time», explains Lauri. «It's beautiful melodies set against cutting lyrics, or sweet words over intense, heavy guitars. We're proud of the arrangements on the new album».
«Soundwise, we were more confident in what we wanted, this time more than ever», says guitarist Pauli, something frontman Lauri agrees with: «When it came to writing the songs, everything felt so easy - that’s not only from the last year, it’s since we formed – we’ve been together 11 years now and that’s quite a history. We know each other so well we don’t need any words, the chemistry is such that you pretty much know what the other guys will play and if you get an idea for a song you can imagine what the others are going to do with it. To be able to play around the world gave us a lot of energy and it felt like we were feeding our minds – especially playing the last shows in Japan. After that, we went straight into the studio».
"Hide From The Sun" was recorded at Stockholm’s Nord/Hansen Studios with producers Martin Hansen and Mikael Nord Andersson, the duo responsible for the band’s last two long-players "Into" and "Dead Letters". «We’ve made great progress with them, why would we break the winning team?» notes Lauri. «The communication between us has reached new levels – it’s much easier. It was also nice to record the album in Sweden instead of Finland, where we’d go home after the day’s recording and get separated. We were more focused on the band and a lot of our good ideas come after the day in the studio. We were confronting everything as a group; we lived in the same apartment in Stockholm and it was great that we could go and do something as a group in the evening - it made the band feel stronger».
A feeling clearly reflected in "Hide From The Sun", The Rasmus’ most confident outing yet, which sees them raising their own musical bar and experimenting with light and shade to produce attention-grabbing soundscapes with dark lyrical themes of hiding and escaping influenced by their hectic 12 months. As Lauri explains: «Last year was a crazy year and somehow it made me more aware of things. So far there’s a few key words for the album – escaping and hiding. It sounds a bit negative but it’s more like searching for your own feelings and emotions. A load of things happened in my life after "In The Shadows" came out, a lot of positive things. I also saw a lot of shit and witnessed a lot of bad things; it was such a rollercoaster.” One of the most monumental experiences occurred in Mexico where the band stopped off at the pyramids at Teotihuacán, near Mexico City, and were enrolled into their Indian guide’s tribe! “These people are so down to earth», recalls the singer. «I’ve always been into nature, it means ten times more to them than me or us so-called normal people in Europe, and meeting these people and getting so deep in their culture, made me stop and think».
Spiritually re-invigorated, the songs came rolling out with tracks such as lead single, the hook-laden, power-rock track, "No Fear", the obvious first choice single and, similarly as "In The Shadows" had been to "Dead Letters", one of the last songs that the band wrote and recorded, or the dynamic of "Shot" or "Immortal", both of which follow the theme of protecting those close to you and going beyond the call of duty to do so. Other songs include "Night After Night (Out Of The Shadows)", a lyrical sequel to "In The Shadows" and one of the album’s highlights, "Dead Promises" with string arrangement by Finnish metallers-with-cellos, Apocalyptica, who have been linked to The Rasmus since they released "Bittersweet", a single featuring a duet with Lauri and HIM’s Ville Valo. Lauri also added his vocal to "Life Burns" from the band’s self-titled album. «It was a fair trade that they come and play on our album», he laughs. «I had the riff for "Dead Promises" a long time ago and thought of cellos for it, so it was a perfect match. When it came to arrangements, we had more ideas than the producers. I had some ideas, which started off on the piano; stuff I played on tour when I was killing time that made up the skeleton of the song. That’s why it’s important to record and memorise all those things you come up with while messing around because they could end up on the album!»
Forming 11 years ago and signing a deal with Warner Music Finland at 16, the band quit school for a life on the road. «You could say we were over-confident», states Pauli. «We’ve always been over-confident, there was no other option. We weren’t thinking, ‘If we fail...’ it was more like, ‘We have to do this...’ We didn’t even think anything else». They released their debut full-length "Peep" which rapidly went Gold, followed by second-album "Playboys", which again went Gold, earned them their first Emma (Finnish Grammy award) and saw them sharing stages with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rancid and Garbage. Third album "Hellofataster" followed in 1999, the year which also saw former merch-guy Aki joining the line-up. Signing to Stockholm’s Playground Music in 2000, The Rasmus have since gone from strength to strength.
«I just felt, ‘Yes! Finally! It’s about time this happened’», Lauri, once nicknamed Lintu the Finnish for bird, says. «I somehow knew it was going to happen, I had a feeling in my bones, but there’s still lots of things to learn. I think if we’d got this success five years ago we would be dead - it’s so crazy, full of temptation and things that mess your head up. It’s been good to grow up in the band and see things slowly grow with us, that’s very important».

• How did they meet?
  • Eero and Lauri have been close mates since meeting in the third grade. Pauli met Eero and Lauri in junior high at the beginning of the 90's. The first version of the band came together in late '94. They decided to make their own music since «every other band our age played covers but we wanted to survive on our own», as Lauri puts it. «When our first single "Funky Jam" hit the radio things started rolling. Our lives changed so much that year we had a hard time controlling it. Fortunately, we found a good manager, Teja Kotilainen. We already knew him. We made a strong team, and still do. We realized early on that this was only the beginning of much hard work to come». The drummer Aki jumped in during 1999 after their previous rhythm mate set off to India to find peace.
• What is the origin of the name Rasmus?
  • The name "Rasmus" comes from the word "trashmosh". The group name has been confused with the Swedish DJ Rasmus so they added a definite article.
• And what about the name of "Into"?
  • Lauri: «We wanted to find a word which has a meaning in both Finnish and English. Into mean "Enthusiasm" in Finnish».
• Who write the songs?
  • Lauri: «Usually, one of us brings an idea to the rehearsal room. It can be a piece of melody, groove, or riff. Then we start jamming on it and it takes on a life of its own». Lauri and Pauli do most of the composing. «A couple of times a year I go abroad with my guitar to make music in different environments and cultures. Many of the new songs were written in Barcelona. I am inspired equally by Finnish folkdance music, classical concerts and the latest hip-hop albums. There shouldn't be any limits when you make music».
• And the lyrics?
  • Lauri writes all the lyrics. «It's a personal thing for me and I take the lyrics very seriously. I try not to get lost in metaphors, I like to keep things straight and "punkish". But, every song has a deep meaning »for me. For instance, "Smash" is a story about a close friend of mine who recently died of a heroin overdose. I think it's important to raise these kind of issues». Since this record will be the first international release for the group, A&R Lars Tengroth brought in Playground's own Michael Blair to collaborate on the lyrics in English. Lauri was pleased with the result which reflected the depth of personal feeling in his stories.
• The band's background...
  • The boys live in Helsinki but all of them grew up in the suburbs around the city. Lauri says «Everybody knows the basic suburb-story. The same uninspiring neighbourhood day after day and nothing to do but smash things up. I've been arrested for petty crime and graffiti. But, this band saved my life 'cos I left that dangerous cycle behind».
• Have they toured a lot?
  • During the last five years The Rasmus have toured all around Finland. «We always try to make up something new for the fans. We consider ourselves a live band and our audience should never be on safe ground. While touring we usually kill our spare time by making "road movies". We have about thirty of them and they are pretty sick».
• Other projects?
  • Lauri and Pauli have produced other Finnish bands incuding rockers "Killer" and the hip-hop group "Kwan". Eero has written songs and played in trip-hop, jazz, and classical groups.
• What about the Finnish music scene?
  • «The Finnish music scene is developing rapidly. That's a great thing. Finally the big stupid record companies understand that this land is full of internationally competitive acts».
• Other info...
  • Eero and Lauri both have a classical background. Aki went to music school. Pauli is self-taught. Lauri: «My biggest idol through the years has been Björk. The way she combines sadness and hope in her music leaves me speechless». Eero: «I try to live in a way that keeps me in balance. I practise a method called Sahaja Yoga and meditate daily». Pauli: «I spent my childhood listening to gypsy music & the Beatles because my parents used to play them to me». Aki: «The first album I bought was "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix. The first gig I went to see was 69 Eyes at the legendary "Lepakko" club. Unfortunately, the amazing venue got crushed by the new Nokia Building».

• December 1994 - Rasmus form at school and play their first show.
• December 1995 - Release first single "1st" on independent label, Teja G. Records.
• February 1996 - Sign to Warner Finland.
• May 1996 - Release first album "Peep", which goes Gold.
• 1996 - Play over 100 shows, including festivals in Finland, Russia and Estonia.
• May 1997 - Release single "Blue", which goes Gold.
• August 1997 - Release second album "Playboys", which goes also Gold.
• August 1997 - Appearance on multi band event at Helsinki Olympic Stadium to 40,000 people and a nationwide TV audience.
• 1997 - Play over 100 shows including festivals and club dates supporting Rancid and Dog Eat Dog.
• 1997 - Win Finish Grammy Award as Best New Act of 1996.
• September 1998 - Release "Liquid" single – the video goes on MTV Nordic Top 40.
• December 1998 - "Liquid" voted best song of 1998 by critics and fans.
• February 1999 - Support Garbage at Helsinki Ice Hall to 4.000 people.
• April 1999 - Tour of 6 shows of Ice Halls headlining a multiple bill.
• 1999 - Play over 80 shows and festivals in Finland.
• August 1999 - "Liquid" wins award at Finnish Music Video Festival.
• October 1999 - Rasmus support Red Hot Chili Peppers for two shows at Helsinki Ice Hockey Stadium - capacity 12.000 per night.
• April 2000 - Rasmus becomes The Rasmus and signs to Playground Music Scandinavia
• May 2000 - The new album is recorded in Stockholm.
• December 2000/January 2001 - Mixing in Stockholm.
• February 2001 - The Rasmus release the single "F-F-F-Falling" in Finland. It stays #1 in the Finnish sales charts for three months, and sells Gold in May.
• March 2001 - The Rasmus release the album "Into" in Finland. It goes #1 and sells Gold in May.
• April 2001 - The Rasmus tour Sweden, Denmark, Norway and do TV and promotion.
• May 2001 - The album "Into" is released in Denmark.
• May, June, July, August 2001 - The Rasmus tour Finland and do EVERY festival there.
• June 2001 - The single "Chill" is released all over Scandinavia. It goes straight to #2 in the Finnish Sales Charts.
• August 2001 - The album "Into" is released in Sweden and Denmark.
• September 2001 - The album "Into" is released in Germany.
• October 2001 - The Rasmus support HIM in tour Scandinavia, playing for circa 40.000 people.
• November 2001 - The Rasmus support Roxette in tour Scandinavia, playing for circa 40.00 people.
• 17 January 2003 - The New single "InThe Shadows" is out.
• 28 February 2003 - "Dead Letters" is out.
• March 2003 - "Dead Letters" 1st place in charts and 15.000 albums sold in a week, golden disc.
• March, April 2003 - "InThe Shadows" 2th place in Sveden, first in MTV Up North and Finland.
• Spring 2003 - Tour in Svezia and Danimarca.
• Summer 2003 - The Rasmus first place in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. 12# in the TOP 100 Europe.
• September 2003 - "InThe Shadows"" out in Italy.
• October 2003 - "InThe Shadows" #6 in TOP 100 Europe, "Dead Letters" 36# in Italy Album Charts and "InThe Shadows" 37# in Singles Chart.
• 6 November 2003 - The Rasmus are BEST NORDIC ACT on MTV Europe Music Awards.
• January 2004 - "InThe Shadows" and "Dead Letters" are both Gold Disc in Italy! (50.000 copies sold). "InThe Shadows" is #2 on Italian Singles Chart. It was in the charts since October 2003.
• March 2004 - "InThe Shadows" and "Dead Letters" released in UK and USA.
• November 2004 - They make their first visit to Mexico and offered 2 concerts in Salon 21 in Mexico City.
• January 2005 - The Rasmus together with HIM, Apocalyptica, Negative, and The 69 Eyes made a concert for help the victims of the Tsunami in Asia; at the Hartwall Arena place for 12.000 people at January 17th. The Rasmus wins the award NRJ Radio for Best Nordic Artist in January 21st.
• February 2005 - Then end the mini-tour in Japan and go on to the studio for beggining the recording of the new album.
• March 2005 - "Funeral Song" wins in the MTV nordic awards for Best Video. The video of "Funeral Song" wins another award called Sirver Muuvi-Prize at the Muuvi Video Gala.
• May 2005 - The release of "Hide From The Sun" is announced, for September 12th. The Rasmus nominated the awards of the Billboard magazine for the record sales in Europe, according to the charts The Rasmus is the band with more record sales in Europe outsite of their native country.
• June 2005 - In the Finnish Magazine Ilta-Sanomat its announced that "Hide From The Sun" is ready for the release. Its mentioned the first single of the new album called "No Fear" and the release of this as single is in August 29th. The Rasmus programs six concerts for Europe, visiting Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Germany.
• July 2005 - The recording for the video "No Fear" is programmed to be at Germany (Berlin) in July 9th. "No Fear" was transmited by the first time in YLEX and Delta Radio. Its announced the complete list of songs for "Hide From The Sun".
• September 2005 - "No Fear" becomes #1 in Finland. Announcement of the second single "Sail Away". Official Release of "Hide From The Sun" (September 12th). The shooting for the video for "Sail Away" is programed in Riga, Latvia at September 18th and 19th.
• October 2005 - The tour begins on Finland with sold out tickets. Pauli and Lauri open the recording studio called Dynasty Recordings. The release of "Sail Away" as second single takes place at October 28th.
• November 2005 - The Rasmus wins the award Best Finnish Artist at the MTV Europe.
• December 2005 - The Rasmus opens their official space at Myspace.com.
• January 2006 - "Shot" is announced as the next single and the shooting for the video is programmed. They get 3 Nominations at the Emma-Gaala.
• February 2006 - They made a tour with 11 dates with HIM and Negative through Europe. The shooting for "Shot" is stopped because a storm in Fuerteaventutra, the shootings is re-programmed for February 22th. The Rasmus trips Japan.
• March 2006 - They visited South-Africa. The Rasmus trips Argentina and Chile. "Sail Away" becomes #1 in Latin America.
• April 2006 - The Rasmus wins the award Eska in the category of Rock band of the year, also they made a performance in those awards.
• June 2006 - They make two concerts in Russia. The band begins a serie of presentations in European Festivals.
• July 2006 - They get nominated for the award of Kerrang magazine, Best video.
• August 2006 - They begin the tour through US. Eero recorded and begins a band called Hay and Stone.
• September 2006 - The Rasmus continues the tour through US, and decide record "S.O.S." from ABBA.
• October 2006 - The release of "Hide From The Sun" in the US.

If you want to send the guys a letter, here is the fanmail address. Please be aware of that The Rasmus are very busy so they won't be able to reply back to all fanmail. Good luck!

The Rasmus
PO Box 202
FIN-00121
Helsinki, Finland