1994

Four friends at school in Helsinki made up their minds that the Finnish music scene needed a fresh approach.  They were: Lauri Ylönen (vocals), Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Janne Heiskanen (drums).  The band played their first show in December, at this point called ‘Sputnik’, later changing their name to Anttila before becoming…..Rasmus (which is short for ‘trashmosh’, a combination of words that Janne used to describe their music [trash = garbage/grunge rock and mosh = moshing]).

1995

Their soon-to-be manager, Teja Kotilainen, saw the band performing at the Oranssi club and wanted them to record some songs.  "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."

In December, Rasmus released their first CD - "1st" - on independent label Teja G. Records. 

1996

In February, Warner Finland showed interest and signed the band.

In May, Rasmus released their debut album Peep.  It soon sold Gold, and they took the listening public and critics by storm.  "We were just kids who were let loose on a playground". 

The band passed the gruelling limit of performing over one hundred gigs in a year’s time.  Shortly afterwards, they crawled back into the studio to record their second album Playboys, which also sold gold very quickly.  The tempo of success built momentum and they supported shows that included Rancid, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dog Eat Dog, Garbage and a multi-band event at Helsinki Olympic Stadium to 40,000 people and a nationwide TV audience.

1997

Rasmus had established themselves as a household name in Finland and shortly received their first EMMA (Finnish Grammy) for Best New Act of 1996.  The single ‘Blue‘ was released, which sold Gold.

1998

The band’s third album - Hellofatester - was released.  In December, the Single ‘Liquid’ was voted by critics and fans as the year’s Best Single of 1998.

1999

‘Liquid‘ wins an award at the Finnish Music Video Festival in August.  Janne left the band in this year and Aki Hakala - one of their merchandise sellers - became their drummer.

2000

The band became The Rasmus after fans turned up for a Rasmus show only to see a Swedish DJ of the same name. 

They signed for Playground Music Scandinavia.

2001

‘F-F-F-Falling’ was released in February and stayed at number 1 in the Finnish charts for three months, selling Platinum and being the biggest hit of the year in Finland.  "We were so nervous about that song.  It was obviously either going to be a hit or a flop".  The album ‘Into’ followed a couple of months later and charged the charts like a rocket.  The album has sold well over double Platinum to date.  After the success of ‘Into’ and ‘F-F-F-Falling’, The Rasmus performed at every major music festival in Finland during May to August, and supported HIM on tour in Scandinavia in October, and Roxette in November.

2002

The Rasmus returned to Sweden to record, because they wanted to work again with Mikael Nord Anderson and Martin Hansen at Nord Studios, who were also responsible for producing the massively successful album Into.  "Martin and Micke made me smoke cigarettes if my voice didn't sound rough enough", Lauri explained.  In addition, the band endlessly watching horror movies coloured the making of the album.  “’Dead Letters’ is darker, moodier and dreamier than anything we have done before", Eero (bass) concluded.  “The sounds and lyrics are both a bit darker and moodier than ever before.  All the songs are in a minor key and the feeling is pretty sad and desperate…Finnish dreamy melancholy with lots of power“, said Lauri.  Since Dead Letters was the band’s first international release, Playground’s Michael Blair was brought in to collaborate on the lyrics in English.  Lauri was pleased with the result, which reflected the depth of personal feeling in his stories.

2005

2005 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 No.1 Most Played Video on MTV Europe, THE RASMUS had finally made it.....

2008

....find out on www.therasmus.com!