The Rasmus are a rock band that formed in Helsinki, Finland in 1994 when the original band members were just about to leave school. They recorded their first single, 1st, released independently through Teja Kotilainen Records in late 1995. They signed with Warner Music Finland in 1996 and released their first album, Peep, that same year. The album went gold in Finland.
It has been four years of waiting but The Rasmus have finally released their 8th studio album, the self-titled ‘The Rasmus’ released in April 2012. The sound of this album is more electronial are far similar to the style of the 2001 album ‘Into’.
The lead single is called ‘I’m A Mess’ and was released prior to the album in March 2012. Scroll down to hte bottom to find the video.
“As Pauli and Eero live in different countries, we haven’t seen each other for three months since we finished the recordings in Stockholm. I can’t wait to start planning the new setlist for the first gigs in May. Being able to choose songs from eight albums is pretty damn cool, too!”, says The Rasmus’ frontman Lauri Ylönen.
He also admits that four years between albums (their latest studio album “Black Roses” was released in 2008) is a long time for any band, but the hiatus was necessary for them to be able to come back stronger than ever. “I thought I was gonna go crazy of waiting. We really wanna release albums more often than this, so it’s about time to put the focus back on writing and releasing new songs.”
The Rasmus has sold over 3,5 million albums worldwide, but there was no pressure during the recording of “The Rasmus”. According to Lauri, selling millions of albums and having a successful history only works as a good motivator. The band is also grateful for every hit they´ve been able to compose during these years. (For example “In The Shadows” single has sold over a million units so far.)
The production process was quite different compared to their last album´s recordings. Lauri Ylönen says that the album´s title works well how “The Rasmus” was created: Every single note and arrangement came from the band itself.
“After working with the legendary American producer Desmond Child we wanted to try out our own wings again – we didn’t even have a record label to work with! Last Summer we decided to write songs every day for two months. Once we had ten really good songs ready, we called our longtime friend and producer Martin Hansen and took a boat to Sweden to record them.”
“Making an album has never been this fast, easy, stress-free and enjoyable! We felt we found the fun of making music again. In many ways our situation reminded us of a band who’s just getting started. That felt so fresh yet so absurd!”
Official website – The Rasmus
Facebook – The Rasmus
