Poets of the Fall

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Poets of the Fall
from the left: Jani Snellman, Jari Salminen, Olli Tukiainen, Jaska Mäkinen, Markus Kaarlonen, Marko Saaresto
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland[1]
Genre(s)	Rock Alternative Rock[1]
Years active	2003 – present[1]
Label(s)	Insomniac Rough Trade
Website	www.poetsofthefall.com
Members
Marko Saaresto Olli Tukiainen Markus Kaarlonen

Poets of the Fall (POTF) are a rock band from Helsinki, Finland that was founded by Marko Saaresto and Olli Tukiainen in 2003.^[1] The members are Marko "Mark" Saaresto, (lead vocals & guitar), Olli Tukiainen (guitar), and Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen (keyboards & production); during concerts, they are accompanied by Jani Snellman (bass guitar), Jaska Mäkinen (guitar) and Jari Salminen (drums & percussion).

The Poets released the singles Late Goodbye and Lift before releasing their full-length debut album Signs of Life in Finland. The album was certified gold in May 2005^[2] and platinum in April 2006.^[3] It topped the Finnish Top 40 chart in weeks 4^[4] and 7^[5] of 2005, and stayed on the list for 56 weeks.^[6]

The song Late Goodbye marked the beginning of the band's popularity since it is featured in Max Payne 2 as the game's ending song, as well as a recurring theme in the game.^[7] The second single, Lift, is featured in the computer benchmarking program 3DMark 05 by Futuremark^[8] which has close ties with Remedy Entertainment, the developers of Max Payne 2.

The band has won several awards which include the 2004 Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Award in the "Best Original Vocal Song – Pop" category for Late Goodbye,^[9] "Best Finnish Newcomer" in YleX's "Best of 2004",^[10] "Newcomer of '05" during Musiikki & Media Events,^[11] and two Emma Awards for "Best Newcomer of the Year" and "Best Debut Album of the Year"^[12]. They also won the "Best Finnish Act"-award at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[13]

Poets of the Fall performed live for the first time ever outside Finland in Berlin during Popkomm 2005 and released Signs of Life in selected countries. The second album, Carnival of Rust, was released in Sweden in September 2006,^[14] in Australia, Russia and Ukraine in October 2006^[15] and in Germany on April 20, 2007.^[16]

The band's third album, Revolution Roulette, was released in Finland on March 26, 2008.^[17] Their latest single, Diamonds for Tears, was released in Finland on 21 May 2008.^[18]

Contents 1 Band history 1.1 2003 1.2 2004 1.3 2005 1.4 2006 1.5 2007 1.6 2008 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 3 Videography 4 Tours 5 Awards and nominations 5.1 Awards 5.2 Nominations 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Band history

[edit] 2003

Poets of the Fall were founded in 2003 with the collaboration of Mark and Olli. After a small amount of time, Captain came aboard. This brought three different worlds together to form POTF: a rock singer, a jazz guitarist, and an "industrial-machine-trance-man".

Marko was forced to move into his parents' basement when he couldn't keep a place of his own any longer. The Poets built a studio of their own in Captain's living room and kept an office in Olli's old car.^[1]

In 2003, Sami Järvi, a scriptwriter of Remedy Entertainment asked Mark to write a song for their upcoming game, Max Payne 2. When the game was released, interest in Poets skyrocketed all around the world. Shortly after, Late Goodbye won first place at the annual G.A.N.G. awards in San Jose, California.^[9] The ceremony was televised on MTV International and G4TV, but the Poets were unable to attend due to arrangements elsewhere.^{[citation needed]}

Since then, Late Goodbye has spread worldwide on over two million sold copies of Max Payne 2.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2004

On 30 June 2004, the Late Goodbye single was released in Finland.^[19] It contained different variations of the title track (including the radio edit, album edition, unplugged edition, and piano instrumental), along with a bonus track called Everything Fades which can also be found on the band's debut album Signs of Life.^[20]

On 9 September 2004, Poets' second single Lift was released,^[21] continuing to stay true to the band's style. Just like Late Goodbye, Lift too got a considerable amount of exposure as it appeared with Futuremark's computer benchmarking program, 3DMark05.^[8] The software spread Lift around the world in over eleven million downloads.^{[citation needed]}

The additional track that was included with the Lift single, The Beautiful Ones^[20] kept the band's poetic style. In all of their work, they have presented a sense of style that carries over into their albums.

POTF was voted as the fresh newcomer of the year 2004 in Finland. Lift won second place in the best song of the year category, Late Goodbye reached rank 7.^[10]

The Poets started their Signs of Life-tour on October 22, 2004 with a concert in Tampere, Finland.^[22]

On 18 December 2004, the Poets released a net download single entitled Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day for about three weeks. After the song's release, the number of visitors of their website was over 20 times higher than on average days.^[23] It is still available for download at POTFmedia.com.

"Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day..."

“	...is all about hope. Hope, now, is a tricky thing. A real double edged sword. It is the sole power that keeps mankind on its feet. Heads up and at it. Even in time of crisis. An invaluable force of nature. But as hope can be true... it can also be false. We choose the way to go, but will the road set us free? I wrote the lyrics to 'Maybe tomorrow is a better day' in context with this duality. In other words, where there is hope there must be doubt. There is no one without the other. And so, devilishly, parts of the lyric can be experienced either as doubting or as giving true hope... it is up to you to give it meaning.	”
— Marko Saaresto[23]

[edit] 2005

Signs of Life, the Poets' first album, had been sought after, receiving more preorders than what was expected.^{[citation needed]} On January 17, 2005, it was announced that the album had been selected as the "Album of the Week" on the Finnish national radio channel YleX.^[24] After being released on 19 January 2005,^[25] it went up to number one in its first week on the official Finnish TOP 40album chart.^[26] It was certified gold on May 24, 2005,^[2] platinum on 26 April 2006^[3] and has spent 56 weeks on the list.^[6] This makes Signs of Life one of the most successful albums in Finland released in 2005.

Also included with the album is a link to a password-protected secret page on the website. On the page, a remixed version of Lift (entitled Dramadance Remix) can be found along with several wallpapers from the album book artwork.

The album was awarded the Emma Award for the "Best Debut Album of the Year 2005" and the band was awarded in the "Best Newcomer of the Year" category.^[12] An Emma Award is Finland's equivalent to a Grammy. Signs of Life has also been released in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine and South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 August 2005, POTF's second music video Lift^[27] was released for Finnish television airing. From this point forward, Signs of Life has been released on iTunes in the countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.^[28] It went straight to number one in the Finnish iTunes-charts.^[29] On 1 October 2005, the Lift-video was made available for online-viewing at the Poets' official website.^[30]

On 9 November 2005 the Poets ended their Signs of Life-tour with a concert in Stockholm, Sweden.^[22]

[edit] 2006

On 19 January 2006, POTF won at the NRJ radio awards, they were selected by voters as the "Best Finnish Breakthrough".^[31] On 9 February 2006, POTF made an announcement of their upcoming single to be released on 22 March 2006. Carnival of Rust included two versions of the title track (a radio edit and album edition), along with an exclusive live recording of Don't Mess With Me.^[32] The live recording took place at Rockperry Festival, Vaasa, Finland on 15 July 2005.^{[citation needed]} The single was released in Germany on 1 December 2006.^[33]

On 12 March 2006, the Poets' announced their tour dates of the "Carnival of Rust" tour. It was also brought to the fans' attention that their drummer, Tapio left the band to pursue his career in photography. Taking his place is Jari. They remain close friends with their former drummer and wish him the best of luck in his chosen career.^[34]

On 30 March 2006, the Carnival of Rust music video was released for viewing on The Voice and MTV Finland.The director from Lift, Tuomas "Stobe" Harju, continued to work with them for this project.^[35]

The Poets' second album Carnival of Rust was released in Finland on 12 April 2006,^[36] after being delayed from its original release date, April 5.^{[citation needed]} It includes 11 new songs, a remastered version of Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day, as well as the music video to the title track .^[20]

The album went straight to the top on Finnish radio channel YleX due to fan votes^[37] and was recognized as "Album of the Week"^[38] after remaining number one for three weeks straight.^{[citation needed]}

Carnival of Rust followed in its predecessor's footsteps on 19 April 2006 when the Top40 show announced that the Poets would have two albums on their list. After a week on store shelves, the album went straight to number one on the Finnish charts.^[39][40]

On 10 May 2006, Signs of Life was dropped from the Top40 list, where Carnival of Rust continued to reside on the higher end of the list. It was certified gold only three weeks after being released^[41] and platinum on 11 December 2006.^[42] The album has been released in Sweden on 12 September 2006.^[14] It was selected as one of the best albums 2006 by Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat.^[43]

[edit] 2007

In 2007 the Poets continued their Carnival of Rust-tour, playing 55 gigs in 7 countries. The tour ended on 27 October 2007 with the band's first concert in Asia at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur.^[44]

On 20 January 2007 they were awarded the "Best Finnish Band"-Award at the 2007 NRJ Radio Awards.^[45]

On 7 March 2007 the band's official webshop opened. It ships merchandise as well as singles and albums worldwide.^[46]

On 20 April 2007 the Carnival of Rust-album was released in Germany.^[16]

On 5 May 2007 it was announced that the Poets' Carnival of Rust-video had won the "Bronze Muuvi Award", as well as the "Muuvi People's Choice Award", having received 71 percent of all votes.^[47]

[edit] 2008

On 9 January 2008 the Poets accounted a new single called The Ultimate Fling which was released in Finland on 6 February 2008.^[48] The single features three versions of the title track as well as a live recording of Fire, the opening track of the band's second album Carnival of Rust.^[20] The live version was recorded during the Poets' performance at the Ankkarock Festival 2007 on 5 August.^[44] The single charted at #2 in the Finnish singles charts. ^[49]

The Poets' third album Revolution Roulette was released in Finland on 26 March 2008^[20] and, just like its two predecessors, went straight to the top of the Finnish charts.^[50] It was cerified gold two weeks after being released.^[51]

Their third tour started with a gig in Jyväskylä, Finland on 18 April 2008. The band is also going to perform in Germany, India, Japan, Russia and Sweden. They played their first show in the United States in Los Angeles, California during Musexpo 2008 on 29 April 2008. ^[52]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album	Release dates	Charts	Certifications
Signs of Life	19 January 2005 [25] August 2005 [28] 12 April 2008 (iTunes)[53] release date unknown [citation needed]	#1 [26]	IFPI certification: Platinum[3]
Carnival of Rust	12 April 2006 [36] 12 September 2006 [14] October 2006 [15] 20 April 2007 [16] 12 April 2008 (iTunes)[53]	#1 [39]	IFPI certification: Platinum[42]
Revolution Roulette	26 March 2008 [17] 12 April 2008 (iTunes)[53]	#1 [50]	IFPI certification: Gold[51]

[edit] Singles

Single	Release dates	Charts
Late Goodbye*	30 June 2004[19]	#14 [54]
Lift*	9 September 2004 [21]	#8 [55]
Carnival of Rust*	22 March 2006 [56] 1 December 2006 [57]	#2 [58]
Sorry Go 'Round	16 August 2006 [59]	#7 [60]
Locking Up the Sun*	29 November 2006 [61]	#3 [62]
The Ultimate Fling*	6 February 2008 [48]	#2 [49]
Diamonds for Tears*	21 May 2008 [18]	#13 [63]

"*"= a full version of the song can be found on the band's official MySpace-website

Other tracks

• Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day

(Free download is available at POTFmedia.com)

• The Beautiful Ones

[edit] Videography

• Late Goodbye
• Lift
• Carnival of Rust
• Locking up the Sun
• The Ultimate Fling ^[18]

[edit] Tours

Years	Tour	Countries	Concerts
2004-2005	Signs of Life-Tour	5 ( )[22]	62[22]
2006-2007	Carnival of Rust-Tour	8 ( )[64][44]	126 [64][44]
2008	Revolution Roulette-Tour	7*( )[65]	42* [52]

"*"= number can change as more gigs are announced.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Awards

Year	Award	Title
2004	Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards	Best Original Vocal Song – Pop (Late Goodbye)[9]
2004	YleX's "Best of 2004"	Best Finnish Newcomer[10]
2005	IFPI Finland	Gold Record (Signs of Life)[2]
2005	Musiikki & Media Events	Newcomer of '05[11]
2006	NRJ Radio Awards	Best Finnish Breakthrough 2005[31]
2006	Emma Awards	Best Newcomer of the year[12]
2006	Emma Awards	Best Debut Album of the year (Signs of Life)[12]
2006	IFPI Finland	Platinum Record (Signs of Life)[3]
2006	IFPI Finland	Gold Record (Carnival of Rust)[41]
2006	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Finnish Band[13]
2006	IFPI Finland	Platinum Record (Carnival of Rust)[42]
2006	The Voice	Best Music Video 2006 (Carnival of Rust)[66]
2006	TV2's Musiikki-TV	Best Finnish Music Video of All Times (Carnival of Rust)[67]
2007	NRJ Radio Awards	Best Finnish Band[45]
2007	Muuvi Awards	Bronze Muuvi Award (Carnival of Rust)[47]
2007	Muuvi Awards	Muuvi People's Choice Award (Carnival of Rust)[47]
2008	IFPI Finland	Gold Record (Revolution Roulette)

[edit] Nominations

Year	Award	Title	Rank
2004	YleX's "Best of 2004"	Best Finnish Song (Lift)	2nd[10]
2004	YleX's "Best of 2004"	Best Finnish Song (Late Goodbye)	7th[10]
2005	Radio City	Album of the Year (Signs of Life)	7th[68]
2005	The Voice	Top 105 (Lift)	10th[69]
2006	The Voice	Best Music Video 2006 (Locking Up the Sun)	12th[66]
2007	NRJ Radio Awards	Best Finnish Album (Carnival of Rust)	-[70]
2007	NRJ Radio Awards	Best Nordic Band	-[70]
2007	Emma Awards	Best Rock Album (Carnival of Rust)	- [71]
2007	Helsingin Sanomat	Most Beloved Finnish Rock Song (Late Goodbye)	- [72]

[edit] External links

• Official website (available in English, Finnish and German)
• Official webshop (available in English and Finnish)
• Official MySpace (contains six complete POTF-songs to listen to)
• MySpace of the American Poets of the Fall-Street Team
• MySpace of the Finnish Poets of the Fall-Street Team
• MySpace of the Spanish Poets of the Fall-Street Team
• German Poets of the Fall-Street Team
• Russian / English fansite
• Italian fansite
• Polish fansite
• Spanish fansite
• Poets of the Fall Media
• Italian fansite
• Poets on Last.fm

[edit] References