Tomi Putaansuu
| Mr. Lordi | |
|---|---|
 Mr. Lordi during Finnish Lordi cruise in 2013. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tomi Petteri Putaansuu |
| Also known as | Mr. Lordi |
| Born |
February 15, 1974 Rovaniemi, Finland |
| Genres | Heavy metal, power metal, hard rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, painter, special effects make-up artist, actor, comics artist, graphic designer |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Sony BMG |
| Associated acts | Lordi, Wanda Whips Wall Street, Double Beat Und Bodys, Aliens, Holy Shit, Metalox |
Tomi Petteri Putaansuu (born 15 February 1974), better known by his stage name Mr. Lordi, is a Finnish musician, businessman, special effect make-up artist, songwriter, actor, painter, comics artist and graphic designer. He is best known as the lead vocalist in the heavy metal/hard rock band Lordi. Mr. Lordi is the singer, songwriter and costume designer for the band. He studied film making in Tornio and, while there, created Lordi's first music video "Inferno".[1]
All publicity photographs of Mr. Lordi have his face concealed with his mask and stage makeup. He doesn't want to talk about his private life or his real name for the media.[1]
He's the founder of the Kiss Army Finland.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Rovaniemi, Putaansuu soon became interested in monsters and special effects, in major part through horror movies. He was also an avid fan of The Muppet Show and E.T. and soon was introduced to the world of heavy metal through his friend Risto Niemi, when he was 8 years old.[1]
Always interested in masks and visual performances, he took special interest in Alice Cooper, Kiss and Twisted Sister. He started numerous fictional bands with his friends and designed logos and album covers for all of them.[1]
Even though he did not do well at school - except for music and drawing - he started to make his own horror movies with friends. As a movie director and effects designer, he, with the young movie-makers Pete Riski (Lordi's future music video director), Petri Kangas, and Kimmo Valtanen (to-be Sony BMG Finland CEO) and Tomi Yli-Suvanto received many awards and represented Finland at international film festivals.[1]
Putaansuu founded Lordi in Rovaniemi in 1992, when he was 18 years old. He produced the first demo, Napalm Market, in 1993. He described Lordi's desired sound as "a song made by Kiss back in 1983, covered by Pantera in 1992 and remixed by Puff Daddy".
After years, he graduated as a medianomi (equivalent to Bachelor of Arts), specializing himself in video editing. He made Lordi's first music video Inferno, a seven-minute combination of horror fantasy and heavy metal music video, in 1995. The video featured Putaansuu's friends in heavy makeup and masks and horror decorations made by Putaansuu - and Putaansuu himself singing without any makeup. Shortly thereafter he met his future band members on a Kiss Army trip to Sweden and Lordi turned into a real band with four members - Mr. Lordi, G-Stealer, Enary and Amen.[1]
Career
Mr. Lordi worked as a storyboard artist for Finnish movie producers and in his freetime worked with his band, producing an album Bend Over and Pray the Lord in 1997. He could not, however, find a publisher for the album and it was left unreleased. Since then, he has also illustrated a comic book featuring Lordi.[2]
After 2002, when the first single Would You Love a Monsterman? and the album Get Heavy were finally released by BMG Finland, Mr. Lordi was still responsible for all the album artwork, band members' characters, masks and most of the songs.
All publicity photographs of Putaansuu have his face concealed with Mr. Lordi's mask and stage makeup. However, after the winning the ESC, many tabloids have published a photograph of his face, taken in the 1990s, as the chairman of Kiss Army Finland.
Just three weeks before Lordi's performance at ESC, Mr. Lordi slipped onstage during a Lordi concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The band had to cancel a concert and Putaansuu had to use crutches but the ESC performance was not in danger.[3] Had his foot been operated, he would have performed in Athens in an exploding wheelchair or with fire-throwing crutches.[4]
He married his long-time girlfriend and personal assistant Johanna Askola in early August 2006 in his home town Rovaniemi. The marriage had been set for May 2006 but had to be postponed due to the surprising success of "Hard Rock Hallelujah".[1]
Mr. Lordi has had three art exhibitions in Finland. The exhibitions has contained also Mr. Lordi's cover artwork for Lordi and other bands.
Character background
Mr. Lordi is Putaansuu's stage name but also name of his character in the band Lordi. His character is described as "The Most Fearsome Khan of All", "The Biomechanical Man" and "The Unholy Overlord of All Tremors".[5] Like the other monsters in the band, he too has a background story and has appeared in fictional comic books. His first appearance was in Monsterican presents: Arctic Horror Annual #1. Mr. Lordi's father was a Demon of the South and his mother a Goblin of the North. The Demons invaded Lapland and raped the Goblins. As a bastard son of both, Mr. Lordi received the supernatural powers of them and during centuries appeared as several historical figures, such as Genghis Khan and Vlad the Impaler. After defeating the Demons and Goblins, as the Lord of Lapland, he rode in a sleigh, given to him by Puuhkalakki, pulled by flying zombie reindeer.
According to one theory, Mr. Lordi has spent centuries searching for His One True Love, but has not found her. Kalmaged the Time-traveller tells that Mr. Lordi has integrated himself to the magnetic field of the Earth and thus controls the whole planet and can now travel between different dimensions effortlessly.
Mr. Lordi has personally gathered the other band members as allies in the trans-dimensional war against their enemies.[1]
Discography
Lordi
- Napalm Market (1993)
- Bend Over and Pray the Lord (1997)
- Get Heavy (2002)
- The Monsterican Dream (2004)
- The Arockalypse (2006)
- Deadache (2008)
- Babez for Breakfast (2010)
- To Beast or Not to Beast (2013)
Other artists
- various artists: Rovaniemi Rokkaa (1992) - includes Wanda Whips Wall Street's song "You're Dead Wrong"
- various artists: Rockmurskaa (1995) – includes Lordi's song "Inferno" and Wanda Whips Wall Street's song "Caught The Black Fire"
- Grandevils: Grandevils (2005) – Mr. Lordi featuring with two songs
- Agnes Pihlava: When the Night Falls (2006) – includes Mr. Lordi's written song "Danger in Love"
- Martti Servo & Napander: Täältä pesee! (2007) – Mr. Lordi featuring with "BoogieWoogieReggaePartyRock´nRollMan" song
- various artists: Welcome to Hellsinki (single, 2007) – Mr. Lordi featuring with single
- Domination Black: Haunting (EP, 2008) – Mr. Lordi featuring with "The House Of 1000 Eyes" song
- 1827 Infernal Musical: 1827 Infernal Musical (CD, 2010) - includes Mr. Lordi's written song "Devil's crashing the party"
- Neljänsuora : Valtava Maailma (2011) - includes Mr. Lordis written song "Testamentti"
- Martti Servo: RoPS- Sinisellä Sydämellä (2013) - song written by Mr. Lordi
- Naked Idol : Filthy Fairies (EP, 2013) - Mr. Lordi featuring in lead vocals of "Filthy Fairies"- song.
Filmography
- Häjyt (1999) – storyboard
- Historiaa tehdään öisin (1999) – storyboard
- Kuilu (2001) – special effects make-up
- Rölli ja metsänhenki (2001) – storyboard
- Pahat pojat (2003) – storyboard
- The Kin (2004) – script/acting/storyboard/special effects make-up/music
- Dark Floors (2008) – script/acting/theme song
Other releases
Cover artwork by Mr. Lordi
- Rotten Sound: Psychotic Veterinarian (1995)[6]
- Domination Black: Fearbringer (2005)
- Martti Servo & Napander: Kestävällä pohjalla (2010)
- Rockamania: Rockamania (2010)
- Jope Ruonansuu: Jopetusministeri (2011)
- Jope Ruonansuu: Veljekset kuin kyljykset (2012)
Mr. Lordi's art exhibitions in Finland
- Kulmagalleria: Mr. Lordin taidenäyttely (8.–30. August 2009)[7]
- Kulmagalleria: Ihmeellistä Mautonta Menoa (7.–30. October 2011)
- Kauppakeskus Revontuli: Vistoja Kuvia (July 13 – August 11, 2012)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Ahlroth, Jussi Associated By Bigpa (2006). Mie oon Lordi. Juva: Johnny Kniga. ISBN 951-0-32584-8.
- ↑ "Lordi saa oman sarjakuvan". Helsingin Sanomat. 2006-06-07. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
- ↑ "Lordi loukkaantui keikalla". Viihdelehti Stara.fi. 2006-05-02. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
- ↑ "Lordi loukkasi itsensä ja sai kainalosauvat!". Ilta-Sanomat. 2006-05-02.
- ↑ "Facts File: Mr. Lordi". Lordi. Archived from the original on 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
- ↑ "Lordi in work". LORDI Army. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ↑ http://www.lordiarmy.com/artexhibitions.htm. Missing or empty
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| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Christos Dantis |
Eurovision Song Contest winning composers 2006 |
Succeeded by Vladimir Graić |
Preceded by Elena Paparizouwith "My Number One" |
Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 (as par of Lordi) |
Succeeded by Marija Šerifovićwith "Molitva" |
| Preceded by Geir Rönning with "Why?" |
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 (as par of Lordi) |
Succeeded by Hanna Pakarinen with "Leave Me Alone" |
External links
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