Mikko Herranen

Mikko Herranen
Mikko Herranen on stage.
Background information
Born	(1976-04-09) 9 April 1976 Otava, Finland
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal, rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer, sound engineer
Instruments	Vocals, bass, drums, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1997–present
Associated acts	RUST Velcra Kilt Nicole HALO Mauron Maiden Misery Inc. Dimebag Beyond Forever
Website

Mikko Herranen is a Finnish multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer in rock music. His band RUST has released three albums and several singles between 2003–2010. Herranen competed in Michael Monroe's team in the reality singing competition The Voice of Finland in 2012. His debut solo album Kylmä maailma was released through Johanna Kustannus on 20 June 2012.

Career

RUST

Herranen was the main composer and the singer/bass player of RUST, a post-grunge/metal band out of Helsinki, Finland. Since the formation of RUST in 2001, Herranen also produced all the band's recordings, including three full-length albums, two EP's and five singles. Their debut album Softly was released in August 2004 and it reached Top50 on the Finnish album chart. Finland's top nationwide Rock radio network YLEX chose "Softly" as the album of the week in August 2004.^[1]

Solo

After reaching Top8 on The Voice of Finland Herranen signed a record deal with Johanna/Universal to release his solo album Kylmä Maailma (Cold World). He has written all the songs, sings and plays all the instruments except cello and violin on the album that he had been writing for the past four years. His twin sister has written lyrics on two tracks, and his The Voice coach Michael Monroe makes an appearance playing sax and harmonica on one of the tracks. The album was recorded and mixed at his Noise Floor studio.^[2] The album debuted at No. 6 on the Finnish album chart.^[3]

Other projects

Apart from singing and playing a variety of instruments in several bands, Herranen has also established himself as a record producer and sound engineer both in studio and live concerts. He has predominantly been involved with the production of heavy metal recordings and concerts of such bands as Lullacry, Carnalation, Profane Omen, Kilt, Plastic Tears, The Chant, Iiwanajulma, Misery Inc., and Killpretty. As a lead vocalist, Herranen has fronted many cover bands playing the music of Iron Maiden, Alice in Chains, Metallica, and Pantera.

Personal life

Herranen began studying piano at the age of three, drums at the age thirteen and voice in high school. At the Pop & Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki, he has been able to study, compose, produce and teach music.^[4] He is engaged to a vocal coach and singer Mari Multanen.^[5]

Despite his vision loss, Herranen is able to read and operate computers, mixing consoles and other machinery.^[6]