Jaska Raatikainen

Last updated
Jaska Raatikainen
Jaska Raatikainen - Ilosaarirock 2009 2.jpg
Jaska Raatikainen at the Ilosaarirock 2009 festival
Background information
Birth nameJaska Ilmari Raatikainen
Also known asJaska W. Raatikainen
Born (1979-07-18) 18 July 1979 (age 45)
Lappeenranta, Finland
Genres Melodic death metal, power metal, neoclassical metal, extreme metal
OccupationDrummer
Years active1993–present
Member ofMercury Circle
Formerly of Children of Bodom
Website cobhc.com

Jaska Raatikainen (born 18 July 1979) is a Finnish musician, he is best known as the former drummer and co-founder of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 1993 until his departure in 2019. He is currently in the project called Mercury Circle.

Contents

Musical life

His first instrument was the piano, and during most of his childhood also played the French horn in a big band – a fact which later led him to be introduced to Alexander Kuoppala. It was only at the age of 12 that he began playing drums; he had his first double bass pedals before he owned a drum kit. He was inspired by musicians such as Scott Travis (from Judas Priest) and Mikkey Dee (from Motörhead).

Children of Bodom

When Raatikainen met Alexi Laiho at school in the year of 1993, they realised that they had similar ideas and musical taste. Thus, they began playing together and idealizing their band Inearthed which would one day become Children of Bodom. The band released their first demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission, which he contributed some keyboards. Jaska played a vital role in the formation of the band, since he was the one who brought both Alexander Kuoppala and Janne Wirman to their line-up. Jaska also provided backing vocals on the songs "Warheart", "Black Widow", and "Children of Bodom" from his band's album, Hatebreeder .

Other musical ventures

He has also helped quite a few bands when they needed a competent drummer. During Sinergy's 2000 European tour, he replaced Tommi Lillman, who had injured his leg. The problem, however, was that this happened three days before the start of the tour, which meant that Raatikainen had to quickly learn how to play ten of Sinergy's songs. Despite the high degree of difficulty, he managed to perform very well, and fans of both bands enjoyed seeing both Raatikainen and Laiho on stage together with Sinergy. On the Suicide by My Side album's booklet, the band wrote a dedicatory to Raatikainen for, on to their own words, "saving [their] tour".

Raatikainen has also played in Virtuocity and Evemaster albums, but since those are both studio bands, he does not have to worry greatly about Children of Bodom's tour schedule, which already has to be calculated ahead to some extent, due to Laiho's previously active participation in Sinergy.

On the 2002 tribute to Chuck Schuldiner – mastermind of one of the most notable death metal bands of all time, Death – Raatikainen, who is a fan of the band, played a couple of cover songs with Norther. A year later, Raatikainen formed a side project with Norther's guitarist Kristian Ranta entitled Gashouse Garden, which has not yet been signed to any recording label.

Equipment and sponsorships

Up to the recording of the album Hatebreeder, Raatikainen was endorsed by Sonor drums and by Sabian cymbals. He eventually lost the deal with Sonor and for some time played with different drumsets, until settling with Pearl drums in 2003. His drumsticks are custom Millennium II sticks from Promark with his name engraved on them.

Pearl Reference Redline – Piano Black with Black Chrome Hardware
8"x8" Tom Tom
10"x8" Tom Tom
12"x9" Tom Tom
14"x12" Floor Tom
16"x16" Floor Tom
22"x18" Bass Drum x 2
14"x5" Snare

Cymbals
14" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Hi-Hat x2 (both sides)
20" Meinl Mb20 Heavy Ride (left)
8" Meinl Byzance Traditional Splash x2
18" Byzance Brilliant Medium Thin Crash x2
20" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Ride (right)
20" Byzance Brilliant Medium Crash
18" Byzance Brilliant China


Pearl Hardware
DR-503 Icon Rack + PCX-100 and PCX-200 Rack Clamps
H-2000 Eliminator Hi-hat Stand
Pearl Demon Drive Double Pedal
CLH-1000 Closed Hat
S-2000 Snare drum stand
CH-1000 Cymbal Holders
TH-100S Tom Holders
D-220 Roadster Throne

Sticks
Promark Evelyn Glennie 740 drumsticks

Acting

Raatikainen has had some side projects, some of them unrelated to music. In the year of 2000 he was asked by the director of a popular Finnish soap opera (Siamin Tyttö) to play a special part on it. He played a character named Rauli for three episodes, until the character's death. He did have the chance to show some of his drumwork before that happened, though. According to Raatikainen, he had always dreamed of acting, but does not plan to take his career further.

Personal life

Raatikainen has two brothers; Jussi, who plays for numerous professional Finnish metal bands, as well as Julius, who plays for melodic death metal band Kauna. In early 2010, he became the father of a baby girl.

Raatikainen is a quiet and reserved person who spends a lot of time by himself. Most of the time, he stays in single rooms in hotels and generally picks the beds on upper corners while travelling on tour buses. Interviews with him are rare, and despite being one of the founding members, he lets Laiho and Henkka Seppälä do most of the talking.

Although his last name is Raatikainen, he is not related to Finnish guitarist Sami Raatikainen.

Related Research Articles

Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömblad of In Flames whilst on tour in 1997.

<i>Something Wild</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Children of Bodom

Something Wild is the debut studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released in 1997 in Finland, and in 1998 worldwide. Upon release, the album was met with universal acclaim. In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by Metal Hammer magazine.

<i>Hatebreeder</i> 1999 studio album by Children of Bodom

Hatebreeder is the second studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. The deluxe edition was released in 2005 with bonus material. It was also re-released in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexi Laiho</span> Finnish musician (1979–2020)

Alexi Laiho was a Finnish guitarist, composer, and vocalist. He was best known as the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and was also the guitarist for Sinergy, the Local Band, Kylähullut, and Bodom After Midnight, which formed just prior to his death. Laiho had previously played with Thy Serpent and Impaled Nazarene on occasion, as well as Warmen and Hypocrisy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooks Wackerman</span> American drummer

Brooks Wackerman is an American musician. He is the current drummer of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, which he joined in 2015. His first album with Avenged Sevenfold was The Stage (2016). He was previously the drummer for the punk rock band Bad Religion. Wackerman has also performed, either as a member or a session or touring member, with Blink-182, Bad4Good, Infectious Grooves, Glenn Tipton, Mass Mental, Suicidal Tendencies, The Vandals, Avril Lavigne, Korn, Kidneys, Fear and the Nervous System, Tenacious D, Farmikos, Tom Delonge, and Big Talk. His brothers, Chad Wackerman, and John Wackerman, are also drummers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberly Goss</span> American singer and keyboardist (born 1978)

Kimberly Goss is an American singer and keyboardist, best known as frontwoman and co-founder of the Finnish metal band Sinergy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roope Latvala</span> Finnish guitarist (born 1970)

Roope Juhani Latvala is a Finnish guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the thrash metal band Stone, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal. He was also the former rhythm guitarist for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 2003 to 2015 and the co-lead guitarist for Sinergy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Kuoppala</span> Finnish guitarist

Alexander Kuoppala is a Finnish musician who was the guitarist for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 1995 to 2003. He played on their albums Something Wild, Hatebreeder, Follow the Reaper, and Hate Crew Deathroll. He also plays on the Timo Rautiainen album Sarvivuori.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janne Wirman</span> Finnish keyboardist

Janne Viljami "Warman" Wirman is a Finnish musician; he is the former keyboardist for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 1997 to 2019 and currently keyboardist and founding member of Warmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Carpenter (Nightwish song)</span> 1997 single by Nightwish

"The Carpenter" is the debut single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, the only from their debut album, Angels Fall First. This is the only Nightwish single to feature lead vocals by both Tarja Turunen and Tuomas Holopainen. It was performed live for the first time in over twenty years with Floor Jansen and Troy Donockley in 2018 during the Decades: World Tour.

<i>Trashed, Lost & Strungout</i> 2004 EP by Children of Bodom

Trashed, Lost & Strungout is a single and an EP released by the Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom on Spinefarm Records. It was released on 25 October 2004. Unlike most EPs, it was released on CD and DVD. The CD includes 3 other songs and the DVD includes the single and 9 other songs. This track has also appeared in Children of Bodom's album Are You Dead Yet?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children of Bodom discography</span>

The discography of Children of Bodom, a five-piece melodic death metal band from Espoo, Finland. Throughout their career, the band has been known to incorporate many different musical styles, leading critics and fans to label them as everything from melodic death metal and black metal to thrash metal, progressive metal and even power metal. The band's final line-up before they officially disbanded in 2019 included the founders Alexi Laiho and Jaska Raatikainen (drums) along with Henkka Seppälä, Janne Wirman (keyboards) and Daniel Freyberg. Children of Bodom have released ten studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, seven singles, two EPs and two split singles. Moreover, in the period 1994–1996 they released three demos under their old moniker, IneartheD. This list includes the material released as IneartheD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Roddy</span> American drummer

Derek Roddy is an American drummer originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. His ability to record entire drum tracks in one or two takes earned him the nickname "One Take".

Derek M. Kerswill is an American musician best known for his drumming in the bands Unearth, Seemless, Kingdom of Sorrow, and multiple fill-ins/studio projects. While no longer on the road, he continues to play in several bands in the greater Boston area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children of Bodom</span> Finnish melodic death metal band

Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, keyboardist Janne Wirman and rhythm guitarist Daniel Freyberg. The band released ten studio albums, three live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums and one DVD.

<i>Skeletons in the Closet</i> (Children of Bodom album) 2009 compilation album by Children of Bodom

Skeletons in the Closet is the second compilation album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released on 22 September 2009 through Spinefarm Records. It consists of various covers of songs, most of which have been released on other releases such as B-sides on Children of Bodom's singles. The album only contains four unreleased covers for the songs "Hell Is for Children", "Antisocial", "War Inside My Head", and "Waiting", but the previously released songs are remixed and new details can be heard. The Japanese edition is pressed in SHM-CD format.

<i>Holiday at Lake Bodom (15 Years of Wasted Youth)</i> 2012 compilation album by Children of Bodom

Holiday at Lake Bodom is the third compilation album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, featuring one song from Something Wild, three from Hatebreeder, three from Follow the Reaper, four from Hate Crew Deathroll, four from Are You Dead Yet?, one from Blooddrunk, two from Relentless Reckless Forever, and two previously unreleased cover songs. The DVD portion of the package includes "candid touring and backstage footage from around the world", plus the music video for "Shovel Knockout". The album was released on 22 May 2012.

<i>Halo of Blood</i> 2013 studio album by Children of Bodom

Halo of Blood is the eighth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. It was released on 7 June 2013 in Europe and 11 June in North America on Nuclear Blast Records. In Japan, the album was released by Marquee Inc. on 29 May 2013. This would be the last album with guitarist Roope Latvala before he was kicked out of the band in May 2015.

<i>Hexed</i> (album) 2019 album by Finnish band Children of Bodom

Hexed is the tenth and final studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. It was released on 8 March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Halpern</span> American drummer

Matt Halpern is an American drummer best known for his work with progressive metal band Periphery.