The Rasmus

The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki, Finland while the band members were still in high school. Before releasing their album Into (2001), they were simply known as Rasmus, but changed their name t

The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki, Finland while the band members were still in high school. Before releasing their album Into (2001), they were simply known as Rasmus, but changed their name to The Rasmus in order to avoid being confused with a Swedish DJ of the same name. Their 2003 hit In the Shadows made them famous outside Scandinavia and received worldwide press attention.

The Rasmus formed at the end of 1994 when the band members were still in high school, and were initially known as Sputnik, then Antilla, and then simply Rasmus (a Scandinavian man's name that has no particular meaning). They met their first manager, Teja Kotilainen, and recorded their first single, '"1st" (released independently through Teja G. Records in late 1995) before signing with Warner Music Finland to release their first album, Peep, in 1996, when the band members were only aged 16. It went Gold as the band played over 100 shows in Finland, Russia and Estonia. They won an EMMA (the Finnish equivalent of a Grammy) for Best New Act of 1996.