Maila-Kaarina

I started my career as a musician when I was 16 years old, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, playing the keyboards for a heavy/thrash "and some more" band called Dust from Misery. We played together for three years and got quite popular in the underground scene. In 1996 we took different paths. The guys were a lot into progressive and virtuous metal while I was into doom and melodic death stuff. My passion for that work vanished, although I was still everybody´s friend. Right after that I was invited to join Asterlot, a progressive death metal band in which I was not only playing songs I loved but also doing my first experiences as a singer and music writer. Asterlot was the first band in Rio, and perhaps in Brazil, since they started in 1991, to add female backing vocals to really heavy music, doing the "beauty and the beast" style, eternalized by Liv Kristine. As soon as I joined the band we recorded a demo called Cosmic Elementals and I traveled to Finland to spend 6 months. Since this trip was already settled before I actually joined Asterlot, they waited for me to come back to release the demo. We played a lot all over the city, from the worst ghettos to really cool local festivals. Our demo sold a lot and we experienced great stuff for a small underground band. Things such as random people in the audience singing our songs and asking us to autograph their demo covers and take pictures together. But the dream ended three years later. Life drove us to different roads and the band broke up. Our friendship, though, is still strong until now. During the period I played with Dust from Misery and Asterlot, I also played the keyboards with Alquimia. One of the works of music I feel more proud to have ever participated. It was not my favorite style, since it was a mix of 70´s rock with metal, rap and Brazilian rhythms, but it was so well done and ahead of time that it is difficult to imagine that those songs were mostly written by a bunch of teenagers. Alquimia lasted for five years. When Asterlot ended I decided to learn singing and a new instrument. I joined the music conservatory and learned the violin. A little later I studied singing technique. During those years I started to experience new stuff and joined a new world: "the cover band professional singer" one. Great experiences with Perdidos na Selva, a tribute to the 80´s band that still exists until now. Meanwhile I did some experiments with the alternative rock band Narjara, where I played the violin, the keyboards and also sang. I´ve never really loved this band but I liked the possibilities of experimenting and learning new stuff. There I met the guy who became one of my greatest and biggest music partners, who wrote with me some of my favorite solo songs, Sandro Segalote, excellent music writer and amazing singer. Narjara lasted around three years. After that, one more trip to Finland, some changes in my life and a small break. When I decided to have a band again, a couple of years later, I decided I wanted only to sing and to experience more in cover bands. It was easy to make some money and to have good moments. It was simple like this: "from now one, if I make music again, it will be my own work, not a band." I participated on great projects such as the tribute to Hard Rock band Heartbreak Boulevard, the pop rock acoustic projects Heartbreak Unplugged and Cover Up trio, besides the veteran cover band Varda, which has been around for over 20 years. I have also recorded vocals and keyboards with several artists and bands. In 2007, parallel to my work as a musician, I created the blog Hard Blast, writing about music, doing some small interviews and writing concert reviews. The idea worked really well and after two years I had my own web magazine, collaborating with websites and magazines from 4 different countries and with over 200 articles published all over. That was a new passion and moved me on with the idea of moving away from Brazil, since there rock means basically nothing. Where should I go? To my second homeland, of course: Finland, the best place for a rocker to live. Before leaving Brazil I recorded 5 of my songs and a cover, as a farewell tribute to myself. On My Way, Hollywood Nights, Save Me and Warheart were songs I made during my career with partners from some of my previews bands, Dust from Misery, Narjara and Heartbreak Boulevard. The recording of those songs represented me saying to myself that I had accomplished something great in life and was really satisfied. I wouldn´t have done it without the great partners and musicians who joined me: Carlos Lösch, Sandro Segalote, Rodrigo Meirelles, Alex Voorhees, André Delacroix, Ivan Guilhon, Silvio Mazzei, Bebeto Daroz, Luiz Syren, Bruno Sá and Flavio Pascarillo. The sixth song chosen, a cover from Scorpions called The Sails of Charon, was chosen not only because I like it, but because I wanted to make a version for a song released in the same year I was born. In 2009 I moved to Finland and here I am until now. Although I am not playing at any band, I am still and will always be a musician and a music lover. Let´s just see where life takes me. I´m opened to proposals, always! Stay rock.

Vantaa, FI