Sturm und Drang is a Finland-Swedish heavy metal/hard rock band from Vaasa, Finland, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead singer/guitarist André Linman, guitarist Jani Kuoppamaa, keyboardist Jesper Welroos, bassist/backing vocalist Joel Wendlin and drummer/backing vocalist Calle Fahllund, following the departures of bassist Henrik Kurkiala and guitarist Alexander Ivars. The band started off as schoolmates covering bands such as Judas Priest and gradually started writing their own material. They were discovered in 2005 by record label HMC. Their debut albumLearning to Rock was released in 2007 and eventually went platinum in Finland. Their second albumRock 'n Roll Children was released in 2008 and went gold within less than a week. The band is known for songs "Rising Son", "Indian" and "A Million Nights". As of 2010 the band has sold over 100,000 records and is working on their upcoming album.
Alexander Ivars – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals
History
The band started in 2004 when André Linman and Henrik Kurkiala were on their way home from a Judas Priest concert. The name for the band was suggested by Henrik's father. Shortly afterwards Jesper Welroos and Calle Fahllund joined the band, and they had their first practice in Calle's basement. A few weeks later they performed in their first concert. Later they realized that they needed one more guitar player, and Alexander Ivars became their fifth member. The band got more gigs and played at Stafettkarnevalen 2004 in Vaasa, also making a cover of Dio's Rainbow In The Dark. In 2007, they already played as the headline on Stafettkarnevalen. André, Jesper, Calle, Alexander and Henrik belong to the minority of Swedish-speaking Finns. When their first album was published in 2007, the boys were only 15–16 years old. In February 2010, bassist Henrik Kurkiala left Sturm und Drang. The new bassist is called Joel Wendlin and is a lifelong friend of the band. As of 2011, Alexander Ivars has also left the band. His replacement is Jani Kuoppamaa, who had previously stepped in for Ivars when he had been unable to attend.
Record deal
In 2005 they made the demo Rising Son which they sent to Helsinki Music Company. The boss for HMC, Asko Kallonen, who had not taken them seriously, changed opinion after hearing them play live with the Swedish garage rock band The Hellacopters. He gave the band their record deal, and shortly afterwards they started to record their first album, Learning To Rock. In 2007 they also got a new record company, GUN Records, which would release their debut album in the whole of Europeexcept forScandinavia. After the 30 May release of their album in Finland, Learning to Rock climbed to number three on the official chart of record sales in Finland .
