MAGICIAN'S RED

Magician's Red biography
Magician?s Red were formed in 2019 in Helsinki, Finland at the initiative of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Kalle MATTILA. His goal was to write fresh progressive rock that was heavily influenced by the 70's classics, while steering away from simply recreating something that had already been done. He enlisted his friends Jon PETTERSSON (bass), Otso KAUNISKANGAS (keyboards) and Aaro RUOHONEN (drums) to play in the band and write songs together. By December 2019 they had a full live set of original music, and the best of this early material would end up on their debut EP, "There's No Need To Fear", released in May 2020.


The COVID pandemic forced the band on a gigging hiatus just as they were getting started, but they used the extra time to write material for their first full length album. The previous EP had been fully instrumental and the band was now looking to expand their sound with vocals. "Threshold" was eventually released in April 2022, and ended up being the only album from the original lineup, as PETTERSSON and KAUNIKANGAS departed on good terms to focus on other interests. The band?s new line up consists of MATTILA, RUONEN, bassist Otso PUOLAKKA and keyboardist/trumpetist Taneli MIKKOLA.


Out of classic prog acts, the band's sound is perhaps most often compared to GENESIS, CAMEL, FOCUS and PEKKA POHJOLA. Other musical influences that shine through include 90?s video game music (in itself a genre heavily influenced by 70's prog) and perhaps a touch of Japanese pop. The still young band continues to explore and refine their sound and hopes to release many more albums in the future.

Bio by Kalle Mattila