Valerian | METALSITES.net

Biography

Born to a musical family, Olli Koselka, lead singer of Valerian, picked up an acoustic guitar when he was just a little kid and started strumming. Totally fascinated, he knew instantly that he had to have a REAL guitar, an electric guitar. It was quite clear to him what he was going to do with his life. He was going to rock.

The young Olli played with a variety of bands, but the magic combination he was looking for really didn’t begin to happen until he decided to run an ad in a local music magazine looking for kindred spirits. The ad drew a response from Tipi Andersson, a very talented drummer. They started jamming together in the spring ´97, just Olli on drums and Tipi on guitar, playing whatever came to mind, just getting to know each other.

Then in the summer of the same year they found another important piece of the puzzle, Toni Ritonen, a sizzling guitarist. The band began to play out, doing their first live gig at Big Fat Mama in Helsinki in December of ‘97. In August of 2000, this early version of the band put out a CD, NARCOSIS under the imprint of an indie label, Uplift Records. But all during this time, Olli, Tipi and continued to work with different musicians still looking for that perfect mix. Among those musicians was Janne Jääskeläinen who started out as a stand-in but who brought so much energy and freshness to the act, they decided to make him a permanent member. About that time, due to the fact that Olli was concentrating more and more on vocals, Valerian decided to pick up another guitarist. A friend introduced Valerian to an ace guitarist named Matti Toivonen and suddenly everything just clicked into place.

It felt good, it felt right. The real Valerian was born. The Valerian “sound,” with a variety of influences ranging from the best contemporary alternative bands to the best of the metal bands of the ‘80s, came into being.

Valerian began work on a new album, INTIMATIONS OF SORROW, releasing “Liar” a single from the album in progress in May of 2003. Then in early 2004, Valerian sent a demo of the finished album to City Canyons Records, a New York indie label with a fast growing reputation nationally and internationally for finding fresh new artists. City Canyons was enchanted by the album and signed a multi-album deal with Valerian in March of 2004. On November 2, 2004, INTIMATIONS OF SORROW was released in North America to considerable critical acclaim. Typical reviews praised Valerian and their album with statements like “When a band can rock, as Valerian does, with so much power and melodic intricacy...simply listen and enjoy.”

INTIMATIONS OF SORROW continues to draw critical raves. In market tests, the album has been a chart topper in both the U.S. and internationally. In January of 2004, City Canyons Records launches a nation-wise radio promotion for INTIMATIONS OF SORROW, hitting colleges, public radio and commercial radio stations across the country. The story of Valerian, though it had its modest beginnings in 1997, is really just beginning. As one critic put it “Valerian’s music will have waters parting and red carpets rolling as they become the rock stars they are obviously meant to be.”