The Valkyrians

Back in 2002, Angster, Moonhead, Big Deal, Letku Leroy and Gladiator met at a familiar watering hole in Helsinki, Finland. These musicians had known each other for years and on this night they decided to make a shared dream a reality. They were going to start a band that played the sweet, smoky rhythms that had for decades emanated from the island of Jamaica. The first gig was set up for Big Deal's and Leroy's birthday party. Ska, rocksteady and reggae, as well as 2Tone and punk classics had the crowd dancing like crazy. The gig was a success and the party exceeded all expectations. The Valkyrians were born.
Their first release, an EP called Miracle by Semi Sounds/Fat Belt Records, came out in 2004. It featured I Don't Wanna Go Home, a real dance floor burner loved by audiences everywhere. The band started to seriously consider making an album. High and Mighty was released in 2006 (BALE/Fat Belt). With the crowd, as well as critics, going wild for the Jamaican sound, the band decided it was time to take the show on the road. They toured all around Finland and Scandinavia. They toured in central Europe. The album rose up to number 24 in the Finnish charts. The band won a slew of awards that year: a Femma (which is a kind of alternative to the Finnish Grammy Emma) for most danceable act of 2006. Finland's premier alternative rock paper Rumba agreed and gave them an award for setting the floor on fire, too. Do You Really Wanna Know was named song of the year by Funky Elephant, an association of Finnish lovers of the almighty groove.
Stupido Records and Pork Pie Records released the band's second album, The Beat of Our Street, in 2009. It climbed up to number 29 in the charts. The band went on a tour that lasted the best part of a year: Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Holland, Belgium, and Sweden all received the gospel of skanking to the beat.
Come late 2010 and the band started thinking about album number three. They wanted to try something different and decided to approach the songs they'd loved in their youth from a different perspective. A Valkyrian perspective. Eventually it boiled down to covering punk and new wave classics from the late-70s and the early-80s and infusing them with some rhythmic Caribbean magic. After some fairly brutal arranging sessions, the band retired to Seawolf Studios on the fortress island of Suomenlinna. It was a very snowy and cold December. The Valkyrians, mixing engineer Petri Majuri and recording engineer Pasi Hartikainen worked until June of 2011.
Punkrocksteady was released 10.8.2011. It's all about punk dressed in rudeboy garb, with rocksteady, ska and reggae rhythms. The album is an homage to the classics of past decades and the people who created them. They've all had a major impact on the musical and spiritual development The Valkyrians and its constituent parts. The roots of the band are in punk. Some artists worth mentioning: The Clash, Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, 999, Devo, The Only Ones, Misfits, Sham 69, Wire… And many more. The future sure is bright. And the band is now thinking about what to do for album number four.