Biography
The bridge between now and yesterday...
Even though "Carmen Gray" signed a recording contract with Sony/BMG in the spring 2005 and released their debut album, “The Portrait of Carmen Gray,” September 2006, the group itself has been around much longer than that. Three of its members, Lappe, JJ and Pete, have played together for a decade.
Although it´s next to impossible to pinpoint when things really started taking off for "Carmen Gray," it´s fair to say that the year 2000 proved to be a watershed for the group. Up until then, the idea had been just to have fun with music and hang out together. However, with the inclusion of Nicklas Nyman as the lead vocalist, they were now finally ready to embark on a joint voyage towards becoming a professional act. It was also round about this time that Lappe joined forces with his brother, Tommi Tikka, in the song-writing front. Since then, this song-writing team has been solely responsible for the group´s material.
Portrait of Carmen Gray
"The Portrait of Carmen Gray" spawned three singles: “Lost In My Mind Again,” “Color Blind,” and “Unbeloved (Me & Suzy),” all of which did very well receiving loads of airplay on the Finnish radio. Lost In My Mind Again and Color Blind even gave the group their first hits, peeking at #3 and # 14 on the Finnish single charts. However, despite their chart success and newfound MTV exposure with music videos of “Lost In My Mind Again” and “Unbeloved (Me Suzy),” being a Carmen Gray wasn’t always as glamorous as it is today. For a long time, being in the group meant trying to figure out how to make the best possible music with the worst possible equipment and investing everything that you had on your bank account in what most people considered little more than pipe dreams. Perhaps that’s where the charm of their music comes from; from their ability and courage to dream.
Wild, Fresh, Exciting...
Through meticulous perfection of their craft, the "Carmen Gray" have, over the years, managed to create their own distinctive brand of rock´n´roll that sounds fresh and exciting. Their influences range from the "Beatles" to "Skid Row." Yet, from the very beginning, their goal was always to create something new rather than be tied to any traditions. Not enough can be said about "Carmen Gray´s" wild stage performances and their catchy rock melodies. Of course, if you´ve been lucky enough to catch them live either in Helsinki or elsewhere in Finland, you already know this. One thing´s for sure, they continue to dazzle their audiences wherever they play. If you haven’t seen them yet, do yourself a favour and get tickets now. Go out to get Carmen-Grayed. Trust me you’ll never be the same again.
Keep your spirit alive!
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