Ita Biography

"Thus created were the islands, Rocks were fastened in the ocean, Pillars of the sky were planted, Fields and forests were created, Checkered stones of many colors, Gleaming in the silver sunlight, All the rocks stood well established; But the singer, Wainamoinen, Had not yet beheld the sunshine, Had not seen the golden moonlight, Still remaining undelivered. Wainamoinen, old and trusty" Kalevala Rune I (read more...)

The "Kalevala" is Finland's national epic; it translates to "land of Kaleva" ("Kaleva-la") or "land of heroes"... and anyway we liked the sound of it!

The "Kalevala" was first told in song. Its songs take us back to a world where the shaman uttered spells for everything from the preparation for war, to the fermentation of beer.

The spells were sung and the tradition was handed down, epic and harvest moved on the same level, asceticism and orgiastic rites were two faces of the same god. For centuries the “Kalevala” was handed down orally, first sung by the shamans, and then by bards who accompanied themselves with traditional instruments (Kantele).

This is why it would be futile to expect clear and organic images or any coeherence in the plot; the world of the “Kalevala” was born from the poetic imagination of the people it has the indefiniteness of a fairy tale. Rather than an epic poem, the “Kalevala” is an epic of magic.

All this is the "Kalevala".

The shaman, the medicine man, the bard or the wizard, all speak to the Gods and to the Fathers - they preserve the tradition and free primeval instincts of war, orgies and dance... we call this Rock'n'Roll.

We took this as our initial inspiration in 1995, gathering together musicians that came from different paths, but were, however, united by the passion for the elementary physicalness of Rock and by the fascination for ancient music (medieval, celtic folk, ethnic, tribal or whatever!).

We always tried to avoid being orthodox or standard, but to follow the path wherever it might have lead us.

Many people have come and gone over the years, although the basic group has remained the same. Everyone has left a precious contribution and each individual has been difficult to replace.

We want to be free from the confinements that many “labels” want us to have, If our style had to be defined it would be HARD ROCK... “with celtic influences” if there was the space! In 1998 we recorded a demo, “Fall”, which contained four tracks, three for three years of effort and a cover of a song by Glenn Danzig to satisfy our dark side.

Than join the band miss Eleanor Jones with whom we explored more folky paths.

We wrote new songs, performed live and won a few competitions - we were too metal for some and too folk for others.

We started to create “Worlds' End Inn”, which contained songs written by us and a traditional ballad sung for us by Edera (DOMINA NOCTIS); “Worlds' End Inn” is due out this year, 2003.

Eleanor left us to return to Albion but... someone else is already here!

Our guitarist also plays with Anchise Bolchi, a famous country rock fiddler; he also took part in a tour in Mexico as a touring musician.

Our singer has founded a Misfits cover band, and play King Herod in “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

These are all experiences that enrich Kalèvala.

All the musicians that have worked with us on a temporary basis have given us something special - Enomys (DARK LUNACY) who played keyboards in our first gig, Helder Stefanini (RAW POWER, LIGABUE), Giorgio Cremonesini who recorded our drums for us, Michele Luppi (GLENN HUGES / VISION DIVINE) who sang our backing vocals, mr Alan Jones who provided us with the violin recordings, and last, but by no means least, Fausto Tinello (WYVERN) has just always been there to lend a helping hand!

All this is KALEVALA