Status Minor as a band Status Minor is a progressive metal band that is formed by five competent musicians. The foundations for the band were laid by Sami Saarinen in 2002, and little by little the line-up stabilized to what it is today: Markku Kuikka - vocals, Sami Saarinen - guitars, Jukka Karinen - keyboards, Eero Pakkanen – bass and Rolf Pilve - drums. The goal of Status Minor is to gain fame and credibility as a musically interesting and skilled band. The musical roots of Status Minor are wide-spread around the musical field, having a strong concentration on melodic metal with a great deal of adaptability. Status Minor has released two promotional EPs before their debut album, gaining positive feedback and praising reviews in international music media. The band has done a good deal of live performances, forging their songs into a rock-hard live set which has been seen to drop the jaws of even the most cynical critics to the floor. statusminor @ statusminor Markku Kuikka (1970) is the voice of Status Minor and has been involved with music for more than 30 years. As a singer he is still quite young, though, as he started singing in 2004 to back up his guitar playing. Markku has classical singing studies and a long experience in playing guitar under his belt. The most significant of Markku's influences are Jorn Lande and Russel Allen, Ronnie James Dio. Out of finnish singers, Markku looks up at the skills of Pasi Rantanen and Christian Palin. Kuikka is behind the vocal melodies and choir arrangements of Status Minor music. markku @ statusminor Sami Saarinen (1979) is the composer-guitarist of Status Minor. He found his first dusty acoustic guitar from his parents' storage room and with the help of his friend, studied his first Metallica songs with it. Around the same time, he felt intrigued by the piano and tried a few things composed by him and others with one. The influences of early times from Yngwie Malmsteen to Iron Maiden were later accompanied with progressive metal, jazz, classical and film music. Sami's compositions can be heard in Trash Video's movies since 1999. After countless musical projects, movies and instrument try-outs, Sami finally chose guitar as his main instrument and Status Minor was born, taking the focal point in Sami's musical aspirations. Music that displays real talent and strong emotions has always been what Sami values the most. sami @ statusminor Jukka Karinen (1983) is the band's keyboard player. He started to play the piano at the age of 6 and, after hearing Jens Johansson's work, begun to move on to synthesizers roughly 8 years later. The new-born passion for playing heavy metal was expanded to more progressive directions when he was introduced to Dream Theater's music a while later. In 2003, Jukka joined a band that is nowadays known as Status Minor after hearing Sami's demo songs. He also plays keyboards in Thunderstone. jukka @ statusminor