Jaska Raatikainen (born July, 18 of 1979) is the drummer from the band Children of Bodom.

Biography

Born in the town of Espoo, in Finland, Jaska's first instrument was the piano. He also played the French horn in a big band - a fact which later led him to be introduced to Alexander Kuoppala. It was only at the age of 12 that he began playing drums, inspired by musicians such as Scott Travis (from Judas Priest) and Mickey Dee (from Motörhead).

When Jaska met Alexi Laiho at school in the year of 1993, they realised that they had similar ideals and musical taste. Thus, they began playing together and idealizing the band that would one day become Children of Bodom. Jaska played a vital role in the formation of the band, since he was the one who brought both Alexander Kuoppala and Janne Wirman to play with them.

He is a quiet and reserved person who spends a lot of time by himself. Most of the time, he stays in single rooms in hotels and generally picks the beds on upper corners while travelling on tour busses. Interviews with him are rare, and despite being one of the founding members, he lets Alexi and Henkka Seppälä do most of the talking. Despite that, he is well known for his ability to drink a lot, even more than Alexi. As time went on, he reduced his drinking habit and also began paying more attention to his health; as most modern drummers, he does some weightlifting.

Up to the recording of the album Hatebreeder, Jaska was endorsed by Sonor (drums) and by Sabian (cymbals). Eventually, he lost the deal with Sonor and for a while played wuth many different drumsets, until settling with Pearl drums in 2003. His drumsticks are custom Millennium II sticks from Pro Mark with his name painted on them.

Jaska has had a few side projects, some which don't relate to music. In the year of 2000 he was asked by the director of a popular Finnish soap opera (Siamin Tytöt) to play a special part. He played a character named Rauli for three episodes, until the character's tragical death. He did have the chance to show some of his drumwork before that happened, though. According to Jaska, he had always dreamed of acting.

He has also helped quite a few bands when they needed a competent drummer. During Sinergy's 2000 European tour, he replaced Tommi Lillman , who had injured his leg. The problem, however, is that this happened three days before the start of the tour, which meant that Jaska had to quickly learn how to play ten of Sinergy's songs. Despite the high degree of difficulty, he managed to perform very well, and fans of both bands had emjoyed seeing both Jaska and Alexi on stage together with Sinergy. On the Suicide By My Side album's booklet, the band wrote a dedicatory to Jaska for, according to their own words: "saving our tour".

Jaska has also played in Virtuocity and Evemaster albums, but since those are both studio bands, he doesn't have to worry about fumbling Children of Bodom's tour schedule, which already has to be calculated ahead to some extent, due to Alexi's active participation in Sinergy.

On the 2002 tribute to Chuck Schuldiner - mastermind of one of most impotant death metal bands of all time, Death - Jaska, who is a fan of the band's, played a few cover songs with Norther.

Technical

Jaska's Pearl drumset

Pearl MRX Masters Custom Extra #122 Black Mist w/Black Hardware ("Black-on-Black")
MRX 8"x8" TT
MRX 10"x8" TT
MRX 12"x9" TT
MRX 14"x12" TT
MRX 16"x16" FT
MRX 22"x18" BD
Pearl UltraCast 14"x5"

Pearl Hardware
DR-503 Icon Rack + PC-50 Pipe Clamps (x12)
H-2000 Eliminator Hi-hat Stand
P-2002C Eliminator Double Pedal
CLH-95A Closed Hat
S-985W Snare drum stand
CH-88 (x8) Cymbal Holder
TH-100S (x4) Tom Holder
D-220 Roadster Throne