DJ BoBo 1996-1999: Popularity established What happened in 1996? The release of the album World in Motion in September, 1996, proved not only DJ BoBo's consistent presence in the charts, What position did the album reach on the charts? It took only a few weeks for the album to reach the No.3 position in Germany, which quickly was awarded Platinum for selling 500,000 units. Did DJ BoBo tour? Shortly after the release of World in Motion, Baumann went on a promotional tour in Asia for twenty days, What did he do in 1997? In April 1997, DJ BoBo received his third World Music Award in Monaco for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? when he introduced his singing skills first on his single "Where Is Your Love", which was released in March, 1998. Did the single hit charts? in April 1998, his album Magic was released which managed to stay in the No.1 position for four consecutive weeks in his native country and earned him a Platinum-award
Did he tour with that album?
Did DJ Bobo tour after his Platinum album Magic was released in April 1998?
The release of the album World in Motion in September, 1996, proved not only DJ BoBo's consistent presence in the charts, but with this album, Rene managed to break all his previous records. It took only a few weeks for the album to reach the No.3 position in Germany, which quickly was awarded Platinum for selling 500,000 units. In Switzerland, the album jumped from 0 to No.1 and was awarded Double-Platinum for selling 100,000 units, which was ranked in the top 40 albums of all-time, after remaining on the Swiss album chart for a staggering 67 weeks. Shortly after the release of World in Motion, Baumann went on a promotional tour in Asia for twenty days, which was then followed by another one month-tour in Brazil, Chile and Colombia.  In April 1997, DJ BoBo received his third World Music Award in Monaco for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" where he performed his single "Respect Yourself".  DJ BoBo maintained his original sound and experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements when he introduced his singing skills first on his single "Where Is Your Love", which was released in March, 1998. A month thereafter, in April 1998, his album Magic was released which managed to stay in the No.1 position for four consecutive weeks in his native country and earned him a Platinum-award for sales of over 50,000 units. In Germany, the album peaked at No.5 and spent total of 21 weeks on the chart, eventually earning the Swiss artist another Gold-award for sales of over 250,000 units. In May of that the same year, DJ BoBo received the World Music Award for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" once again for the fourth time. Soon after, his single "Celebrate" was released introducing his The Ultimate Megamix '99. During this time Rene and his crew were busy preparing for his "Life on Tour" concert as well as the shows of the Magic, which were watched by 250,000 people in 35 concert arenas in Europe. Shortly thereafter, DJ BoBo was rewarded with yet another World Music Award for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" for the fifth time in a row. CANNOTANSWER
Rene and his crew were busy preparing for his "Life on Tour" concert as well as the shows of the Magic, which were watched by 250,000 people
Peter René Baumann (born 5 January 1968), better known under his stage name DJ BoBo, is a Swiss singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and music producer. He has sold 14 million records worldwide and has released 12 studio albums as well as a few compilation albums which have included his previous hits in a reworked format. BoBo has also released as many as 34 singles to date, some of which have charted high not only in German speaking countries, but also in other European territories.

As a dance music producer, his first big success came with the single "Somebody Dance with Me", which borrows its melody from Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me". BoBo charted with the singles "Keep on Dancing", "Take Control", "Everybody", "Let the Dream Come True", "Love Is All Around", "Freedom", "Pray", and "What a Feeling", as well as "Chihuahua", almost all of which comprised fast-paced Eurodance sound with female vocals and rap verses performed by BoBo.

Between 1992 and 2007, he had 27 single chart hits in Switzerland and Germany and has won ten World Music Awards for being Switzerland's best selling artist. BoBo has received numerous Gold and Platinum certifications for his releases and has found success in Europe (primarily Germany and Switzerland), Asia, and South America.

Biography

1985–1991: Early beginnings
Peter René Baumann was born in Kölliken, Switzerland in 1968 to Italian father Luigi Cipriano and Swiss mother Ruth Baumann. Initially, Baumann wanted to work in the area of confectionery and bakery. This, however, did not last long as his desire for dancing clicked with the development of breakdancing after his high school graduation. Having been involved in numerous dance-contests, Baumann managed to reach the Top 10 of the German dance-contest "Disco Kings" with his acrobatic dance style.

Baumann began his DJ career in 1985, a year after which he was a runner-up in the Swiss DJ Championships. He continued to work as a DJ at numerous night-clubs such as Don Paco and the Hazyland, both in Switzerland. He gained enough experience and later decided to produce his own record. His first single "I Love You" came out in late 1989 during which time he would still work as a DJ but focused on future releases of his own production. In 1991, DJ BoBo released two other singles, "Ladies in the House" and "Let's Groove On".

1992–1996: Career breakthrough
Baumann gained immense international popularity when he released his Europe-wide smash hit "Somebody Dance with Me" in November 1992. Employing catchy refrains by Emel Aykanat as well as rap performance by himself, the single shot to number 1 in Switzerland and Sweden, while it landed in the Top 5 in numerous other European countries including Germany. "Somebody Dance with Me" was certified Gold in Germany for selling well over 250,000 units. His second hit, "Keep on Dancing", which followed the same technique as its predecessor, reached the Top 5 both in Switzerland and in Germany, and landed in the Top 10 in other parts of Europe. The single reached Gold status in Germany for sales of 250,000 units. The long-awaited album Dance with Me was released in October 1993 and remained in the charts all over Europe for quite some time, which was followed by another single, "Take Control", again from his debut album. It earned him yet another Gold award in Germany for sales of over 250,000 units, as the song also entered the Top 20 in numerous countries. While DJ BoBo appeared to have already separated himself from one-hit wonders, he released his next single, "Everybody", in the summer of 1994, which climbed as high as No. 2 in Germany and was certified Platinum for selling 500,000 units there. "Everybody" differed from the previously released singles in terms of its structure; it diverged from house, leaning towards a mixture of house and hip hop ("hip house"), with female vocalists performing the chorus and rap verses performed by BoBo.

In the fall of 1994, his second studio album There Is a Party was released. While the album peaked at No. 4 in Switzerland where it was certified Platinum for selling over 50,000 units, it entered the Top 10 in Germany, where it spent total of 26 weeks on the chart, eventually reaching Gold status for selling over 250,000 units. The single "Let the Dream Come True" from the album topped the charts in Switzerland and entered the Top 5 in Germany, where it was certified Gold for sales over 250,000 units. While the follow-up second single, "Love Is All Around", entered the Top 20 in Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway, it was certified Gold in Germany being the sixth golden record in a row. During the course of this ongoing success, in 1995, DJ BoBo represented Switzerland in the World Music Awards in Monaco, being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year".

In the summer of 1995, DJ BoBo went on a tour which took place in most parts of Asia, which was followed by a promotional tour in Australia. Later that year, DJ BoBo travelled all over Europe performing in front of as many as 400,000 spectators.
 
BoBo released his first ballad, "Love Is the Price", in January 1996, which was introduced in Thomas Gottschalk's TV show Wetten, dass..?. Later that year, DJ BoBo again ended up at the World Music Awards in Monaco for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year", performing two songs back to back; "Freedom" (which was his eighth Gold record in a row in Germany) as well as his newly released ballad "Love Is the Price".

1996–1999: Established popularity
The release of the album World in Motion in September 1996 proved not only DJ BoBo's consistent presence in the charts, but with this album, he managed to break all his previous records. It took only a few weeks for the album to reach the No. 3 position in Germany and be awarded Platinum for selling 500,000 units. In Switzerland, the album jumped from 0 to No. 1 and was awarded Double-Platinum for selling 100,000 units. It was ranked in the Top 40 albums of all-time, after remaining on the Swiss album chart for a staggering 67 weeks. Shortly after the release of World in Motion, DJ BoBo went on a promotional tour in Asia for 20 days, which was followed up by a one month-tour in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

In April 1997, DJ BoBo received his third World Music Award in Monaco for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" where he performed his single "Respect Yourself".

DJ BoBo maintained his original sound and experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements when he introduced his singing skills first on his single "Where Is Your Love", which was released in March 1998. A month later, in April 1998, his album Magic was released which managed to stay in the No. 1 position for four consecutive weeks in his native country and earned him a Platinum award for sales of over 50,000 units. In Germany, the album peaked at No. 5 and spent total of 21 weeks on the chart, eventually earning the Swiss artist another Gold award for sales of over 250,000 units.

In May of that the same year, BoBo received the World Music Award for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" for the fourth time. Soon after, his single "Celebrate" was released introducing his The Ultimate Megamix '99. During this time DJ BoBo and his crew were busy preparing for his "Life on Tour" concert as well as the shows of the Magic, which were watched by 250,000 people in 35 concert arenas in Europe. Shortly thereafter, DJ BoBo was rewarded with yet another World Music Award for being the "World's Best Selling Swiss Artist of the Year" for the fifth time in a row.

1999–2001
DJ BoBo's sixth album, Level 6, was released in October 1999 and immediately hit the No. 1 position in the Swiss album charts. It eventually went Platinum at his home as well as Gold in Germany for sales of over 150,000 units. Two singles were released off this album, "Together" and "Lies". DJ BoBo's success continued, as once again in the spring of 2000, he received yet another trophy at the World Music Award for the sixth time in a row for being Switzerland's "Best Selling Artist of the Year".

With the help of his co-producer Axel Breitung, BoBo managed to complete his next album, Planet Colors, released on 5 February 2001. The first single, "What a Feeling", features American singer Irene Cara and is a cover version of Cara's original hit Flashdance... What a Feeling. It peaked at No. 2 in Switzerland, No. 11 in Austria, and No. 3 in Germany. Two other singles were followed: "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and "Colors of Life". BoBo's tour "Planet Colors – The Show" was a big hit and was followed by more than one million spectators within Europe.

2001–2005: 10-year anniversary

As a way of celebrating his 10-year anniversary in the music business, DJ BoBo made the cover version of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration", reviving it with modern instrumentation. The single was to represent his collection album consisting of previous hits, which he also entitled Celebration. The album Celebration, released in April 2002, comprised the previous hits all of which were re-recorded featuring mostly German renowned artists such as No Angels on "Where is Your Love", Melanie Thornton on "Love of My Life", Emilia on "Everybody", and A Touch of Class on "Together". Besides DJ BoBo being Switzerland's Best Selling Recording Artist at the World Music Awards in 2002 for the seventh time, in 2002, BoBo and co-producer Axel Breitung were recognised as the "Best Producers of 2001"during the Echo awards for being the most-talented musical team.

DJ BoBo's next studio album called Visions, released in February 2003, brought a new side to his music, which aside from the usual dance-sounds, portrayed him with more acoustic elements. Examples of this are the songs "Angel" and "Do You Remember", wherein guitars replaced the usual synthesizers. The Album Visions peaked at No. 3 in Switzerland and eventually became a Platinum record in the country. In 2003, BoBo received yet another World Music Award for being Switzerland's Best Selling Artist of the year.

One of BoBo's most successful singles turned out to be "Chihuahua", which was initially released in 2002 and later re-released Europe-wide. The track was produced upon the request of Coca-Cola in Spain, as they were in search of an artist who could produce an attention-drawing song for their new campaign. The track was completed within a period of ten days. It took only a couple of weeks for "Chihuahua" to reach No. 1 on the Spanish single chart. The song eventually reached No. 1 in both Switzerland and France. It was certified Platinum in Switzerland for sales of over 40,000 units, and in France reached a Diamond status for sales of over one million units.

2005–2008: Eurovision Song Contest and 10th World Music Award

BoBo's next studio album, Pirates of Dance, was released in February 2005, and included two singles called "Pirates of Dance" and "Amazing Life". The album shot straight to No. 1 in Switzerland. BoBo and his crew began the Pirates of Dance Tour in April 2005. They took off in Switzerland, followed by Germany and Poland, which concluded with two concerts in Disneyland and Paris. 2005 was the year that made DJ BoBo Switzerland's Best Selling Recording Artist of the Year for the 10th time.

BoBo released his greatest hits album in 2006, which contained reworked versions of some of his previous songs, and some remaining in their original package. The single "Secrets of Love", which was released before the album, was a pop-dance duet with 1980s star Sandra. The song's music video was filmed at Disney Resort Paris. His greatest hits compilation eventually earned BoBo a Gold certification in Switzerland.

On 11 October 2006, DJ BoBo announced in a press conference that he had applied to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

In past years, Switzerland's entry had not always been a Swiss national. Most notably, Canadian Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 representing Switzerland. In DJ BoBo's press conference, he told reporters that "It's a shame for Swiss tax payer money from the TV licence fees go to fund a foreign act, and the people should resist that."

In December 2006, the Swiss TV council announced that they had chosen BoBo out of over 200 applicants to represent Switzerland in Helsinki, Finland. Following the selection, the council was criticised for not being fair towards lesser known Swiss artists. On 21 February 2007, DJ BoBo revealed both the song and the video for the contest: "Vampires Are Alive". Despite being one of the favorites to win the contest according to bookmakers, the song failed to get past the semi-final stage on 12 May. It finished twentieth out of 28 semi-finalists.
DJ BoBo released his next album, Vampires, on 11 May 2007, which climbed as high as No. 2 on the Swiss album chart. The first single, "Vampires Are Alive", reached No. 3 in Switzerland and charted moderately in the rest of the German-speaking countries, but gained success in Finland, where it reached No. 7. Two other singles were released, "We Gotta Hold On" and "Because of You" off the album Vampires.

In 2007, BoBo was chosen to sing the official 2008 UEFA European Football Championship song. On his website, BoBo presented a poll to choose which song out of two would be the official song. Eventually, "Olé Olé" was chosen over "Let the Games Begin". On 11 April 2008, "Olé Olé" was released as a single, being accompanied by an album called Olé Olé – Party. The album included five new songs, nine party hits, a medley, a newly remixed version of BoBo's hit "Everybody", and a new version of "Vampires Are Alive" titled "EAPM Remix".

2008–present
DJ BoBo's album Fantasy was released on 26 February 2010. It peaked at No. 2 in Switzerland and was certified Gold for selling over 15,000 units. The two singles released off the album were "Superstar" and "This Is My Time".

A new release from BoBo, entitled Dancing Las Vegas, was released on 25 November 2011. The album contains 13 tracks and comes with a DVD which is composed of six parts, including the video clip of the previously released single "Everybody's Gonna Dance".

BoBo released another studio album called Circus on 10 January 2014, followed by Mystorial in 2016 and KaleidoLuna in 2018. As with BoBo's previous studio albums, Circus and Mystorial charted in the Top 5 in Switzerland, while KaleidoLuna charted at No. 9.

Charitable work
DJ BoBo became a United Nations World Food Programme National Ambassador Against Hunger in October 2006, becoming the first Swiss celebrity to take up the role. He was also a participant in the 2006 Geneva Walk the World event.

Discography

Studio albums
 Dance with Me (1993)
 There Is a Party (1994)
 Just for You (1995)
 World in Motion (1996)
 Magic (1998)
 Level 6 (1999)
 The Ultimate Megamix '99 (1999)
 Planet Colors (2001)
 Celebration (2002)
 Visions (2003)
 Live in Concert (2003)
 Pirates of Dance (2005)
 Greatest Hits (2006)
 Sweet Christmas (2006)
 Vampires (2007)
 Olé Olé - The Party (2008)
 Fantasy (2010)
 Dancing Las Vegas (2011)
 Reloaded (2013)
 Circus (2014)
 Mystorial (2016)
 KaleidoLuna (2018)
 Remixes & Unreleased Tracks (2020)

References

External links

1968 births
Living people
People from Zofingen District
Eurodance musicians
20th-century Swiss musicians
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Switzerland
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2007
Swiss people of Italian descent
World Music Awards winners
Ambassadors of supra-national bodies
World Food Programme people
21st-century Swiss musicians
Swiss rappers
Swiss pop musicians
Swiss composers
Swiss male composers
20th-century male musicians
21st-century male musicians
Height Keech is the stage name of Baltimore rapper and podcaster Dan Keech (born September 22, 1981). He is best known as the founder and frontman for the group Height With Friends.  Before forming Height With Friends, he released three solo albums and six EPs between 2000 and 2009.  Keech interviews artists and musicians on his weekly podcast Height Zone World, which debuted in July 2014.

History

Wounds

Height began rapping in the Baltimore-based Wounds, a five man group with Jones, Mickey Free, Shields and Chris Freeland. After releasing two cassette-only EP's, Wounds released one self-titled full length album in December 1999. They did a two-week tour in June 2000. Wounds continued occasionally playing shows around the east coast until 2001, when they disbanded as a live act.

Self-Titled Solo Debut and Tour

In August 2000, Height joined the indie hip-hop group Dogg and Pony, for their tour with San Francisco punk band The Deepthroats. Height wrote part of his first solo album during the tour, and the members of Dogg and Pony offered to put out the album on Dogg Pony Records. Shortly after the tour, Height did his first solo show, opening for Animal Collective at The Cooler in Brooklyn.

The first Height album was recorded in September 2000. Production was handled by all members of the Wounds crew, with vocal assistance by Grand Buffet, The Plural MC and MC Dogg. The album was supported by a six-week tour with Grand Buffet in November and December 2000. Due to internal strife at the label, the album ended up not coming out in time for the tour. Height did another midwestern tour with Jones in August 2001.

After that tour, Height went on a hiatus from solo shows. He occasionally performed as a hype man for Cex, but he didn't play his own material again for over a year. In October 2002, Height was featured on three tracks from Cex's Tall, Dark and Handcuffed, on Tigerbeat6 Records. This was the first nationally distributed record of which Height was a part.

I Have A Gun/Bow and Height

In July 2003, Height released his second album, I Have A Gun. The production was handled almost entirely by Shields, with recording and mixing by Zach Poff. Height did one solo tour to promote the album.

Shortly after, Height joined Mickey Free (a.k.a. Bow n' Arrow) to form Bow and Height. They became a duo, performing each other's solo songs, as well as some new collaborations. They did five tours throughout 2004, touring the US and Canada with Dan Deacon, Lost It, Grand Buffet and Oxes.

In December 2004, Bow and Height disbanded. Height returned to performing as a solo act, starting with a northeastern tour with Dan Deacon.

Solo Touring

In February 2005, Height set out on a 50-day tour with Dan Deacon. Halfway through the trip, Height's car was totaled in Fresno, California. He flew back to Baltimore, while Dan Deacon completed part of the tour by Greyhound bus. They met up again in Pittsburgh, where they completed the last ten days of the tour together, along with Mickey Free.

In the fall of that year, Jones became an occasional part of Height's live set, DJing and adding effects to Height's vocals. Jones would join on for two out of the five Height tours that occurred throughout 2005-2006.

Round Robin Tours

In October 2006, Height toured as part of the Wham City Round Robin Tour, once again with Jones as DJ.

In 2008, toured again as part of The Baltimore Round Robin tour, this time with Jones and King Rhythm as his band mates.

Since 2006, Height has been putting together an annual event called the All Rap Round Robin, in Baltimore.

Utility Fog

In Fall 2006, Height released a short-run EP of rarities, called Utility Fog. He would go on to release four EP's in the Utility Fog series, releasing the final EP of the series in 2009.

Winterize The Game

In February 2007, Height released the full length album, Winterize The Game, on Grand Man Records. This was the first Height album to be recorded and mixed entirely by Mickey Free.

During this time, Jones had become a full-time part of the live show. He joined Height for three coast-to-coast US tours, a Canadian tour, two east coast tours, and many regional other local /regional shows. For two of those tours, King Rhythm was also part of the show, triggering samples live and doing back-up vocals.

Performing with Grand Buffet

In March 2007, Height accompanied Grand Buffet for their week of shows opening for Of Montreal. Only meant as a road trip, the trip resulted in Height becoming a part of the Grand Buffet's set, performing the Grand Buffet/Height collaborations, "Bad Weather" and "These Dreams are Fucked." Throughout 2007 and 2008, Height would regularly perform as part of Grand Buffet's show, for their tours with Of Montreal, MGMT and Streetlght Manifesto.

Height With Friends

In December 2008, Height began performing with Mickey Free, Emily Slaughter and Travis Allen. They began billing themselves as Height With Friends. The name change was intended to help present the project as an official band, without distancing themselves from the earlier Height material. The name change was also meant to acknowledge a new, more collaborative production style.

Although they continued to perform some older Height songs, their new songs were specifically created to be performed live, by multiple vocalists. The line-up would change frequently. In addition to the original cast, they would also be joined by Gavin Riley, Brendan Richmond, Liz Aeby, Cathy Cathodic, Bob O'Brien and Plucky Walker of Flesh Epic.

Baltimore Highlands

Baltimore Highlands, the first record under the name Height With Friends, was released on Wham City Records in January 2009. The album was created by a more collaborative approach, with multiple producers working together on most tracks. In an interview about the album with Butterteam.com, Jones described the album's production as being like a "chain letter," with each producer adding an element and passing it on to someone else.

In May 2009, the album was supported by the Wham City Records Is Real Tour, with Ed Schrader. They went on three other tours supporting the album that year, with Nuclear Power Pants, Thank You, Future Islands and Lord Grunge as tour mates.

This album was followed by the release of the Baltimore Highlands Remix Album, which was released in October 2009. It contained remixes by Tobacco, San Serac, Lesser Gonzalez, Drew Swinburne, Cex, Ms. Paintbursh, PT Burnem, King Rhythm, Jones, AK, LOWD, DJ Authentic, Gavin Riley and Al Lover.

Bed of Seeds

Bed of Seeds was written, recorded and mixed between Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Much of the recording took place during a ten-day session in a makeshift studio in a cabin in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The album's production was financed by Normative Records. The label folded as the album was being mixed, but the record was picked up by Friends Records and released in May 2010.

This is the first Height With Friends project largely created with live instruments. The majority of the album's songs stray from the beats and rhymes format, employing chord structures and production styles from other forms of music. The rhyme schemes themselves sometimes resemble folk or pop verses, more than they do standard sixteen bar rap verses.

The album was initially promoted with a two-month tour in April and May 2010. The April portion of the tour was with Nuclear Power Pants. Due to problems at the pressing plant, the vinyl was not available until the tail end of the tour. They continued promoting the album with two more short tours in 2010, then a 51-day tour in February 2011. For their last tour in support of Bed Of Seeds, Height With Friends joined PT Burnem for The Rap Ambassadors Tour. The tour went to Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Croatia and France.

Shark Tank

Shark Tank is a side project that pairs Height with Lord Grunge, Mickey Free and Brendan Richmond.
In February 2011, Shark Tank released their debut self-titled album. They did a small run of east coast shows to support the release.

Videos

Height With Friends has four videos, and Height has one video of this solo material. The video for their song "Mike Stone," was directed by Justin Barnes and produced by Team G. It was nominated for an award for Best Music Video at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival.

Height Zone World Podcast

Keech interviews mostly Baltimore artists and musicians for his podcast. Each episode is hosted on Spilce Today and features an original homage album cover by Mike Riley. It has been streaming weekly since June 2014 and has featured such guests as Jenn Wasner, Dan Deacon, Sam Herring, Girl Talk, and Ed Schrader.

Discography

References

External links
 Official website
 Height Zone World Podcast

Rappers from Baltimore
Living people
1981 births
21st-century American rappers Death Hawks is a Finnish psychedelic rock band formed in 2011.

History

Death Hawks was put together in the spring of 2010 to arrange and record songs by singer Teemu Markkula, but it soon metamorphosed into a solid band. Death Hawks played its first show with a complete lineup in April 2011.

Death Hawks’ intense live shows, with their psychedelic meanderings, soon created an organic hype around the band. Death Hawks recorded their debut album “Death & Decay” in the summer of 2011 and it was released in February 2012 through Tampere-based GAEA records.
Death & Decay received generally good reviews and the music media noticed the new and young psychedelic rock band singing about dark subjects (usually addressed by heavier bands) combining e.g. blues and krautrock to a folkier songwriting with their psychedelic way.  Media started to talk about the band as a future Finnish music export name. Death & Decay reached number 10 on Finnish album charts.

After the record release the band continued to do shows with a more frequent pace touring all over Finland and from January 2013 on touring across Europe too. In January the band did a week long Swedish tour and some shows in The Netherlands. In April 2013 Death Hawks did a small Finnish tour with Graveyard (band) from Sweden and in May participated in Fullsteam Ahead Tour (organised together by Makia Clothing and Lapin Kulta) which featured selected Finnish bands touring with a steamboat in the Finnish archipelago. A document film was released from the tour.
In the winter and spring of 2013 Death Hawks also started the recording of their sophomore album.

The self-titled second album came out September 2013 from GAEA Records.  The album “Death Hawks” reached number 15 on Finnish album charts.  
After some shows in Finland Death Hawks joined the German hard rock band Kadavar for their tour in Germany and Austria in October 2013. January 2014 Death Hawks did a short Scandinavian tour followed by two gigs in Oslo, Norway where the album “Death Hawks” was among the top 10 finalists nominated for Nordic Music Prize 2013 (an annual award for the Best Nordic Album Of The Year).   
Death Hawks’ second album got also nominated in Emma gala 2014 (the “Finnish Grammys”) and it was chosen as the best album of 2013 by Soundi magazine.

In May 2014 the band did their first longer European tour including Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. In summer they performed near every weekend playing the biggest festivals in Finland and also stopping by in Sweden and Russia. 
October 2014 Death Hawks toured Germany and later that year performed in UK, Poland and France.

In the beginning of 2015 Death Hawks started to write new material for their third studio album. In April they had a brief break from studio work to play at Roadburn Festival in Netherlands. In May the band headed to Suomenlinna Studios with producer Janne Lastumäki and engineer Ilari Larjosto. By the end of the summer the album was ready to be sent to press. In that summer Death Hawks also did some shows in Finland, Germany and Sweden. On November 13, 2015 the album Sun Future Moon was released through Svart Records. In November and December the band also did a vast tour of Finland and a smaller tour in Norway. In Finland they toured with the experimental rock band Circle (band).

The year 2016 was all about playing shows and touring for Death Hawks. They played close to a hundred shows and did three wider tours that year. In March they did a Finnish tour and in April Death Hawks embarked on a month long European Tour called Cobra Run 2016. After that the band played a lot of summer festivals and in September they headed back to Central Europe and Scandinavia for a couple of weeks. The rest of the year Death Hawks continued playing shows and did a couple also with the Swedish Blues Pills.

The members of Death Hawks also had a previous band together in 2005-2007 called Genzale.
This band featured all of the members from Death Hawks plus a second guitarist Niko Matiskainen. 
Genzale recorded one promotional album in 2006 which consisted of eight songs and was never released officially.

Discography

Albums
 Death & Decay (Gaea Records) (2012)
 Death Hawks (Gaea Records) (2013)
 Sun Future Moon (Svart Records) (2015)
 Psychic Harmony (Svart Records) (2019)

EP's and Singles
 Humanoids - single" (Digital single Gaea Records) (2013)
 Death Hawks / Kiki Pau - Split 7" (Promotional release by Music Finland) (2013)
 The song "Buddiman" by Death Hawks was released on Vähän multaa päälle compilation album (Fonal Records) (2012)

Band members 
Current members
Teemu Markkula – vocals, guitar 
Riku Pirttiniemi – bass, vocals
Tenho Mattila – keyboards, synthesizers, saxophone
Miikka Heikkinen – drums, percussion

References

External links 
Death Hawks in Alt Agency & Management's roster
http://www.deathhawks.com/
Death Hawks in last.fm
Death Hawks album review on The Line Of Best Fit

Finnish rock music groups
Musical quartets
2011 establishments in Finland