| Marko Saaresto | |
|---|---|
 On stage on the 20th Anniversary Tour | |
|
Born |
December 5, 1970 |
|
199x | |
|
2001-2002 | |
|
2003-Present | |
|
Role |
Singer |
|
OGoA alter-ego |
|
Marko Saaresto , formerly known as the anglicised Mark - is one of the founding members, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter of the Finnish alternative rock band, Poets of the Fall. He portrays Odin Anderson from PotF's alter-ego band Old Gods of Asgard in Alan Wake II.
Saaresto worked as a graphic designer[1] before forming the band in late 2002. Sam Lake, Saaresto's friend and writer of the Max Payne series of videogames offered Saaresto a job writing the lead single for the game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.[2] Saaresto wrote the single along with guitarist Olli Tukiainen and were assisted with the production by Remedy engineer Markus Kaarlonen.[3] The song, "Late Goodbye" became a cult hit and propelled Poets of the Fall's rise to stardom. Saaresto has since toured in over 15 countries with Poets of the Fall. He is a classically trained singer and has a bass-baritone vocals range.[citation needed] He later went on to have bigger success within the video game industry when his band and he wrote and performed for the soundtrack of Alan Wake.[3]
Early Life[]
Saaresto was born in Helsinki, Finland. He was actively involved in music from a very young age and wrote several of his songs as a teenager. 'Change', from the band's fourth #1 album Twilight Theater, was written by Saaresto in 1990. 'Maybe Tomorrow Is a Better Day from Carnival of Rust is even older, dating back to 1988. Saaresto took up a course in graphic design and worked as a graphic designer until he was in his early 30s.
Music Career[]
Early Career[]
Saaresto formed a band called Playground in the 1990s and wrote several songs with them. The songs were compiled into an album but they were unable to find a label to distribute it, and hence called it quits. One late evening in early 2002, Saaresto was approached by Sam Lake, the writer of the Max Payne series of videogames to write the lead single for the second installment in the series, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. Saaresto agreed. Lake gave Saaresto a poem he had written and asked him to make a song out of it. Saaresto modified it, and along with former FUSS bandmate Tukiainen, wrote the now-famous single Late Goodbye. To assist them with production, Lake offered them the services of industrial musician Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen. Together they recorded the song and upon the release of the game, the song garnered cult status. Thousands of requests were made by players all around the world to own a physical copy of the song. The three then decided to formally create the band and named it 'Poets of the Fall'.
Poets of the Fall[]
With the huge success of their song, Saaresto decided to create their own record label, Insomniac, and distribute it under that label in association with a bigger label - Playground Music. 'Late Goodbye' was released on 30 June 2004 and rocketed to #14 on the Finnish charts. With clamors for another song, Poets of the Fall wrote and recorded 'Lift' and released it as a single on 9 September 2004. Lift rose even more, reaching a high of #8 on the Finnish music charts and remaining in the top 20 for 11 straight weeks.[4]
With a few more songs being written, Poets of the Fall decided to release their first studio album, Signs of Life. It was released on 19 January 2005 in Finland and reached #1 within a week of release. It stayed on the charts for over 50 weeks.[5] Signs of Life was a huge commercial and critical success, winning the Emma Award for Best Debut Album,[6] and ranking #7 on RadioCity's Album of the Year contest.[7] Signs of Life was certified platinum by the IFPI and Poets of the Fall won the Best Newcomer Award at Emma Gaala. The songs 'Stay' and 'Illusion & Dream' were used as radio-promo singles. Two music videos accompanied the album, one for Late Goodbye and one for Lift, directed by Stobe Harju. Saaresto envisioned and designed both videos and stars in them.
Discography[]
See also Poets of the Fall, Old Gods of Asgard, Playground (band)
Featured[]
| Track | Album | Artist | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millennium of Insight | Twilight Cinema | Lauri Järvilehto | 1999 |
| I Saved the World Today | Plan | 26 November 2008 | |
| Taking a Vacation From Me | Taking a Vacation From Me | Bright Lightning | 2009 |
| Lucky Star King See No Evil |
Cyanide Skies | Phoenix Effect | 18 February 2009 |
| Striven | Self Resonance | Jay Ray | 31 August 2017 |
| The Yarn House (book taster) | Milla Marble and the Mystery of the Missing Grandma | Sami Järvi | 28 November 2017 |
| Feliz Navidad | Tarja | 2017 | |
| Monochrome to Colour, Inextricable, Out of the Chrysalis |
Worlds into Words | Flamelight | 4 December 2021 |
| Upside Down | More Than Free | Larry Sandman | 3 June 2022 |
Writing[]
| Track | Album | Artist | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jos Sä Tarvitset Mua | Hyvästi, Dolores Haze | Johanna Kurkela | 2010 |
| (all tracks) | Phoenix Effect | Phoenix Effect | 2010 |
Actor[]
| Role | Type | Title | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Lem | Performance Only | Max Payne | 2001 |
| Address Unknown Doctor | Performance Only | Max Payne | 2001 |
| Himself | Cameo | Alan Wake | 2010 |
| Odin Anderson (young) | Full | Alan Wake II | 2023 |
Interviews[]
Larry Sandman on Misfit Heart[]
Marko is a great musician. He understands harmonies and song writing. He’s an awesome singer. That’s his playground. He’s also very proficient in the lower vocal register. Taking all these things into consideration, I knew that if he liked the song, he could deliver awesome vocals. So I sent him a few demo tracks and the lyrics, and invited him to visit my home studio and the whole thing got started naturally.
Jay Ray on Misfit Heart[]
I can’t speak highly enough of him. Marko is just an amazingly sympathetic and humble person. I still message him once in a while just to ask how’s things which is usually “really busy”.[8]