finnmusic.net
Artist Album Song Label
Advanced search » F.A.Q. » About » Contact »
Main Biography Photos Songs Recordings  
HARLOTS Of BEYOND
BIOGRAPHY

After playing in bands like Sister Ray and Machine Gun Rescue, Aarni Lehtinen formed Harlots of Beyond in 1984. The original lineup was Aarni on guitar and vocals, Miss Dorothy on bass and Veli Ahonen on drums. Soon Propaganda Records offered them a record deal, and some demo versions of songs intended on the album were recorded. However, the release was cancelled, and Aarni moved to Barcelona, where he spent the next few years. In Spain he played with local musicians, including the singer of the psychobilly band Desechables. Some Harlots of Beyond material was recorded in Spain as well: a studio tape was made with producer Jorge Calvo, but when the final mixes were ready, the end result was unsatisfactory, so the idea to release the stuff was abandoned.

In 1988 Aarni returned to Finland, met with the original drummer Veli Ahonen, and with him and Matti Wahlsten recorded Black Madonna plus two other songs, which were then released on Aarni's own record label Zombie Power next year. The next release Nymfomaniac's Diary 7" EP came out in 1990, followed by Ghost Story 12" the next year. These years (1993-1994) the band also played live shows extensively, in Finland as well as in Sweden. In 1994 Harlots of Beyond recorded new material in two periods, first in spring and summer, and another session in fall. Most of the first period's recordings were never released, only two tracks appeared on Don't Fuck with the Babysitter compilation CD. The songs recorded in fall were finally released in 1998 when The Riddle of the Sphinx LP came out (a five-track CD-R version was titled 'October Feast'). In December 1994 Aarni left Finland again, and didn't return until 1996. During that summer new material was recorded, but again it took years before the songs were released: first the four-track EP Harlots House came out in 2000, and all eight tracks (newly mixed by Bazie) released on The Sphinx 10" LP in 2001. Otherwise, during these years Aarni was working with visual arts, so things were quiet with Harlots Of Beyond.

In 2002 Aarni had a side project called A Birdhouse that played more experimental stuff in the vein of Suicide. In 2003 it was time to get Harlots of Beyond going again, so three songs were recorded and released on Spells of Circe 7". A video was made from one of the songs (Lake of faeries) with the help of Seppo Renvall, the renowned experimental film artist. More collaborations with Renvall followed in the next years. A new album had been in the plans for a while, and in 2005 songs for the album were recorded. Lake of Faeries CD was released in May 2006.

The next few years was the most active time for the band, at least releasewise. First came Castillo de naipes EP (including a track from 1987) in 2008. The next album Winner was recorded during 2008 and 2009 (mixed by Timo Kaukolampi) and released in 2010. Because interest in Harlots of Beyond's early releases had increased outside Finland, a collection of past material was released, re-recorded in 2010. Collection 1980-2009 included new version of tracks from the early EP's and a couple of new songs. In early January 2011 the band took a new direction, when Usvatarten lampi, an album of songs sung in Finnish was released, under the name Tuonpuoleisen Portot (direct translation).