WHEN IN THE Shadows shot The Rasmus to international superstardom in 2003, they were already accustomed to life in the spotlight. Their first four albums, although not globally popular, had made them stars in their homeland of Finland, giving them full rein to spend their time writing music, chasing girls and doing all the things that young 20-somethings do when living freely on the road.
“In the beginning it was so crazy because we got so famous so fast,” recalls frontman Lauri Ylönen. “We’ve lived all our life in this kind of bubble. I’m still in that bubble.”
Despite enjoying the perks of their success, Lauri, an introvert, was unsure how to navigate the sudden lack of privacy and anonymity. “In Finland, everybody knew my face and it was sometimes not very nice to be that guy,” he says. “We started very young, I was in eighth grade when we put the band together. Since I
