Erwin Preston is a beautiful machine delivering high-voltage rock 'n' roll with irresistible pop hooks. We believe in streamlined music and explosive live performance. Influences include garage rock bands from 60's Detroit to present-day Scandinavia.

BEHIND THE BOOGIE: THE ERWIN PRESTON STORY

Loviisa: a town with two bars and a nuclear power plant some 90 kilometres from Helsinki. Here, as in all of rural Finland, life is dull and young men are always looking for reasons to get drunk.

For Jukka Kiviranta and Toni Espo, forming a band seemed as good an excuse as any. In early 2005 former drummer Jukka started learning the guitar while Toni, who'd never played an instrument before, picked up the bass. Not letting their lack of musical training hold them back, the guys took over an abandoned ski centre and merrily plucked away. The band's first incarnation also had Markku Kämäräinen on vocals and Toni Lempinen on drums.

After a year of casual weekend playing the guys found a new rehearsal space in the basement of a grocery store. ( The room upstairs would later house a prayer circle. ) Toni's drunken failure at googling the King furnished the band with its name: Erwin Preston.

Changes to the group's lineup were also at hand. The imposing "Juice" Tolvanen started playing the keyboards, bringing a trumpet in the back pocket of his kilt. Some bona-fide musical ability was inserted when guitarist Otto Kaalikoski joined. His laid back virtuosity was to prove an interesting foil to Jukka Kiviranta's rough but passionate strumming.

It was felt that recruiting a chick singer from Helsinki might lend the band a certain something, so Jukka contacted Iina Kojonen through an online ad. Instead of a sultry siren they got a scrawny, bookish 18-year-old with art rock pretensions and dreams of becoming a gay icon. After the initial culture shock she decided to stick around out of sheer anthropological curiosity.

Erwin Preston played their first gig on 8.7. 2006 in the beer tent of Ravintola Ruukinmylly, a walking distance from their rehearsal pad. The band was a mess, but already knew how to get the crowd going. Encouraged by this, Preston went to the studio to record their first demo experiments. In the winter they took part in a Band challenge organized by East Club, a pub in Helsinki, and got second place.

The band made more demos and continued honing their sound. Iina took over as lyricist and started bitching about everything, which encouraged the band to give more thought to the arrangement of the songs. Jukka has a gift for churning out riff after riff of defiantly simple but effective rock and roll, and over time the band has learned to harness this power.

After two years and several drummers, Jukka Haapala took over the cans, completing the lineup. In 2008 Erwin Preston also took part in the international band competition Emergenza and made it all the way to the Finnish finals, getting a chance to rock Semifinal, Gloria and Nosturi in the process.

Recently Erwin Preston has been making a name for themselves in their home area, gigging in Helsinki, Loviisa, Porvoo and Kotka. Juice is taking a (permanent? We hope not) break from the band. We're looking for a record deal and gigs, gigs, gigs!