History

2001

Overtake was founded beneath the Riipi fell in the middle of everything. The founding members were Tom Heikkilä (guitar), Mika Lintula (guitar) and Janne Vuopio (drums). The idea of a band had been haunting Kekkilä's (Heikkilä) mind for a while. The missing players were found in the same village. Tom's childhood friends.... The boys scraped together some good enough instruments and hauled them to the upper floor of an abandoned yard building (about 3 square feet of space). In the beginning, the music was close to speed metal. From there on, there was no mercy on the eardrums of Riipi's senior citizens as Overtake blasted away, riff after riff!

2002

The first year in the band's history consisted of mostly practicing and learning (to drink). Sometime in the year 2002 (can't remember), Overtake grew to a four piece band when Ilkka "Upi" Tammela started banging on the bass strings... The music took a step towards a darker and heavier direction.

2003

The band's first member change happened when Upi decided to leave the band. Well... feeling a bit down, the band found themselves again in their favorite bar in Sodankylä (Reponen respect). The drinking didn't go to waste (it never does), as the guys found two dudes from some shady corners of the bar. Jarno Riipi and Kimmo Lintula (guess what? These dudes were also from the same village)... Next morning, a bit hung over, the boys noticed that Jarno was playing the bass and Kimmo was growling into the mic. The boys figured that they had to accept them in the band because that's what they had promised when wasted. For the first time, the band was complete! After that, the musical direction was clear. It had to be really heavy...

2004

Hard practicing. Most of the time in the blur... for artistic reasons. Well one thing we can remember, the band practice place changed to a more remote barn on the edge of the village. Guess the old folks didn't like the music... At this point, there was almost enough material to throw a gig.

2005

Big changes in the lives of the hillbillies. The band moved to Rovaniemi (it's New York compared to Riipi). Unfortunately Kimmo chose to stay behind. So the vocalist position had to be filled. Many vocalist candidates came by. Have to mention Asko Vaarala... The same heavy riff pounding continued when the band found themselves a new band practice place in a yard building yet again.

2006

After the summer of 2006, the most shitty thing in the band's history happened. The drummer's (Janne) pancreas couldn't comply with his tight (drinking) tempo. He ended up in the hospital several times and even that didn't lower his tempo, until the doctor's perseverance payed off and Janne desided to stay in the book of the living... Absolutism + Overtake is an impossible equation, so Janne "Vilikeri" Vuopio had to make the really hard decision and leave the band. Most humongous respects to him!!! Fortunately there was also some good in the year, around the same time Tommy Maajaakkola joined the band as the new vocalist.

2007

So the drummer seat had to be filled. A couple of guys tried out the seat and there was one guy who made a great impression, a dude with attitude, Jani Tammela. Eventually the drummer seat was taken by Janne "Minister" Timonen who learned the band's songs in record time and his attidute fitted the band like a glove (fart humor, mediocre playing skills and Pantera)... At the same time the neighbours couldn't take any more ruckus, so the band had to move again to another place. After getting a new place, the band went on a ruthless practice streak that ended with a grande finale in November, Overtake's debut show in Kemijärvi's Viisikkopub. God dammit we enjoyed to play live, even though we sucked! Gotta thank the juniors of Riipi for overwhelming support and moshing. The band also got good feedback and thanks from the local people. BTW thanks Takorauta... Excited from the show, the band screwed the practice screw even tighter. The tight practice pace revealed that Tommy Maajaakkola couldn't keep up with the rest of the band, so he left the band in December. Tommy's influence can still be heard in the band's music. Especially lyrics. Respect the buddy!

2008

Again, Overtake was an uncomplete orchestra. But they didn't give up. Hell no! That's not the Overtake way. The band tried to think of a good candidate to fill the empty vocalist spot. Some liquids were consumed to help the thinking process, and lo and behold, yet again, from a local pub, the band found a dude who had maintained a one man moshipt at the debut show, Robin Francett. His outstanding attitude brought him an invite to an audition. And right away, the band noticed that he was the one they had been looking for all this time...

2009

A few shows were played during the summer with the current line-up, before the drummer Janne Timonen desided to opt out of the band. A great thank you to Janne for the years we had together! With experience and routine, the band started to look for a new Overtake member. Because they had time on their hands (when not getting hammered), the band came up with alot of new song ideas. Hmm...what else... Oh yeah, Kekkilä cought a white fish.

2010

In the beginning of the year, the band headed to MR-homestudio to record demos from the new song ideas. 4 new songs were born + 1 Black Sabbath cover to honour the great band. These were released as 'Demo 2010'. In the fall, Kekkilä had to end his ice fishing season early, because the "looking for a drummer" ad started to give results, as a curly haired dude came to an audition and joined the ranks of Overtake. Ladies and gentlemen, Erno "Enduro" Korhonen! His baptism of fire on the stage was already 2 weeks after joining the band. He survived the show most excellently, like he would have been in the band from start. Drummer seat filled! Now rock n' roll!!!

2011

The year brought with it a lot of great and memorable shows, e.g. opening for Sotajumala. The highlight of the show filled year was the 'One Finger Salute' EP release show around new years. The atmosphere at the show was astounding! Thank you everyone! In the beginning of the year, while on a trip to get some snuff, the band made a pit stop in Tornio to record the new EP. We were supposed to release some videos of the recordings, but the only thing we found in the video material was giggling and bass playing. So forget that.. The EP was recorded in 2 weekends. The mixing took a bit longer and was finished in late autumn. 200 fresh EP's were in our hands in the beginning of Decemer. Hell yeah! So the year was filled with all kinds of stuff, even a "few" drinks. Oh and Kekkilä almost choked on a fire estinguisher...

(source: Overtake, March 2012)
(discography incomplete)