BIOGRAPHY
Pilvi Tahkola
Vocals
Who are you?
My name is Pilvi, I am the singer in Satra.
Musical background and experience?
My musical journey begun in piano lessons when I was a kid. After that I also took some guitar lessons and played few years. I think those instruments never really were the ones for me, but it took time for me to get engourage enough to start singing. I started to really sing in front of people as an adult when I was about 20 years old. I have been singing with family and friends, in choirs and Satra is my first real band as a singer.
Musical taste and influences?
Heavier music has always been my love, ever since I was a child. Over the years my favourite bands have been Finnish Sonata Arctica, Stam1na and Nightwish. I think I mostly am influenced by Nightwish and Floor Jansen's incredible talent.
What inspires you?
I get inspired by many things around me. Observing the ambience and people near me belongs strongly to my personality. I would say nature, atmosphere, people, beautiful melodies, talented musicians.
What would you like to say to your listeners and followers?
Thank you so much for listening our music, it means a lot to us. Enjoy!
Niko Valjus
Guitar
Who are you?
I'm Niko Valjus, the guitarist and main songwriter of Satra.
Musical background and experience?
I've been playing guitar since the age of 8, and I'm self-taught.
Musical taste and influences?
I'm drawn to music that tells a story or creates a strong, immersive atmosphere.
What inspires you?
My inspiration comes from many places — musicians and bands I admire, the nature, storytelling, and powerful moods or settings.
What would you like to say to your listeners and followers?
Thank you so much for following and supporting us!
I hope you enjoy our music, and I look forward to seeing you at our shows!
Aleksi Ronkainen
Drums
Who are you?
My name is Aleksi Ronkainen, and I play the drums in the band Satra.
Musical background and experience?
I've been playing drums since I was six years old and am mostly self-taught. I started out playing electronic drums at home until we got an acoustic kit, and some of my friends also began joining in. I found my first bands at the age of 19 after moving to Oulu, and that's when I started playing live shows at local venues. Eventually, my drumming journey led me to join Satra.
Musical taste and influences?
I've always enjoyed rock and metal. My taste in music was influenced early on by what the rest of my family listened to. The biggest inspirations in my musical life have been bands like AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Later on, I also started listening to bands like Slipknot, Stam1na, Ghost, and others. Some of the biggest influences on my drumming have been Phil Rudd, Nicko McBrain, Jay Weinberg, and so on.
What inspires you?
As a music enthusiast, I'm inspired by music itself, the work of my favorite artists, playing together with others and being part of a band, life experiences, and the process of growing and learning.
What would you like to say to your listeners and followers?
We hope you enjoy our music and that we'll see you at many gigs! All the best to our listeners!
Janne Peltola
Bass
Who are you?
I'm Janne Peltola, bassist of Satra.
Musical background and experience?
I started playing guitar when I was around 12 years old. Learned and practiced many years by myself. And when I moved to Oulu in 2011 I joined my first coverband and I have been playing in different bands pretty much since then. Recent years I started to play bass as well and so here I am.
Musical taste and influences?
I think it all started with bands like Metallica and Iron maiden. Then came BFMV and In flames and those were huge deal for me. In the last years I have listened a lot of progressive rock/metal. Stuff like Opeth, Soen, Devin Townsend, Animals as leaders etc.
What inspires you?
To play original music and play them live. Musically I'm inspired by interesting rhythms, great melodies and things in a mix which are in the background but makes a lot of difference.
What would you like to say to your listeners and followers?
Do I have followers? Cool! Thank you for listening and I hope I see you at shows!
About SATRA
Satra saw the daylight for the first time in spring 2020, when Amanda and Jani met in internet on the musicians' website. At very first they just exchanged some ideas and feelings about making music via emails, but pretty quickly a common view was found. The first songs were taken under work and as a result, "My Burned Paradise" EP was created.
At first it all started as a project, but when the first songs were made, there was a shared feeling that this could be much more than just a project. Unfortunately, Amanda felt that she did not have enough time to participate in Satra's activities, so by mutual agreement, Amanda was left out of Satra's line-up. At this point, Marko was already playing bass in Satra, so Jani and Marko decided to put the singer's search ad on social media. Pilvi was found as the new singer.
Jani formerly played guitar in Satra, but decided to jump behind the drums and after that Niko took over the guitarist's place. With this line-up the single "Travellers" was released in April 2023.
In November 2023, it was announced that Marko will no longer continue as a bass player of the band. Niko, Pilvi and Jani put up a search for a new bassist on social media and Petteri was quickly found as a new member of Satra.
Now Satra's line-up is ready and will release its debut album in February 2024. A single from the album called "From The Night" was released 30.1.2024 with a lyric video. Satra will join Therion on their "Leviathan" tour during their album release.
Stay tuned, our story has just begun.
With love for music: SATRA
