Jaska Raatikainen

His first instrument was the piano, and during most of his childhood also played the French horn in a big band – a fact which later led him to be introduced to Alexander Kuoppala. It was only at the age of 12 that he began playing drums; he had his first double bass pedals before he owned a drum kit. He was inspired by musicians such as Scott Travis (from Judas Priest) and Mikkey Dee (from Motörhead).

Pearl Reference Redline – Piano Black with Black Chrome Hardware 8"x8" Tom Tom 10"x8" Tom Tom 12"x9" Tom Tom 14"x12" Floor Tom 16"x16" Floor Tom 22"x18" Bass Drum x 2 14"x5" Snare Cymbals 14" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Hi-Hat x2 (both sides) 20" Meinl Mb20 Heavy Ride (left) 8" Meinl Byzance Traditional Splash x2 18" Byzance Brilliant Medium Thin Crash x2 20" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Ride (right) 20" Byzance Brilliant Medium Crash 18" Byzance Brilliant China

Raatikainen has two brothers; Jussi, who plays for numerous professional Finnish metal bands, as well as Julius, who plays for melodic death metal band Kauna. In early 2010, he became the father of a baby girl.

Up to the recording of the album Hatebreeder, Raatikainen was endorsed by Sonor drums and by Sabian cymbals. He eventually lost the deal with Sonor and for some time played with different drumsets, until settling with Pearl drums in 2003. His drumsticks are custom Millennium II sticks from Pro Mark with his name engraved on them.

On the 2002 tribute to Chuck Schuldiner – mastermind of one of the most notable death metal bands of all time, Death – Raatikainen, who is a fan of the band, played a couple of cover songs with Norther. A year later, Raatikainen formed a side project with Norther's guitarist Kristian Ranta entitled Gashouse Garden, which has not yet been signed to any recording label.

He has also helped quite a few bands when they needed a competent drummer. During Sinergy's 2000 European tour, he replaced Tommi Lillman, who had injured his leg. The problem, however, was that this happened three days before the start of the tour, which meant that Raatikainen had to quickly learn how to play ten of Sinergy's songs. Despite the high degree of difficulty, he managed to perform very well, and fans of both bands enjoyed seeing both Raatikainen and Laiho on stage together with Sinergy. On the Suicide by My Side album's booklet, the band wrote a dedicatory to Raatikainen for, on to their own words, "saving [their] tour".

Pearl Hardware DR-503 Icon Rack + PCX-100 and PCX-200 Rack Clamps H-2000 Eliminator Hi-hat Stand Pearl Demon Drive Double Pedal CLH-1000 Closed Hat S-2000 Snare drum stand CH-1000 Cymbal Holders TH-100S Tom Holders D-220 Roadster Throne Sticks Promark Evelyn Glennie 740 drumsticks

Raatikainen has had some side projects, some of them unrelated to music. In the year of 2000 he was asked by the director of a popular Finnish soap opera (Siamin Tyttö) to play a special part on it. He played a character named Rauli for three episodes, until the character's death. He did have the chance to show some of his drumwork before that happened, though. According to Raatikainen, he had always dreamed of acting, but does not plan to take his career further.

When Raatikainen met Alexi Laiho at school in the year of 1993, they realised that they had similar ideas and musical taste. Thus, they began playing together and idealizing their band Inearthed which would one day become Children of Bodom. The band released their first demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission, which he contributed some keyboards. Jaska played a vital role in the formation of the band, since he was the one who brought both Alexander Kuoppala and Janne Wirman to their line-up. Jaska also provided backing vocals on the songs "Warheart", "Black Widow", and "Children of Bodom" from his band's album, Hatebreeder.

Jaska Raatikainen (born July 18, 1979) is a Finnish musician, he is best known as the former drummer and co-founder of the band Children of Bodom from 1993 until his departure in 2019.