Biography
There are TWO DIFFERENT BANDS with the name "Arbor Vitae." One band is from Finland. The other is from USA. Arbor Vitae is Latin and translates to "The Tree of Life." Here are the descriptions of the two bands to help you know the difference:
1) Arbor Vitae was originally formed in Vaasa, Finland, back in the summer of 1997 by Thomas Sundell (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Johannes Hakuli (lead guitar). Within a few months, the band had found itself a drummer of Jari Ketola. By autumn 1998 the band, still a trio, was ready to record a four-track demo and did this with the help of bass player Olli Rantala. Rantala later joined the band as a permanent member. In 1999 Sundell left the rhythm guitar part to Mika Somppi, and keyboard player Jarkko Lahti joined the band in the summer of 1999.
The early years of Arbor Vitae culminated in a minor gig at the Nummirock festival in Kauhajoki in the summer of 1999. The band recorded three more songs during late 1999 and early 2000, but after that it parted ways. The reasons for this were mainly practical – the members were heading off to different parts of the country to study, do military service and so on.
In the summer of 2005, Jari Ketola contacted Thomas Sundell to ask whether a comeback was possible. Since Sundell was the author of all the music and lyrics of the early years, there were a lot of songs just waiting to be played. Ketola and Sundell are the only original members in Arbor Vitae as of today.
Pekka Kaakinen almost immediately joined the band as the lead guitarist. During the autumn of 2005 the hunt for other new members was on. Sundell wanted to leave the lead singing to someone else because he felt that his voice was too bright, and instead play the keyboards. Denis Hautaniemi joined late 2005 as the new vocalist. Along with him came rhythm guitarist Mikko Majanen. The last member to join was bass player Juha Ollikainen.
The new Arbor Vitae wanted to use the old material in a revamped fashion, and the music therefore underwent some major changes. Some lyrics had to be rewritten to better match a more mature outlook on life, and some minor parts of songs had to be omitted or recomposed due to copyright issues. Many songs were speeded up. The new Arbor Vitae sound also contains less clean guitar parts and a more rhythmic accompaniment. However, the band continues to make songs both from new and old ideas.
2) Arbor Vitae is an ambient, indie rock band from Lafayette, Louisiana. Playing their hearts and souls out, band members include Tim Campbell (vocalist/guitarist), Chad Viator (guitarist), Chris French (bassist), and Tiffany Lamson (drummer/vocalist). They haven't written up a biography on their site, but in words from fans of the band left on their site (link located below), "this partially explains the effect their music has on me: waves of spiritual energy pulsing through my whole body, shooting through my hands and feet, undulating in my spine and, oh… involuntary and uncontrollable tears of beauty and absolute bliss" (Sherie) and "more than once the musical highs wanted to lead my body into some involuntary yoga stretch, the effect the music had on me physcially was very interesting. it wasn't a dance response but a stretch, a pull upwards, an arching of my back. a breath. and that is life, isn't it?" (Verity). The band has no official webpage, but you can find them located at http://www.myspace.com/arborv
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