The Pitastro

The Pitastro

Seeking to spread their own brand of joy and happiness, four guys from small towns in Sweden joined forces to become The Pitastro. The self-described ‘Ultimate Rock/Reggae Band’ was formed in 2010 by bassist Fredrik Pikkuaho, drummer Tom Taipale, guitarist Peter Stenström and vocalist Marco Roth. The band’s unusual name is actually derived from the first two letters of each of the founder’s last names.

Soon after getting together the band released a five-song demo titled ‘Big Boy’ but their sound really started to evolve over the next year as they rehearsed, played local gigs and grew tighter musically. According to the Band, “It took us a year to find each other as musicians.”

By the summer of 2011, The Pitastro starting work on their first studio album; having made a name for themselves as a live act, they continued to tour around their home region of central Sweden. The release of the album ‘The Girl In Tights’ eight months later generated the buzz they needed to make 2013 a very busy year. Within a few months they had two videos out, ‘Mr Myssy Man’ and ‘Life’, the latter being selected as a finalist in Sweden’s ‘Top Of The Charts’ song competition. By the end of the year, The Pitastro had appeared on many Swedish radio and television shows, performed almost 40 live concerts and completed their first overseas tour of Israel and Palestine.

The band hit a major bump in the road in autumn 2014 with the sudden departure of lead singer Marco Roth but after some soul-searching, the remaining band knew The Pitastro was more than any single member. They still had the love, energy, ideas and power to continue. The band quickly set about finding a new singer. The response from their Facebook ad amazed the band and gave them just what they needed. In the first week, over 60 people applied for the position, but the search was over in a heartbeat when the band met singer/guitarist Jonas Pyykkö. “We were blessed.” said the band, describing Jonas’s recruitment. Complete once again, they still faced a lot of hard work. Despite the rehearsal challenges of bringing a new member up to speed in time for upcoming gigs, they managed to debut their new lineup and sound with the YouTube release of ‘Why Daddy’. Since unleashing their latest EP ‘New Era’ on the world in April 2015, The Pitastro have been gigging nonstop. The band’s love of performing live serves them well as audience after audience learns how The Pitastro earned their reputation as one of the best live acts around.

Their sound has been described as “a refreshing and extremely original clash of musical genres”. The Band’s Reggae-tinged mix of Funk, Rock and Pop is as unique as their name … The Pitastro!