Mika Kristian Karppinen (born 8 February 1971), better known as Gas Lipstick, is a Swedish-Finnish musician, best known as the previous drummer of the Finnish

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

band HIM. He is also a drummer for other bands currently on hiatus, such as

deathgrind Deathgrind (sometimes written as death-grind or death/grind) is a shorthand term that is used to describe bands who play a fusion of death metal and grindcore. ''Zero Tolerance'' described deathgrind as "grindcore and brutal death metal collidin ...

group To Separate the Flesh from the Bones, heavy metal group Bendover,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

group Valvontakomissio, and punk group Ääritila.

Biography

Born in

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

, Sweden to Finnish parents, Karppinen moved to Finland with his family at age 13. He was a session drummer for one tour with the Finnish band

Tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

. Before joining HIM, he was also a member of Kyyria, which included Santeri Kallio and Niclas Etelävuori from the Finnish band

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish progressive metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive meta ...

and singer Ville Tuomi of

Suburban Tribe Suburban Tribe was a Finnish alternative rock/metal band. The band is notable for containing the members of two of Finland's best known thrash metal bands, Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggreg ...

. He sang and played guitar in a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band called Dementia which featured guitarist Roope Latvala of

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, ...

. He also was a drum tech for

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...

at one point and played on the Stratovarius DVD. He quit Flat Earth and started a Doom Metal band called Solitude together with Janne Parviainen of Ensiferum, Ville Pelkonen of Jimson Weed and singer Aleksi Parviainen. He plays guitar in a band for the first time since Dementia disbanded 1996. He recorded drums for pop/rock artists Leo Stillman's 3rd record that will be released in Spring 2023. Ääritila is currently working on a mini-LP and they are working on new songs. In March 2011, the game company SongHi released an internet music game with Karppinen's drum loops. In January 2015, Karppinen announced his departure from HIM, feeling that he needed to move on as a musician. Karppinen married Croatian photographer and influence
Natali
at Temppeliaukio church in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

on 30 August 2008. It appears that the couple are no longer together.

List of bands

* Valvontakomissio – vocals, composition, lyrics, drums (1984–present) * Dischange – drums (1991) * Kyyria – lyrics, composition, drums (1992–1998) * Dementia – vocals, lyrics, composition, guitar (1986–1996) * HIM – drums (1999–2015) * Hallatar – drums (2016–present) * We Sell the Dead – drums (2017–2018) * Flat Earth – drums (2018–2022) * Solitude - guitars (2022-present)

Drum set

Gas is an endorser of

Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...

drums,

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Switzerland, Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, ...

cymbals, Aquarian drum heads and Vic Firth drum sticks. He is an open-handed drummer, meaning he plays the hi-hat with his left hand and the snare with his right, opposite to many rock drummers.

Drums

LUDWIG Legacy Classic (color: Black sparkle) SHELL SIZES: * 16" x 22" Bass Drum * 6.5" x 14" Black Beauty Snare * 12"x9" Rack Tom * 14"x12" Rack Tom * 16"x16" Floor Tom * 16"x18" Floor Tom HARDWARE: LUDWIG Atlas Pro * 1 x Hi-Hat stand PRO LAP16HH * 1 x Snare stand PRO LAP22SS * 3 x Boom Cymbal Stand LAP37BCS * 1 x Straight Cymbal Stand LAP27CS * 1 x Drum Throne SADDLE LAP50TH * 1 x Bass Drum Pedal LAP15FP * 1 x Tom Holder Stand CYMBALS: PAISTE * 1 x 15" Big Beat Hi-hatt * 1 x 18" Formula 602 Crash * 1 x 19" Formula 602 Crash * 1 x 20" Formula 602 Crash * 1 x 22" Formula 602 Crash * 1 x 22" Dark Crisp ride Vic Firh American Classic Metal drum sticks DRUM HEADS: * Aquarian 12" Reflector black top head * Aquarian 12" Classic clear bottom head * Aquarian 14" Reflector black top head * Aquarian 14" Classic Clear bottom head * Aquarian 16" Reflector black top head * Aquarian 16" Classic clear bottom head * Aquarian 18" Reflector black top head * Aquarian 18" Classic clear bottom head * Aquarian 14" Hi-Energy top snare head * Aquarian 14" Hi-Performance bottom snare head * Aquarian 22" Force II bass drum eater head

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1971 births HIM (Finnish band) members Eyes of Eden members Finnish rock drummers Living people People from Eskilstuna Swedish people of Finnish descent Death metal musicians 21st-century drummers