Marco Hietala

Marko playing his accoustic guitar.

My hero's full name is, Marko Tapani Hietala. He was born as the youngest son in his family. His birth date is January 14th, 1966. Marco lived in a small Savonian town in Middle Finland with a population of 2,500. He still has friends and family there.

When he was a toddler, his father use to sing him lullabies with his acoustic guitar. His father got him into music at a very early age. His Dad had a collection of records included all kinds of Jazz, Classical, Irish Folk Songs, The Beatles, and Elvis etc. Marko started singing at the age of 11 years old. He then started playing his father's acoustic guitar at the age of 12 years old. As soon as he picked up the guitar he was already in his first school band called, "Sabotage", (influenced by Dio, and Black Sabbath) playing bass and singing to Metal music.

At the age of 15 he left his small Savonian town, Tervo for Kuopio, a nearby town with 8,000 people. He went to a music school there and studied acoustic guitar, vocals, and musical theory for three years. During his three years, he started a band called, Tarot. When he was in that band he was still studying Oulunkyla Pop and Jazz Conservatory. He dropped out of both of them when Tarot got a deal for their first album and a tour in 1986. That was his first professional band that was put together by his brother Zac and the drummer Pecu in 1984.

Marko and his sons.

Tarot is still touring and writing new songs when his other band, Nightwish, is not. He started playing with Nightwish when he got a call from Ewo and King Foo Entertainment in November 2001 to replace their other bass player, Sami. Now Marko sings and plays bass for them now. His other musical activities are studio engineering. He has been a guest vocalist for, Amorphis, Northern Kings, Sinergy, Conquest, Sapattivuosi, Delain Raskasta Joulua etc. He writes music and lyrics in English and Finnsih. He had also been a accousitc and electric guitar player for a band called, "Metal Gods" for a few years. And also Marko sung background vocals in a nine piece Soul & 60's Rock band for several years.

Marko with his band Nightwish.

His top 5: Bands- Jethro Tull, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Tori Amos, and AC/DC. Movies- Schindler's List, Original Star Wars Trilogy, Alien, Blade Runner, and Terminator 2. Writers- Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Greg Bear, Isaac Asimov, and J.R.R Tolkien. Activities- Physical exercise, World of Science, Recycling, Non-alcoholic drinks, and Video Games. He feels strange to be a part of something that has touched so many lives.