To Whine and Martyr
A true adult music project for true adults, or like-minded. LP and CD, plus digital streaming release of decades boiled content. A debut album of 10 songs was released in November 2025. The streaming has been steady growth.
After releasing and promoting our album, there’s been a second album in works. But as the life is, we are also a shapeshifter. We are working with a coalition of the willing, meaning we make it song by song with different artist collaborating, towards our second album without any predetermined composition or even style.
How we started, is not that anymore. We were friends for 30 years, a guitarist and a bassist, and a son on drums. Telling stories about mid-life thoughts, parenthood, friendship, relations, fear of war and degrading health. That’s how our debut album is. Play & Enjoy.
To access a physical CD or LP, please contact panu.martiskainen@gmail.com
CD 12,00€ +postage 6,90€ in Finland
LP 28,00€ +postage 9,90 in Finland. Ask for postage costs to Your country!
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To Whine and Martyr is a project or a band, based in Finland.
It began in early nineties; a shy boy joined a band to sing and made friends with another shy guitar player. After some fun time with cover songs and a few gigs they discarded the group, to play their own compositions, and later a drummer joined the rehearsals. It must have been some six- or seven-years journey, but it unfortunately ended or faded slowly, there were studies and families to work with, and no resources or enthusiasm to work hard enough for fame and rock stardom.
The guys preserved their friendship well, as over twenty years passed. Kids born and raised, a son was introduced to drums too.
One day, in 2021 or 2022, came up an idea to try if there was a chance to play and write music again. And soon, in a flash, there was a realization that they actually could make music and even release it, there was no need for a record deal, they had gained wealth for equipment and for professional assistance to record an album!
It started small, a couple of songs to play at a birthday party, blending the son to the band, the project grew bigger inspired by new chances, to make an album or more, that would talk deeply with the individuals they would reach.
After three years of hard work, and having some enthusiastic additional musicians involved, here we have the results. The album is somewhat progressive, hard rock and even funky metal inspired, melancholic music with quite straight forward and bold lyrics about all the troubles that last twenty years have brought to the lives of middle-aged men. Rather than fighting back, the characters are just whining and making martyrs of themselves.
Our song Crawl has reached over 1000 listeners on Spotify, many radioplays and blog articles in the US, Canada, UK, Mexico and Brazil. We want to thank all the support and you lovelies!
To Whine and Martyr:
Miika Kärkkäinen, -composition, guitar
Panu Martiskainen -composition, production, vocals, bass
Nikolai Martiskainen -composition, drums
Additional musicians on album:
Lauri Tiirikainen -guitar
Pinja Rimpeläinen -backing vocals
Jarkko Mustonen -trombone, MIDI wind instrument
Ville Karjalainen -trumpet, flugel horn, MIDI wind instrument