Origins The band was founded in the 1990s, when the founding members, Sammy, Jari Huttunen, and Eliaz were still teenagers. They bonded through love of
Hanoi Rocks and
Mötley Crüe. Private Line won a local band competition and used the prize money from it to record and release their debut EP
Smooth Motions in 1998. After recording
Smooth Motions, the band brought in two new members: Spit and Illy. Together, they recorded a five-song promo CD. Founding member and guitarist Jari left the band and joined in Finnish heavy metal act
Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus in May 2002.
Re-forming Private Line (2002) While in Helsinki in 2002, vocalist Sammy met a guitarist named Jack, who was previously playing in a band called Rockers Unite!. He was asked to join in the band and gave a new breath of life to Private Line. Jack knew the band and was fan of theirs already before deciding to join them. Jack played two shows with the band before actually becoming a member. Jack's first official performance as a guitarist of Private Line was 25 May 2002 at the club S-Osis in
Turku, Finland.
Six Songs of Hellcity Trendkill (2002) The band started rehearsing new songs during the summer of 2002 and entered the studio in August 2002. Private Line recorded 5 songs in the Jyväskylä Lutakko studios. In December 2002, they released their second CD-EP
Six Songs of Hellcity Trendkill with a revamped, energy-filled style with hard R'N'R riffs flavored with synthesizers. The band used three earlier recorded songs "Makin' a Mess Since'77", "Grown Like Others", "Crack In Reality" and three new songs "Superstar I.Q.", "Downstairs Upstairs" and "Virgin Suicide" for the new EP. The EP got positive reviews from the Finnish rock media as well as
glam- and
hard rock-orientated
webzines. After the
Hellcity Trendkill release, Private Line got their first booking agency deal signed with the Sam Agency Oy. Private Line toured a lot during the year of 2003 with bands like
Negative,
Peer Gunt and Hybrid Children and started to build up their fanbase in Finland. The band also worked on new songs during the tour and at the end of 2003 they entered the studio to record their forthcoming single "Forever and a Day". The single also included the tracks "Cheerleaders & Dopedealers" and "Sleep Tight", an old Private Line song from the 1990s.
Debut album 21st Century Pirates (2004) "Forever and a Day" was released before the album in February 2004 and it reached #3 in the Finnish Singles Chart. The album reached #18 at the official Finnish Top40 record charts at its first week. Norway's
Scream Magazine gave the album a 4 out of 6 score, though the reviewer did not have much to detract. The album both featured "strong tunes", good degree of variation, punch and heaviness. Another Norwegian magazine
Exact gave the same score. The second single from the debut album carrying the name "1-800-Out-of-Nowhere" was put out in June 2004 and reached #4 in the Finnish single charts. Lyrics to "Sound Advice" as well as to "Gods of Rewind" and "Billion Star Hotel" were written in collaboration with American playwright Rory Winston. The "Sound Advice" single also featured two previously unreleased songs, "Tokyo" ("Tokyo" was released also on
Evel Knievel Factors Japan version with the cover version of the
Cheap Tricks song "He's A Whore") and "Criminal". "Criminal" is originally by Finnish rock band
Smack. It also included the music video for the song "Broken Promised Land".
Evel Knievel Factor received 5 out of 5 in Sweden's
Sydsvenskan, whose reviewer also included the album in his Album of the Year list.
Melodic reviewed the album with positive adjectives, calling individual songs and riffs "a dynamite rocker in the Backyard Babies vein" and "as heavy as a B52 bomber", ultimately landing on 3.5 out of 5 stars.
2007–present The video of "Sound Advice" was shot in
MTV3 studios in Helsinki by Vasara Films. It reached #1 on the Finnish music TV channel VoiceTV and stayed there for 10 consecutive weeks. "Sound Advice" was also featured on the soundtrack of the Finnish box-office hit movie (over 200,000 viewers in Finland)
V2 – jäätynyt enkeli by Solar Films Inc. During 2007, Private Line toured Finland, Sweden and Russia. At the end of 2007, Private Line was asked to participate in the
Pepsi Max campaign covering the main campaign song "More" written by hip-hop group
The Black Eyed Peas. The band recorded their version of the song and it ended up in the Pepsi campaign during November and December 2007 in Finland. Pepsi bottles included the band's logo, a photo of the band and code for the song in the bottles' sticker.
Evel Knievel Factor album was released in Italy May 2008 by
Edel Italy. In September 2008 the band made their first headline tour in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The tour was called "Prozac Nation-tour 2008" and consisted 11 shows. In the end of 2008 band announced that they will start preparing their 3rd album. During 2009 and 2010 the band played few club and festival shows in Finland and in Italy including new songs from their forthcoming album. Names of the songs were "Live, Learn And Grow Apart", "13th Step From The Grave", "Down Came The Rain" and "Deathbedtime Stories". After a couple of years break Private Line released a new single and music video "Dead Decade" from their forthcoming third album with the same name. The album was released in March 2011 by King Foo Entertainment and JVC Victor, and reached #17 on the Finnish albums chart. == Members ==