Leena Maria "Awa" Peisa (b. March 16 1979 in Vantaa, Finland) is the keyboard player and occasional turntablist in the Finnish hard rock quintet Lordi, winners of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Peisa's former bands include Punaiset Messiaat and Dolchamar, both of which are from Porvoo.

Biography

Leena Peisa was born in Vantaa however she spent her teenage years in Porvoo. She has been playing the piano since she was six years old. Her first band was a post-hardcore ensemble Punaiset Messiaat which she joined in autumn 1994. While in Punaiset Messiaat, she used the stage name "Lende Mielihyvä". Mielihyvä is the Finnish word for pleasure. After Punaiset Messiaat was disestablished in 1998, Peisa concentrated on her education. In 2003, she rejoined the band that now performed under the name Dolchamar and was invited to Lordi by drummer Kita to replace the keyboardist Enary in 2005. In Lordi, she takes on the persona of an unearthly Vampire Countess. The name Awa comes from Be Aware. On the band's website she is said to have many other names. The British newspaper the Daily Mail wrongly credited a photo of a woman without make-up as being Awa. Her other band Dolchamar removed all photos from their website. Perhaps a coincidence, or just playing along with the monster image. In Greece, television channels claim to have videos and photos of the band without stage make-up.

Trivia

• Her favorite Lordi songs are "Get Heavy" and "Bringing Back the Balls to Rock".
• Her favorite KISS song is "Tears are Falling".
• She is left-handed.

Discography

With Punaiset Messiaat

Albums

• Back In Bu$ine$$ (1995)
• Lemmentykki ('Cannon of Love') (1996) Highest position #26 in the Finnish Official Top 40.
• Älä osta; varasta ('Don't buy; steal') (1997)

EPs

• Punk on pop ('Punk is Hip') (1996)
• Tuu mun luo ('Come To Me') (1996)
• Hornan hovin häät ('A Wedding at the Abode of Evil Spirits') (1997; includes a horror comic book.)

Singles

• Onko tää rakkautta?! ('Is This Love?!') (1996)
• Oma rotta ('My Own Rat') (1996) A gold-selling single record in 1997.

With Dolchamar

Albums

• Rebela Sono (The Rebel Sound) (2005)

With Lordi

Albums

• The Arockalypse (2006) FIN #1 GER #7 UK #100
• The Arockalypse Special Edition (2006)
• The Arockalypse CD with 3 bonus tracks and a bonus DVD with:
• Hello Athens, Finnish documentary news coverage of Lordi's competition in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.
• Live at the Market Square concert video.
• Hard Rock Hallelujah; Would You Love a Monsterman? (2006); and Who's Your Daddy? music videos.

Singles and EPs

• Hard Rock Hallelujah (2006) FIN #1, GER #5, UK #25, IRL #4
• Who's Your Daddy? (2006) FIN #1, GER #33
• Would You Love A Monsterman? (2006) (2006)
• It Snows In Hell (2006) FIN #2
• They Only Come Out at Night (2007) FIN #6
• Beast Loose In Paradise (2008)

External links

• ..::DOLCHAMAR::.. official website
• Lordi - The Official Website

References