We Are Astalo.

Fantasy-ready, danceable folk music, fit for a lively middle-ages tavern!

We are Astalo, an international medieval folk band based in Helsinki, Finland. We play a mixture of early music and upbeat Irish, English, and Latgalian tunes, and our folk dance instructor can get any crowd into the medieval mood. Whether the occasion calls for hardcore Tudor or bardcore fantasy, we show up dressed to impress in our old-timey best and bring the party with us!

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THE SOUND OF TIMELESS FUN

Listen to our demos HERE, on this very website! And discover below links to our various SOCIAL PLATFORMS!Do we have any proper recordings yet? NO! Will we eventually? YES! Maybe sign up for our MAILING LIST or FOLLOW US to find out when that happens.

• About the Members

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WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

The core band consists of Heikki Kylkisalo (Finnish; uileann pipes, guitar, whistles), Jadviga Mežniece (Latvian; kokle, whistles, vocals), Felix Hirsch (German/Swedish; bodhran, cello, flutes, whistles, banjo), Lauris Frelis (Latvian; percussion and dance instruction), and Adrian Montclaire (USA; vocals, mandolin, songwriting, admin work/writing up the nonsense you’re reading right now.) Many of the members are current or former students of Finland’s world-renowned Sibelus Academy, and they are all massive nerds.The band's name comes from a little-known Finnish word—an ‘astalo’ is a bludgeoning weapon, especially an improvised bludgeoning weapon that usually has some other purpose, such as a frying pan or a steel folding chair. Even though medieval music is not expressly designed for hitting, Astalo aims to smack you in the face with it all the same!

• Consequat

Make your party more bard-y!

Need some of this at your party, corporate event, game shop, LARP session, or living room? Pop us a message! We have flexible rates, and we'd love to talk about what we can do to bring some middle-ages festivity to your event. Our manager can be contacted at [email protected].We also travel! We're even willing to travel FAR, especially in the summer--we are aiming to play the North American renaissance faire circuit in summer 2027. So wherever in the world you may be, party hard with our bards!

• About the Members