Biography

Here you can read about how Portraits & Tales started and our plans for the future

Biography For their passion for music, friends Jyrki Unhola and Alvaro Araya Leon began recording music. At first, it was intended as a hobby project that consisted of recording cover songs, but they quickly realized that they had something solid and good going on. 

The recordings, which started with very simple means, quickly developed into high-quality productions After releasing their second cover, P&T decides that it's time to start releasing their own material and on February 14, 2021, this is a fact. Portraits & Tales releases their first original song "Only You" on Spotify and other music platforms. The song is released with accompanying video recorded by A&A productions. The song received a good response on social media and contributed to P&T`s audience growing in form of new followers.In September 2021, P&T released their second single, Struggle. 

In the summer of 2018, Alvaro met Malin Araya Frostfalk. It soon became known that they both shared a big passion for music and Malin's talent for adding vocals, became a huge access for Portraits & Tales. After been a trio for quite some time, the band invited Robin Lundberg as the fourth member. This decision was made after the band had done some live shows with Robin. They felt that his playing style added so much to the band's sound, so they simply couldn't think of anything else but invite Robin as a full band member By the end of 2021, it was clear that P&T will start a collaboration with record label Bd Pop. Thanks to this collaboration, they now had the possibility to get their third single "Elsa" from their upcoming EP, produced and mixed by Patrik Heikinpieti (more known as the drummer of Mando Diao) at Patso productions studios. In May the 27th of 2022, the 4 track Ep titled "This is Portraits & Tales" was finally released. 

In 2023 it was time for their 4th single "Suddenly" to see the day of light. The song received a massive respond from their fans. Much of it was because of the stop motion video created by A.and.A productions, which gave clarity to the meaning of the song. Suddenly was followed by Portraits & Tales 5th single "What if I was" who was released in January 2024. This song made a huge impact on Portraits & Tales audience, which resulted in a massive spread by their fans. Portraits & Tales thinks that the reason for this is the meaning of the song, which is a declaration of love to the band members' children. Portraits & Tales comments this respond with these words: "This is the ultimate kind of love you can ever feel for anyone, which any person who's a parent, can relate to. But even if you don´t have children, this is the kind of song you dedicate to anyone you love and appreciate". 

Now the band is ready to show another side of themselves and at the end of May 2024, they did it with their single "Leave it all behind". The band put all their grit on this new song who encourage their listeners to leave old stuff in the past and move forward. The song got a massive respond on social media and radio stations around the world After doing some live shows during summer 2024, two new members joined the Portraits & Tales family. Those two gentlemen are Urban Byström on keyboard and Kristoffer "Krit" Hernesten on drums. 

By the end of 2024, the band release their latest song called "Perfect display of love" A song inspired by a true-life story. As the title goes, the song tells the story about an elderly couple who lived their life together through ups and downs for over 60 years, until the end. The song made a huge impact on their Swedish audience and by the beginning of 2025, the band was invited to play live at Swedish national radio "Sveriges Radio P4". 

Portraits & Tales are well known for their work ethics and 2025 is no exception. With the help of Patrik Heikinpieti, (Mando Diao), the band has already recorded 4 new songs that they plan to release during this year, with the first one called "No Shame" on the 9th of May. 

Portraits & Tales has a lot of material in storage, waiting to see the day of light. With that said, their listeners can feel safe that Portraits & Tales will be with them for a long time to come. 

Members:

Jyrki Unhola – Bass guitar and Sound Production.
Malin Araya Frostfalk – Vocals, Production and Songwriting.
Alvaro Araya Leon - Guitar, Vocals, Production and Songwriting.
Robin Lundberg – Guitar and Production.
Urban Byström – Keyboard and Production.
Kristoffer "Krit" Hernesten – Drums and Production.