Gas Lipstick

Mika Kristian Karppinen, better known as Gas Lipstick (born 8 February 1971), is a Swedish-Finnish musician, best known as the previous drummer of the Finnish gothic rock band HIM. Karppinen is also a drummer for other bands currently on hiatus, such as Finnish deathgrind group To Separate the Flesh from the Bones, Finnish heavy metal group Bendover, Finnish punk group Valvontakomissio and International Finnish / Swedish punk group Ääritila.

Gas Lipstick
Karppinen performing in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Mika Kristian Karppinen
Also known as	Gas Lipstick, Kaasu
Born	(1971-02-08) 8 February 1971
Origin	Eskilstuna, Sweden
Genres	Gothic Rock (with HIM) Deathgrind (with To Separate the Flesh from the Bones) Hardcore (with Valvontakomissio and Ääritila) Metal (with Bendover)
Occupation(s)	Drummer, guitarist, composer
Instruments	Drums, vocals, guitar
Years active	1983–present
Associated acts	HIM, To Separate the Flesh from the Bones, Stratovarius, Ääritila, Bendover, Valvontakomissio, Dementia, Kyyria, Flat Earth
Website	http://flatearth.band www.heartagram.com

Born in Eskilstuna, Sweden to Finnish parents, at age thirteen Karppinen moved to Finland with his family.[1] He was a session drummer for one tour with the Finnish band Tarot (known as a project band of Nightwish's Marco Hietala). Before joining HIM, he was also a member of Kyyria, which included Santeri Kallio and Niclas Etelävuori from the Finnish band Amorphis and singer Ville Tuomi of Suburban Tribe. He sang and played guitar in a thrash metal band called Dementia which featured guitarist Roope Latvala of Children Of Bodom. He also was a drum tech for Stratovarius at one point and played on the Stratovarius DVD.

In March 2011, the game company SongHi released an internet music game with Karppinen's drum loops.[2]

On 27 January 2015, Karppinen announced his departure from HIM, feeling that he needed to move on as a musician.