Biography

LaBrassBanda is a brass band from Bavaria (hailing from Übersee near the Chiemsee) whose Neue Volksmusik style mixes folksy brass music with modern genres such as ska, techno, funk, and punk. The group found national success in the late 2000s and early 2010s while expanding their touring range outside of Western Europe to places like Africa and Russia. LaBrassBanda's profile was raised after their entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, "Nackert," helped their album, Europa, become a Top Ten hit. They are known for their lively stage shows which are usually performed barefoot wearing lederhosen and T-shirts. Trumpet player and singer Stefan Dettl formed the band in 2007 together with bassist Oliver Wrage, tuba player Andreas Hofmeier, trombonist Manuel Winbeck, and drummer Manuel da Coll. The band's self-recorded and self-produced debut album, Habediehre, was released in 2008 and quickly boosted the popularity of LaBrassBanda, as did their tour from Übersee to Vienna on the occasion of the 2008 European soccer championship (the group used mopeds and a tractor instead of a tour bus). A second album called Übersee was released in 2009, and the band started playing international concerts (in Russia, Zimbabwe, and Denmark). In 2011, LaBrassBanda took a break from their constant touring, which allowed frontman Dettl to pursue solo projects. In 2012, the band released a live album called Live: Olympiahalle München. In 2013, LaBrassBanda submitted their song "Nackert" in the Unser Song für Malmö competition to choose a German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite support from critics, the song didn't win, but the attention did help boost sales of Europa, the 2013 album that included "Nackert," which rose to number three on the sales charts. With the subsequent departures of Wrage and Hofmeir, LaBrassBanda repopulated its lineup with newcomers Mario Schönhofer (bass), Jörg Hartl (trumpet), Korbinian Weber (trumpet), Tobias Weber (percussion), and Stefan Huber (tuba), finding continued chart success with 2014's Kiah Royal. A dub version of Europa, titled Europa in Dub, appeared a year later, followed in 2017 by the studio album Around the World. ~ Christian Genzel, Rovi