The Stimulators
Encyclopedia
- This article refers to the German indie rock band; for other uses, see The Stimulators (disambiguation)The Stimulators (disambiguation)There have been at least two music groups called The Stimulators:*An early-80s New York City punk band with the young Harley Flanagan on drums; credits include a pair of bonus tracks on the reissue of the classic 1982 compilation New York Thrash....
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The Stimulators are a German band who do mostly their own material or completely remodel songs by other composers when they cover them. The six-piece band fuses Latin, Blues, Ska, Jazz, Reggae and Rock into a sound that is unique to the Stimulators.
About
The band was founded in 1998 when guitarist and bandleader Peter Schneider returned from a one year stay in San Diego, California, where he had worked as guitarist for Ike Turner and carwash singer Ren Woods.Right from the first album, the band had a distinctive sound and that record (Voodoo Swing) got famous in high-end audio circles around the world. Between 1999 and 2007 the group has released 6 CDs and two DVDs. In 2003 and 2004 the band toured with James Brown in Europe, which got them wider recognition.
Lineup
Peter Schneider, Lead Guitar, BandleaderBorn in Munich, Germany, Peter moved to South America at age 18 to study music, living in Brasil and the USA before returnig to Munich at age 20. He played for Ike Turner, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Pia Zadora, Engelbert, Willy Michl, Hans Söllner and many others. He led his own band in the early 90s and has released a number of solo albums.
Oliver Stephan, Lead Singer & Guitarist
Born in Munich , Germany, Oliver grew up in Africa and later in England before returning to Germany after he finished university. He first got popular as a musician in the late 70s in a German band called The Nighthawks who fused ska and new wave and had two hits with “Belle Blue” and Desmond Dekker's "Shanty Town (007)". Oliver Stephan is a very innovative composer and poet.
Florian Sagner, Trumpet, Vocals,Percussion, Keyboard
Born in the Bad Tölz area in Bavaria, Florian started on trumpet at a very young age, first playing traditional jazz in his father's band and later studying classical music at the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Before joining the Stimulators, Florian led a couple of his own formations doing mainly Modern Jazz and Latin styles. In the last couple of years he has done a lot of session work for bands like Jamaram, Stranger Cole
Stranger Cole
Stranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole is a Jamaican singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of ska in 1962 through to the 2000s.-Biography:...
, King Banana and others, along with performing lounge music with his own project, Florian Sagner's Groove Deepartment. He has a track on Café Del Mar and a solo album on United Sounds Records and has performed lounge gigs as far afield as Morocco.
Oskar Pöhnl, Drums & Lead Vocals
Oskar was born in Weiden, Bavaria close to the Czech border. He enjoys cult status in German Blues circles having played with the Al Jones Bluesband, Sonny Rhodes, Tommy Tucker, Champion Jack Dupree and Louisiana Red in places like the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals as early as 1978.
Uli Lehmann, Bass
Uli was born in the German wine-growing region Palatinate. He played in places like the Arabian Emirates and Hong Kong doing beertent music before moving to Munich and studying jazz bass. After that he played and recorded with Ali, Lisa Fitz, Ringsgwandl, Meilhammer & Schlenger, Steve Bigman Clayton and The Peter Schneider Band before joining the Stimulators.
Hans Mühlegg, Congas, Bongos, Timbales & Percussion
Hans was born and raised near Murnau in Bavaria. It was there that he started to play percussion and formed a band with his school mates called “Fretless”. As he became more serious about his art, he studied with César Granados at the Munich Latin percussion school and even stayed in Cuba and Africa for a while to deepen his knowledge about rhythm.
Marcio Tubino, Saxophone, Flute, Percussion
Born in Porto Alegre, Brasil, Marcio came to Germany with the group “Raiz De Pedra”, who had a deal with the Enja jazz label. He now lives in Munich and has played with people like Egberto Gismondi, Alegre Coreira and many others. He is not a full time member of The Stimulators, but since 2003 he has played on all of their albums and on a lot of their live shows. He is to the Stims kind of what Bobby Keys is to the Rolling Stones.
Discography
- Loaded, 2009 (CD)
- Style, 2007 (CD/DVD)
- Spin, 2005 (CD)
- Live & Direct, 2004 (CD)
- Live, 2004 (MiniDVD)
- Pirate Music, 2003 (CD)
- Secret Mission, 2000 (CD)
- Voodoo Swing, 1999 (CD)