Biography
Santiano is a German band from northern Schleswig-Holstein whose music is primarily centred on maritime themes. The band's record label has described its musical style as "shanty rock".
The group combines elements of folk, pop, rock and schlager music, and also performs reinterpretations of traditional folk songs, sea shanties and songs by other artists. Santiano has received several awards, including four Echo Pop awards in the category of folk music group.
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The band's name is derived from the song "Santiano", recorded by French singer Hugues Aufray in 1961, which itself was based on the traditional English sea shanty "O Santianna (All on the Plains of Mexico)".
Santiano was formed in 2011 through an initiative by composer and music producer Hartmut Krech of Elephant Music, the company responsible for producing all of the band's albums. Krech has also played a leading role in the development of the group's songs.
The original line-up consisted of Hans-Timm Hinrichsen, Axel Stosberg, Björn Both, Andreas Fahnert and Pete Sage, all of whom had previously been involved in a variety of musical and theatrical projects. Before joining Santiano, Hinrichsen performed blues and rock music with Jack McTiger and the New Deal, Stosberg worked with the Ohnsorg Theatre ensemble, Both was the frontman of Late September Dogs, Fahnert was a member of Rockwork and composed film music, and Sage worked extensively as a session and touring musician.
The band's debut album, "Bis ans Ende der Welt", was released in February 2012 through We Love Music, a joint label of Universal Music and ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It reached number one on the German album chart. During the same year, Santiano toured German-speaking Europe and appeared at the Wacken Open Air festival. A live CD and DVD documenting the tour was released in November 2012.
The second studio album, "Mit den Gezeiten", followed in May 2013. Its lead single, "Gott muss ein Seemann sein", also entered the charts. The album was supported by a tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Since 2013, Santiano has also maintained an annual summer open-air concert series, including performances at the Kalkberg Stadium in Bad Segeberg and in Ralswiek on the island of Rügen.
In 2013, the band appeared as the support act on a tour by Helene Fischer. In March 2014, Santiano participated in "Unser Song für Dänemark", Germany's national selection for the "Eurovision Song Contest 2014". The songs "The Fiddler on the Deck" and "Wir werden niemals untergehen" reached the semi-final stage.
Since 2012, Andreas Fahnert has experienced several episodes of sudden hearing loss and subsequently stopped participating in live performances on medical advice. In 2023, the band stated in the television documentary "Keiner geht verloren" that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His vocal parts at concerts are performed by Axel Stosberg and Hans-Timm Hinrichsen. Additional live musicians have included guitarist Dirk Schlag, keyboard player Arne Wiegand and drummer Marco Moeller, while Manne Uhlig has served as the band's live drummer since 2015.
In October 2014, Santiano appeared in the German television programme "Verstehen Sie Spaß?", where they were the subject of a hidden-camera prank involving the Dutch cover band Ancora.
The album "Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit" was released in May 2015 and became the band's second number-one album in Germany. A tour in support of the album ran from November 2015 until September 2017. A concert recorded at Berlin's Waldbühne was released in December 2016 as the live album and video "Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit – Live". In April 2017, the band undertook the acoustic tour "Die Ruhe vor dem Sturm".
Santiano's fourth studio album, "Im Auge des Sturms", was released in October 2017. The songs "Sail Away", "Könnt ihr mich hören" and "Ich bring dich heim" were issued in advance of the album.
In June 2019, the band recorded an "MTV Unplugged" performance at Kulturwerft Gollan in Lübeck. Guest performers included Angelo Kelly, Michael Robert Rhein, Alexander Wesselsky, Ben Zucker, Wincent Weiss, Jennifer Haben, Oonagh and Alligatoah. Andreas Fahnert also appeared on stage for the performance of "Die Sehnsucht ist mein Steuermann". The resulting album was released in October 2019 and was also made available in a limited vinyl edition.
In 2021, Santiano released the concept album "Wenn die Kälte kommt", which is themed around an expedition to the polar regions. The title track had been released as a single in September 2020. The album also includes, as a bonus track, a version of "Wellerman" recorded with Nathan Evans and released in February 2021. A planned tour was postponed to 2022 because of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. After several performances had taken place, the tour was interrupted in May 2022 when Björn Both tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The remaining dates were rescheduled and completed later that year.
To mark the band's tenth anniversary, the compilation album "Die Sehnsucht ist mein Steuermann" was released in October 2022. It was preceded by the release of an English-language version of "Santiano", recorded with Nathan Evans, and the single "Die Antwort weiß der Wind".
The studio album "Doggerland" was released in October 2023. It was preceded by the singles "Doggerland", "Bully In The Alley" and "Zu alt um jung zu sterben".
On 21 February 2025, two days before the 2025 German federal election, Santiano released "Da braut sich was zusammen", the lead single from the album of the same name, which is scheduled for release in October 2025. The song references contemporary political developments in Germany.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiano_(band)
Studio albums
Bis ans Ende der Welt (2012)
Mit den Gezeiten (2013)
Mit den Gezeiten (Sonderedition) (2013)
Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit (2015)
Im Auge des Sturms (2017)
Wenn die Kälte kommt (2021)
Doggerland (2023)
Da braut sich was zusammen (2025)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.