Members - Guadalajara

Style: Ska/ Punk/ Pop
Founded: 1999
One of the 5 biggest Alternative Bands in Austria
Played the biggest Festivals in Austria and
Swizzerland including: Frequency, Aerodrome,
Novarock, 2 Days a week, Donauinselfest, Open Air
Gränichen
Shared stage with: Guns´n Roses, The Offspring,
Velvet Revolver, Bloodhound Gang, Mando Diao,
Asian Dub Foundation, The Hives, Flogging Molly,
Billy Talent,…
200 Shows in 9 different Countries
Members:
Volker Schaffler: vocals, guitar
Bernhard Kaufmann: trumpet, vocals
Martin Dietl: trumpet, vocals
Markus Wonisch: trombone, keyboard
Andreas Posch: saxophone
Georg Laller: bass
Gregor Münch: guitar
Thomas Konrad: drums
Brief description:
„Guadalajara“ are an Austrian phenomenon. Due to their tireless touring, the ska/punk/pop-band has become
one of the biggest alternative bands in Austria. Crucial to their sold-out shows and their big fan base in Austria is
an explosive live show of the 8-piece outfit with their unique punk rooted mixture of ska, rock, swing, reggae
and pop music. The brass section consisting of two trumpets, a trombone and a saxophone makes the melodies
for the millions and plays the songs directly into the hearts of the fans. Watching the boys, everyone realises that
they really feel their music with every bone in their bodies: pure energy.
Although the band members – aged from 21 to 25 – seem to be relatively young, they can look back on an 8Year-band-history, 2 album releases, a live DVD and over 200 shows in 9 different countries. Amongst others,
they have shared the stage with legendary bands, including Guns´n Roses, The Offspring, Velvet Revolver,
Bloodhound Gang, Mando Diao, Asian Dub Foundation, The Hives and Flogging Molly. “Guadalajara” have
appeared at the biggest festivals in Austria, which include the Novarock festival, the Frequency festival, the 2
Days a week Festival in Wiesen and the Donauinselfest, the biggest open air festival in Europe.
The Highlights:
•
DVD “Live at the PPC”: April 2006
•
17 Shows Austria /Slovenia/Italy Tour November/December 2006 with an average number of
attendants of over 750
•
2nd Album „Trampled Pathways“: February 2005
•
National radio airplay of “Short Time Romance”, “Trampled Pathways” and “Mondays” (FM4 /
Soundportal 97,9 FM / Campusradio 94,4)
•
Video airplay of “Burn them down” and “Short time Romance” on Gotv
•
„Trampled Pathways“ Record of the week on Radio Soundportal 97,9 FM
•
Interview on MTV Adria December 2006
•
12 weeks top 10 in the alternative charts in Latvia, of which 4 weeks top 2
•
Headline tour in Austria 2005 with an average number of 400 plus guests
•
Appearance at the FM4 Frequency Festival 04, Salzburg
•
Appearance at the 2 Days a week Festival 04, Wiesen
•
Appearance at the Aerodrome Festival 05, Arena Nova Wr. Neustadt
•
Appearance at the Donauinselfest 05, FM4 Stage, Vienna
•
Appearance at the Novarock Festival 06, Pannonia Fields
•
Appearance at the 2 Days a week Festival 06, Wiesen
•
Over 200 shows played so far, averaging 60 shows per year
•
Shows in 9 different countries: Austria, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Switzerland, Slovenia
•
Xbox 360-Spot with added music November / December 2005 on Gotv
•
All Europe Eastpak-Spot 2006 with added music (song „Trampled Down Pathways“)
Band history:
Founded in 1999, Guadalajara came 2nd among over 60 participating bands at the Austrian “Battle of the Bands”
Competitionatthe Orpheum in Graz in 2001.
2002 sees the band recording their first full length album “All you can dance” at a small recording studio in
Markt Hartmannsdorf and they go on to sell the entire 1000 copies pressed at the following shows. Soon after
singer Ernesto leaves the band for personal reasons. Former guitar player Volker takes over on vocals and has
been holding a joint position as singer and guitarist since then. Responsible now for the lyrics are trumpeter
Bernhard Kaufmann and Volker Schaffler.
In 2003 „Austria’s best Ska-combo“ (Slamzine 03) tours Austria and Germany with 3 Feet Smaller, And the
winner is (D) and Cheek Dakota.
Having Austrian radio stations such as FM4, Soundportal and Campusradio noticing the band, the single „I don’t
like Mondays“, a Boomtown Rats Cover, appears as a continuous-radio-airplay in Austria and Guadalajara gain
publicity outside of the alternative scene. Finally, the song hits several radio charts, amongst others the Radio
Soundportal annual chart.
2004 Guadalajara play - besides a multiplicity of club shows - at two of Austria’s biggest festivals, the „2 Days a
Week” festival in Wiesen and the Frequency festival in Salzburg together with bands such as Velvet Revolver,
The Offspring, Flogging Molly, Die Ärzte, Seeed and many more. Shortly after, long-time bassist Thomas
Rathkolb leaves the band to concentrate on his job, and the band records its second album, together with
transitional bassist Gerald Zollner, at the Naked Lunch bassist Herwig ‘Fuzzman’ Zamernik’s “Fuzzroom”
recording studios in Klagenfurt in December.
The second and most recent album by Guadalajara called „Trampled Pathways“ (Acute Music/Edel) is released
at the beginning of March 2005 and the band does a headline album launch tour in Austria with an average of at
least 400 guests per show. Georg Laller replaces bassist Gerald Zollner and Guadalajara plays nearly 50 club
shows in the next 7 months, as well as festival shows such as the Aerodrome Festival (with bands like
Rammstein, Slipknot, The Hives, Asian Dub Foundation), or the Donauinsel festival on the FM4 stage.
“Trampled Pathways” is voted as ‘Record of the Week’ by the alternative radio station Radio Soundportal and
the first single called “Short time Romache” hits top 3 in the Soundportal radio charts. In addition, the single is
placed at position one in the Independent-Club User charts for two weeks, and for several weeks in the top 10 of
the Campusradio charts. Additionally the single is frequently played on radio FM4.
At the beginning of April 2006, the Guadalajara-DVD “Live at the PPC” is released, which contains a live
concert filmed with 10 cameras and edited by the movie company ‘Obscura’, a band documentation, as well as a
bunch of bonus material. This record is released through the band’s own label “Slapstick Records” in connection
with “Hoanzl” Distribution Company.
Guadalajara plays a variety of headliner shows in Austria and the neighbouring countries. At the end of April,
the band does a 2 week tour through Italy, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Germany. In Latvia the single
“Burn them Down” hits top 10 in the alternative charts in Latvia for 12 weeks, of which 4 weeks were spent at
number 2.
In June 2006 Guadalajara appears at the Novarock festival. The band opens the festival at noon and its
appearance is watched by an audience of 12.000, Guadalajara attracts only 2.000 less than the headliner of this
day: Seeed – one of the most outstanding moments of the band’s history. The following bands however, play to
an audience of approximately only 500 people, which highlights the mass appeal of Guadalajara.
In November / December Guadalajara tours with 3 Feet Smaller and Vanilla Sky on the traditional „Punk is dead
Tour“ for the third time. 17 Shows over six weekends lead the three bands across Austria, Italy and Slovenia.
The average number of attendants is over 800 and all Austrian shows are sold out.
In 2007 Gregor Münch, former guitarist of the Austrian band „Once tasted Life“ joins the band and Guadalajara
keeps on working on the next album which is to be released in autumn 2007.
Guadalajara Discography
DVD: “Live at the PPC” + Band Documentary (2006)
In September 2005 Guadalajara and their friendly video-production team “Obscura-Kunst und Medien” decide to
shoot a sold-out live-show at the PPC in Graz, with an audience counting more than 900 people. The show
including cheerleader, fire-breathers, an additional brass section of 10 people, several guest acts as well as a load
of further surprises is professionally filmed with 10 cameras.
During the shooting phase of the live-material, Guadalajara collect over 40 hours of video material from the past
7 years starting from the first rehearsal and the first show ever till the big festival shows. Interviews with the
band members are shot subsequently and the whole material is condensed into a
40-minutes band documentation. The boys are presented as they really are: A little bit crazy, always having a
cheeky comment on the tip of their tongues, but nevertheless incredibly likeable.
Six months and thousands hours of work later, the DVD is finished and the result is more than presentable. The
band decides to found its own label “Slapstick Records” to release the DVD independently. Moreover, the DVD
is released in collaboration with the distribution of Hoanzl in Austria.
Album: „Trampled Pathways“ (2005)
The 11 songs of their new, second album "Trampled Pathways" make Gaudalajara's qualities immediately
apparent. From the opener "Burn Them Down" ("on this journey straight to your luck / out of these desperate
days / you have to follow your heart") to the notable sounds of "What the hell is Babylon", there is evidence of
the diverse mix of Reggae Clichés and humour (in the lines "Nobody is strong like a lion /... / except Clarence
and Simba / and the Jamaican bobsleigh team").
On some tracks one observes an unpretentious melancholy, a likeable thoughtfulness that is not only reflecting
on affections that have passed, but also resenting the course of time and of the world: "Like a smash hit once,
now played on retro shows." “Trampled Pathways” claims to be not only a party record, for the theme song is
about the longing to escape from a “nine to five”-life; “The Great Ape Venture” is a definitive expression of
resentment towards George Walker Bush, the “schoolyard bully of the world”.
Throughout the whole album, the 8 boys from Guadalajara are shown at their best. The brass section switches
easily from triumphant party-clarions to melancholic figures, the rhythm section is always straight to the point
despite its flexibility and swings and rocks without difficulty , the guitar provides additional energy and Volker
“Aerie” Schaffler adds the vocal highlights: "Six days in seventh heaven sticking together / Piña Coladas - just
our kisses were better".
Album „All you can dance“ (2002)
The debut release from Guadalajara is called „All you can dance“. After having had lunch in an “All you can eat
& drink” restaurant, the band reckons, that “All you can dance” would be an appropriate title for a danceable
album. 10 tracks are recorded at the Fairplay Recording Studio in a 3 months weekend stint in Markt
Hartmannsdorf together with Manfred Stengg as sound engineer. Considering that all band members are still
teenagers (16-18) at that time, the album can still be seen as a foot in the door of the music business. The record
also includes the cover version “I don’t like Mondays” - a Boomtown Rats cover - that would attract a great deal
of attention from alternative radio stations at a later date.
Discography:
LP´s:
Trampled Pathways
(2005/ Acute Music/ Edel)
All you can dance
(2002/ Eigenvertrieb)
DVD
Live at the PPC (+ Documentary)
(2006/ Slapstick Records/Hoanzl)
Videos:
•
•
Burn them Down (2005)
Short Time Romance (2006)
Singles:
•
•
•
•
I don’t like Mondays (2002)
Short time Romance (2005)
Is it (2005)
Trampled Pathways (2006)
Compilations:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Triebwerk 6-Jahres Jubiläum Sampler (2002)
Rattlesnake Jubilee Sampler (2004)
Eastpak ProPunkrocker Vol. 3 (2004/ Germany)
Goldfish records Sampler (2003)
Schubumkehr Vol. I (2003)
Schubumkehr Vol. 2 (2005)
A-Punk Sampler (2005)
From Punk to Ska III (2006)
So far Guadalajara has shared the stage amongst others with:
Guns´n Roses (Usa), The Offspring (Usa), Billy Talent (Can), Velvet Revolver (Usa), Bloodhound Gang (Usa),
Die Ärzte (D), Seeed (D), Die Fantastischen 4 (D), No Use for A Name (USA), Madsen (D), Useless ID (Isr),
Patrice (D), Faithless (Uk) The Darkness (Uk), The Movement (Dk), Slipknot(Usa), Rammstein (D), Asian Dub
Foundation (Fr), Mando Diao (Swe), Donots (D), Dropkick Murpheys (Usa), Rand (Swe), Gogol Bordello (Usa),
Lagwagon (USA), Mad Caddies (Usa), The Toasters (USA), Go Jimmy Go (Usa), Flogging Molly (Usa), The
Distillers (Usa), Thursday (Usa), The Bronx (Usa), MIA (D), The Locos (E), The Slackers (Usa), Liberator
(Swe), Big D. and the Kids Table (Usa), Le Babacooles (D), The Soundtrack of our lives (Swe), Lightyear (Uk),
King Django (Usa), de Heideroosjes (Nl), Nguru (Ch), Elvis Jackson (Slo), Cataract (Ch), Fire in the Attic (Ger),
Un Kuartito (Arg), Kettcar (D), The Wohlstandskinder (D), Blumentopf (D), Special Guests (D), Dr. Ring Ding
(D), Kings of Nuthin?? (Usa), The Peepshows (Swe), Face Tomorrow (Nl), And the Winner is(D)...
Contact:
The Arcadia Agency
Music Services
Neulerchenfelder Str. 81, A-1160 Vienna
office: +43 (1) 929 15 51 12
fax: +43 (1) 929 15 51 17
Filip Potocki
+ 43 (0) 699 1 306 306 6
[email protected]
Bernhard Kaufmann
+ 43 (0) 650 332 58 58
[email protected]