Faun (band)

Faun
Pade and Pawelke live at the 2007 Wave-Gotik-Treffen
Background information
Genres	Pagan folk Darkwave Neo-Medieval music Folk rock (recent)
Years active	2002-present
Labels	Banshee, Noir Records, Polydor
Associated acts	Schandmaul, Sava
Website	www.faune.de
Members	Oliver SaTyr Fiona Rüggeberg Rüdiger Maul Niel Mitra Sonja Drakulich Stephan Groth Laura Fella
Past members	Elisabeth Pawelke Birgit Muggenthaler Sandra Elflein Margareta Aibl ("Rairda") Katja Moslehner
Notable instruments
Celtic harp, nyckelharpa, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, cittern, flute, harp, bousouki, jaw harp, whistles, seljefloit, tar, riq, davul, panriqello, darabukka, timba, gaxixi

Faun is a German band formed in 2002 who play pagan folk, darkwave and medieval music. The originality of their music style is that they fall back to "old" instruments, and the singing is always the center of attention. The vocals are performed in a variety of languages, including German, Latin, Greek, and Scandinavian languages. Their instruments include Celtic harp, Swedish nyckelharpa, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, cittern, flutes and many others.

The band was founded in 1998 by Oliver "SaTyr" Pade, Elisabeth Pawelke, Fiona Rüggeberg and Birgit Muggenthaler. Two years later, Rüdiger Maul got into the band as percussionist. At the same time, Birgit left the band, to continue her musical life with the folk-rock band Schandmaul. In 2002, they released their first album Zaubersprüche. Niel Mitra was a guest musician on this album, and he later became a full-time member of the band, the only one playing only electronic instruments.

In 2003 the band released their second album, Licht, and performed at several festivals in support of this music.

Elisabeth Pawelke left Faun in 2008 to focus on her studies in classical song in Basel, Switzerland. She was succeeded by Sandra Elflein who left Faun in April 2010 due to a pregnancy and health issues. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Rairda replaced her but left the band in 2012. She was succeeded by Katja Moslehner.

In 2013 the band toured Europe, including Berlin.

Also in 2013 the band published their seventh studio album Von den Elben which became the first Faun album to reach top ten positions in the album charts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and was also their first album to chart in the latter two countries. It was nominated for the ECHO award in the categories 'National Rock/Pop Group' and 'National Newcomer of the Year'.