Subway to Sally
| Subway to Sally | |
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Subway to Sally on their Kreuzfeuer tour in Bielefeld, 2009
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Potsdam, Germany |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Various, see discography |
| Website | http://www.subwaytosally.de/ |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Subway to Sally is a Folk metal band that was founded in Potsdam, Germany, in the early 1990s. Their music has clear folk and medieval influences, later also with gothic and metal elements added to the mix. With their continuous inclusion of oriental sounds and elements of classical music (noted for instance by the use of the arrangements of the backup vocals) and the use of instruments less frequently seen in metal bands, such as bagpipes, shawm, violin, hurdy-gurdy and lute, the band has acquired the label of medieval metal. They have released 12 studio albums, two live albums and two live DVDs. Their fame is mainly in the German-speaking countries, having played only a handful of concerts outside of that.
The very first concert given by Subway to Sally was held in September 1990. The band then consisted of Ingo Hampf, Bodenski, Simon, Coni (trumpet) and Guido (drums). Their first appearance onstage in the constellation with which they later recorded their first album (Album 1994), was given in the Potsdamer "Stube" in January 1992. The group had decided on needing a fiddle to complete the sound, something which brought Frau Schmitt (Silke Volland) to the band, who in turn introduced Eric Fish (Erik Hecht) on the bagpipes.
In the early years, Subway to Sally played Irish / Scottish inspired folk rock, as reflected by the track list of their first album, being the only album where the majority of songs are in English (for this they hired a friend to write lyrics in English). The group then decided they wanted to keep their lyrics in German, thus being a part of the first wave of bands to do so after the Berlin wall broke down. Their second album, released in 1995 and aptly named MCMXCV, saw a mixture of biblically inspired lyrics and what is often referred to as medieval music, thus placing the label medieval metal firmly onto their foreheads. A label that they still are being confronted with, though the music can hardly be described as such and though the band repeatedly try to deny it. Three major changes can be noted with the release of MCMXCV. First, the appearing of the self-written German lyrics penned by Bodenski, second, Eric Fish moved up from being the piper to being the frontman and main singer. Third, the focus of the music was no longer on folklore with the occasional self-composed song tossed in for measure, but was turned around to exactly the opposite, with the two translated folk songs "Krähenfraß" ("The twa Corbies") and "Carrickfergus" adapted to fit the band's style.
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