LaBrassBanda

LaBrassBanda emerged from Bavaria as a brass ensemble rooted in Übersee beside the Chiemsee, shaping a Neue Volksmusik sound that fuses traditional brass elements with ska, techno, funk, and punk. National recognition arrived for the group during the late 2000s and early 2010s, accompanied by an expanded touring footprint that reached Africa and Russia. Their visibility surged when the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest submission “Nackert” propelled the album Europa into the Top Ten. Audiences came to associate the band with high-energy performances delivered barefoot in lederhosen and T-shirts.

Trumpet player and vocalist Stefan Dettl assembled the lineup in 2007 alongside bassist Oliver Wrage, tuba player Andreas Hofmeier, trombonist Manuel Winbeck, and drummer Manuel da Coll. The self-recorded and self-produced debut Habediehre appeared in 2008, rapidly elevating LaBrassBanda’s standing, just as their unconventional trek from Übersee to Vienna for the 2008 European soccer championship—undertaken on mopeds and a tractor—did. The follow-up Übersee surfaced in 2009 and coincided with the first international dates in Russia, Zimbabwe, and Denmark. A pause in relentless touring in 2011 opened space for frontman Dettl’s solo endeavors, after which the live recording Live: Olympiahalle München documented a 2012 Munich concert.

LaBrassBanda entered “Nackert” in the Unser Song für Malmö selection process for Germany’s Eurovision entry; although the track did not prevail, the exposure lifted Europa, which contained the song, to number three on the charts. Following the exits of Wrage and Hofmeir, newcomers Mario Schönhofer on bass, Jörg Hartl and Korbinian Weber on trumpet, Tobias Weber on percussion, and Stefan Huber on tuba refreshed the roster and sustained momentum through the 2014 release Kiah Royal. A dub reworking of Europa titled Europa in Dub arrived the next year, and the studio album Around the World followed in 2017.