Biography
Formed in Austria by four sound-obsessed Viennese instrumentalists—Wolfgang Schlögl, Markus Kienzl, Wolfgang Frisch, and Michael Holzgruber—Sofa Surfers emerged as a unit that fuses trip-hop, dub, acid jazz, and post-rock. Their first single, “Sofa Rockers,” appeared in 1997 and received a remix from fellow Austrian head Richard Dorfmeister; the same year MCA gave their debut album, Transit, an international release. Klein Records issued the follow-up, Cargo, in 1999, after which Constructions: Sofa Surfers Remixed and Dubbed arrived in 2000, presenting reinterpretations by Dorfmeister, Howie B, and Mad Professor.
The quartet entered film scoring with the 2000 soundtrack Komm, Süsser Tod (Come Sweet Death) and returned to the studio for the 2002 concept album Encounters, which examined xenophobia and artificial borders while featuring folk-blues singer/songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols, Pop Group/Maffia singer Mark Stewart, reggae’s Junior Delgado, and hip-hop acts Dälek and Sensational. They collaborated with Marcel Barsotti on the score for the 2003 thriller The Poet, then composed the entire soundtrack for the 2004 crime film Silentium before releasing the self-titled Sofa Surfers in 2005. Further scores followed for the 2006 documentary Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX) and the 2009 detective film Der Knochenmann (The Bone Man).
After departing Klein, the group signed with Monoscope Productions, which put out Blindside in 2010, Superluminal in 2012, and Scrambles, Anthems and Odysseys in 2015; that same year they supplied the music for the crime comedy Das Ewige Leben (Life Eternal). In 2017 Monoscope released 20, a collection of new material and reworked favorites marking two decades of Sofa Surfers’ activity.
The quartet entered film scoring with the 2000 soundtrack Komm, Süsser Tod (Come Sweet Death) and returned to the studio for the 2002 concept album Encounters, which examined xenophobia and artificial borders while featuring folk-blues singer/songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols, Pop Group/Maffia singer Mark Stewart, reggae’s Junior Delgado, and hip-hop acts Dälek and Sensational. They collaborated with Marcel Barsotti on the score for the 2003 thriller The Poet, then composed the entire soundtrack for the 2004 crime film Silentium before releasing the self-titled Sofa Surfers in 2005. Further scores followed for the 2006 documentary Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX) and the 2009 detective film Der Knochenmann (The Bone Man).
After departing Klein, the group signed with Monoscope Productions, which put out Blindside in 2010, Superluminal in 2012, and Scrambles, Anthems and Odysseys in 2015; that same year they supplied the music for the crime comedy Das Ewige Leben (Life Eternal). In 2017 Monoscope released 20, a collection of new material and reworked favorites marking two decades of Sofa Surfers’ activity.
Albums
