Folk-Prog from Berlin

Music that tells stories - music off the beaten path

The Fauns combine acoustic instruments with rock appeal, folkloristic influences with elements of progressive rock, melancholic moments with sound explosions. Flutes, viola and various acoustic guitars interact with keyboards and electric guitars; complex structures and odd time signatures are an integral part of the musical style. There is no one category into which the Fauns allow themselves to be put; their music thrives on the variety of its different influences, the unifying element being intensity of emotion and atmosphere.

News

December 2013. New Photos

In October we went on a photo shooting with photographer Carlos Lidón for some new band pictures. They turned out pretty well, we think. Some of them can be seen on these pages, why not take a new look around...

November 2013. Gig in Berlin-Moabit

On Saturday November 16th we are supporting Spiegelkeller (Mittelalter-Rock/Gothic) at Slaughterhouse in Kulturfabrik Moabit. Joining us will be und Luxuria (Mittelalter/Folk). Doors open at 9p.m. This will be our last concert this year, so if you want to see us once more in 2013, come along!

October 2013. Songs of Middle-Earth

We've recently been given a cute little profile on http://songsofmiddleearth.net, containing some inside information on the band members that you've probably not heard before. Those interested in discovering more Tolkien-inspired music, especially from Eastern Europe, are warmly invited to take a look.

August 2013. Summer break

After two fabulous concerts in Wustrau and Bielawa we are enjoying this gorgeous summer in Berlin, all the wile working on our third album, to be released next year. The next live gig is on the 16th of November, together with Spiegelkeller and Luxuria at Slaughterhouse, Berlin-Wedding.

Juni 2013. Thanks to...

... Devil's Kiss and Ertha, and our great audience for a great concert and a wonderful evening together! To Slaughterhouse for light and sound and our brave helpers for the door, the merch stand and all the pictures.

June 2013. After the gig is before the gig!

The concert season has begun – after an upbeat opening last night at K17 with Lichtscheu and Kultasiipi we are now looking forward to two acoustic summer gigs: June 22 at Dorfkirche Wustrau and July 20 at TolkFolk Festival in Bielawa. But before we set out to Poland we're whooping it up in Berlin: On June 28 (Friday) we're playing with Ertha (Gothic and Doom Metal with classical vocals and growls) and Devil's Kiss (Electro Metal Rock) in the Slaughterhouse at Kulturfabrik Moabit. After having played a great concert with Ertha in Prague in January, we'd love to introduce them to you in Berlin – so come see us! Tickets are six Euros at the door; five if you buy them from us in advance!

April 2013. Gigs Spring/Summer 2013

It's finally stopped snowing in Berlin, and we're ready for an exciting concert summer. We're starting it with Welle Schwarz at K17 on May 31 (Friday), and we've got free tickets for you! Want to see Fauns, Lichtscheu and Kultasiipi for free? Drop us a line! On June 22 (Saturday) we're playing an acoustic concert in celebration of St. John's Eve (with summer solstice bonfire) at Dorfkirche Wustrau, and on June 20 (Saturday) we're off to TolkFolk in Bielawa (Poland), also acoustic. More concerts in spring/summer to be announced.

February 2013. Fauns in the studio

December 2012. Gigs in the new year

In January, the Fauns are embarking on a little gig mini marathon! On Jan 18 we're playing alongside Ertha and Odraedir at EXIT-US in Prague, the next day we move on to an acoustic gig at TolkienCon 2013, and back in Berlin we're rocking Junction Bar for Understorey's record release on Jan 22. Come see us! Till then we wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

July 2012. ...and back again

The Fauns are back from Middle-Earth. At the Hall of Fire we played Elvish songs and listened to tales by candlelight, and we had the greatest time at our concert on the party lawn. The atmosphere at the festival was simply wonderful, the weather was on our side to the very last, and this view from the main stage can hardly be topped.

Thanks to the organizers, helpers and visitors who made the festival such an incredible experience!

July 2012. New EP "Nén" released on July 21st

Just in time for our performance at the Swiss Middle-Earth Festival the Fauns are releasing a new EP inspired by the languages and stories of J.R.R. Tolkien. All songs are sung in Quenya (High-Elven) and recount stories from the Quenta Silmarillion. The two new tracks, "Aldunainie" ('Lament for the Two Trees') and "Neni Quenter Nin" ('The waters spoke to me') tell of the Darkening of Valinor and Tuor's travel to Gondolin, respectively. In addition, the EP will contain an Elvish version of "Cuiviénen", which relates the story of the Elves' awakening and their journey to Valinor. The EP will be sold at live gigs and through the band's homepage. It can be ordered here.

June 2012. Fauns confirmed for MEF 12 in Leuk (Switzerland)

Fauns will be playing the Swiss Middle-Earth Festival on July 20-21. The concert will be held on the main stage on Saturday afternoon. Our setlist will contain pieces sung in the Elvish languages as well as some other songs inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition, there will be smaller gigs at the "Hall of Fire" (Friday night) event and in the "Green Dragon" (Saturday night). MEF has further announced concerts by bands An Lár, Letzte Instanz, Faun, Duivelspack, Koenix and Qui mal y pense.

"The "Middle-Earth Festival" (abbreviated "MEF") is the biggest fantasy event in Switzerland. It will be held for the sixth time in Leuk (Valais Canton). For four days visitors will become part of the world Middle-Earth, created by author J.R.R. Tolkien, who amongst others wrote the seminal work "The Lord of the Rings" as well as "The Hobbit". At the Middle-Earth Festival, this world becomes Reality and opens up to the visitors the doors to an exceptional event. Roughly 1,500 people per day visited the festival in 2005 - the tickets were sold out in less than 7 minutes." (From the official website)

January 2012. Zillo Medieval

Fauns are represented on the latest Zillo-Medieval CD insert (01-2012) with "Way to the Sun".

January 2012. Fauns on Air in the States

The latest episode of the internet radio series "The Voice of Middle Earth" features some songs from LeafFall.

Juli 2011. Fantasy im Wasserschloss

We had a wonderful time at the Second European Fairytale Festival in Wülmersen last Saturday. The castle was a marvellous backdrop, and even the weather played its part, as you can see. Thanks to the enormous camp fire that had been piled up for us, which was lit very profesionally by the Flensburg Scouts, the music session at night wasn't nearly as chilly as it might have been, and everybody had a brilliant time. Many thanks to Susanna Bolz and Kultursommer Nordhessen for organizing this wonderful event! Here is a report from the Hessische/ Niedersächsische Allgemeine Zeitung (in German).

April 2011. Results of our Poll

The outcome of the poll suggests that we were not quite wrong with our labels "FolkProg" and "Folk Progressif". About half of the participants termed our music "FolkRock", the second most frequent terms were Folk and Prog(ressive Rock). Free text entries included FolkRock, FolkProg and even FolkProgRock. We especially liked "Fantasy-Folk-Rock". Here's something to start with! We'd like to thank all participants for their ideas! The winner is Phil from Barnim – we hope you're going to enjoy your copy of the new album!

March 2011. New Album "Awaiting the Sun" out April 1st

No, this is no April Fool's joke: On April 1st, the long-expected new Fauns album "Awaiting the Sun" will finally be released. The album will be distributed by EMG and will be globally available in shops and for download. (And here, of course.) We've uploaded a teaser with excerpts from all the songs so you can get a first impression; a full-length version of "Every Wave Its Prey" can be found on myspace.

Also on April 1st, the FolkZfest at K17 will enter its second round, and this time the Fauns will play as opening act. The new album will be on sale there, of course. Like last time, we have some free tickets for this memorable event. As we're not getting anything of the ticket revenues, and last time we had loads of free tickets left, we'd be grateful if you spent your money on a CD (or two – they make great presents ) instead of a ticket – send us an e-mail! With the release of "Awaiting the Sun" we'll also announce the winners of our poll – so until then you still have the opportunity to take part and maybe win a CD!

December 2010Folk in February: Fauns and Neun Welten - tickets on sale now!

The next Fauns concert will be an event that we are all excitedly looking forward to: On 05 February 2011 we are playing with dark folk band Neun Welten from Leipzig. We are thrilled that Neun Welten are coming to Berlin for the gig, because they simply make the most wonderful music. You can listen to "Frosthauch" and some other pieces from their current album on myspace. Ticket sales for "Folk in February" have just begun; drop us a line if you'd like to buy some – they also make excellent Christmas presents!

Fauns... Fantasy Folk? Metal-ProgRock? Ethnofusionmonsterpunk?

Fauns sounds like Fauns, for we are, of course, way too original, multifaceted, individual and all to fit into any one category. Plus, pidgeonholing is a no-go anyway. And yet...

"So, what kind of music do you guys make?" We'd like to forward this question to you. Since the author (read: composer) is DEAD and of no consequence any more, the audience has to be consulted, and that's what we are hereby doing. Your opinion is much more interesting than our's anyway. So: What kind of music do the Fauns make? Here's our poll. It's in German, but we are pretty sure you're going to work it out. (Number 10 says "None of the above, but:_____".) You might be the lucky winner of our new album, coming out soon!

August 2010. Album Preview

All songs for the second album have been recorded, and we are now in the post production phase, i.e. putting finishing touches on the mixes and the overall sound. We are glad to have mastering expert Tom from TM Productions mastering our album. It will, however, take a while before the CD is released, because we still have to think about a way of distributing the album as well as design a cover and have it printed before we can actually have the CDs pressed. So, a record release concert won't take place until winter. For those who don't want to wait that long, we have uploaded one song from the new album to our myspace page to listen to!

We have also transferred the concert archives (see "past gigs" on the right) and the picture galleries to the new website and added some new photographs.

August 2010. Gig at Friedensfest

We have finished recording and mixing the songs for the new album, so the Fauns can now start playing live again. This Sunday we have a short gig at the Berlin Peace Festival (Friedensfestival). There has been a change of location: We are not playing at Brandenburger Tor, but on Alexanderplatz; probably about 2:30 p.m.

November 2009. Recording album no. 2

After two very enjoyable gigs in October (for a German review of the Skyclad event, see Rock Pop Metal; for more pictures by H. Ransch, go to www.fotoinrock.de), the Fauns have now begun recording their second official studio album. We therefore won't be giving many live performances in the next couple of months, but on 26 November we will play one more gig at Junction-Bar, together with Earbrush. We hope to see many of you there!

September 2009. International Tolkien compilation out now

The CD-compilation „The First Ring” is now available and can be bought from our online shop for 10 € (+ postage). International customers are advised to order directly from Notturno Goblin.

August 2009. Skyclad Event

We are very much looking forward to playing as support for Skyclad on October 25th at the Alte Feuerwache Treptow.

Not only are Skyclad one of our personal favourite bands; they were the first group to play folk metal in the early 90s and significantly influenced bands like Subway to Sally, Suidakra, Eluveitie und Finntroll, whose music would probably never have come into existence as we know it if it weren't for Skyclad. In their early years they added folky violin melodies to metal; by the late 90s accoustic guitars and folky vocals were playing a dominant part. Today they have settled somewhere between folk rock and melodic metal. Excerpts of their current album "In The ... All Together" can be found on their myspace page. Skyclad alone are thus reason enough to come to the concert. Besides them and us, four other bands will be playing: Metal Law, Sinister Five, The Strong Contenders and Familie mit Hund.

Tickets are 15 Euros at the doors; we are selling them for 12. If you're interested, contact us soon (contact(AT)fauns.de) since we only have a limited number of tickets available.

July 2009.International Tolkien compilation announced

The CD compilation "The First Ring", on which the Fauns will be represented with "Cuiviénen", will probably appear in September 2009. On this CD there are twelve different compositions influenced by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, written and performed by bands and musicians from all over the world between England and Nepal. The other artists are Uruk-Hai (Austria), Eithel Ivrin (Poland), Ainulindale (France), Yak (Nepal), Galadhrim (Italy), Minhyriath (Switzerland), Herc (Crete), Numenor (Serbia), Manwe (Austria), Faangrull (France) und Jim Kirkwood (Great Britain).

The stylistic range extends from folk and metal to new age / soundtrack. We'd like to recommend "The First Ring" to all those who enjoy the Tolkien-inspired part of our music. The CD will probably appear in September and will be available from us. We have no information concerning the price as yet.

April 2009.The Fauns are back with a new line-up

We have been keeping quiet for almost one and a half years since the record release concert for LeafFall in November 2007. Contrary to rumours, we have not split up, but have used the time – not only for passing final university exams, but also for rehearsing new material as well as new musicians.

We are happy to introduce our new band members Jan (keyboards) and Kirsten (flute, viola). The new line-up will give their debut on Thursday, 12 May, 2009, 9pm at the Junction Bar (Gneisenaustr. 18, 10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg). We will be joined by Singer/Songwriter Lasse Matthiessen. Further gigs will be on Friday, 12 June, 2009, at Soundlabor (Wittenauer Str. 1A, 13435 Berlin-Wittenau) and Friday, 16 October, at Café Lietze (Herbartstraße 4-6, 14057 Berlin-Charlottenburg). More concerts are in preparation.

Since we have about an hour's worth of new material, and since we want to play a couple of "old" songs as well, the set list will vary between concerts, so it will not be a bad idea to come and see more than one gig. We hope you'll find that the long time of waiting has been worth it, and we're looking forward to meeting many of you at the upcoming concerts.

February 2009.

Website updated

New pictures, reviews and band bibliography up to 2007 uploaded to the "Archives" site (www.fauns-music.de).

December 2007.New website

New website launched December 2007.

December 2007.Maja and Paul leave the band

At the record release concert, Paul and Maja announced their departure. Over the past one or two years, both have found it increasingly difficult to find time for the band. They will, however, be heard on the band's next release, tentatively scheduled for late 2008, about half of which has already been recorded.

November 2007.LeafFall

New record "LeafFall" out 30 November 2007. Order here.

Die nächsten Konzerte

Satuurday, 5 Dezember 2015, 8.30 p.m.
Fauns, Emmeleya and Road Not Taken.
Details will follow shortly.

Past gigs

Reviews