SELIG

When Selig released their debut single “Sie hat geschrien” in 1994, it caused quite a stir. A mixture of grunge and rock, but with German lyrics – no one had done that before. “I remember how we used to sit in Lehmitz and philosophize – that we had to break new ground for rock ‘n’ roll, that we had to stand out and be outstanding,” Jan Plewka recalls with amusement. “We really set out with a big mouth, nothing could touch us. We were the horsemen of the apocalypse.” The self-titled debut album, produced by Franz Plasa, brought the band their commercial breakthrough shortly afterwards, including heavy rotation on music television, sold-out shows, and an Echo award. What followed is a classic rock ‘n’ roll story: with their significantly more psychedelic second album, “Hier,” the band celebrated their new rock star life, but then they were overwhelmed by their own success. Shortly after the release of their third album, “Blender,” which was recorded in New York and leaned more toward pop, singer Jan Plewka left the band amid controversy. In 1999, Selig announced their breakup. Jan Plewka, guitarist Christian Neander, bassist Leo Schmidhals, and drummer Stephan “Stoppel” Eggert devoted nine years to other projects before announcing their comeback in 2008. Since then, things have been better than ever for Selig: With “Und endlich unendlich” (2009), which achieved gold status, “Von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit” (2010), ‘Magma’ (2013), and “Kashmir Karma” (2017), they have released four albums and made it into the top 10 of the German charts three times. They have participated in the Bundesvision Song Contest, re-recorded songs from the band's history for the album “Die Besten (1994-2014)” and, most recently, asked musician friends such as Wolfgang Niedecken, Johannes Oerding, and Olli Schulz to reinterpret their songs for the compilation “SELIG macht SELIG.” Starting in April, Jan Plewka will be featured in the new season of the VOX show “Sing meinen Song,” and Selig's eighth album is scheduled for release in the fall. “The crazy thing is: today we have a similar feeling to how we felt at the beginning of our career,” says Leo Schmidhals. “You're excited about the things you're doing. Today, of course, it's completely different issues that move us. But there's so much to do out there in society—you can't keep your mouth shut, you have to say something.”