S.T.S.

Up until 1975 the three musicians worked independently and played in various bands in Styria and Germany before they formed a trio. After Gert Steinbäcker and Schiffkowitz had, at times, formed a loose formation, Günter Timischl was the last member of the trio to join up. S.T.S,'s first brief public performance was part of "Forum Stadtpark" in Graz – a small event, mostly attended by poets. Soon after the band was booked for a "real" performance on 4 December 1975 during which the trio was complemented by an English bongo player. The initial performances were quite successful but limited to the immediate region (Graz, Fürstenfeld, Güssing and Gleisdorf). However, following this regional tour the members of the band decided to pursue individual projects and performed a presumed farewell concert in April 1976 in Graz. Tough years followed in the three musicians' careers. Günter Timischl performed as a solo artist without much success and, until 1976/77, survived by working as a window cleaner and in other jobs. He finally joined UN peacekeepers and performed in Cyprus in a kind of entertainment unit. However, he never stopped composing his own songs for a prospective later band. In 1978 he returned to his hometown Fürstenfeld.

In 1976 Gert Steinbäcker returned to Germany and slid into a personal crisis. His constantly changing casual work and the resulting creative hiatus made him decide to go back to Styria. There, he recorded a single under the pseudonym of Stony Becker. The single was titled Matchless Woman (B side: Catherine) and was a flop.

In the meantime, in the summer of 1976, Schiffkowitz travelled to the USA to do interviews with well-known musicians for a radio station. In his own words, this trip was a major contribution to his personal development as he wanted to "... haul the idols of his past from their pedestals". After three and a half months he returned to Styria to start his mandatory community service. He also used the material from his overseas trip to start writing a book. In 1978 the three musicians met again and started "S.T.S." for good.

The trio initially wrote a few songs whereby each member contributed from what they had composed in the previous years. In the beginning, half of their lyrics were written in English before they settled on the Syrian dialect of the German language. However, gigs were rare and limited to Graz, Gleisdorf and Fürstenfeld and so they had to take on part-time jobs. Timischl met his later wife Lotte, Steinbäcker worked, among other jobs, as a stagehand and as a composer for plays for children and youth. Schiffkowitz continued writing his book and worked as a freelance journalist. Finally, in 1979 S.T.S.'s first single was released with the title Matter of Sex and which had been composed by Schiffkowitz. The B-side was by Gert Steinbäcker and was titled With You. The project was a failure and as a result, the record company asked them to sing in Italian. The three declined and eventually terminated the contract with the producer.

In 1979 Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung also had their first success. When they planned a summer tour, S.T.S. joined them and for a while were playing for "E.A.V.". In addition, Günter Timischl was frequently playing with "Opus", where he provided musical support for numerous concerts besides his work for S.T.S. It took until 1980 that the Ariola record label took notice of the live demo tapes by S.T.S. and produced the single Da kummt die Sunn, an adaption by Schiffkowitz of The Beatles’ classic Here Comes the Sun. The B-side contained the song Geht’s Da Guat (Are you ok?) by Günter Timischl. Da kummt die Sunn became very popular on the radio but did not sell well. Still, the record label decided to release an LP record and by March 1981 the LP Gegenlicht had been produced. It sold 2,000 copies and was considered a respectable achievement; however, the real breakthrough was yet to come.

The next S.T.S. was a self-produced single with the title Automaten-Karl S.T.S. This one too sold only a few hundred copies and as a result, the members of the band lived primarily from extended concert tours. They separated from E.A.V. completely to focus on their own projects. During this time, the band was in a deep crisis, yet they released their fourth single. The contract with Ariola had long been terminated when in 1983 the musicians produced the single Irgendwann bleib i dann dort (One day I'll stay there) in a small studio in Oberschützen in Burgenland. This too was only of limited success and sold 5,000 copies. The song became a hit only two years later and became popular as an anthem for people who opt out of society.

At the beginning of 1984, the artists formed definite plans to dismantle the band and decided to continue to the end of the year at the most. At this time, the band received a call from the Viennese Amadeo record label that had noticed some demo tapes that it had received. The label offered to fund an LP record, which was recorded in March and April 1984 in Vienna.

At the beginning of May 1984 the second LP record by S.T.S., titled Überdosis G’fühl (Overdose of feeling) was launched. Initially, only 500 copies were produced. This record contains titles such I hab di Leben g'sehn (I have seen you living) and Das neue Vaterland (The new fatherland).

When ten songs for this LP record had been completed, the record label suggested that there was room for one more song. In discussing the situation Schiffkowitz remembered a song that had been composed in 1982 by the Styrian musician Josef Jandrisits and was titled With a Little Help. The lyrics had been written by Schiffkowitz, and Josef Jandrisits agreed to have the song re-arranged and the lyrics replaced with German lyrics. The song was now titled Fürstenfeld and was a reference to Günter Timischl who is so passionate about his hometown and was initially intended as a parody. The Fürstenfeld song by Jandrisits had been part of S.T.S. concerts for years. Now Fürstenfeld would become the first single release from the new LP record. Fürstenfeld was the trio's breakthrough – the LP record sold 70,000 copies within a year (platinum), the single even sold 140,000 copies.

In the same year, S.T.S.'s growing success caused to Günter Timischl leave Opus for which he had played as a band musician for many years. The last Opus show with Timischl as a member was in Oberwart in Burgenland. The single Live Is Life was created from a live recording of that show. In the summer of 1984, its worldwide sales were three million. Following a sold-out tour, S.T.S. produced a new LP record, titled Grenzenlos (Limitless).

That LP record, released before the end of 1985, was an even bigger success than Überdosis G’fühl und went fourfold platinum. Included on the record were the titles Kalt und Kälter (Cold and colder) and Irgendwann bleib i dann dort, which climbed to the top of the Austrian charts two years after it was written. The success of the album was followed by a sold-out autumn tour. During it, keyboarder Ewald Beit was supporting the shows for the first time as he had already been playing on the first studio recordings. Amidst the production of records and extensive tours, S.T.S. took creative breaks of several months each.

In 1986 the biggest S.T.S. tour so far followed. It included 50 shows and brought the trio to Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, amongst other places. As early as August 1987 the fourth LP, titled Augenblicke (Blinks of an eye) followed with the proven studio musicians from the previous album contributing their parts. Another sold-out summer tour followed and then an extended break lasting two years.

During 1988, when the band did not tour, the double album S.T.S. – Auf Tour (On tour) was released consisting of live recordings of shows in Graz, Linz and Vienna. Again, in 1989 there were no releases of new material, but instead two samples (Glanzlichter (Highlights), Gö, du bleibst…), a best-of selection from the four albums so far.

Towards the end of 1989, S.T.S. gained momentum again. Gert Steinbäcker was putting the last touches on a solo album while Günter Timischl was occasionally performing with "Magic ’69 Reunion", a relaunch of the band "Magic 69" of which he had been a member of 1973. Before long, S.T.S's sixth album was ready. It was titled Jeder Tag zählt (Every day counts) and was accompanied by another extensive tour. Further supporting musicians were hired; beginning with this tour, alongside Ewald Beit on keyboards, the German drummer Gerhard Wennemuth, who had been voted best drummer residing in Austria in 1984, became a permanent companion of S.T.S. Erich Buchebner on bass was another addition. S.T.S. established its typical work cycle. Each production of a record was followed by a long tour, which was in turn followed by a break lasting several months. In 1990 the album Jeder Tag zählt was released together with the single Drago. In June 1992 the band released its tenth album, titled Auf a Wort (In a word). That album strongly articulates the band members' personal positions against right-wing extremism, especially in the song Und es ist so schön da (It is so lovely here) in which Schiffkowitz refers to events in the Nazi concentration camps. The following year, 1993, had been scheduled as a year without an album release, but the band offered a surprise. For the occasion of the Styrian regional exhibition, S.T.S. and at the request of its organiser, S.T.S. set poems by the Styrian writer Peter Rosegger to music. The album was simply titled Rosegger.

After three years without a "real" S.T.S. album, the band released another one in 1995. For the first time since 1981, the members recorded in a studio in Styria that was owned by the "Opus" guitar player Ewald Pfleger. The result was the album Zeit (Time), which was followed by a tour of 50 concerts. Yet again, large concert halls sold out and more people than ever saw the open-air concerts. It became the most successful S.T.S. autumn tour yet with appropriately 150,000 concert-goers in Austria and Germany. The final round was a series of six shows in spring and summer 1996, during which the band played in Germany together with Pur and Toto and in Austria together with Sting and Toto. In the same year, the best-of CD Die größten Hits aus 15 Jahren (The greatest hits of 15 years) was released. As expected, a one-year-long break followed, during which the band worked on a new album, which was released in 1998 and titled Volle Kraft (Full power). The following tour was almost only played at big venues such as the Wiener Stadthalle and four times at Circus Krone Munich. In the same year, the best-of CD Master Series was released. Volle Kraft was to be S.T.S.'s last studio production for many years. The band focused instead on their large tours, which continued to remain very successful in contrast to its presence in the media.

In 2000, the double album S.T.S. & Band Live followed. It revisits landmarks of the band's history over 20 years. The series of large concerts continued in the summer of 2002; it included a few songs of S.T.S.'s then forthcoming album. In 2003 S.T.S. released that album, Herzverbunden (Joint Hearts), which was also presented live in a series of concerts in the autumn of 2004 and spring and summer 2005.

On 31 August 2007, another album Neuer Morgen (A new morning), was released containing 14 new songs, of which Ende nie (No end) came out early as a promo-Single. The response of the radio stations was very reserved; the song's topic, which refers to the conflict between Islam and the western world, must have sat too uncomfortably. Lyric lines such as "you western, decadent asses" or "mufti" were among the reasons for Styria's local radio station refusing to play the song. In a newspaper interview, the station's manager responsible for music selection stated that this song did not represent the "positive attitude towards life" that Radio Styria wanted to convey.[2]

In 2012 S.T.S. performed its farewell tour.[3] As a final token of appreciation, all three members of the band, Schiffkowitz, Timischl and Steinbäcker, received Decorations of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.[4] In July 2014 the trio announced that they would no longer perform together.[5] The stated reasons were health problems of Günter Timischl.

• Ewald Beit (from 1980) – keyboards, accordion

At the age of 24, he studied jazz piano and composition at Musikhochschule Graz and played with many Austrian bands such as Wilfried, Franz Morak, Hansi Lang and Stefanie Werger. In addition, he wrote film music for several TV films. From 1986 he supported S.T.S during their performances.

• Gerd Wennemuth (from 1989) – percussion

Gerhard Wennemuth was born in Hannover and underwent classical percussion training at Musikhochschule Graz. In 1984 he was voted best drummer residing in Austria by "Jazz-Live". From 1992 he supported S.T.S during their performances.

• Erich Buchebner (1983–1996, from 2008) – bass

From 1983 Erich Buchebner was a studio musician for S.T.S. In the early 1990s and from 2008 he also participated in live concerts. He was a freelance studio and live musician and one of the most sought-after bass players in the Austropop scene (EAV, Peter Cornelius, Opus, Stefanie Werger and many more). He studied arrangement and composition at Musikhochschule Graz double bass. He also worked with many jazz greats such as Wolfgang Puschnig, Karl Ratzer and others.

• Franz Zettl (from 2001) – wind instruments, keyboards

From 1994 Franz Zettl was head of department for keyboard instruments training at the conservatorium. Among others, he worked with EAV, Carl Peyer and other acclaimed musicians. From 2001 he was a member of S.T.S.

• Peter Szammer (1980–1989) – percussion

Peter Szammer was the drummer on the first four studio albums of S.T.S.

• Erich Reinberger (1980–1983) – bass

Up until 1983 Reinberger, who was playing with Schiffkowitz, Günter Timischl and the „Fürstenfeld“ composer Jandrisits, was a studio bass player for S.T.S. During the studio recordings of the first album Gegenlicht, he played e-bass alongside the double bass player Ewald Oberleitner. Erich Reinberger was born in Fürstenfeld and today lives near Graz.[6]

• Wolfram Abt (1996–2008) – bass

Abt began his band career at the age of 16 and has since played - among others - with Opus, Robby Musenbichler, Tony Maier and many others. In 1995 he completed his jazz studies and was with S.T.S. from 1996. Abt died on the night of 1 February 2008.

• Mischa Krausz (2008) – bass

Krausz replaced Wolfram Abt as a bass player during the summer tour of 2008. He teaches music in Wiener Neustadt.