Farin Urlaub

Jan Vetter (born 27 October 1963), better known as Farin Urlaub (from the German Fahr in Urlaub!, "Go on holiday!"), is a German singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist/vocalist for punk rock band . He has also been a solo artist since 2001, touring with his band, the Farin Urlaub Racing Team. His releases starting in 2006 are credited to the band.

Biography Vetter was born on 27 October 1963 in West Berlin. His parents were low-income civil servants, and he has a younger half-sister named Julia. His mother often played records by The Beatles, and Vetter was introduced to music at a young age. At the age of 16, Vetter went on a school trip to London, and returned home as a punk with dyed blonde hair.

In 1980, he met Dirk Felsenheimer (later known as Bela B) at the club Ballhaus Spandau, one of the few clubs in West Berlin that occasionally played punk rock. Vetter joined Felsenheimer's band Soilent Grün, replacing the previous guitar player whose guitar had been stolen. When it was time to come up with stage names, Vetter decided to refer to his favourite hobby of travelling, contracting the German phrase "Fahr in Urlaub" ("Go on holiday") to Farin Urlaub. After completing his Abitur in 1981.

Career

After the breakup of Soilent Grün in 1982, Urlaub, Felsenheimer, and Hans Runge (Sahnie) formed . Urlaub told the youth magazine Bravo that his surname was Vetter-Marciniak to find out which of his fans really knew him well; fan mail addressed to "Jan Vetter-Marciniak" he would throw out unread. Even today his surname is often erroneously cited as "Vetter-Marciniak".

In 1988, at the height of their popularity, Urlaub and Felsenheimer decided to split up, and after one final tour with the new bass-player, Hagen Liebing, disbanded.

In 1989, Urlaub formed King Køng with, among others, drummer Uwe Hoffmann, who had been 's producer. Urlaub called himself "Jan" during this time, as he wanted to distance himself from his time with . The group was never successful, and Urlaub declared it defunct in 1999.

Bela's band Depp Jones was not really successful either, so in 1993 they decided to reform . They invited former Depp Jones guitarist Rodrigo González to take over bass duties. They released the comeback album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt ("The Beast in Human Form") and the single "Schrei nach Liebe" ("Cry for Love")

In 2001, Urlaub started his solo career with the album Endlich Urlaub! (literally translated meaning "Finally Holiday!", but also a pun on his pseudonym, "Urlaub"). On "Endlich Urlaub", Urlaub plays all the instruments himself, except for the strings and wind instruments. Live, however, he is primarily a lead singer and guitarist. Am Ende der Sonne ("At the End of the Sun") was released in 2005, followed by Livealbum of Death in 2006. The next album he chose to release under the name Farin Urlaub Racing Team, after the band playing alongside him when performing live. The next album titled Die Wahrheit übers Lügen ("The Truth About Lying") was released on 31 October 2008. His most recent studio album, Faszination Weltraum ("Outer Space Fascination"), was released in 2014, as well as a second live compilation album, Danger!, in 2015.

Besides Urlaub's solo career, continued to release. In November 2007, their album, Jazz ist anders ("Jazz is different") was released and was ranked No. 1 in the German Media Control Charts for six consecutive weeks. It was followed by auch ("also") in April 2012 and Hell in October 2020, with Urlaub playing a large role in both in addition to his solo work.

Musical style

Since his childhood, Urlaub has been influenced by The Beatles and Frank Zappa.

Discography

Die Ärzte

Solo Albums Year Title Translation Chart positions GER AUT SWI 2001 Endlich Urlaub! Finally Holiday! 3 28 85 2005 Am Ende der Sonne At the End of the Sun 1 2 20 2017 Berliner Schule School of Berlin 5 24 29

Singles Year Title Translation Chart positions Album GER AUT SWI 2001 "Glücklich" Happy 30 61 Endlich Urlaub! "Sumisu" 60 2002 "OK" 32 "Phänomenal egal" Phenomenally Indifferent 44 2005 "Dusche" Shower 13 28 53Am Ende der Sonne "Porzellan" Porcelain 24 46 91 "Sonne" Sun 27 49

Farin Urlaub Racing Team Albums

Year Title Translation Chart positions GER AUT SWI 2006 Livealbum of Death 1 4 31 2008 Die Wahrheit übers Lügen The Truth About Lying 2 5 12 2014 Faszination Weltraum Outer Space Fascination 1 3 6 2015 Danger! 5 35 —

Singles

King Køng

Soilent Grün With Dirk Felsenheimer, Roman Stoyloff and others.

Collaborations "Requiem für Nossek" (1989) - The Incredible Hagen feat. Jan Vetter & Bela B; for the soundtrack of Lindenstraße, titled "Wir warten auf die Lindenstraße" "Wir brauchen... Werner" (1990) - Bela B & Jan; for the soundtrack of Werner – Beinhart! "Donna Clara" (1995) - as Kill Kill Gaskrieg (The Bates featuring Bela B & Kill Kill Gaskrieg); for the album Pleasure + Pain "Du bist hübsch, Kati" (1995) - for Heinz Strunk's album Der Mettwurstpapst Backing vocals for songs "Monster", "Ohne Traurigkeit" and "Meer" on Fleischmann's 1995 album Hunger Like This and "Liebe macht blind" (2000) - The Busters feat. Farin Urlaub, for the Busters' 2001 album 360° Backing singer on "Hey du" by the Beatsteaks on the Wohnzimmer EP (2002) Backing vocals on "Bettmensch" on Olli Schulz & der Hund Marie's album Das beige Album as K. K. Blitzkrieg