The new heroes of the spaghetti western are from Switzerland and they ...
riding their monster dub through the urban jungle of the 21st century. And if you're expecting the Swiss concrete cowboys to deliver syrupy country tunes, then hit the "off" and you'll find what you're looking for between space echo and plate reverb at the drop on "3". These four outstanding instrumentalists live and breathe their passion for dub and electronic music through riveting live performances!
Dub Spencer & Trance Hill play laid-back, instrumental almost psychedelic reggae. And they play it with virtuosity, with washed-out grooves, breaks, hints of other tracks and all so thrillingly slooooowly that they're sure to lose any shoot-out. What other band an achieve in the studio only is actually played live by this quartet.
In 2003 bassist Masi Stalder started Dub Spencer & Trance Hill. Together with Adrian Pflugshaupt (sax) and Christian Niederer (drums) they have released five EPs and distributed them on their own.
In 2006 the German label with cult status "Echo Beach"(Dub Syndicate, Tackhead, King Tubby...) signed on Dub Spencer & Trance Hill. Together with the Köln based guitar player Manougazou they produced their first album "Nitro" which received critical acclaim. The influential German Reggae magazine "Riddim" voted "Nitro" "Dub Album of the month".
After the release the band played numerous gigs in Switzerland and Europe. Highlights were concerts like Summerjam in Köln, Jazz festival Willisau and Jazz festival Schaffhausen.
In September 2006 Pflugshaupt and Niederer left the Band because they were getting too busy playing with other groups. Masi Stalder formed a new Band and the trio mutated into a quartet with drums - guitar - bass - keyboards.
The new formation has more drive as old school reggae organs meet powerful guitar lines. The new drummer brings his experience of the live goa band "Tratosphere" into the DUB SPENCER sound. One could describe Dub Spencer & Trance Hill as Scorn meets King Tubby meets Pink Floyd. You will leave anyone of their shows with a pleasant afterglow. Those who took the trip groove home in a deep sense of relaxation describe the sound experience as "highly addictive".
Line Up:
Masi Stalder - Bass
After completing his studies at the Swiss Jazz school Lucerne Marcel Stalders musical ventures have been broad: he played bass on the Swiss hip-hop crew Wrecked Mob's studio album, played lots of open air festival with band "Ivo" and released a critically acclaimed debut album with the jazz group Gruppe 6, which also performs all over Europe.
Julian Dillier - Drums, Dubs
Graduated from the Swiss Jazz school in Lucerne an studied at the drummer's collective in New York City. He performs with Funk- and Jazz bands like "Ecout-moi", "Funk'n'stein", "Lobith". The Band he played with during seven years "Erb-gut featuring Peter Schärli" performed on many international Jazz stages. Julian leads the live Goa Band "tratosphere", a group that performs mostly as a live act at international Goa Parties.
Philipp Greter - Keyboards, Dubs
Autodidact! He founded the electronic Duo "Appendix" in the early 90's. Since 2000 he performs with the Swiss Dub Band "Der Transformer" which opened for Reggae Stars like Patrice, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Lee Scratch Perry Mad Professor and Wyclef Jean. He also produces tranceelectro tracks for his solo project.
Markus Meier - Guitar, Vocals
After completing his studies at the Swiss Jazz school Lucerne he found back to his roots: Space Sound and Rock'n'Roll! His band Teapot got awarded by the Axelleund Max-Koch-Foundation. He performed and composed for the trip hop band "Protonic" and produced their latest album. Listening to his Band "Stonk" (Hippie-Jazz and Rock'n'Roll) one can hear Markus' affection to psychedelic Rock music.
www.dubspencer.ch