A German band with an American sound - that's what you can say about the rockers of Stanfour. Although the musicians are sometimes compared with other artists such as Silbermond, Luxuslärm and Revolverheld, the band remains original and confidently continues its work.
The history of the creation of the Stanfour group
Back in 1998, at that time still unknown to anyone, Alexander Retvish, tired of the monotony of his native home, finished his studies and moved from the German island of Föhr to sunny California. The rebellious soul and passion for rock did not allow the guy to stand still, pushing him to go further. What could be better than the eternally sun-drenched City of Angels with its opportunities, bustling life, bright lights and thirsty people for new experiences?
Retvish managed to find his place - he got into show business. Three years later, in 1991, his younger brother Konstantin joined him. Now together they continued to conquer America, writing music. The brothers got an internship with a German producer and less than a year after it began, they created musical accompaniment for songs and films.
Luck loves the persistent - the guys succeeded. They took part in writing the theme song for the famous series "Baywatch". Then the Retvishs finally decided on their creative path.
The year of creation of the Stanfour group is considered to be 2004, when the brothers decided to create their own musical group. Later they were joined by guitarist Christian Lidsba and Eike Lishaw, their compatriots from the same island of Föhr.
The emergence of the band name Stanfour
An interesting story is connected with the name of the group, which also has American roots. One day, all four of them came to a cafe in California. The order for everyone was made by Konstantin, since his cup had the inscription Stan (an abbreviation of his name in English), the waitress wrote down the order “Stan - four” (“Stan - four”). The guys saw the recording, and it formed the basis of the band's name.
The beginning of the musical path of Stanfour
It took the band several years to prepare the first track. At the end of 2007, the debut track Do It All was released. Producer Max Martin, who is known for his collaborations with Britney Spears. The song peaked at number 46 on the German charts.
The second track For All Lovers was very successful - it became one of the most popular on German radio and stayed at the top of the German charts for 18 weeks. In addition, the track was chosen as the soundtrack for one of the television shows.
The debut album
On February 29, 2008, the band's first album, Wild Life, was released. We can say with confidence that the musicians put a lot of effort into its creation. After all, the recording was in three cities: Stockholm, Los Angeles and in the homeland of the group - the island of Föhr, where Stanfour's own recording studio was located. Desmond Child and Savon Kotesha also took part in the creation of the album. The studio album was warmly received by the audience. And the songs were played in the German charts, on radio and television.
The debut album was influenced by American rockers 3 Doors Down, Daughtry and Canadians Nickelback, which can be heard in the band's music and lyrics.
In December 2008, Stanfour was nominated for the prestigious 1Live Krone radio award in the Best Newcomer category.
In parallel with the preparation of the debut album, Stanfour gave solo concerts and participated in joint tours with other artists. These included performances with Bryan Adams, John Fogerty, a-ha and the Backstreet Boys, and twice with the legendary German rock band the Scorpions. And later, the Stanfour group opened the concerts of the singer Pink three times.
Second album release
After the debut of the first album in 2008, the musicians almost immediately set about preparing the next one. The album was released a year later - in December 2009 and was called Rise & Fall.
Unlike the previous record, Rise & Fall was self-produced by the band. The second distinctive feature was the change in musical sound. Instead of the former rocker guitar sound, a dance, partly electronic sound, more "light" has become. This is most clearly heard in the compositions: Wishing You Well and Life Without You.
The album, like the debut, was received with a bang by the fans. It was released with a circulation of 100 thousand copies and received the status of "gold" in Germany. The track Wishing You Well entered the top 10 of the best songs in the German music charts. Life Without You became the soundtrack to the film "Handsome 2" starring Till Schweiger. Also note the track Sail On. With it, the group performed at the German song contest Bundesvision and took 7th place.
The change in the album's tone was not accidental. At that time, the members of the Stanfour group were greatly influenced by the work of the musical groups The Killers and OneRepublic.
In 2010, the group was invited to take part in the filming of the television series Good Times, Bad Times.
Stanfour line-up changes and new album
2011 was marked by changes in the composition of the group - one of its founders, Aike Lishou, decided to leave, who focused on other musical projects. Critics had different thoughts on this. Some even doubted that the group would continue to exist. Or he will experience certain difficulties in the creative process, up to a crisis. However, to the delight of the "fans", the team did not cease to exist.
A year after the departure of Lishou, the group presented their third album, October Sky. The band's new album, Stanfour, is influenced by electronic music and popular pop rock. The new music was compared to Coldplay tracks.
But the musicians did not stand still and looked for ways to diversify their sound. The album includes songs using the Hawaiian musical instrument ukulele, banjo and reggae elements.
The new collection, like the previous two, was in the top 10 best albums in Germany.
New time
In 2014, the Stanfour group recorded the track Face to Face jointly with the ATB group.
The fourth studio album was released in 2015 and had a concise title "ІІІІ". Unfortunately, he did not enjoy great popularity and only got into the top 40 of the best, taking 36th position.
To date, the band has not released new tracks. And the last post on their Instagram page dates back to 2018. However, loyal fans do not lose hope of hearing them again. In the meantime, they are listening to already known tracks from their four finished albums.
