Farin Urlaub

Infobox musical artist
Name = Farin Urlaub

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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Jan Ulrich Max Vetter
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Born = Birth date and age|1963|10|27|mf=y
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Origin = Berlin, Germany
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Genre = Punk rock
Ska-punk
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Years_active = 1980 - present
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Associated_acts = Die Ärzte
King Køng
Soilent Grün
URL = [http://www.farin-urlaub.de/ www.farin-urlaub.de]
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Jan Ulrich Vetter, better known as Farin Urlaub (like German "Fahr in Urlaub!" ("Go on holiday!"), after his love of travelling) was born on October 27, 1963 in what was then West Berlin, Germany. He is best known as the guitarist/vocalist for the German punk rock band Die Ärzte.

Youth

Up to the age of seven, Vetter lived with his mother in a flat in the Moabit district of Berlin, and in Frohnau up to the age of 18. His parents were low-paid civil servants, and he has a younger half-sister named Julia. His mother often played records by The Beatles, and he was introduced to music at a young age.

At the age of nine he decided to take guitar lessons with an elderly woman who taught him classical standards. He played guitar while visiting holiday camps. Ironically in hindsight, his later music teacher advised him: "Whatever you do when you grow up, don't do anything with music!" Fact|date=July 2008 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.) in the punk club Ballhaus Spandau and joined his band "Soilent Grün", replacing the previous guitar player whose guitar had been stolen. When the time came to make up stage names, Vetter decided to refer to his favourite hobby of travelling, contracting the phrase "Fahr in Urlaub" ("Go on holiday") to Farin Urlaub. After completing his "Abitur" (equivalent of A-levels) in 1983, he enrolled in archaeology at the Free University of Berlin, but soon gave up studying to focus on his musical career.Fact|date=July 2008

Musical career

When the band broke up in 1982 Urlaub, Felsenheimer and Hans Runge (Sahnie) formed Die Ärzte. He told the youth magazine BRAVO that his surname was Vetter-Marciniak to find out who really knew him and who only pretended to. When he received fan mail he would throw away, unread, letters addressed to "Jan Vetter-Marciniak". Fact|date=July 2008 Even today his legal 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, Die Ärzte disbanded.

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

Die Ärzte reunited in 1993. In 1998 they stopped working with BRAVO as the magazine had been requesting stories from the members' private lives more and more frequently. Fact|date=July 2008 The magazine subsequently launched a smear campaign against Urlaub, claiming that he had rammed the car of a BRAVO reporter, beaten fans, and generally driven his car "to incapacitate the enemy".Fact|date=July 2008 Urlaub disputed these accusations on Die Ärzte's website.Fact|date=July 2008

In 2001, Urlaub started his solo career with the album "Endlich Urlaub!" (in literal translation "Holiday at Last!", but also a pun on his pseudonym, "Urlaub" thus proclaiming "Urlaub at Last!"). "Am Ende der Sonne" ("At the End of the Sun") was released in 2005 and his latest album, Livealbum Of Death, was released on February 3rd, 2006.

Despite Urlaub's successful solo career, Die Ärzte continue to exist. In November, 2007 their latest album, "Jazz ist anders" was released and was ranked #1 in the German Media Control charts for six consecutive weeks. [See [http://www.media-control.de/pressemitteilungen/die-charts-in-weihnachtsstimmung.html Media Control press release concerning Christmas sales 2007 (German)] ]

Musical style

Since his childhood Urlaub was influenced by The Beatles. In addition he listens in particular to Johnny Cash, Depeche Mode and "more or less everything except free jazz and techno".Fact|date=July 2008 However, he admits openly that he does not consider himself to be a particularly good guitarist. He says that he often plays "unclean" chords and that even today he has only a very limited ability to read music, though this has not held back his success as a musician.

According to some reports,Fact|date=July 2008 the difference between his solo songs and those he has written for Die Ärzte is that his solo pieces are more personal and topical. He tried to make his songs for Die Ärzte as "timeless" and funny as possible; in this he was influenced by the Comedian Harmonists. Fact|date=July 2008 Many of his songs are about being left by one's partner ("Zu spät" (Too late), "Wegen dir" (Because of you), "Wie am ersten Tag" (Like the first day), "Komm zurück" (Come back), "Nie gesagt" (Never said), "OK", "1000 Jahre schlechten Sex" (1000 years of bad sex), "Nichts in der Welt" (Nothing in the world)) or are just nonsense ("Buddy Holly's Brille" (Buddy Holly's glasses), "Wenn es Abend wird" (When the evening comes), "Außerirdische" (Extraterrestrials), "WAMMW"). Since the reunion of Die Ärzte, he has also written socially critical and political songs ("Kopfüber in die Hölle" (Headfirst into hell), "Schrei nach Liebe" (Cry for love), "Schunder-Song" (Trash song), "Der Misanthrop", "Rebell", "Deine Schuld" (Your fault), "Nicht allein" (Not alone)).

Whereas his first solo album contained several very satirical texts, "Am Ende der Sonne" deals with more serious themes such as politics, social criticism and personal subjects. In some solo pieces, Urlaub also shows some tendency towards ska punk ("Dermitder" (The one with the), "1000 Jahre schlechten Sex").

Discography

Albums

*"Endlich Urlaub!" ("Finally holiday") (2001)
*"Am Ende der Sonne" ("At the end of the sun") (2005)
*"Livealbum of Death" (2006)
*"Die Wahrheit übers Lügen" ("The truth about lying") (2008)

Singles

*"Glücklich" ("Happy") (2001)
*"Sumisu" (2001)
*"OK" (2002)
*"Phänomenal egal" ("Phenomenally indifferent") (2002)
*"Dusche" ("Shower") (2005)
*"Porzellan" ("Porcellain") (2005)
*"Sonne" ("Sun") (2005)
*"Zehn" ("Ten") (2006)
*"Nichimgriff" ("Notundercontrol") (2008)

King Køng

Soilent Grün

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
*It is a never confired guess, but most people think, that he is the secret singer of the Funny van Dannen cover-song "Unbekanntes Pferd" (Unknown Horse) on the "Köpfer"-EP of the band Rantanplan.

External links

* [http://www.farin-urlaub.de/ Official homepage (German)]
* [http://www.laut.de/wortlaut/artists/u/urlaub_farin/ Biography (German)]
* [http://www.clipland.de/Search?Where=mvd-all&What=farin Farin Urlaub music videos]
* [http://www.bademeister.com/ His band: Die Ärzte]

Persondata
NAME=Vetter, Jan Ulrich Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Urlaub, Farin
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German musician, guitarist/vocalist for Die Ärzte
DATE OF BIRTH=October 27, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH=West Berlin, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=