Biography English
German below ▼
Pop the Weasel are an international band based in Heidelberg performing exclusively their own brand of Brit-influenced pop.
The 5 piece consists of:
Steve Christopher (London, England) acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals
Simon Walker (Cape Town, South Africa) electric guitar and mandolin
Andreas Finger (Hedesheim, Germany) keyboards and backing vocals
Hector Hiss (Sao Paulo, Brazil) electric and double bass
Andy Pilder (Mannheim, Germany) drums
The band, formed in 2013, is committed to playing their own compositions and now have a set list of over 25 songs moving through acoustic ballads to old school pub rock.
Equally at home rocking out or performing acoustic sets, the band moves effortlessly from blues, country, folk and rock’n’roll all played through the lens of their own well-crafted songs.
The Weasels have decades of experience between them playing in bands and clubs from Brazil to South Africa with a large dose of London and Mannheim thrown in.
What binds the Weasels? Songs, songs, and more songs. Steve has been writing his own material for over 25years and the Weasels provide the perfect vehicle for his brand of London influenced pop. Added to that, Simon brings a genius for up-tempo instrumentals and Mr. Finger’s fingers have produced some wonderful jazz-influenced gems.
Their latest album Reheeled is available now.
Steve Christopher is the Weasel's resident songwriter, acoustic guitarist and singer. Born in London, he has plenty of experience playing the London pub and club circuit as man and boy, solo and with various musical collaborations and can add Ukulele, Euphonium and blues harmonica to his musical portfolio. Writing for the Weasels is a dream come true as the musicianship in the band means all styles are possible. Steve has responded by composing a huge range of songs tailored for the Weasels and exploting the bands talents and his quality lyrics adds a truly London edge to the songs. Influences include; Van Morrison, Dr Feelgood, Joni Mitchell, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Cash and the odd Colliery Band. He lives in Neckargemünd and has two daughters keeping him out of trouble!
My initiation to music happened when my father sang lullabies to me. I loved the melancholy in it. When I went to primary school, I started to learn how to play classical piano. At the age of 14 I met The Beatles in form of a songbook. A few years later I discovered Steely Dan, Billy Joel and Gary Brooker. Today I can´t say how many different influences it took to make me play the way I do. The only thing I can say is that you could fill me up with ten pints of beer and still I wouldn´t play Volksmusik/Schlager....or would I?
Si's musical influences take the band all the way back to Liverpool 1963 and the Beatles. He moved to Cape Town South Africa in '65 where he discovered traditional African music and Creedence Clearwater Revival. His lengthy career started in '72 playing gospel and dance band music for mixed audiences (not easy under apartheid) and then punk hit. He moved into New Wave composing and performing joining the highly acclaimed Lancaster Band (Comic Strip Heroes) in 1980. Sick of South Africa's repressive politics, he picked up his guitar and moved to London via Amsterdam to join the London Pub Rock circuit. Si has toured extensively including the U.S. With the Mike Kahn Band in '88. He moved to Germany later and entered a musical semi-retirement until 2007 when he joined a trad Irish folk band later meeting Mr Fingers and Steve to start putting the Weasels together. Happy playing Jazz, Country, Folk, Pop and Rock'n'roll and even happier to be paid!
From the mighty concrete jungle of São Paulo, Brazil, Hector takes over the lower frequency band of the band. Influenced by bassists such as Paul Chambers, Chris Squire, Derek Smalls and Matt Freeman, his bass-lines range from jazz to punk without annoying his fellow musicians that much. For him, playing with the weasels is an honor and a school.
56-year old Mannheim resident was born in Bukarest and raised in the south of Baden-Württemberg. Andy could fulfill his dream of becoming a professional musician after moving to the Rhein-Neckar-Region and studying in Heidelberg and Mannheim: a degree in drums at Musikinsel Mannheim by Günter Klingel. Fostered by the developement of Mannheim becoming a music metropolis his own musical history came together with that of his newly chosen home and via schoolband, coverband, his first (even paid) top40band gigs as a teenager he soon managed to contact and cooperate with the protagonists of the scene: Julia Neigel, Joachim "Zeppi" Degen, DdT Huber, The Wright Thing, Fritz Münzer Jazztett, SWEAT, Reneé Walker, Popforscher and recently Pop The Weasel. Andy Pilder succeeded in making his multiple predisposition his lifestyle and swings successfully between music, sports and multimedia.
