meet the artist Markus Faller

Markus Faller Biography

Credits: Markus Faller‘s Trioropa, Thomas Siffling Trio, Anne Wylie Band, Saltacello, Friedemann, Peter Lehel Quartett feat. Wolfgang Meyer, etc.

Biography

Markus Faller is a European drummer and percussionist, born in Germany. At the age of 16 he began to play in many different groups and projects, most of the time in the fields of acoustic jazz and world music in the local scene of Baden-Württemberg, located in the south-west of Germany at the border to France. Inspired by his charismatic drum teacher Joe Koinzer, who is also a multi-percussionist and drummer, he was always searching for new sounds and setups of drums, today often described as „hybrid setups“.

After beginning to play in rock bands in his teenage years he wanted to learn more about other musical styles, especially by using traditional percussion instruments from foreign countries. Moreover, he worked mostly in projects with the purpose of producing authentic music in a creative working process.

Equipped with a driving license in 1992 he started giving private drum lessons to make a living as a playing and teaching drummer. After having finished high school in 1994 he started pedagogical studies at the „Pädagogische Hochschule“ in Karlsruhe to become a school teacher for Music and English. At the same time, he joined the Thomas Siffling Quartett and later the Thomas Siffling Trio, and started playing concerts all over Germany and abroad. But playing music and teaching drums took all his power, focus, and concentration, so he quit those studies and enrolled at the „Mannheim University Of Music“ for „Jazz Percussion“ to dedicate his full working life to music. He recorded and toured with Friedemann, Peter Lehel, Herbert Joos, Saltacello, Peter Schindler, Wolfgang Meyer, Wim Mauthe, Thomas Siffling, Hector Réné Colon, Roland Schaeffer, Caroll Vanwelden, Pipes and Phones, Kostas Karagiozidis, Anne Wylie, Klezmorim, Philippe Geiss, Emmanuel Séjourné, just to name a few. He played on numerous festivals, TV and radio productions in more than 30 countries and appears on many CDs and DVDs. As an author, he released books for drum students and teachers, and an autobiographical narration called „Ein Knalltrauma“.

He is teaching drums and percussion at the „Music Academy and Music School of Germersheim“ and at „Music School Bühl“.

While playing and working worldwide with wonderful musicians, dancers, and performance artists, he had the chance to widen his musical horizon and to develop a unique sound by combining the standard drumset with the colors of ethnic percussion instruments.

In 2018 he founded his first group as a leader called „Markus Faller’s Trioropa“. It is a trio with Maike Mohr and Henrik Mumm, both well educated and highly decorated jazz musicians from Germany. The music for Trioropa is written by Markus Faller. The music’s genre is located between jazz and world music, combining elements from both the European music tradition ranging from medieval soundscapes to today’s classical music. 

The longstanding cooperation between the members of the group with the Irish singer Anne Wylie as well as the Armenian origins of the drummer and educational background of all the musicians in jazz fuse to produce a unique sound.

Country: Germany

Band: Trioropa