Markus Steffen

Markus Steffen (born August 12, 1968 in Graefelfing ) is a German guitarist , composer , music teacher and textbook author. He is a founding member of the progressive rock band Sieges Even, founded in 1986, and Subsignal, founded in 2007 .

Life

Steffen started playing guitar at the age of 12. Largely self-taught, he first learned to play the electric guitar, being influenced primarily by guitarists such as Angus Young , Alex Lifeson , Alan Holdsworth and John Petrucci . After a few years, Markus Steffen also began to learn to play the concert guitar . Steffen names the British guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream as the greatest influence .

In 1986 he founded the band Sieges Even with Alex Holzwarth and Oliver Holzwarth . In 1988 Sieges Even signed their first record deal with Steamhammer / SPV. With Sieges Even Markus Steffen first released the three albums Life Cycle (1988), Steps (1990) and A Sense of Change (1991) before he left the band in 1992 for personal reasons. In the following years he devoted himself primarily to the concert guitar and in 1999 published a textbook entitled Classical Guitar Exclusive (KDM Verlag, Berlin). Markus Steffen also worked for the KDM Verlag as an author for the magazine Guitar Exclusiv (with workshop contributions on classical guitar pieces from all epochs). In addition, Steffen ran the small label Calamus Records, on which his solo album Unsheltered Places - Cycle for Guitar 1992-1999 was released. This album only contains Markus Steffen's own compositions for the concert guitar. In the same year there were first contacts to the former Sieges Even musicians Alex and Oliver Holzwarth. First they played a demo with four pieces under the name Looking-Glass-Self, in which Steffen only used the acoustic guitar. After another renaming to Val'Paraiso and reusing the electric guitar, the Dutch singer Arno Menses joined the band. With him the band was finally renamed again in Sieges Even.

In 2005 the German record label Inside Out released the album The Art of Navigating By The Stars , in 2007 the album Paramount and in 2008 the live album Playgrounds . In the same year Steffen left together with Arno Menses Sieges Even. Together they devoted themselves to the progressive rock band Subsignal , which they had launched in 2007 as a side project to Sieges Even. Markus Steffen has released five studio albums and a live DVD with Subsignal. The fifth studio album by Subsignal La Muerta was released on May 25, 2018. Markus Steffen has toured numerous tours at home and abroad with both Sieges Even and Subsignal. In March 2019 he published his textbook with the title Progressive Rock Guitar - Your Guide to Modern Prog Rock and Metal by AMA Verlag .

Markus Steffen (2016) with Subsignal

Steffen has also been working as a guitar teacher for many years. In Vienna he ran his own guitar school from 2007 to 2012 and was also an instrumental teacher with the Vienna Boys' Choir . Steffen has been living in Munich again since 2012, where he runs his own guitar studio and teaches at various music schools. He graduated from the State Music Academy for musical youth education in Trossingen and is a state-recognized music teacher.

Discography

Victory Even

1988: Life Cycle (album, Steamhammer)
1990: Napalm Vs Sieges Even (split album with Napalm for the Japanese market, Steamhammer)
1990: Steps (album, Steamhammer)
1991: A Sense of Change (album, Steamhammer)
2005: The Art of Navigating By the Stars (Album, Inside Out Music)
2007: Paramount (album, Inside Out Music)
2008: Playgrounds (Live Album, Inside Out Music)

Subsignal

2009: Beautiful & Monstrous (Album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2011: Touchstones (Album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2012: Out There Must Be Something - Live DVD (Album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2013: The Blueprint of a Winter (CD Single, Zyx / Golden Core)
2013: Paraíso (album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2015: The Beacons of Somewhere Sometime (Album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2018: La Muerta ( Gentle Art of Music / Soulfood)
2018: A Canopy of Stars - The Best of Subsignal 2009-2015 (Double Album, Zyx / Golden Core)
2020: A Song for the Homeless - Live in Rüsselsheim 2019 (Gentle Art of Music / Soulfood)

Contributions to compilations

2010: Progressive Rock Anthems (ZYX / Golden Core Records), a song by Subsignal (The Sea)
2018: Symphonic & Opera Metal Vol. 4 (ZYX / Golden Core Records), a song by Subsignal (A Myth Written On Water)

Videos

2013: Paraíso (published on YouTube )
2018: Even Though The Stars Don't Shine (single version, released on YouTube)
2018: La Muerta (single version, release on YouTube)

Solo release

2000: Unsheltered Places - Cycle for Guitar 1992–1999 (album, Calamus Records)

Guest Posts

2016: Dante - When We Were Beautiful (album, guest solo, song: Finally)
2018: Project Patchwork - Reflections (album, guest solo, song: Searching for Confraternity)

Textbooks

1999: Classical guitar Exclusiv (KDM Verlag, Berlin).
2019: Progressive Rock Guitar - Your Guide to Modern Prog Rock & Metal (AMA Verlag, Berlin).

Others

Steffen has had the academic degree Dr. Phil. His doctoral thesis Melerantz von Frankreich - der Meleranz des Pleier: after the Karlsruhe handwriting appeared in 2011 ; Edition - Investigations - Job Comment .

Web links

Official website of Markus Steffen

Individual evidence

↑ biography . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).
↑ Markus Steffen: Exclusive classical guitar: Basics, technical studies; Solo pieces from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Spanish Romantic periods; Notes, tablatures and CD . KDM, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-933316-50-9 ( dnb.de [accessed on February 3, 2018]).
^ Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved February 3, 2018 .
↑ SUBSIGNAL - The Official Website. Retrieved February 3, 2018 (American English).
↑ Textbooks . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).
↑ biography . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).
↑ Der Pleier: "Melerantz von Frankreich" - the Meleranz des Pleier: based on the Karlsruhe manuscript; Edition - Investigations - Commentary (= texts from the late Middle Ages and early modern times . H. 48). & # 152; Erich & # 156; Schmidt, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-503-12281-3 ( dnb.de [accessed on February 3, 2018]).

personal data
SURNAME	Steffen, Markus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German guitarist, composer, music teacher and textbook author
DATE OF BIRTH	August 12, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Graefelfing

[1] raphy . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).

[2] Markus Steffen: Exclusive classical guitar: Basics, technical studies; Solo pieces from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Spanish Romantic periods; Notes, tablatures and CD . KDM, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-933316-50-9 ( dnb.de [accessed on February 3, 2018]).

[3] Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved February 3, 2018 .

[4] SUBSIGNAL - The Official Website. Retrieved February 3, 2018 (American English).

[5] Textbooks . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).

[6] raphy . In: Markus Steffen guitar lessons . ( markUSSffen.com [accessed February 3, 2018]).

[7] Der Pleier: "Melerantz von Frankreich" - the Meleranz des Pleier: based on the Karlsruhe manuscript; Edition - Investigations - Commentary (= texts from the late Middle Ages and early modern times . H. 48). & # 152; Erich & # 156; Schmidt, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-503-12281-3 ( dnb.de [accessed on February 3, 2018]).