Band · 1995 to 2005
Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band
The one-man band in the Hernstein home studio
From the mid-1990s Harry Pepl was his own band. In the basement studio of his house in Hernstein, Lower Austria, he recorded drums, guitars, bass via the MIDI guitar, piano and scat singing himself, track by track, each track improvised and reacting to the one before. Stefan Heckel speaks of an „umfangreichen Opus“ [“extensive opus”], and Pepl himself of so many recordings that he knew „überhaupt nichts mehr“ [“nothing at all any more”] about them. Since 2015 the music has been released by Fullmax Recordings, and since 2018 the live formation Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band has brought it to the stage.
Harry Pepl All instruments: guitar, MIDI guitar, piano, drums, vocals
At a glance
- Line-up
- Harry Pepl alone: guitar, MIDI guitar, piano, drums, bass sample, vocals
- Period
- about 1995 to 2005
- Place
- basement studio in the house in Hernstein, Lower Austria
- Method
- Real-time Composing: improvised tracks, reacting to one another, without notation
- Released
- double CD (2015), Art of Trio Vol. 1 (2019), Volume One (2020), Live (2025), all on Fullmax Recordings
- Spellings
- Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band, Lonely Single Swinger Band, LSSB
The name
Pepl explained the name, in essence, by saying that all the pieces were somehow single and sad, and that it swings, or doesn't swing, as well.1
How the recordings were made
Usually Pepl first recorded the drums live, then semi-acoustic guitar and double bass, which he played as a sample via the MIDI guitar, then piano or keyboard and vocals; this produced mainly trios and quartets, with all the instruments played by him.2 The method is Real-time Composing: improvised tracks, recorded in response to one another, without notation. He gave the titles immediately after recording, rated some pieces with stars, and burned a selection onto CDs, for example the „Weihnachts-CD 1999“ [“Christmas CD 1999”] with “Frischwärts”, “Colon Meets Jane” and “Fugendichtung”.3 Kohler describes a wide range: piano pieces with and without drums, chamber music, contemporary classical music, „Normaljazz“ [“normal jazz”], beautiful melodies, soundscapes and guitar trios.4 In August 2004, for example, “Dedicated to Michel Noiret's Stockhausen” was created, inspired by an ARTE film about the dancer Michèle Noiret.5
What has survived
The material was kept in the house in Hernstein, Lower Austria, and in Pepl's flat in Floridsdorf, on CD, ADAT, MiniDisc and hard disk. For many pieces only the stereo mix exists, not the individual tracks.6 Stefan Heckel examined “Frischwärts” (1999) in detail in his dissertation.7
Releases and the stage
In 2004 Clemens Salesny, Wolfgang Schiftner and Lorenz Raab played live to Pepl's tracks at the Salzburger Jazzherbst and at the Blue Tomato in Vienna, with Pepl present.8 For the tenth anniversary of his death, the double CD was released in 2015, the first CD of which contains recordings of the Lonely Single Swinger Band. Fullmax Recordings released the EP “Lonely Single Swinger Band (Art of Trio, Vol. 1)” in 2019 and “Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band (Volume One)” in 2020. Since 2018 the live formation has played with the original tracks, and its album “Live” came second in the Best Album category at the Austrian Jazz Award 2025 (award for jazz from Austria).
Parts
all the pieces are somehow single and sad, and they swing or don’t swing as well
Actually I am always playing, and when I can record that, it is always how I am at that moment, mood included. So I find that totally great, that I always catch the moment.
That is me, I recorded all of it myself
For me, art is not a game but the last place of transcendence.
Releases
Live
Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band
Harry Pepl & Clemens Salesny / Martin Bayer / Peter Primus Frosch / Agnes Heginger
Harry Pepl (tape) & Clemens Salesny / Martin Bayer / Peter Primus Frosch / Agnes Heginger
Lonely Single Swinger Band (Art of Trio, Vol. 1)
Harry Pepl (Lonely Single Swinger Band)
Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band (Volume One)
Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band
Listen and watch
A selection of Harry Pepl on Spotify, not only from this project.
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Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band - Short Documentary (with English subtitles)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Meckis Dm Special (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Fun Fare (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Single Swinger Band (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Scratch Match (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: M Trp J. Psh (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: The Crow (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Scratchmo (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk and Harry Pepl: Piano Brush (slideshow)
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Rainer Rygalyk, Harry Pepl, Helmut Strobl: Offenes Atelier L4
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Questions and answers
What is the Lonely Single Swinger Band?
Harry Pepl's one-man band: from the mid-1990s he recorded all the instruments himself, track by track, in his home studio in Hernstein, improvised and without notation.
Where does the name come from?
Pepl explained it, in essence, by saying that all the pieces were somehow single and sad, and that it swings, or doesn't swing, as well.
How were the recordings made?
Usually the drums first, then guitar and bass via the MIDI guitar, then piano and vocals. Each track is improvised and reacts to the one before; Pepl gave the titles immediately after recording.
Where can the music be heard?
On the releases from Fullmax Recordings: the 2015 double CD, “Art of Trio, Vol. 1” (2019), “Volume One” (2020) and the 2025 live album, all also available digitally.
Is the music played live today?
Yes. Since 2018 the formation Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band has improvised live with the original tracks.
In the chronology
- 1995 Home studio in Hernstein: the Lonely Single Swinger Band
- 1999 “Frischwärts” and the Christmas CD
- 2004 Salzburger Jazzherbst
- 5 August 2004 Creation of “Dedicated to Michel Noiret's Stockhausen”
- 17 September 2004 “Habanero-Slide-Show” at the Blue Tomato, Vienna
- 10 June 2016 “Pepl Reloaded” at the Bruckner University Linz
- 22 February 2019 Digital EP “Lonely Single Swinger Band (Art of Trio, Vol. 1)”
- 15 May 2020 Digital releases from the estate on Fullmax Recordings