Sally

Sally have a sound which is unmistakeably British. Melodies which will rock a baby to sleep and powerful choruses that will paralyse everything but you’re tapping foot and nodding head.

Destined for greater things, Sally quickly grew out of the small bars and pubs where they began their musical journey back in 2006. With obvious talent and a passion for live performance, Sally soon dominated larger stages such as Grabenhalle in St.Gallen and the much respected Abart Club in Zurich.

Listen to the the demo tracks and you may be reminded of other bands who have taken Brit Rock to an international level. Legends such as Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers and The Stereophonics all influenced singer and band leader Phil Ward and contributed to what has become Sally’s emotional and powerful style.

Well suited to Open Air events, Sally’s complete and accomplished sound is effective both acoustic and electrified… in this respect, the BIG sound derives from the musical content and not the volume levels.

The conception of ‘Sally’ came about when fate played a convenient roll in uniting singer song writer Phil Ward with drummer Lukas Meier on a Swiss train back in 2004.
In an attempt to converse in English with an Appenzeller ticket official, Phil gave Lukas the perfect opportunity to prove that English Swiss relations are stronger than ever. Lukas not only helped Phil with the infinite problem of comprehending Swiss dialect but he also later proved that the Swiss & English can work together to produce truly inspiring music.

Phil Ward is a prolific singer song-writer who has explored most musical styles including classical, folk, rock-n-roll, blues and rock. This musical journey has culminated in a diverse and original style which falls into none of the conventional pigeon holes. Perhaps the biggest influence on Phil was ‘The Alarm’ and ‘U2’ who in the 80’s, successfully took meaningful folk music into the rock and eventually the pop domain. A few similarities can be made between ‘Sally’ and the folk-rock icons, however the overall sound of ‘Sally’ is more dynamic combining traditional classical melodies with thumping chorus’s more in keeping with the ‘Manic Street Preachers’ or ‘Stereophonics’ for example.

Naturally Phil Ward injects a very English feel to the music, however the Swiss element comes from Lukas Meier and Fabian Schmidli who prior to Sally have played together for the last 6 years in the very accomplished ‘reggae roots’ band ‘Hilarious’……well known on the Swiss circuit.

OK so Reggae and rock don’t really cross-over, but this just proves the flexibility of Fabian & Lukas who have settled into ‘Brit-Rock’ as if they were natives to the Island.
Sally is still a very new band, having only been together since mid 2004 and since then they have been developing their sound pretty much behind closed doors with only a hand full of public performances. In addition to this ‘exploration’ period, Sally have been working on a much awaited debut album which is due for release in mid July of this year. The album comprises eleven of their best tracks and genuinely demonstrates their range and diversity. Work has already started on a second album and the band members have already realised that the sound of the group has matured and risen to a new level, perhaps a natural bi-product of hours and hours of ‘closed-door’ studio work.