Farin Urlaub

Whereas his first solo album contained several very satirical texts, Am Ende der Sonne deals with more serious themes such as politics, social criticism, and personal subjects. In some solo pieces, Urlaub also shows some tendency towards ska punk (Dermitder ("The Guy With The", contextually, "der Mann mit der Posaune" — the man with the trombone), 1000 Jahre schlechten Sex (1000 years of bad sex)).

In 2001, Urlaub started his solo career with the album "Endlich Urlaub!" (literally translated meaning "Finally Holiday!", but also a pun on his pseudonym, "Urlaub"). "Am Ende der Sonne" ("At the End of the Sun") was released in 2005, followed by Livealbum Of Death in 2006. The next album Vetter chose to release under the name Farin Urlaub Racing Team, after the band playing alongside him when performing live. The next album titled "Die Wahrheit übers Lügen" ("The Truth About Lying") was released on 31 October 2008. His latest album is called "Faszination Weltraum" ("fascination space") and was released in 2014.

Besides Vetter's solo career, Die Ärzte continued to exist. In November 2007, their album, "Jazz ist anders" ("Jazz is different") was released and was ranked #1 in the German Media Control charts for six consecutive weeks. Their latest album, "auch" ("also") was released in April 2012.

Bela's band Depp Jones was not really successful either, so in 1993 they decided to reform Die Ärzte. They invited former Depp Jones guitarist Rodrigo González to take over bass duties. They released the comeback album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt ("The beast in human form") and the single "Schrei nach Liebe" ("Cry for love").

In 1989, Urlaub formed King Køng with, among others, drummer Uwe Hoffmann, who had been Die Ärzte's producer. Urlaub called himself "Jan" during this time, as he wanted to distance himself from his time with Die Ärzte. The group was never successful, and Urlaub declared it defunct in 1999.

After the breakup of Soilent Grün in 1982, Urlaub, Felsenheimer and Hans Runge (Sahnie) formed Die Ärzte. Vetter told the youth magazine BRAVO that his surname was Vetter-Marciniak to find out which of his fans really knew him well: fan mail addressed to "Jan Vetter-Marciniak" he would throw out unread. Even today his surname is often erroneously cited as "Vetter-Marciniak." In 1988, at the height of their popularity, Urlaub and Felsenheimer decided to split up and, after one final tour with the new bass-player, Hagen Liebing, Die Ärzte disbanded.

In 1980, he met Dirk Felsenheimer (later known as Bela B.) at the club Ballhaus Spandau, one of the few clubs in West-Berlin that occasionally played punk rock. Vetter joined Felsenheimer's band Soilent Grün, replacing the previous guitar player whose guitar had been stolen. When it was time to come up with stage names, Vetter decided to refer to his favourite hobby of travelling, contracting the German phrase "Fahr in Urlaub" ("Go on holiday") to Farin Urlaub. After completing his Abitur in 1981, Vetter enrolled in archaeology at the Free University of Berlin, but soon quit his studies to focus on his musical career.

Jan Vetter (born 27 October 1963), better known as Farin Urlaub (from the German Fahr in Urlaub! ("Go on holiday!"), after his love for travelling), is a German musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist/vocalist for the German punk rock band Die Ärzte. Vetter has been a solo artist since 2001, touring with his band, the Farin Urlaub Racing Team. His releases starting in 2006 are credited to the band.

Vetter was born on 27 October 1963 in West Berlin. Until the age of seven, he lived with his mother in a flat in Berlin's Moabit district, and then in Frohnau until he was 18. His parents were low-income civil servants, and he has a younger half-sister named Julia. His mother often played records by The Beatles, and Vetter was introduced to music at a young age.