POND – the electronica band from the former East German Republic (DDR) still lives! Even more: they are (again) doing live concerts. Last year they performed the ‘Planetenwind tour’ this year followed up by the special Anniversary ‘Planetenwind’ tour on Friday September 1 (Dresden), Saturday September 2 (Frankenberg) and Sunday September 3 (Löbau).

POND was founded in 1978 by drummer Wolfgang Paule Fuchs and keyboardist Manfred Hennig in the East Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg.Both musicians were previously band members of the well-known rock band Babylon.. They were joined in 1979 by organist Frank Gursch. Their music initially moved in the area of progressive rock. In 1980, POND changed its musical style to electronic music inspired by Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream.

In 1980 Frank Gursch left the group and later joined the formation Lift. In 1982 Manfred Hennig joined City. Paule brought Harald Wittkowski on board to replace Manne in 1982. POND became successful for the first time in 1982 with the song “Planetenwind”, which reached the top of the annual charts. In the following years, the record label Amiga released the successful LPs “Planetenwind” and the soundtrack “Auf der Seidenstraße”, both of which reached six-figure sales figures. Even a third LP “Maschinenmensch” was released in 1990.

POND, also affectionately known as “Tangerine Dream from East Berlin“, was the first formation in the then GDR to play electronic music live. They not only filled medium to large concert halls, but also performed in planetariums, among other places. After Harald left POND in 1988, Paule’s twin sons Frank and Sascha joined the band the following year. In 1993, the album “Space Walks” was released, which was commissioned by Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH and designed primarily as background music for planetariums. The musical style approached techno at this time due to the influence of his sons. In 1996, the formation split up and Paule performed alone from then on.

After a long break, the studio album “transPONDer” was released in 2003. POND returned to its original style of the duo Paule Fuchs and Harald Wittkowski. As a special feature, the album includes a book by Paule, which was published to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary

In 1993, Paule Fuchs founded his own record label, PONDerosa Records, on which all POND albums are released. An exception is the compilation “Bilder Einer Ausstellung – Die Größten Hits” (Pictures at an Exhibition – The Greatest Hits), released in 2008 and published by Sony BMG.From 1996 onwards, Paule performed mainly as a soloist. In 2009 he created the compositions “Gemälde einer Vernissage” to paintings by Willi Sitte (famous German painter and graphic artist), which were released on CD. The classical premiere took place in 2013 at the former steelworks in Brandenburg/Havel with the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra. For the 35th stage anniversary in 2013, POND toured again with the original line-up of Paule Fuchs and Manfred Hennig.Paule and Manne also performed together for the 40th anniversary in 2018.

In 2020, mastermind Paule and his new music partner Torsten Jänsch from Hagenburg near Hanover (born in Löbau Saxony), who was a big POND fan himself in the 80s, will really take off again. For Torsten Jänsch, who has so far played his idols Jean Michel jarre, Tangerine Dream as well as Kraftwerk and POND live with a solo programme as a tribute to the worldwide pioneers of electronic music, a childhood dream is now coming true. Coupled with Paule’s over 45 years of stage experience as well as the successful tracks of the 80s, such as “Planetenwind”, “Sturmglocke”, “Jumbo” or “Seidenstraße”, Paule and Torsten are working together on the concept of the spectacularly staged “PLANETENWIND TOUR 2023”.Also new tracks, such as “PLANETENWIND 2” and further new compositions in the well-tried sound and style will be released on a new album in time for the tour start in 2020. Paule and Torsten are already looking forward to the new tour with you.

More info at the POND website.