Both members worked a lot in other projects in the years before. Conny played the violin for more than ten years and performed in many orchestras. She also sang in some classical choruses and as a soloist, and is familiar with baroque and romantic compositions like G.F. Handel, E. Grieg or Pergolesi.
Olaf was in his childhood a member of the "Stadtsingechor Halle", the oldest chorus of the world. Later, he played in many musical projects and bands, and also composed for TV. He studied musicology and philosophy.
In 1994 the second album, "Porta VIII" (Hyperium), was released. It has a concept based on the fairy tale "Ariadne et Barbe Bleue" by Maurice Maeterlinck, but "Porta VIII" is a continuation of the original fairy tale. This album too was selling more than 10 000 copies worldwide and climbed the Mexican charts.
Since 1997 there was a new line-up. Conny left sToa to follow her classical career, and the new singer was Antje Buchheiser. Buchheiser had been playing violin for more than eleven years, and had been singing in the classical chorus "Hallenser Madrigalisten". She performed a lot in classical music, in, among others, Germany, Japan and Cuba.
Another new member since 1996 was Christiane Fischer. She plays cello and is singing the second voice at live concerts. sToa signed to the German publisher Alster Musikverlag. In 1997 the band left their old label Hyperium for various reasons.
sToa performed sporadically at special places or events. They played for example at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in a one hundred years old and eighty metres high monument in front of more than 1 000 people, at the “Zeche Carl” in Essen, in the Netherlands and several times in Mexico (inter alia with the Goethe-Institut).
In 2001 they finished their album "Zal". It was released worldwide, but first in Mexico at "Samadhi Musik". sToa signed to the German label "Alice in ...", where they released "Zal" for the rest of the world and re-released "Urthona" and "Porta VIII". The singer on "Zal" was Antje Buchheiser.
In 2008 sToa returned with international line-up. The new album "Silmand" was released on September 26th. "Silmand" means soul month. With it the month September is titled in an almost forgotten German dialect. The female voices on the album belong to sToa's new main-singer Mandy Bernhardt and the Australian multi-instrumentalist Louisa John-Krol. Furthermore, the Dutchman Pieter Nooten (Ex-Clan of Xymox) could be engaged as well as the Leipzig-based Ralf Jehnert (Love is Colder than Death). One of the songs on "Silmand" was already used as film score ("Tacitum"). The title of the song "Hanuz Nist" comes from the Persian lyrics written by Hassan Dehlawi at the 14th century.
Alone
sToa Lyrics
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All nights a veil,
The shorelamps in the sleeping lake
Laburnum tendrils trail.
The sly reeds whisper to the night
A name - his name -
And all my soul is a delight,
[James Joyce]
In Stoa's song "Alone," the lyrics refer to a sense of isolation and longing. The first two lines set the scene with imagery of the moon's "greygolden meshes" shrouding everything beneath it. The following lines describe the shore lamps in a sleeping lake, as if everything is still and silent. The second stanza then further emphasizes this feeling of isolation with the singer hearing their own name whispered in the reeds by the night, and experiencing a sense of shame and delight simultaneously.
The use of natural imagery creates a dreamlike mood that reflects the feelings of the singer. The song's title also emphasizes the theme of being alone. This feeling of loneliness could be interpreted as either positive or negative, as the singer experiences both shame and delight in isolation.
Line by Line Meaning
The moon's greygolden meshes make
The moon's silvery-golden nets create
All nights a veil,
Shrouding every night in a mysterious cloak
The shorelamps in the sleeping lake
Lamp lights on the lake that's asleep
Laburnum tendrils trail.
The golden Laburnum vines that hang down
The sly reeds whisper to the night
The crafty reeds murmur to the darkness
A name - his name -
Mentioning a name - his name -
And all my soul is a delight,
My entire being is filled with delight
A swoon of shame.
But at the same time, a feeling of guilty pleasure takes over me.
Contributed by Alexander I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.