is a German Alternative Melodic Semi-Progressive Rock Band, founded in 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Founding members are Taylor Shore (vocals/guitars) and Thorsden David Marschner (drums) and Michael Urbatzka (bass). In 2022, Nico Strunk (guitars), who has been replaced in 2024 byMatthias Breier as solo guitarist.
In January 2022, we acted on what was already pending.
Debut album “Time & S p a c e” at Michael Hickmann’s VYRAH Studios in Duisburg.
The recordings took place from April to the end of July 2022.
5 new singles from the upcoming album are already out: „We’re Coming Back, Ethereal, The Purge, Trick Or Treat and The Chronicle“ and the recording process is still going until probably mid-2025.
LASTRY is pronounced „last tree“ and has several meanings: The last tree survives the tides, is indestructible, strong, and resists the harsh weather conditions and remains rooted and grounded, yet flexible, not to be broken, embedded in its surroundings, surely this is a symbol of life itself. The pun “last try” refers to the musicians’ long-term work.
As we were very impressed and satisfied with our recording at VYRAH Studios, we decided that’s where we want to keep recording our music.
Right now, we still have one more release in December 2024; after that, we are going to be busy between the studio and the songwriting and, of course, rehearsing, so we can be ready for the next year’s challenges and live performances.
No further releases are going to take place; if this changes, we will of course let you know.
Love One Another.
LASTRY
It was and is a stormy trip through life.
Born in Tunsia, December 15th, 1983, in a very multilinguistic and multicultural family.
At the age of 7, he started singing his heart out with what the charts had to offer and what his dad played on the vinyl; like Elvis, The Beatles, French music, and Sinatra. And the list never ends.
He started his own band at the age of 13, with friends from school, and it went great for 7 years. They played many shows and became locally famous in Tunisia.
He used to play acoustic guitar and sing in bars and small venues as he lived at the beach and in a very crowded touristic place in Sousse/Tunisia.
But that wasn’t enough, so he moved to Europe to pursue his dream.
He developed his skills in songwriting and composing over the years, influenced by the various artists he loves, like Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Creed, Pearl Jam, Korn, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and many beautiful bands from the mid-90s and 2000s.
After many tries with already existing bands and bands he put together, after many concerts and festivals all over Germany, he started gathering the right members for the final band, LASTRY.
It took almost 6 years.
In 2018, he took part in the German show „The Voice of Germany“ and got a little more popularity, which helped him find more reliable musicians around him. Like Thorsden David Marschner (TDM), the drummer he met when he started teaching vocals and guitars. And it wasn’t a coincidence, because the music school was owned by TDM himself. They got in touch and spoke about their ambitions and realized this was the first match. Taylor and TDM are the founding members of LASTRY. Because if the core is right, everything else will follow.
Taylor composed almost 150 songs in various rock styles, which he then started sorting out as the band expanded with new members.
His lyrics writing skills also improved after the album Time & Space and got tighter, more expressive, and deeper.
Taylor: „Composing isn’t a choice or decision I make; it’s there all the time; it’s happening as we speak or when I’m talking to someone; their voice, movements, everything is feeding something up in my head and turning it into sounds.
Memories are the biggest source of music for me, even though I don’t remember a lot from mychildhood, and I don’t know why almost 7 years are blank, between 10 and 17. I just remember a few things—that Void might be the engine behind my songwriting. Music was the ONLY driving force behind any choice I’ve taken… LASTRY is beautiful and warm, it’s like home; I feel safe, creative, and free. In addition to that, TDM loves my compositions, and I think he is the best damn drummer in the world, which makes the growth of LASTRY Setlist so smooth and quick, very original, and just, good rock music‘.
Hobbies: Building Guitars, Video Editing, Photo Editing, Photography, Cinematography, Traveling, Meeting and Chatting with New People.
Favorite Drink: Jack Daniels
Favorite Game: Black Desert Online
-Coffe? Yes Please
Morning person or not: Oh, totally! I wake up happy with a large smile (some people think its weird). Come on!! No matter how crappy life can be, you are still here for at least one more minute.
Cherish it!
…born on August 13 in 1974 in Germany
At age 3 or 4, he turned cookie jars into drums and cymbals. After early musical education, football and sports became more important. His parents did not support his interest in drumming. Later on he made more than 7 years martial arts and weight lifting. It wasn’t until he was 19 that he wanted to learn to play the drums again. The black album by Metallica was the sound he listened up combined reading the book „Das Parfum“ by Patrick Süsskind in a holiday season in France. The atmosphere of both worlds was dark, powerful and very special and for TDM the initial point to be interest in drums again. For 8 years he took lessons from a trained jazz drummer. He later completed a drum course at a private technical school (Drummers Institute) and changed his career. After some own bands in the 90s and early 2000s he founded LASTRY with Taylor Shore in 2019.
Musical influences
Bands / Artists:
in the 80s/90s: Europe, Queen, Metallica, Guns’n’Roses, Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Michael Jackson, Phil Colllins, George Michael, The Scorpions, Dave Matthews Band, Skunk Anansie, Brian May, Sting, The Police, Kiss, Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Lenny Kravitz, Whitesnake, AC/DC and many more…
Today:
Porcupine Tree (Gavin Harrison), Steven Wilson (composition interest), The Pinapple Thief (Gavin Harrison), Dream Theater (Mike Portnoy, Mike Mangini), Tool (Danny Carey), Rush (Neal Peart), Manu Katché Solo Albums (Manu Katché), Simon Phillips Solo Albums (Simon Phillips), Animal as leaders (Matt Garstka), Tesseract (Jay Postones), Periphery (Matt Halpern)
On my playlist / vinyl:
Marillion, Simon Phillips, Gregory Porter, Sting, The Police, Metallica, George Michael, Johnny Cash, Muse, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, The Pineapple Thief, Kansas, Nils Wülker, The Eagles, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Chet Baker, Rush, E.S.T., Shinedown, Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden, Lenny Kravitz, Cannons, LASTRY, Keb Mo, The Gems, The Scorpions, Creed, The Eagles, Flying Colors, Sons of Apollo, McStine & Minnemann, The Intersphere, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Nils Frahm, Roger Cicero, Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, Tower of Power, Tool, Steve Hacket, Nate Smith solo album, Chet Baker, various famous Jazz albums from John Coltrane,
Miles Davis and my more and very often piano jazz to relax (no drums please)
Other music favorites:
Orchestral film music or official Soundtracks (John Williams, Hans Zimmer, John Barry etc.), Star Trek, Star Wars, Rocky soundtracks, Back to the Future, Tron, music in series like Miami Vice, Magnum, A-Team, Knight Rider, (80s synth pop with great 80s drums…….and so on…
Drummer Idols (chronological):
Ian Haugland, Lars Ulrich, Mike Portnoy, Steve Gadd, Simon Phillips, Phil Collins, Ricky Lawson, (RIP), Dave Weckl, Vinnie Collaiuta, Carter Beauford, Cozy Powell (RIP), Billy Copham, Stewart Copeland, Danny Carey, Neil Peart, Gavin Harrison and there are so many great drummers out there with incredible skills
Favorite rudiments:
Single strokes, double strokes, flam accent, ruffs and paradiddles
Hobbies / Interests:
Fitness / strength training, reading, collecting vinyl, bingeing Netflix, coffee, sleeping, practicing drums
Finding structures and training them in routines, background paper work, business administration, reading, understanding and implementing tax texts, approaching problems in a solution-oriented manner, good at communication and organization, leadership skills learned through own company and training, writing texts and emails well, business love
Favorite books:
biographies, specialist books about life and lifelessons, drumming, travel reports and new worlds of thought.
Favorite film(s):
Rocky, Back to the Future, Star Trek, all films about time travel, science fiction, crime
Favorite food:
Asian food, Italian food
Favorite mindset: “
Never giving up” (all Rocky quotes)
TDM’s personal statement:
„In 2009 i buried my dream succeeding with a band in this life. And to be honest i was fine with my decision. 2019 changed everything and, though i am older now, i am happy to re-write this chapter. After my stepdad died in 2018 and my dad died in the end of 2021 i had an incredible desire to bring more meaning into my life again with making music. So i decided to make a schedule for the recordings of Time & Space, Taylor agreed and we both made it happen in 2022. On december 15 2022, Taylors birthday, we released our first album with LASTRY. After closing my company in 2023 and after my mom died in september 2024 there is nothing that holds me back now, everything is open for a new way of learning, developing and challenging myself. Life is too short to live without trying and doing it. After these losses i think differently about life itself. Fill it with joy, passion, be kind, and pursue your dreams, time is ticking. One step leads to another but you have to take it. And like Stallone (one of my biggest movie influences) in two of his favourite movie quotes: „It ain’t over until it’s over!“ and „The world meets nobody halfway, if you want something you gotta take it!“
My dad said his whole life to me: „nothing comes from nothing!“
I say: „Lets kick ourselves in the butt! Let’s do it!
So, we’re on the way!
After four years of halfhearted keyboard lessons at a private music school in his hometown and a dragging start of his musical journey.
Michael discovered the bass guitar at the age of 15. Inspired by some famous crossover bands of the late 90s and early noughties like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, H-Blockx, Guano Apes, Limp Bizkit etc., he knew where he was heading. Each day after school he spent hours playing along to his favorite songs.
At the music school where he took Bass lessons he soon got many opportunities to play together with other people.
So he joined several Bands, played a couple of Musicals and did occasional similar projects. In his mid 20s he decided to become a professional musician and went to Osnabrück to study music, where he spent five years in the company of incredibly talented musicians, gathering a treasure trove of experience. Finally he went back to his hometown of Düsseldorf where he now teaches at several music schools in the area and is a well booked bass player, busy playing about 50 gigs per year. When he is not involved in any activity regarding music, he likes working out, swimming or cycling, a good read or a nice movie.
My grandfather was a professional musician and played the cello, and I always had music in the house. When I was 7 I got my first acoustic guitar as a gift from my cousin and started strumming around. When I turned 12 I got my first electric guitar.
At 14 I went to a school in Scotland where there were a lot of good musicians. There were lessons, my first band and jam sessions with a lot of people people. At 17, I toured and played musicals, and at 20 I was a session musician for a few years. then various bands from various styles. I started because I always liked music, played around with lego guitars and tennis rackets as a child and it was always clear to me that I wanted to play the guitar. early influences, 80s rock bands (EVH, Living Color, Metallica etc.), J.Hendrix, Bob Marley,
