Edguy came into existence in the little town of Fulda in Hessen, Germany. The name Edguy, supposedly, was thought up by vocalist Tobias Sammet and guitarist Jens Ludwig and was created as a way to make fun of one of their teachers whose real name was Edgar. Tobi began playing music as a child, even if the instrument he learned to play at that time - an electric organ - was probably not his instrument of choice. Tobi and Jens met in school and they soon began playing music together, Jens with a real electric guitar and Tobi with his 'lame organ'. Dirk Sauer, who also went to school with Tobi and Jens joined as a second guitar player and with Tobi playing bass lines on a keyboard, all they needed was a drummer. They found one in Dominik Storch, whose father owned a drum kit. In 1994, the four determined teenagers recorded two demotapes: 'Evil Minded' and 'Children of Steel'. Their first real album was put together in 1995 and was called Savage Poetry. The Edguys only spent two weeks in the studio for this one. Kingdom of Madness followed in 1997.
With the release of Vain Glory Opera, which includes vocals from Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch, the Edguys deservedly had their big break. However, drummer Dominik Storch left the band and was replaced by Felix Böhnke. In 1999, Theater of Salvation' was recorded. With this album, Tobi stopped playing bass and handed this task over to Tobias Exxel who would be their bass player from now on, thus completing Edguy's current line-up. The following year, the Edguys re-released their first album Savage Poetry, taking a little more time in the studio this time (3 months).
Tobi’s side project, Avantasia I an II, deserves mention here, because with his spirit and enthusiasm, Tobi managed to gather together some of the greats in Heavy Metal to sing and play on these album. The project includes Helloween’s Michael Kiske, Virgin Steele’s David DeFeis, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel, and Rob Rock, to name a few. With his unparalleled dedication, Tobi did not forget about Edguy while working on the Avantasia project. Edguy's latest album, Mandrake, was released in 2001.
More than anything, Edguy is about believing in yourself. No matter how sad you might feel some days, leave it to Tobi and the rest of the Edguys to lift your spirits. Tobi’s bottomline message has always been: believe in yourself, don’t let anyone scare you, and don’t let anyone get you down.
