Halma are:

• Thorsten Carstens - guitar, lap steel, vocals
• Andreas Voß - guitars, bass
• Fiona McKenzie - drums, percussion
• Anna Bertermann - synthesizer, bass, vocals

After a number of more or less experimental musical projects, drummer Fiona McKenzie and bass player / guitarist Andreas Voß started Halma in 1999. The two musicians shared a soft spot for orchestral lounge compositions from the 1960s and 70s e.g. by Herb Alpert and Bert Kaempfert.

One year later, Andreas convinced lap steel player Thorsten Carstens to become involved in the band. Inspired by the underground scene in New York and Chicago, the trio developed instrumental rock songs that led to the recording of their first album "Container verloren und gesunken" (2000 - the small edition has sold out).

During the following year, keyboarder / bass player Anna Bertermann joined the band. This changed both sound texture and musical possibilities. Developments in the field of electronic music left its traces in the four musicians' heads: They added elements from dub tech and ambient to produce new song structures that went beyond the category of rock. In 2003, Halma recorded their second CD "Minifield" with Peta Devlin at the Hamburg Soundgarden Studio.

Since then, the band has been condensing musical influences and ideas into a consistent style of deepness and slowness. In improvisations during band practice, Halma began to give special attention to single tones: chords were being reduced to their keynotes; dubby, repetitive rhythms provide the songs with space and time for a cinematic experience in the listener's mind. By doing so, Halma has coined a new definition of slow core. On this note, the recordings for the latest album "Back to Pascal" were made in 2005 at the Hamburg Alien Network Studio with Ron Henseler. It was released in January 2006 on CD and vinyl by Sunday Service and is distributed by Hausmusik / Indigo.