Editing Sturm Café (section)

==History==
Sturm Café was founded by the two teenage boys Gustav and Jonatan who met at a very young age in Gävle, Sweden. As teens they began playing with various instruments and the equipment in Jansson's father's studio. They released a couple of demo cassette tapes under the name '''The Xenophobian Alliance''' which were handed out to close friends. The instrumentation was a cheap digital synth with an Atari for sequencing and an analog 4 channel portable studio.<ref name="ebm_24">{{cite book|last1=Hampejs|first1=Yuma|last2=Schulze|first2=Marcel|title=Electronic Body Music (English Edition)|year=2024|location=Lüdersdorf, Germany|publisher=Mionætti|isbn=9783000785245|pages=305–309}}</ref>

Later on in 2002 they bought some analogue synthesizers and a digital portable studio and the music started to spread through [[MP3.com|mp3.com]]. At this time, the name of the band had been changed to Sturm Café as suggested by Gustav's father who was a fan of EBM bands such as [[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft|DAF]] and [[Front 242]]. Influenced by Gustav's father's music collection, the duo moved toward an EBM sound with minimalistic analogue basslines, monotonous drum machines and chanting vocals in German. Despite being Swedish, they were inspired to sing in German owing to Löftstedt having learned German in school and the language being understood as a typical aspect of EBM style.<ref name="ebm_24" />

This eventually led to some live gigs in early 2003 and in the summer of 2004 they performed live at Sweden's biggest open air alternative music festival, [[Arvika Festival]]. Later that year, they signed a contract with the record label Progress Productions and played several shows in Germany including at Berlin's Bodybeats club.<ref name="ebm_24" />

One year later, the album ''So Seelisch, So Schön!'' was released and climbed to position 75 on the Swedish official album sell chart.{{cite needed|date=March 2024}} That autumn, Jonatan moved to Poland for medicine studies. Sturm Café was put on hold.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Molin |first1=Gustaf |title=Intervju: Sturm Café |url=http://www.synth.nu/artikel_visa.php?aid=32 |website=Synth.nu |access-date=21 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928085716/http://www.synth.nu/artikel_visa.php?aid=32 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |language=Swedish |date=30 December 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, Jonatan moved back to Sweden the next year and the work with the band could continue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Larsson |first1=Mattias |title=Sturm Café - Gävles germaner är tillbaka |url=https://synth.nu/artikel_intervju_sturmcafe.html |website=Synth.nu |access-date=21 January 2025 |language=Swedish |date=23 February 2021}}</ref> Even after returning to Sweden, Löftstedt and Jansson lived an 8-hour car ride from each other, making it difficult to work together given their dependence on vintage equipment.<ref name="click_2021">{{cite web |author1=Inferno Sound Diaries |title=‘Click Interview with Sturm Café: ‘I Like The Art And Effort That Artists Put Into An Album’ |url=https://www.side-line.com/click-interview-with-sturm-cafe-i-like-the-art-and-effort-that-artists-put-into-an-album/ |website=Side-Line Music Magazine |access-date=21 January 2025 |date=13 July 2021}}</ref>

In 2010, the band opened for [[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft]] at BIMFest in Belgium. That year the band also embarked on starting a label, SCR (Sturm Café Releases), with their first release being the 7" single "Koka Kola Freiheit".<ref name="ebm_24" /> In considering starting the label, the band balanced demands of thir non-music careers with the needs of a third-party label, ultimately deciding that the risks of running their own label were outweighed by control of the release schedule and creative process.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coldheart |first1=Stef |title=STURM CAFE • interview • 2017 |url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/interviews/sturm-cafe-2017/ |website=Peek-A-Boo Music Magazine |access-date=21 January 2025 |date=23 October 2017}}</ref> 

The band played their first non-European shows in Mexico City in 2015 and the following year in Lima, Peru.<ref name="ebm_24" />

Löftstedt also has a side project of dance music that he determined did not fit with Sturm Café called John Steiner Explosion. Some tracks from his side project were released on the band's ''Rarities 3'' compilation in 2020.<ref name="click_2021" />