Biography
Macstanley’s roots lie in the ‘5th Switzerland’. It’s founder, Clinton Gähwiler is an “Ausland Schweizer” living in Cape Town, South Africa.
Clinton had long been searching for an appropriate vehicle through which to express his songs, when he finally met Andy Mac, a big man with an even bigger voice. They immediately formed a firm partnership, and together with gifted musician and lead guitarist Neil Potgieter, Flat Stanley was born.
With their first (and at the time, only!) song “Rain”, the band (then known as Flat Stanley) won a local song contest, which created a sudden need for further songs in order to be able to take up the numerous gig offers they consequently received!
This first batch of songs resulted in debut album “Of Secrets and Wine”, which has a mellow, acoustic flavour. This has been followed up with their first European release "Between 2wo Worlds” (2009), under the new name Macstanley. Between 2wo Worlds has a bigger sound and is somewhat more up-tempo than the first album. In South Africa, the album spawned 4 successful radio singles. The band are already working on material for a new album, and looking forward to their first German tour in April 2010. To satisfy Clinton's long-standing dream of playing in Switzerland, the band have included one Swiss date on their tour itinerary.