Started on the gritty but thriving Milwaukee music scene in 1988, Morgan Dawley (guitar), Dejan Kralj (bass), Goran Kralj (vocals, piano, guitar), and Scott Schwebel (drums) - later joined by Brian Pettit (percussion) - The Gufs began in a college dorm room, then into a basement, and a garage. Writing and rehearsing, eventually landing their first gig at The Unicorn, a legendary Milwaukee rock club.
The band’s early years of filling clubs, then theaters and large festivals around the Midwest, in combination with recording a handful of indie albums made significant waves on college radio, eventually leading The Gufs to sign a major label recording contract with Atlantic Records in the mid 90s.
After two albums (“The Gufs” 1995, “Holiday from You” 1999), radio hits “Smile,” "Crash into Me,” singles “Lost Along the Way,” and “Stuck,” coupled with extensive national touring the band decided to part ways with Atlantic and went into relative musical seclusion.
The Gufs – all four original members - have reunited only selectively since the early 2000s. In 2006 they released their only post-Atlantic studio album “A Different Sea” on Red Submarine Records, followed by a series of outdoor concerts with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (2007), a 20th retrospective performance (2008), and an induction appearance into the Wisconsin Music Hall of Fame (2012).
In 2018 The Gufs returned for THIRTY, two sold-out nights at Milwaukee's iconic Pabst Theater in December, celebrating the band's 30th year, followed by an encore performance in December of 2019 and continued popularity.
During the pandemic of 2020/1 the band found innovative ways to stay connected to each other and music by writing, recording, and releasing a series of new singles without ever being in the same room.
Named after a scene from the 1980's cult classic - "The Seventh Sign" - a movie about the end of the world, the "Guf" is the hall of souls in heaven. At some point the hall grows empty and a baby is born without a soul which is the seventh sign of the apocalypse and the beginning of the end of the world in the movie. While not a religious band, after watching the film, we thought The Gufs would be a good name for our newly formed group.
Written during the very first jam session in 1988, "Under Breath" was the first song created together as band. A song that has surpassingly stood the test of time from making our debut album "Staring into the Sun," to being performed at every live show since. While constantly evolving, this song has always been a relevant part of Gufs history and a live favorite.