In-depth investigations into the photo box of my parents brought it up: I got my first electric guitar by the age of 4! By that time, studying chords and finger practices were a horror to me, and so I concentrated on my performance and stage-acting. The result was that during one of my daily practice routines I optimized the encore show and smashed the guitar on the ground. Unfortunately no luthier was able to repair that damage, since nobody knew the pros of synthetic materials and worked with wood only. With a heavy heart, I had to dispose this first instrument, but I didn't like the light-colored fret board anyway. But the fire in me was lit!!

By the age of 6 I had the honor to enjoy some musical education on a flute (in fact, it was a recorder). In elementary school I was an enthusiastic (?!?!) member of the recorder  group, in which I played my first live concerts. Then I got the first serious stringed instrument by the age of 8, a real German Hopf classical guitar, bought by my father - behind my mother's back. Her excitement was contained, but she let me do it since it was just an acoustic instrument without amplification which could not produce too much noise. That should change...

My 4th birthday, together with my brother Frank, my mother and my present: the first guitar
 

My first bass: a Squier Precision with legendary Fender strap!
 

Though I really tried to learn the basics for solid guitar playing, 6 strings overstrained my patience, especially when you should produce several notes at the same time with them... Fortunately one day, my brother Frank brought home an electric bass which I checked out immediately. I quickly discovered the advantages of this instrument: only four strings, and you only play one note at a time, which even sometimes doesn't has to be the right one since those deep notes are hard to identify anyway... And so I decided that from now on the electric bass would be "my" instrument!

And so I spent my teen years producing deep frequencies which I amplified with a 100 watts Marshall top + 4x12" cabinet - making the other 20 neighbors in our apartment house very happy... Very soon I discovered my musical standards I wanted to follow suit, it were rock bassists like John Entwisthle and especially Billy Sheehan that impressed me with their powerful and virtuoso playing. By that time, David Lee Roth released two solo albums on which he was supported by Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan and Gregg Bissonette. This albums have been my daily practice routines for years, and I tried to play every single song note for note on the bass - sometimes by slowing down the turntable

I founded my first band by the age of 16, together with a very talented keyboarder and a very talented drummer. Bernie, the keyboarder, was a big fan of Yes and Toto, and so we tried to cover some of their songs with keyboards, drums and bass. Since we had no guitarist, I had to play the guitar chords on my bass. By the time I got the title "lead bassist". My wish for a rhythm bassist has never been conceded though... Later in other bands I had to play the usual bassists' role by producing solid basic notes, but not without confusing the other band members with spontaneous bass solos from time to time...

Not only my musical, but also my technical (and my optical...) way is stamped by different experiments. If you look to the right, you can not only see myself in a very bad outfit, but also the Squier bass from above after I gave him several serious modifications. In the end it had EMG pickups, a Hipshot D-Tuner, golden "Maxima" strings, an XLR socket for an external power supply and a custom pick guard and headstock design made of colored adhesive film... Furthermore I scalloped the upper frets of the fret board with a rasp to make string bendings easier, just like Billy Sheehan has it on his basses. I have to annotate that rosewood is extremely dusty, loses color and is almost irremovable from clothes when you work on it. And I did that all in the basement of my parents house... I really have to thank them for all their patience and understanding!

The maltreated Squier and a cheesy early 90ies outfit!
 

Maybe I should try with some more strings again:
Conklin 7 string bass, at the show room of Guitar Center, Hollywood
 

With the years my hair became longer and the strings became more. And in the meantime I was allowed to experience the one and other musical success on nationwide and international level, and I could shake some prominent hands. One of my first international experiences was my activity as bassist and background singer of the band "The Winners", which, among other songs, had the number 1 hit "Go for gold", the title song of the Olympic summer games in Seoul. With "The Winners" I've been on the Philippines for a video clip shooting for the CD "Island of sun", which was the sound track to the TV show "Klinik unter Palmen" ("Hospital under palms"). On this occasion I had the honor to meet "Winnetou" Pierre Brice who played a role in that show. We were also allowed to play in an episode, because they needed a band for for a beach bar scene. The funny thing is that I had to play the drummer... Afterwards the music videos were broadcasted on different music stations (even on MTV!).

But also my own band "What4" was blessed with some regional success, and anyhow Germany's biggest private TV station played our song "All behind" several weeks every day. We also shared the stages with some nation-wide known acts. Meanwhile I got phone calls from other bands or artists asking me to play bass on their recordings, or to jump into the fire when their regular bassist was off-duty. Fortunately I had to learn a bunch of songs during those years, and now I am expecting the worst when I'm called somewhere to jump in.

Since 2004 business is making great progress. Especially the offers from Ritter Basses and Gallien-Krueger to endorse their products were a huge compliment for me and I'm very proud to be their partner! Now I don't want to disappoint their expectations, and so in January 2005, I started to record a solo CD which release is planned for this year. The CD is called "Bass Invader" and features complete songs played only on bass guitars. On some of the songs I was supported by two real hotshots on their instruments: Gregg Bissonette on drums and Mattias IA Eklundh on guitar. This by now is the true highlight in my musical career and I am very proud of this CD!

Ok, that's my biography by now. Maybe it's a bit short, but I'm still young...

That's where I feel best: on stage!