Music Activities

Although my CD list mostly features many shades of hard rock music, I think one should always try to stay open-minded and accessible for other music genres. This is one of the reasons why -- in total contrast to the main direction of my taste -- I have no problem with not playing guitar in a dedicated hard rock band.

I try to keep up my flexibility without concentrating too much on one particular niche.

Current Projects

Currently, I am involved in the following bands and projects:

FUNKY SITE
A funk/soul/disco band covering well-known tunes. Being part of the rhythm section, this is where I stick to playing in the background; and my "hard side" does not really shine through. Okay, once in a while there's a short solo where I throw in a little hint of shredding but I have to keep it down to a minimum, otherwise my bandmates would roll their eyes on me.

This is my main band since the early 90's. We started as a music school project, went through A LOT OF lineup changes, were floating around different styles but grew out of the project status.
www

G.A.S. PEDAL
A rock band covering 80s and early 90s hair rock, hard rock and AOR tunes, featuring FUNKY SITE personnel, the ex-NICE PRICE bassist and a new keyboard player. Founded in January 2009, we're currently busy assembling a live set. This is all about fun and great music!
n/a

FUNKY SITE	A funk/soul/disco band covering well-known tunes. Being part of the rhythm section, this is where I stick to playing in the background; and my "hard side" does not really shine through. Okay, once in a while there's a short solo where I throw in a little hint of shredding but I have to keep it down to a minimum, otherwise my bandmates would roll their eyes on me. This is my main band since the early 90's. We started as a music school project, went through A LOT OF lineup changes, were floating around different styles but grew out of the project status.	www
G.A.S. PEDAL	A rock band covering 80s and early 90s hair rock, hard rock and AOR tunes, featuring FUNKY SITE personnel, the ex-NICE PRICE bassist and a new keyboard player. Founded in January 2009, we're currently busy assembling a live set. This is all about fun and great music!	n/a

Past Projects

In the past, I had gigs with:

Achorde
For 2009 it was the second time after the 2004 "Undercover Tour" that I participated in this pop/gospel choir project as the live guitarist. I enjoyed great people, great rehearsals and great gigs! Unfortunately, there will be no tour in 2010.

CLOCKWORK BLUE
This original rock/indie band was founded in late 2002. We started as a group of four guys (vocals + guitar, guitar, bass and drums) playing our own material. We recorded a 3-track demo and had our first gig in January 2004. The song structures and lyrics have been written by singer/guitarist Elmar Heckmann, arrangements and other ideas got brought in by the other bandmates. My job in CLOCKWORK BLUE was the sideman, with a lil' hint of backing vocals (hear ye, hear ye!) and mostly rhythm guitar, but since the bass player left the band and Elmar picked up the bass, I became the only guitarist, which means more responsibility for riffs, textures and solos.

Unfortunately, Elmar decided to disband the group in February 2009.

NICE PRICE
This was a special group featuring a couple of friends 'n relatives (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums). Until 2008, we gathered up once or twice a year, rehearsed two or three times and then played a gig. We were booked by friends 'n relatives as well, and we performed for example at back yard barbecues, anniversary parties or even weddings. You can tell from these different occasions that our repertoire wass very diverse; we could cover almost everything from unplugged "fireplace style" stuff over old-fashioned classic dance music to really rockin' hard and heavy tunes -- which are of course my personal favourites. I was'nt really the lead guitarist in NICE PRICE, but the "swiss army knife" guitarist doing everything including occasional leads; and I enjoyed it very much.

TAUSCH GUITAR DUO
This two men + two guitars project had its roots in summer 2003 where my fellow guitar maniac Ulrich and I were preparing a couple of guitar tunes for the wedding of two friends of ours. Since we had so much fun and because of the cool fact that we both play custom-made Tausch guitars, we called ourselves the TAUSCH GUITAR DUO and started writing our own instrumental songs. We were using drum machines and a PC-based recording system to take down our ideas. In early April 2004, we wound up playing presentations at the Tausch Guitars booth of the Frankfurt Musikmesse, of course using our Tausch guitars.

SWINGING POOL This was a jazz big band featuring a lot of music school students.

LINIE EINS A semi-professional musical production, worked out and performed by a group of young actors called "Theater In Der Bastion".

HELLOW'S EVE
It was the predecessor of NICE PRICE and my first band. For a couple of years and in different lineups, we played heavy metal and hard rock songs from our favourite bands as well as some tunes written by ourselves. The band name was influenced by HELLOWEEN and we spelled ours also with an E. :-) It was so much fun, and I gathered a lot of stage experience. For the record; before the group disbanded, we briefly called it BLUE FORCE.

THE KILLER FAMILY
A short-lived metal/hardcore/something (fun) project featuring two guitarists (myself and Stefan, nowadays of OCHMONEX) and a drummer named Axel. We met in Axel's super-duty sound-proofed wood cabin in the basement, not much unlike a sauna, where I couldn't stand up straight. From the outside, you could barely hear the noise, but inside it was killing you. That was the time I decided to wear custom-made earplug filters in the rehearsal room to protect my hearing and my sanity. :-)

Once, we did a hardcore-ized cover version of The Kelly Family's "An Angel" which lead us to our special band name. We never did a gig but there's an obscure video that Stefan took with his cam during a rehearsal. I hope nobody will ever watch it again...

Jugendchor St. Johann Baptist
A couple of times, during Christmas season, I accompanied this youth choir with my classical guitar performing South-American christmas songs in the church. At one time, it was even recorded live and a CD was produced.

Jugend Musiziert
This is a famous series of young people's music competitions throughout Germany. I took part multiple times when I was young; not only as a solo guitarist (classical), but also with different ensembles, pure guitar groups as well as heterogeneous groups. Sometimes, we were (or I was) very successful and did score very high ranks.

Even more...
solo spots with Stadtkapelle Neu-Ulm and Jugenblasorchester Bibertal
guitar duos and solo performances,
accompaniment for vocalists and instrumentalists,
other projects...

Achorde	For 2009 it was the second time after the 2004 "Undercover Tour" that I participated in this pop/gospel choir project as the live guitarist. I enjoyed great people, great rehearsals and great gigs! Unfortunately, there will be no tour in 2010.
CLOCKWORK BLUE	This original rock/indie band was founded in late 2002. We started as a group of four guys (vocals + guitar, guitar, bass and drums) playing our own material. We recorded a 3-track demo and had our first gig in January 2004. The song structures and lyrics have been written by singer/guitarist Elmar Heckmann, arrangements and other ideas got brought in by the other bandmates. My job in CLOCKWORK BLUE was the sideman, with a lil' hint of backing vocals (hear ye, hear ye!) and mostly rhythm guitar, but since the bass player left the band and Elmar picked up the bass, I became the only guitarist, which means more responsibility for riffs, textures and solos. Unfortunately, Elmar decided to disband the group in February 2009.
NICE PRICE	This was a special group featuring a couple of friends 'n relatives (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums). Until 2008, we gathered up once or twice a year, rehearsed two or three times and then played a gig. We were booked by friends 'n relatives as well, and we performed for example at back yard barbecues, anniversary parties or even weddings. You can tell from these different occasions that our repertoire wass very diverse; we could cover almost everything from unplugged "fireplace style" stuff over old-fashioned classic dance music to really rockin' hard and heavy tunes -- which are of course my personal favourites. I was'nt really the lead guitarist in NICE PRICE, but the "swiss army knife" guitarist doing everything including occasional leads; and I enjoyed it very much.
TAUSCH GUITAR DUO	This two men + two guitars project had its roots in summer 2003 where my fellow guitar maniac Ulrich and I were preparing a couple of guitar tunes for the wedding of two friends of ours. Since we had so much fun and because of the cool fact that we both play custom-made Tausch guitars, we called ourselves the TAUSCH GUITAR DUO and started writing our own instrumental songs. We were using drum machines and a PC-based recording system to take down our ideas. In early April 2004, we wound up playing presentations at the Tausch Guitars booth of the Frankfurt Musikmesse, of course using our Tausch guitars.
SWINGING POOL	This was a jazz big band featuring a lot of music school students.
LINIE EINS	A semi-professional musical production, worked out and performed by a group of young actors called "Theater In Der Bastion".
HELLOW'S EVE	It was the predecessor of NICE PRICE and my first band. For a couple of years and in different lineups, we played heavy metal and hard rock songs from our favourite bands as well as some tunes written by ourselves. The band name was influenced by HELLOWEEN and we spelled ours also with an E. :-) It was so much fun, and I gathered a lot of stage experience. For the record; before the group disbanded, we briefly called it BLUE FORCE.
THE KILLER FAMILY	A short-lived metal/hardcore/something (fun) project featuring two guitarists (myself and Stefan, nowadays of OCHMONEX) and a drummer named Axel. We met in Axel's super-duty sound-proofed wood cabin in the basement, not much unlike a sauna, where I couldn't stand up straight. From the outside, you could barely hear the noise, but inside it was killing you. That was the time I decided to wear custom-made earplug filters in the rehearsal room to protect my hearing and my sanity. :-) Once, we did a hardcore-ized cover version of The Kelly Family's "An Angel" which lead us to our special band name. We never did a gig but there's an obscure video that Stefan took with his cam during a rehearsal. I hope nobody will ever watch it again...
Jugendchor St. Johann Baptist	A couple of times, during Christmas season, I accompanied this youth choir with my classical guitar performing South-American christmas songs in the church. At one time, it was even recorded live and a CD was produced.
Jugend Musiziert	This is a famous series of young people's music competitions throughout Germany. I took part multiple times when I was young; not only as a solo guitarist (classical), but also with different ensembles, pure guitar groups as well as heterogeneous groups. Sometimes, we were (or I was) very successful and did score very high ranks.
Even more...	solo spots with Stadtkapelle Neu-Ulm and Jugenblasorchester Bibertal guitar duos and solo performances, accompaniment for vocalists and instrumentalists, other projects...