My penchant for hard sounds goes back to the 70s. At that time, folk music by Ernst Mosch and his ilk ruled in our home.
I wanted to rebel a little and turned to so-called “Hottentot music.”
My first bands were SLADE, STATUS QUO, RAINBOW, etc. I also listened to Krautrock with JANE and ELOY. So, not the really hard bands yet. Things got harder with AC/DC in the hard rock genre and the NWOBHM with IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, and JUDAS PRIEST. And then in 1980 came the album of the century, “Heaven and Hell” by BLACK SABBBATH with Ronnie James Dio. From then on, there was no turning back for me. My musical direction was now clear and hasn’t fundamentally changed today.
Okay, with one small caveat: over the years, I discovered the really hard genres, such as thrash, death, and black metal, with German bands like FATEFUL FINALITY, CRAVING, and PERMUTATION. But I’m particularly fascinated by the Nordic metal scene, especially the fantastic bands from Finland and Sweden, including CHILDREN OF BODOM, IN FLAMES, THE HALO EFFEKT, and DARK TRANQUILITY, to name a few.
Word of this even spread to Quakenbrück, and Doro and Markus asked me at a birthday party in June 2020 if I could imagine hosting a show on RadioArtland. A few beers later, I said yes.
Since October 2020, my show METAL IS RELIGION has been running regularly every two weeks on Fridays at 6 p.m.
In the past four years, thanks in part to RadioArtland, I have been able to make many contacts in the metal scene and am therefore regularly invited to performances by bands to photograph their gigs.
This has also brought me to the attention of festivals, so I am increasingly being invited to these events. It has now reached the point where I have been a permanent member of the BERGE ROCKT organization team since August 2024. Here, I am responsible for everything related to booking, band support, and stage management during the festival.
I look forward to many more years of METAL IS RELIGION at RadioArtland.
