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Biography
Written by serenitytom
Monday, 18 August 2008
born February 22nd
Occupation:
M.Sc. (geography and history); currently at university to work on my doctoral thesis
Gear:
Shure Beta 58 wireless microphones, Shure in-ear systems
Albums:
KAMELOT - The Black Halo, CIRCUS MAXIMUS - The 1st Chapter, MERCENARY - 11 Dreams, SYMPHONY X - V-The New Mythology Suite, QUEEN - all albums, FIREWIND - Allegiance, AVANTASIA - The Metal Opera Pt. 1
Influences:
Roy Khan (ex-CONCEPTION, KAMELOT), Freddie Mercury (QUEEN), Russel Allen (SYMPHONY X)
Books:
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), Fortuna's Smile (Rebecca Gablé), The Dirt (Neil Strauss & MÖTLEY CRÜE)
Movies, TV shows and music DVDs:
The Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Braveheart, Kingdom of Heaven, Ice Age
Favourite food: Meat in every variation, Italian food and Tyrolean kitchen in general
Favourite drink: Milk, Coke, fruit juice and cidre
Best Serenity gig so far: Heerhugowaard (NL) in 2007
Best visited concert: NIGHTWISH 2005 at Earthshaker Festival (D)
Hobbies: History (all medieval stuff), nature, sports, fishing and having fun with my bandmates on tour ;-)
Personal music history: I started singing aged four or five together with my mother - but that was more traditional folk music;) At my sixth birthday I got "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" by IRON MAIDEN - and that's it! Since then I have been a rock and metal maniac;) I founded my first real band in the year 2000 together with a guy called "Bummi" Buchberger - SERENITY's guitarist;) We covered rock songs of QUEEN and QUEEN and sometimes QUEEN;);) EUROPE, VAN HALEN and so on. That was the best occupation I could have! I'm still singing in this rock cover band called SCENE ONE - with really great musicians!
Goals for the future: SERENITY headlining Wacken in 2013;)
born October 16th
Occupation:
Engineer of IT, marketing & PR, webdesign & layout, MUSICIAN, being daddy ;-)
Gear:
Caparison Dellinger 7-string (my one and only e-guitar), Raimundo classical, Crafter GLXE-3000/RS acoustic, Diezel Herbert amp (studio & live -- amazing!!!), Engl 2x12” cabinet (studio & live), Korg DTR-1000 rack tuner, TC Electronics G-Major, Voodoolab Ground Control Pro, Morley Wah, Morley Master Volume pedal, studio PC [Intel Core i7, 6GB RAM, Windows 7 64bit, 24" Dell Monitor], Cubase SX3, EW Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold, Colossus, Stormdrum, Sonic Synth, Kontakt 3, Addictive Drums & Groove Monkee beats, hundreds of different other plug-ins & effects, Tannoy Reveal 6 studio monitors, M-Audio Delta 1010 audio interface, Joemeek TwinQ channel strip, several condenser & dynamic microphones
Albums:
EVERGREY - all albums, KAMELOT - Karma, ANGRA - all albums, PAGAN'S MIND - Enigmatic Calling, MALPRACTICE - Deviation From The Flow, CIRCUS MAXIMUS - The 1st Chapter & Isolate, NIGHTWISH - Dark Passion Play & Once, NOCTURNAL RITES - everything from Shadowland on, SONATA ARCTICA - Ecliptica & Silence, STRATOVARIUS - several albums, DELAIN - April Rain, MERCENARY - 11 Dreams, CAIN'S OFFERING, SYMPHONY X - V, Paradise Lost,....
Influences:
Jani Liimatainen (Sonata Arctica), Paul Gilbert (RACER X), my Dad (http://www.trucks-zillertal.at/), Nils Norberg (NOCTURNAL RITES) & many many others
Books:
The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien), Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
Movies, TV shows and music DVDs:
The Lord Of The Rings, Stardust, Braveheart, Willow, The Life Of Brian, Knights Of The Holy Grail, Mel Brooks' Robin Hood - Men In Tights, The Bourne Trilogy, Spaceballs, Riddick, Narnia, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity/Firefly, Farscape, Shrek, Ice Age 1-3, DREAM THEATER - Live At Budokan, EVERGREY - A Night To Remember, NIGHTWISH - End Of An Era, KAMELOT - One Cold Winter's Night
Favourite food:
Zillertaler Krapfen (a local specialty)
Favourite drink:
Ice tea, water, orange juice
Best Serenity gig so far:
I have a feeling that this will be Tilburg from the upcoming Kamelot tour --- well, Tilburg was awesome, but Cologne too, Wolverhampton,.....
("Ich kann in die Zukunft sehen" - "Wann hat das angefangen?" - "Nächsten Donnerstag!")
Best visited concert:
NIGHTWISH 2005 at Earthshaker Festival (D)
KAMELOT at several gigs during our "Rule The World Tour" in spring 2009
SONATA ARCTICA in Munich 2007
Hobbies:
Music (writing songs & playing guitar in specific), computers, design & layout, video games (Nintendo rules), sports (skiing, football), photography
Actually too many interests next to my family, work & SERENITY
Personal music history:
Due to my dad being a professional musician (american country & rock music) I had no choice than playing the guitar myself. So I started in the age of nine with classical guitar for about 5 years. But actually I really wasn't that interested into music at that time. Everything started at the age of 14, when I got my first electric guitar and at the same time I discovered bands like METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, DIO, IRON MAIDEN, ... From that time on I started playing in my own bands. AGELESS (covers & own songs from NIRVANA to METALLICA & a lot more), MAGIC MUSHROOMS (crossover - own songs), AGELESS (2nd attempt - covers & own songs - more poppy than the first line up), SCENE ONE (Rock-Pop covers, still substitute), substitute for my dad's bands TRUCKS, DESPERADOS & RUSTY BONES, and finally SERENITY (after some attempts with Georg & some other guys). Those bands helped the most to get better. Especially those 100s of gigs with SCENE ONE & my dad learned me to keep cool on stage. Nowadays I concentrate on improving a bit from time to time, especially trying to improve in writing songs for SERENITY & get to know more about studio techniques & stuff!! I now also have my own home studio (actually it's only a very very small room, but I am able to write songs, record vocals, keys, guitars, ... for example all guitars & most of the preproduction & Napalm demos for "Fallen Sanctuary"). Nowadays I also do basic orchestrations, keyboards & pianos while writing songs, I also began singing guide vocal lines. And there exists a new coverband called KINGS - basically Scene One with only 3 musicians!
Goals for the future:
I hope that SERENITY constantly grow & I'm trying to write even better songs for the 3rd album - which seems to work out great at the moment. Next to that I'll try to improve sound quality of drums, guitars & bass for the next release. AND THE BIGGEST GOAL AT THE MOMENT: finish songwriting for 5-6 songs for our upcoming release!
Albums:
ARENA - Contagion, DARK TRANQUILLITY - Character, NEVERMORE - Dead Heart In A Dead World, SANCTUARY - Into The Mirror Black, PAIN OF SALVATION - The Perfect Element, SOILWORK - Natural Born Chaos, SPOCK'S BEARD - The Light, IN FLAMES - Reroute To Remain, DEVIN TOWNSEND - Ocean Machine/Biomech, AMORPHIS - Elegy, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ - Bleeding, MERCENARY - The Hours That Remain, LIVE - The Distance To Here, EDGE OF SANITY - Crimson II, RAGE - Black In Mind, UNEARTH - The March, INTO ETERNITY - Buried In Oblivion, TYPE O NEGATIVE - Life Is Killing Me, BLIND GUARDIAN - Imaginations From The Other Side, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - As Daylight Dies, BLACK SABBATH - Heaven And Hell, DREAM THEATER - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, SENTENCED - Crimson ... and something around 25 (or 50? or 75?) more
Influences:
Sven Karlsson (SOILWORK), Rikard Zander (EVERGREY), Martin Brändström (DARK TRANQUILLITY), Ronny Tegner (PAGAN'S MIND), Morten Sandager (MERCENARY), Richard West (THRESHOLD), Josh Silver (TYPE O NEGATIVE)
Books:
A Fire upon the Deep & A Deepness in the Sky (Vernor Vinge), The dark Tower (Stephen King), Hyperion/Endymion (Dan Simmons), The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), Dune-saga (Frank Herbert), Ilium/Olympos (Dan Simmons), Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams), Soul Music (Terry Pratchett), The Book of Corum (Michael Moorcock)
Movies, TV shows and music DVDs:
This is Spinal Tap, The Lord of the Rings, Blade Runner, Dune, Star Wars, Alien, Almost Famous, Stardust, Groundhog Day, The 'burbs, Austin Powers, Naked Gun, The Life of Brian, Nightmare before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, La Cité des Enfants perdus, Hogfather, Die Piefke-Saga, Muttertag, Serenity, Firefly, Twin Peaks, The Moomins, The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, South Park, Family Guy, American Dad, RUSH - R30, EVERGREY - A Night To Remember, PAIN OF SALVATION - Be (original stage production), RAMMSTEIN - Völkerball, PINK FLOYD - Pulse
Favourite food:
Easchdöpfiblattl mit Kraut, Tiroler Gröstl mit Ei (impossible to translate but awesome!), salads, venison with chanterelles and "Semmelknödel", mediterranean food, asian stuff like sushi, ice cream, fruits and vegetables, Austrian bread (not that white, awful, styropor tasting sandwich shit!), sweets like "Punschkrapfen" and "Golatschen", peanut butter (damn, if it only wasn't that fat!)
Favourite drink:
Water, black tea with honey, beer, caipirinha, white rum with cola
Best Serenity gig so far:
Show at Waerdse Tempel in Heerhugowaard (NL) in 2007 ... and of course supporting DIO in August 2004 was a really great experience!
Best visited concerts:
SAVATAGE 1998 in Salzburg (A), STRAPPING YOUNG LAD 2001 at With Full Force (D), KILLSWITCH ENGAGE 2008 at W:O:A (D), RAGE with orchestra 1996 in Kufstein (A), BLACK SABBATH 1995 in Telfs (A), DEEP PURPLE 2006 in Innsbruck (A), SYMPHONY X 2008 in Munich (D), SPOCK'S BEARD 1999 in Salzburg (A), NEVERMORE 2001 in Innsbruck (A), AC/DC 2009 in Vienna (A), RAMMSTEIN 2010 at Nova Rock (A), AMON AMARTH 2010 at Nova Rock (A) and many more
Hobbies: Reading books and magazines (especially articles about astronomy, biology, evolution, archaeology, geography and travel), listening to music and creating it, lying in the sun, scuba diving & swimming (mostly in our country’s beautiful lakes, creeks and gorges), hiking, snow shoe hiking, sledging, skiing, sleeping, dreaming, meeting friends and having some beers together, watching movies, browsing the web, being on the road with SERENITY
Personal music history: My great grandfather used to play the accordion until he died at the age of 98. Noone else in my family played an instrument at that time so my parents urged me to learn to play accordion too – and so I did, at least for the following five years. Aged 14 I got my first keyboard at Christmas, it was a middle class Casio piece but nevertheless it was much money for my Dad back then, I’m still very thankful for that! When I was 17 a friend of mine who played drums asked me to start a metal band together with another friend on guitars. That band’s name was SHENANIGAN and it was the ignition to my “career”. We started to write our own songs and to rehearse regularly, people joined in and quit again, we began to play live shows, our name changed into NOT RESPONSIBLE, QUOTH I, McFARMERSSON and finally into SERENITY. In 1997 I took over lead vocals and concentrated on singing but still played keys until the big change in line up in 2004. Suddenly playing was more important again and I soon noticed the gap between mine and my bandmates’ abilities. The only consequence was to attend piano lessons which I started at the age of 28 – and here I am, still trying! Also check out the awesome albums “End Of Time” and "Wage Of Disgrace" by Austrian melodic death band LOST DREAMS to which I contributed synths and some vocals.
Goals for the future: See these bands live: PAIN OF SALVATION, COHEED AND CAMBRIA, ANDROMEDA, RUSH and TEXTURES, travel back in time to see PINK FLOYD and LED ZEPPELIN live in the seventies;))), stay healthy, get out of the red, do more sports, meet more girls, get some more tattoos, try other kinds of art like painting and drawing (was quite good as a kid), visit interesting places i.e. Canada, the USA, the near East, the Baltic states, Scandinavia, … one day own a mountain lodge to relax, have parties and love Tyrolean style there;)
born June 2nd
Occupation:
Research & development technician (optical & crystal manufacturing
industry)
Albums:
IN FLAMES - Colony, DREAM THEATER - Train Of Thought, HYPOCRISY - The Arrival,
PANTERA - Far Beyond Driven, OPPROBRIUM - Discerning Forces, JOHN PETRUCCI -
Suspended Animation, ZERO HOUR - Metamorphosis
Influences:
John Myung (DREAM THEATER), Tony Levin, Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Jaco
Pastorius, Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE), Rob van der Loo (SUN CAGED), John
Petrucci (DREAM THEATER/left hand technique), Troy Tipton (ZERO HOUR)
Books:
Langenscheidt Deutsch-Frau/Frau-Deutsch
Movies, TV shows and music DVDs:
The Fast and the Furious, Hackers, The Life of Brian, Knights of the holy
Grail, Mel Brooks' Dracula - Dead and loving it, The Simpsons, DREAM THEATER -
Live At Budokan
Favourite drinks:
Öttinger and Zipfer beer (offer endorsements!), Achensee water
Best Serenity gig so far:
Still waiting for...
Best visited concert:
DREAM THEATER 2002 in Munich (D)
Hobbies:
Tuning cars, tuning computers, tuning the bass guitar
Favourite food:
Tuna (best wordgame ever!), kids, Wiener Schnitzel
Personal music history: Started to study the clarinet at the age of seven in Jenbach. Added the subject bass guitar when being eleven. Played bass in the pop/rock band THE JAM in 1999. Joined lots of orchestras and ensembles during the years and won some competitions in solo playing. Got accepted into school of music in Volders - studied clarinet there and joined a bass guitar workshop. Joined the Swarovski orchestra in 2002 (played a tour in India). Joined SERENITY in 2004. Some recordings for PURPLE CICADA. Joined the double-quartett "16 HALBE". Recorded first album with PEOS (some prog project a bissl). 2008: tuned the bass guitar. 2009 joined EDENBRIDGE..
Goals for the future: To contrive a marriage with Angelina Jolie
born July 18th
Occupation: Research & development technician (construction of cochlea implant system hearing aids)
Albums: DREAM THEATER - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory & Train Of Thought, PAIN OF SALVATION - all albums (which I know so far), VANDEN PLAS - Beyond Daylight, DREAMSCAPE - End Of Silence, TOTO - most albums, SCARVE - Irradiant, PAGAN'S MIND - God's Equation, ANDROMEDA - II=I, LACUNA COIL - Unleashed Memories, ...
Influences: Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER), Simon Phillips (TOTO), Virgil Donati (PLANET X)
Books: The Universe in a Nutshell & A brief illustrated History of Time (Stephen Hawking)
Movies and TV shows: Braveheart, Dances with Wolves, Fight Club, Knights of the holy Grail (Ni!), Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Ice Age
Favourite food: Almost everything that once had eyes ...
Favourite drink: BEER!
Best Serenity gig so far: Support gig to DIO in Summer 2004 (the very first SERENITY gig with current line up!), tour with KAMELOT in Autumn 2007 (especially the gigs in the Netherlands and Spain)
Best visited concerts: DEEP PURPLE 2006 in Innsbruck (A), TRANSATLANTIC 2001 in Munich (D)
Hobbies: Music (active & passive), computer, drinking beer, sports (ah - not really...)
Personal music history: BURNOUT, Bundesmusikkapelle Brixen i. Th. (traditional Tyrolian brass band), JABBERWALKY, MILESTONE, SERENITY!!!
Goals for the future: Becoming the best drummer in the world ... ;-)
Biography 
