Oliver Riedel
German bass player of the cult band Rammstein, Oliver Riedel, famous for his multifaceted personality and tall stature, was born on April 11, 1971, in Schwerin, East Germany. He spent his childhood and teenage years there, too. His tall stature, thin build, big brown eyes, and of course, his talent helped him to make his place in the world of heavy music.
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The musician’s childhood and youth
From a young age, little Ollie was never particularly keen to be the centre of attention and tended to keep a low profile despite his tall stature. He was a shy and even somewhat reserved boy, who was self-conscious about his appearance, not even aware of its attractiveness. In the company of his peers he felt like a black sheep, partly because of his thinness. While everyone was actively partying, Olli preferred to spend his time alone on the streets of Schwerin.
During his high school years, Oliver Riedel was not particularly supervised by his elders, so he often had problems with his grades. This was because his family was not particularly conservative. Oliver’s father was young, they shared the same musical tastes, and he didn’t push the boy’s upbringing.
“… We were friends rather than family”.
Says Rammstein bassist in interviews.
Up to adolescence, to be exact up to the age of 17, the future Rammstein bass player lived in Schwerin with his brother and father, who unfortunately passed away tragically. Reportedly, they were killed in a car crash. Of course, it did not leave Oliver without trauma, which he suffered deeply for years.
After the tragedy, the boy was taken in by his mother, with whom he hadn’t been on good terms before and with whom he didn’t live. She helped him to recover, to pull himself together, and to start learning again. Thanks to her intervention, Oliver could finish high school and decide on his profession.
He had no idea yet how drastically his life would change in the future since he had not wanted to tie his life to a career as a bass player, but had opted to become a plasterer and painter. It was a simple, down-to-earth profession requiring no special talents. But the creative urge took over, and Oliver became a shop window dresser.
The path of the bassist to the Rammstein band
Music came into Oliver’s life the year his father tragically passed away. To forget his loneliness and give some meanings to his life, Oliver picked up a bass guitar, and to this day, he’s never parted with the instrument. Although the guitar was then one way for him to restore his morale, as his skills developed, Riedel became more and more passionate about creativity.
Oliver’s life changed in 1990, when he was 19. He started his musical career with the band The Inchtabokatables. Four years later, he and three of his friends got the chance to record professional tracks by winning the Metro Beat competition. Among them were Till Lindemannand, Richard Z. Kruspe and Christoph “Doom” Schneider, and after the joining of musicians Paul H. Landers and Christian “Flake” Lorenz, the band became world famous as Rammstein, and started to record their first albums and videos, in a striving industrial metal style.
The first album of famous band was released in September 1995. It was called “Herzeleid”. Two years later, the musicians delighted their fans with the second album “Sehnsucht”. During this period, the band was rapidly gaining popularity, and crowds of enthusiastic fans surrounded the expressive guys. The resounding start of their career did not have a negative impact on Oliver, as he stayed away from the stardom. Like any adequate bass player, he simply and technically did his thing.
At the beginning of his musical career, his relations in the band were not particularly friendly, because Oliver’s character was never one for close ties. He was distant and did not reveal himself more than the rock band required. Many attribute this to the fact that Rammstein’s bassist is the youngest member of the band, so he didn’t feel confident or authoritative.
The turning point in the musician’s career, or to be more precise, in the development of the band, was their third album “Mutter”, which almost ended in their break-up. The musician himself says the following about it:
After the third album and a grand tour of Europe, the musicians began recording their fourth album, “Reise, Reise”. It went platinum, and gave the guys even more popularity.
Relationship with the band members
Ramstein is one of the few rock bands whose line-up has not changed since their inception. All members are faithful to their style and do not change the music that has accompanied them for most of their conscious life. However, things were not always smooth inside the band. There was a risk that Oliver would leave the band in 2002-2003 during the recording of their third album. Many believe it was due to the explosive nature of the bassist. As he is the youngest member of the band, he often felt depressed and not authoritative due to his age and personality traits. Often, other members simply didn’t notice or even ignored Oliver Riedel. However, all crisis moments have long passed, and at the moment, the group has a serious, professional relationship.
Oliver Riedel’s bass guitars and gear
The musician has several favorite instruments in his arsenal, which have accompanied him on gigs for a very long time. The Rammstein bass player favors instruments from the company Sandberg. He treasures them and prefers them in both studio and live performances.
- Sandberg Bass Plasmabass 5 string bass. Made by the famous German bass guitar manufacturer, especially for Oliver. In the work, manufacturers have adapted to the physiological characteristics of the musician, namely his tall stature and long arms, so the fingerboard of this guitar has a non-standard size, which is slightly longer than usual;
- Sandberg Bass Terrabas. Custom four-string guitar with a maple fingerboard and alder body with ebony decor with active electronics;
- Glockenklang Heart-Rock amplifier;
- Overdrive / fuzz pedals.
In spite of his love for his instruments, one cannot ignore the fact that, considering recent world events, the rock musician did not stay away from the unfavorable situation and joined the charity auction, sending as a lot two live guitars with his personal autograph. Two Sandberg California guitars with the initials “OR” were the highlight of the auction, and the proceeds from the sale went to charity. For the German Red Cross and as part of the “Germany Helps” campaign, the funds were used to help victims of the war in Ukraine and for the “Doctors Without Borders” campaign, in which other well-known musicians also took part.
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A combination of light and darkness
Oliver Riedel is the embodiment of light and darkness in one person. In private life, including his interactions with bandmates, he is one of the quietest and most secretive characters, perhaps hence his nickname “Lars”, which translates to “The Invisible One”. He prefers to play his role clearly, possessing, incidentally, an almost perfect ear and sense of rhythm. Oliver Riedel prefers to stay in the shadows, dryly and professionally handling the musical parts, but this guy’s inner demon still bursts forth during the concerts.
In real life, despite his expressive stage persona, Oliver is a very simple and kind guy. He answers questions modestly, and his voice is quiet and measured. Oliver prefers to avoid the press and is reluctant to get in touch with the paparazzi. Moreover, he does not maintain any social media pages or share his personal life with his fans.
However, many people around him who know him intimately enough believe that it is better not to hurt him and to be extremely careful with him because of his hot-tempered nature. He will not cause mischief or mayhem at will or without cause, but it is easy to provoke him into an act of aggression. He is known to have had an occasion in his life when he severely beat up his neighbor for listening to music very loudly. Apparently, his neighbours’ musical tastes differed from Oliver’s preferences. . . Such cases are not frequent in his life. For the most part, Oliver is still a fairly balanced guy.
His participation in charity events demonstrates his sense of justice and ability to have compassion for others. For example, there was a situation in his life when charity fundraisers and concerts were banned, but one of the Hospice staff members still wrote to the group for help. She asked to hold a charity event, but they were forbidden by law. Oliver sent her a book, complete with autographed scores of Rammstein songs, which she was later able to sell at an auction. The proceeds could cover the hospice’s debts, and the amount was in the five figures.
Special attention should be paid to Oliver’s character and hobbies. In his spare time away from music, Oliver is a professional photographer, taking pictures of his family and friends. Some sources write that this way he gathers compromising information about his friends. Of course, this is just a joke.
Personal life of Oliver Riedel
As said before, bassist Rammstein does not like publicity, so he does not lead pages in social networks. It is known, that earlier, at the beginning of his career, he was staunchly bachelor. He didn’t think he could be responsible for himself, let alone have a family and kids. However, later, his girlfriend, who later became his wife, gave him a son Alexander and a daughter Emma.
Oliver himself says that his non-concert life consists of regular family activities:
“I take my daughter to school every day and lead a simple family life…”
Says Oliver.
At the beginning of their musical career, there were rumors of sexual orientation, to say the least, due to the boys’ unusual behaviour on stage. However, they were disproved, and Oliver directly told annoying reporters that he was only interested in women.
At the moment, he is married to designer and model Marie Riedel and lives with her in Berlin.
Appearance
Probably the most eye-catching feature of Oliver’s appearance is his tall stature, which is exactly 2 meters. He often wears his hair short or shaves it bald. However, there were moments in his career when he did a semblance of the popular Mohawk and goatee at the time under the influence of a stage image. He had a rather lean physique. Despite his height, he only weighed 80 kg.
Fans naturally notice his deep, brown eyes, which stand out strongly in his lean face and attract attention with their mystery.)
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