Bass
Oliver Riedel
The tallest and the most private. He came out of the folk-punk of The Inchtabokatables and rarely gives interviews.
- Born
- April 11, 1971
- Place
- Schwerin, German Democratic Republic
- In Rammstein
- Bass · since 1994
He was born on April 11, 1971, in Schwerin. At 2.01 m he is the tallest member of the band, and also the hardest to find in an interview: he is famously reserved and keeps his private life away from the noise.
Before Rammstein he played from 1992 in The Inchtabokatables, a folk-punk group a long way from the sound that would follow. In 1993 he joined Richard Kruspe and Christoph Schneider in Tempelprayers, the project the band grew out of, and in 1994 they won the Berlin Senate contest that gave them their first week in a studio.
His playing is sober and functional: mostly fingerstyle, a pick live, and a banjo-style plucking on the softer songs. In a group where everything shouts, the bass is what holds the structure up.
Away from music he has two children and spends his time on skateboarding, surfing and photography. In 2022 he auctioned signed Sandberg basses in aid of Ukrainian relief organisations.
Before Rammstein
- The Inchtabokatables (from 1992)