Oliver Riedel is a German musician, best known as the bassist for the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.
Early life
Oliver Riedel was born in Schwerin on 11 April 1971. Growing up, he had relatively good relationships with both of his parents. He attributes this to the small gap between their ages. As a child, he was not a good student, but he made his way through school with the assistance of his mother. Riedel was quite shy, especially during his teenage years; while his friends partied, he would often be found just "hanging around".
Musical career
In 1990, at the age of 19, Oliver began playing in a folk-fiddle/punk band called The Inchtabokatables. In 1994, Riedel, Till Lindemann, Richard Kruspe, and Christoph "Doom" Schneider entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro beat contest that allowed them to record a four-track demo professionally. Paul H. Landers and Christian "Flake" Lorenz would later join the band they named Rammstein. The six released their first album, Herzeleidin September 1995. Their second album, Sehnsucht was released in 1997, which would later become platinum. In April 2001, the albumMutter was released and a European tour followed, ending on 13 July 2002. It has been reported that at this time the members of Rammstein were seriously discussing whether to continue or not in their present form. It was decided that they should all take some time off and then reconsider whether to continue. In 2003, Rammstein started work on the fourth album, which was to prove a turning point in Rammstein's sound and maturity. September 2004 saw the fruits of this work in the release of Reise, Reise. In 2005, Rosenrot was released. Rammstein's 6th album Liebe istfür alle da was released in October 2009. In May 2019, Rammstein released their untitled seventh album.
Personal life
Riedel has two children, one a girl named Emma, and is separated from their mother. He enjoys photography and sports, especially skateboarding and surfing. In the making of the video for "Keine Lust", he mentions wanting to go snowboarding while wearing a fat suit. He is the tallest member of Rammstein, standing in at 6 ft 7 in. It has also been said he is the most computer-literate member of the band. He tends to keep his hair in a crew cut style or completely shaven, accompanied by a goatee or sometimes a full beard.
Musicianship
Technique
Riedel is primarily a fingerstyle player, although he uses a pick for most songs when playing live. In certain softer songs, Riedel has been known to play with a banjo style plucking technique with his right hand to play arpeggiated chords, such as in "Seemann". He also plays the acoustic guitar introduction to "Frühling in Paris" in live shows.
