Chris von Rohr

Born: 24 October 1951 (aged 65)

Instruments: bass, vocals, guitar, piano, drums, percussion

Christoph "Chris" von Rohr (born 24 October 1951 in Solothurn) is a Swiss rock musician, record producer, author, columnist, radio and television presenter.

Chris von Rohr, along with his half-brother Stephan von Rohr, comes from a middle-class family in Solothurn, where he spent most of his childhood. His first musical experience Chris von Rohr gained at his parents piano. During his school years in mostly local schools (apart from a brief interlude at a boarding school Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz - where he was able to play drums for the very first time), von Rohr's father gave him his first drum set as a gift. In 1967, he formed his first band called The Scouts. The band changed names multiple times, from Tears Of Love to In and finally Indian Summer. With this formation the young drummer also completed his first public appearance at a student ball in the Hotel Krone in Solothurn. After a two-year stint at the public business school in Neuchâtel von Rohr founded more bands: first, the Plastic Joints and thereafter Inside. Meanwhile, the musician von Rohr kept himself financially afloat as a cook in the Solothurn Restaurant & Hotel Kreuz - the first Genossenschaftsbeiz of Switzerland. After a for von Rohr in terms of musical style all in all very unpleasant but at least financially lucrative short stint with a dance band called On the Road, he and their keyboarder Michi Szabo formed the two- man band Night Train. However, all these attempts to make it in the professional music business failed and so von Rohr worked again as a cook at the Restaurant Kreuz, followed by a semester at the Jazz School in Bern.

After finishing studies at the Jazz School, von Rohr returned to Solothurn to form another band in November 1975: Krokus. Their first public gig was opening for Nella Martinetti at the Saalbau of the Swiss town of Gerlafingen. Together with lead guitarist Tommy Kiefer, with whom drummer von Rohr alternated lead vocals, rhythm guitarist Hansi Droz and bassist Remo Spadino finally the very progressive debut album Krokus. was recorded and released in 1976, produced by Peter J. Mac Taggart. With the rights to the band name Krokus secured and his band mates unceremoniously released, he formed a new alliance with band members of the local band Montezuma, changing the line-up of Krokus completely: Von Rohr himself took over lead vocals, Fernando von Arb played guitar, on bass Jürg Naegeli and Freddy Steady on the drums. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Tommy Kiefer was brought back to the line-up and the band was complete once again. With this line-up the band recorded once more at the Sinus Studio in Bern, produced again by Peter J. Mac Taggart and released in 1977 their second studio album To You All, which was released in 1977 and revealing for the first time a hard rock sound.

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Wikipedia