Music is a limitless language and experiencing the emotions and reactions of the audience during a concert is something which never ceases to fascinate me. Whether they dance, sing-along or simply listen, there is always a giving and taking.

One is transported to another sphere when thousands of people are jumping around in front of the stage, their song creating a hymn from a simple melody. Similarly there is a remarkably exciting tension when a whole auditorium is so quiet during a performance that one can hear oneself breathe as one plays. It is particularly due to the discovery of the Hang that I have learned to appreciate that quality of silence.

I was lucky enough to be given a drum-kit at the tender age of 2 and through my parents I was often surrounded by musicians. At the age of 6, in 1990, I began to play the accordion and it was this instrument which helped me to understand the most important harmonic connections. In changing to the piano it was more through improvisation than note-learning that I explored the wider possibilities for experimentation.

Feeling an affinity for the world of rock music, I returned at 13 to the drums and became a pupil at the Music Grammar School in Innsbruck. An important part of my development as drummer was my experience with the crossover band HotchPotch with whom I played ca. 150 gigs in Austria, Italy, Spain and Germany.

After the Music Grammar School my musical experience became more varied. Alongside my first TV performances and several studio recordings which demanded a high level of precision and perfection from me as a musician, I also involved myself more with new directions of style such as jazz or drum’n’bass. Private lessons with Jojo Mayer and Paul Elliott helped me to find a better, more open sound on the drums.

At the same time I studied at the Conservatory of Music in Innsbruck with Norbert Rabanser and Gunnar Fras, and concentrated more on the Marimba. But there was an instrument which proved to be the perfect combination of rhythm and melody: the Hang. It represents for me the fusion of my experience of instruments to date - drums, marimba and piano - and my study of the Indian Tabla also helped me to develop a wide variety of sounds on the Hang.

In 2006 I produced my first Hang-solo-Album made in silence, on which there are mainly blissful and calming tones to be heard. Only a few month later the album Living Room of the eponymous duo with Christoph Pepe Auer was released. After finishing my study of classical percussion at the university Mozarteum in Innsbruck / Austria I moved to London.

January 2008
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