Oliver Riedel

Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (born 11 April 1971) is a German musician, best known as the bassist for Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.

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".

In 1990, at the age of 19, Riedel began playing in a folk/punk band called the Inchtabokatables.

In 1994, Riedel, Till Lindemann, Richard Kruspe, and Christoph Schneider entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro beat contest that allowed them to record a four-track demo professionally.

Paul Landers and Christian "Flake" Lorenz would later join the band they named Rammstein.

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 (2 m).

It has also been said he is the most computer-literate member of the band.

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.

His known gear is:

Riedel also uses selected overdrive/fuzz pedals for songs such as "Mein Teil" and "Rosenrot".