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Bass – Thomas Fiebig
The big man…
…behind the big red, sometimes also black bass. But Thomas Fiebig was once small too. At the tender age of 17, Thomas wanted the guitarist’s spot in a school band – as was so often the case back then, the guitarist positions were long since taken – the bassist’s spot, however, was unpopular and therefore vacant – posing for the girls was perfectly possible with almost any instrument back then, just not with “bass” – most people had no idea and still don’t know what it sounds like or what it’s good for… (Thomas likes to say: bass is the connection between noise (drums) and music (the artistic rest 🙂 ))… and for lack of band alternatives, Thomas took the bassist job… not without a test: “Hey, can you play ‘Rock’n’Roll Gypsy’ by Helen Schneider?? – Sure, man!” 🙂 …that was it, the thick strings have been inseparable from Thomas’s life ever since. Over the following decades he followed this honourable path, working through various musical stations from “original-compositions rock band”, hard rock band, rock ’n’ roll band including double bass and the associated acrobatic routines 🙂 through top 40 and dance combo to become a sought-after bassist in the Bremerhaven music scene. In 2000, his then rock ’n’ roll band was looking for a new guitarist and hired Wolfgang – the recommendation and warning from the go-between was clear and unambiguous:
Quote: “Wolfgang is still very young (17! years old), but he already plays ‘quite decently’ – however, he always plays that ‘Knopfler stuff’ – you’ll have to drum that out of him!”
Where it all ended up as a result should by now be clear to every fan of the dIREsTRATS… 🙂
After the rock ’n’ roll band ended in 2002 and a two-year musical odyssey into the top 40 world, Wolfgang decided it was time to found the dIREsTRATS as a tribute band – Thomas was a little reluctant for a few months – but in the end Wolfgang managed to persuade him with an ultimatum, quite casually 🙂 🙂 🙂
By now Thomas hasn’t been able to imagine life without the Strats for well over 14 years.