Stefan Kleinkrieg

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Stefan Kleinkrieg 2004

Stefan Kleinkrieg (born Stefan Klein on December 29, 1955 in Hagen in Westphalia ) is a German rock musician and was best known as "Stefan Kleinkrieg" through the band Extrabreit .

Life

He was born on December 29, 1955 in Hagen in Westphalia as Stefan Klein and the eldest of two children of his parents, Hans Peter and Marion Klein. He is married to Eva Maria Klein and lives childless in Hagen. Stefan Kleinkrieg is the last remaining founding member of Extrabreit and is still musically active with the band after the reunion in 2002, live and in the studio.

Musical career

Klein's interests were in music from an early age. After learning a few chords on the guitar, he founded the band “Staub” with Rolf Möller, who also played with Extrabreit . Later he played in a band called "Fantastic Motorcraft", which like Staub were not successful either.

He then did an apprenticeship as a shop window designer in Kaufhof Hagen and did his military service with the medical services of the Bundeswehr. Fascinated by the music of the Sex Pistols , which was new to him , he persuaded his friend Gerhard Sperling, alias “Käptn Horn” , to buy a drum kit in order to found the band “Extrabreit” in its original form. The band was completed by the ex-Ramblers bassist Ralf "Rava" Denz and the ex-songwriter Horst Werner Wiegand. There were only a few appearances with this line-up, and no significant sound material has been preserved. The band experienced several line-up changes and was then one of the leading music groups in Germany at the time of the Neue Deutsche Welle.

Surname

First, Stefan Kleinkrieg performed under his name Stefan Klein. At Extrabreit's first appearance with the singer Kai Schlasse, Stefan Klein announced the new singer as " Kai Havaii the singing siren from overseas". He returned the favor and thanked “Stefan Kleinkrieg” at the microphone. The permanent artist name was found for both of them that evening. The name Stefan Kleinkrieg is also used throughout the band Extrabreit. His solo projects were published under the simplified name "Kleinkrieg". For several years now, Stefan Kleinkrieg has been shortening himself with the term “St. Guerrilla warfare ”. In internal circles, the spelling “St. Small war "the name" Sankt Kleinkrieg "developed.

Success with extra wide

Two gold records and several sold-out tours, front pages and stories in the leading youth magazines marked the beginning of the 1980s. With the new singer Kai Schlasse aka "Kai Havaii", who appeared under the pseudonym "Stefan Kleinkrieg" from now on, Klein formed a songwriting partnership that went through his entire career from Extrabreit and still continues. As a copywriter, Klein doesn't appear that often, but some of the extra-wide classics come from his pen. "Lotto King", "Busbaby", "Darling", "Joachim has to get harder" and "Close your eyes and through" are among them.

Projects with other musicians

Stefan Kleinkrieg wrote the song “Kralle” together with Udo Lindenberg , which was published on Lindenberg's 1983 album “Odyssey”. He also played guitar on this piece. 1987 wrote and produced Stefan Kleinkrieg with Peter Szimanneck the single "Love of my Life" for the singer Joe Galushi († 2000). The song was not a chart success. In 1996 there was a collaboration with the fun punk band "The Three Kings" . On the album “Pogo Lounge”, Stefan Kleinkrieg plays the lead guitar in the piece “Jägermeister”.

Solo projects and solo albums

Klein used the constant breaks at Extrabreit again and again for solo ambitions. The first solo production was the song "Volmestrand" and was published in 1982 on the compilation "Alles aus Hagen" (Tonträger 58). In 1984 Stefan Kleinkrieg released his first of three official solo albums with “Nur für Jungs” . "Only for boys" was a rock album recorded with Extrabreit colleagues Hunter and Public Uli, with which there was also an extensive tour. With the album, Stefan Kleinkrieg remained more faithful to the rock style previously played by Extrabreit, while Extrabreit tried out new musical styles at the same time. Therefore the album "Nur für Jungs" was very popular among the extra wide fans. " Rif Raf, Seemann " and " I write it in the sky " were released three times from the album. In 1990 this album was released on CD under the title Kleinkrieg. In the CD version, however, 5 tracks are missing from the original.

In 1989 Stefan Kleinkrieg released the album "Vive la KaBum" recorded in England under the project name "Mona Liza Overdrive". A number of renowned rock musicians play on this album, such as Don Airey ( Gary Moore ), Neil Murray ( Whitesnake ) and Brian Robertson ( Thin Lizzy ), whom Stefan Kleinkrieg got to know through his producer, Kit Woolven (including Thin Lizzy). Vive la KaBum received almost consistently good reviews and is still traded in barter and used exchanges. There was a single with Wanrdin 'Star.

After the official dissolution of the group Extrabreit in 1998, Stefan Kleinkrieg released the album “Acid” in 2001 under the stage name “Kleinkrieg”, on which a very gloomy mood prevails and which probably earned him bad reviews throughout. The lyrics on this album also testify to loss and hopelessness. “I'm no longer interested in a good mood!” Was the musician's comment. A single from this album was not released.

Other activities

Today, Stefan Kleinkrieg runs a website under the title "Considerations of a Middle Character" , on which he publishes stories at irregular intervals, some in the form of serial novels. Stefan Kleinkrieg also uses this website to distribute free music downloads. He plays these almost all of the time in his "Rapido-Studio". After these downloads were enthusiastically received by the growing fan base, Stefan Kleinkrieg released a fan CD in 2007 with a compilation of the most popular songs under the title "Considerations of a Middle Character". On the website there is also a detailed discography of the solo albums and musical side projects.

Audiobook CD "KLN KRG: Kleinkrieg Reads" 2017/09

literature

  • Stefan Kleinkrieg: The Rumpsteak and the Dalai Lama ... short stories and robber pistols by extra-wide guitarist Stefan Kleinkrieg , published as a book and as an eBook. Acabus Verlag 2018/10
  • Kai Havaii : Hard as jam - a rock 'n' roll novel from the provinces. Kiepenheuer / construction 2007
  • Hollow Skai : just a dream? Curse and blessing of the Neue Deutsche Welle. Hannibal April 2009

Web links

Commons : Stefan Kleinkrieg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files