Steve Wacholz

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Steve Wacholz with drum set

Steve "Doc" Wacholz (* 11. May 1962 in White Plains , New York ) is an American metal - drummer . Its trademark is a large drum kit with three bass drums .

Life

Beginning with the Oliva brothers

At the age of 14, Steve Wacholz met Criss Oliva . In 1979 he joined the band Avatar , in which Criss Oliva played with his brother Jon Oliva. The band was previously called Alien . From the brothers Wacholz got his distinctive nickname, "Doctor Hardware Killdrums", which can be traced back to his hard, brutal drumming. The nickname is mostly abbreviated as "Doc Killdrums" or "Doc". He was called that when he once again destroyed parts of his equipment while playing the drums.

Savatage

Steve Wacholz when he was at Savatage

In 1983 the band changed their name to Savatage as there was already another band called Avatar . In 1983 the band recorded 15 songs in a session that only lasted a single day due to financial problems. This resulted in the album Sirens in 1983 and the EP The Dungeons Are Calling , released in 1984 . The albums were released or distributed by Combat Records and Metal Blade . In 1985 the band moved to Atlantic Records and released the album Power of the Night . The album was recorded by Max Norman . During the recording the band was increasingly dissatisfied with bassist Keith Collins and fired him. Johnny Lee Middleton was found as the new bass player . With this, the album Fight for the Rock was released in 1986 . The record company wanted to conquer the budding Glam Metal market and the band should therefore write songs suitable for radio. However, the songs hardly arrived and the album flopped. In 1987 the album Hall of the Mountain King was released with producer Paul O'Neill . The collaboration with O'Neill was the turning point in the band's history. O'Neill created an orchestral sound with the band that combined metal with other progressive styles of music. In 1989 the album Gutter Ballet was released with the new, additional guitarist Chris Caffery , who is allegedly only specified on the album and does not play . However, after the tour for the album, Caffery left the band. In 1991, the album was released A rock opera - Streets , which originally called Broadway - Musical was intended. Then Jon Oliva had to leave his post as a singer due to personal problems. He switched to keyboard (but paused on the Streets tour) and was replaced by Zachary Stevens . The album Edge of Thorns was released in 1993 with this line-up . At the time of the Edge of Thorns tour, Wacholz had already opened his own shop, so he asked Andy James if he could represent him. However, after the tour, Criss Oliva died in a car accident. Wacholz is mentioned as the drummer on the 1994 album Handful of Rain , but by then had almost left the band. The loss and the new musical course of the band were the reasons. Wacholz wanted to go more towards the old albums and Doctor Butcher , while the band invented the sound that was later perfected by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra .

According to Savatage

Wacholz closed his shop, the "Hobby Shop" after two years, and worked for a company called Thoroughbred Music . He also worked continuously as a drum teacher and promoter. However, he focused on family events. He also worked as a state-certified investment specialist and had his own record company, Spybat . He also worked in a music store for a while. However, current is not known.

Membership in other bands

In 1999 he was briefly with Crimson Glory . He is noted as drummer on their 1999 album Astronomica . In 2010 he became the drummer for the band Reverence . Other band members are: Todd Michael Hall (vocals), Bryan Holland (guitar), Ned Meloni (bass) and Pete Rossi (guitar). In 2012 the album When Darkness Calls was released . In 2014 the band announced a new album on their Facebook page. Finally, on October 21, 2015, the new album Gods of War was released .

Discography (selection)

Savatage

Crimson Glory

  • 1999: Astronomica (studio album, Wacholz is specified as the drummer. In reality, a drum computer was playing)

Reverence

  • 2012: When Darkness Calls
  • 2015: Gods of War

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/ReverenceMetal
  2. ↑ The band's Facebook page in April 2014
  3. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Reverence-When-Darkness-Calls/release/5530906
  4. ↑ http://reverencemetal.com/2011/index.html
personal data
SURNAME Wacholz, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wacholz, Doc (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American metal drummer
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH White Plains , New York