MATT GONZO ROEHR

04/26/2023

NEW PRODUCT, INTERVIEW AND RAFFLE

His unique guitar playing has a very individual sound colored by rock, metal, blues and punk.

Through his work at Böhse Onkelz, Gonzo is one of the most successful and well-known German rock musicians.

His solo project earned him a Los Angeles-New York IMN Award. With the single "Same Old Song And Dance", Gonzo was not only successfully represented in the IMN charts for a long time and even reached number 1, he also won the award for "Comeback Artist of the Year 2022".

At the beginning of the year, the MATT GONZO RÖHR Signature guitar strap was launched, which is currently only available from the Onkelz web shop (www.onkelz.de).

Today we are proud to release the MATT GONZO RÖHR - RICHTER® electric guitar string set.

"I am happy to present you my signature string set in cooperation with RICHTER®. I have played strings from many different manufacturers over the course of my career, but the Richter strings with their "ION Coated" coating are uniquely good and of outstanding quality. They passed the endurance test on the last Onkelz Tour with flying colours. I have no hesitation in recommending them to any guitarist of any genre."

Matt Gonzo Roehr

Interview with Gonzo from 05/25/2023:

You owe your stage name "Gonzo" to the fact that you celebrated and really absorbed the Ted Nugent album "Double Live Gonzo" in your early youth. What status does the album have for you today and are there individual pieces that are particularly close to your heart?

When I discovered Ted Nugent in the 1970s, when I was about 14 years old, he was a sensation. My friends and I started to get involved with music and started a band. Everything revolved around music! There were no pigeonholes or blinkers, we were interested in everything and we were really interested in every genre of music. Whether hard rock, jazz rock, krautrock or blues and soul, we have consumed everything. Hard rock was our favorite though. And so, when my schoolmate, who was also the bass player in our band, was at home, we secretly listened to his older brother's record collection when he wasn't at home. That's when I came across Ted Nugent. Today Ted doesn't play a big role in my musical life anymore, I'm more interested in jazz and roots music. Surprisingly, Ted recently came back into my life, this time through a mutual acquaintance who connected us. By the way, my biography "GONZO" published in 2019 by Hannibal Verlag cleared up the rumor about my nickname. The story happened a little differently...

What was your first electric guitar and how did you find your first instrument? And where is this today?

My first electric guitar was a so-called "Hertie-Caster". These were guitars that were sold by a large department store chain and since we had such a department store near us, I was fascinated by these instruments when I was 11 years old. Whenever I went there with my parents on Saturday to do the "big shopping", I stood in front of the guitars, basses and amps to admire them and to dream. Yes, they also sold the right amps for the guitars and basses. At some point I had such an instrument myself.

Is there someone you have to thank for the first tips and tricks for playing the guitar?

Definitely Johnny Winter. He was my biggest guitar idol growing up and still is, although my focus and guitar playing has changed a bit. After him, or rather, after him, came many guitarists who interested and inspired me and from whom I also learned a lot.

Which bands or albums are you currently listening to?

I only listen to jazz and fusion albums at the moment. old and new. I've been interested in jazz and fusion music for many years and have discovered a whole new cosmos for me.

Do you celebrate a ritual before a performance?

No.

Is there a riff or a special run that you actually always play while warming up before a show?

No. I just warm up my right hand before shows to loosen up for the rhythm. I have an oil can guitar backstage in my dressing room that accompanies me on every tour. Mostly I play different songs by Bo Diddley. That puts you in a good mood and relaxes your right hand. Hey Bo Diddley;-)!!

In addition to RICHTER® standard guitar straps and your own RICHTER® Signature guitar straps (available from www.onkelz.de), you play your specially tuned set of guitar strings from RICHTER®. What do you value most in your string configuration and in what tuning do you use it?

The configuration of the strings depends on the instrument I play on tour. Long or short scale. I was sponsored by D'Angelico guitars on the last tour, great instrument that I can really recommend to everyone and that I really fell in love with. I like the Art Nouveau applications in the design. The manager of the German distribution of D'Angelico sent me two instruments to the hotel in Berlin and I was thrilled. These guitars have a long scale. I therefore prefer a lower gauge for the lower strings (E,A,D), e.g. B. the E string in 0.49. That makes it easier for the left hand with the many live shows in a row on a tour. We also tune the instruments a tone lower for most songs, which makes it even easier, but of course also determines the gauge of the strings used. Strings that are too thin don't work there. But my set also works for the songs in normal tuning (E, A, D, G, H, E) in the Onkelz program. So the Matt Gonzo Roehr Signature Set is designed to be very balanced.

A very strong thing and a real win-win-win situation in terms of "environment - fan culture - charity" is created by processing the guitar strings played live into jewelry. Strings played live don't end up in the garbage, but are made into bracelets. Fans can bid on these and receive a super emotional souvenir from you of an unforgettable day. And the proceeds go to charity, too! Hats off. To which organization will the proceeds of the bracelets be donated?

I have a few projects that I support and I'm happy that Lars Richter introduced me to this idea. The artist Claire Bradbeer from England made the bracelets for us from the played sets of strings. In the coming month (May) I will support the "Special Needs Team" of FC St. Pölten and the "Kolibri Verein für Krebskanke Kinder" in Angermünde. I will continue with these actions in the future and hope to be able to support as many charity projects as possible. I also think it's great for the fans. We are producing something unique, irretrievable. When the show is done and the set of strings played is off the guitar, that's a piece of Onkelz history to wear on your wrist. Of course, there is also a certificate of authenticity.

Is there THE dream guitar that you've been wanting or looking for for a long time, but don't have yet?

One? Ha, ha, ha, you should look in my basement. I don't think there is a guitar model that I don't have.

How does the near future look for you and your band projects?

I'm writing new songs and have several projects in the pipeline, some of which will be in collaboration with my son Vincent. He just released his first single under the name "Vinceroy", which was also very well received. As soon as there is news from my side, I will report about it on gonzomusic.com.

Raffle:

The MATT GONZO RÖHR strings are currently only available for pre-order. Among all pre-orders of the MATT GONZO RÖHR - RICHTER® Signature electric guitar strings we are giving away a real gem! A bracelet made from a guitar string played live by Gonzo on September 13th, 2022 at an Onkelz concert in Hamburg. The advance sale ends on May 15, 2023. The winner will be drawn on June 5th, 2023.

Conditions of participation

Update 05/15/2022:

The winner of the bracelet is Jan Kolbinger, Offenbach am Main