Joerg Deisinger (born Jörg Deisinger) is a German musician and the former bassist and a founding member of the German 1980s
heavy metal band
Bonfire
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration.
Etymology
The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...
.
Early life and Bonfire
Deisinger was born in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany, on 23 April 1966. His pre-teen obsession with learning how to play guitar eventually became a full-fledged pursuit of becoming a rock star. When it became clear he had a genuine chance of realizing his dream, Deisinger quit his apprenticeship as an electrician to devote himself to music full-time.
[Deisinger, J. & Begai, C. (2008), ]
Fire And Fame
', BOD Publishing GmbH,
Deisinger joined German hard rock band as a bassist Cacumen in 1985, which would change its name to Bonfire in May 1986 in the interest of having a catchier moniker to push their new album,
Don't Touch the Light
''Don't Touch the Light'' is the first album by German hard rock band Bonfire, following its name change from Cacumen. It was released in 1986 on RCA Records.
AllMusic wrote that the album is considered a "classic" of the " melodic hard rock" ...
. The name was suggested by Deisinger and after some consideration replaced Cacumen.
He recorded four albums with the band –
Don't Touch the Light
''Don't Touch the Light'' is the first album by German hard rock band Bonfire, following its name change from Cacumen. It was released in 1986 on RCA Records.
AllMusic wrote that the album is considered a "classic" of the " melodic hard rock" ...
(1986),
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
(1987),
Point Blank
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
(1989), and
Knock Out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
(1991). During his time with the band touring Europe extensively with acts such as
Victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...
,
Krokus,
ZZ Top and
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
. They sold almost 750,000 albums over a four-year period even though the North American market failed to embrace Bonfire as Europe had. Deisinger played his last show with Bonfire on 29 July 1994.
On 3 July 1996, a one-time one-payment offer was made by
Claus Lessmann
Claus Lessmann (born 11 September 1960) is a German heavy metal musician and former lead singer of heavy metal band Bonfire. He was the only member and the only singer of Bonfire to have appeared on all of the band's albums. Lessmann was also ...
and original Bonfire guitarist
Hans Ziller
Hans Ziller (born 18 May 1959) is a German musician, known as the founder, lead guitarist, backing vocalist and primary composer of the 1980s melodic hard rock band Bonfire. He founded the band Cacumen (a predecessor of Bonfire) as a teenage ...
to buy the band name back from Deisinger, guitarist Angel Schleifer and drummer Edgar Patrik, as the trio had no desire to resurrect Bonfire.
After Bonfire
Deisinger went on to record two albums with Paul Sabu (self-titled – 1996, Between the Light – 1998). In 1999 he formed Soul Doctor with
Fair Warning singer Tommy Heart, and while the band's 2001 self-titled debut held promise, the 2003 follow-up, ''Systems Go Wild'', suffered from creative differences between Deisinger and Heart. Following its release, Deisinger left the band in April 2003.
In 2003 Deisinger received a
Gold record for Bonfire's ''Fireworks'' album, which had officially sold 250,000 copies in Germany alone, since its 1987 release.
Deisinger relocated to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
in 2004. In addition to doing occasional live gigs as a session player, he opened an English school in
Sichon with his girlfriend. In December of that year, the last minute cancellation of a planned Christmas vacation to
Koh Phi Phi Don ultimately saved Deisinger's life; the tsunami that decimated parts of Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia on 26 December 2004 laid waste to the resort where he was supposed to be staying.
On 17 March 2005 Deisinger returned to Nuremberg, Germany and started working as a freelance photographer, eventually foundin
Deisinger Photography which specializes in wedding, travel and event photographs and portfolios.
Fire and Fame
In 2005 Deisinger approached Canadian music journalist and writer
Carl Begai
Carl Begai (born December 1, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian music journalist, and author.
Life
Begai was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He attended York University in Toronto and received a B.A. in History in 1993.
Begai curre ...
about co-writing his memoirs, which focused on his Bonfire career. The project, eventually dubbed
Fire and Fame by Carl, wrapped up in late 2007 and was released independently in August 2008.
Discography
Bonfire
Albums
* 1986: ''
Don't Touch the Light
''Don't Touch the Light'' is the first album by German hard rock band Bonfire, following its name change from Cacumen. It was released in 1986 on RCA Records.
AllMusic wrote that the album is considered a "classic" of the " melodic hard rock" ...
''
* 1987: ''
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
''
* 1989: ''
Point Blank
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
''
* 1991: ''
Knock Out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
''
* 1993: ''Live... The Best''
DVD
* 2001: ''
Golden Bullets'' (DVD, reissue of ''The Best'')
Other
* 1989: ''
Sword and Stone'' (''
Shocker'' soundtrack)
Axel Rudi Pell
* 1989: ''
Wild Obsession
Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist.
Career
Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Micha ...
''
Sabu
* 1996: self-titled
* 1998: ''Between the Light''
* 2003: ''Resurfaced''
Soul Doctor
* 2001: self-titled
* 2002: ''Systems Go Wild''
References
External links
www.joergdeisinger.com– Deisinger Photography (German)
fireandfame.com– official website of the book ''Fire and Fame''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deisinger, Joerg
1966 births
Musicians from Nuremberg
Photographers from Bavaria
Living people
German rock bass guitarists
Male bass guitarists
German memoirists
German male non-fiction writers
German male guitarists