Rodrigo González (musician)
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Rodrigo "Rod" Andrés González Espíndola (born 19 May 1968) is a Chilean-born German musician known as the bassist and one of the singers of German rock band
Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. It consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González (musician), Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. The band has released 14 studio albums. ...
.


Early life

González's parents were politically persecuted in Chile during the
Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader of the military junta, which i ...
dictatorship, and so were granted
asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...
in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. His family initially lived there on social benefits until his father found work. He completed his ''
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
'' (school-leaving exams) at the Gymnasium Langenhorn. He has an older sister, Claudia, who also works as a musician (Universal González). As a teenager, González was a member of the band Die Erben. From 1986 to 1988, he played
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
in the Hamburg punk band Die Goldenen Zitronen, and from 1988 to 1989 he was the guitarist in the
Rainbirds The Rainbirds are a German pop rock band established in 1986 around singer Katharina Franck. Their greatest hit is the song "Blueprint". History The band formed in 1986 and named themselves after an instrumental track by Tom Waits. When they won ...
.


Career


Career with Depp Jones and Die Ärzte

González became friends with the Die Ärzte drummer, Bela B., when they sang a
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
song together in a bar while drunk. González was also a member of the so-called '
KISS Army The KISS Army is the official fan club for the American rock band Kiss, as well as the unofficial name used to refer to Kiss fans in general. It was started unofficially in 1975 by Bill Starkey and Jay Evans. The membership form displayed for t ...
'. Bela B. quickly began to value González' musical talent. They played together in the band S.U.M.P., which later changed its name to Depp Jones, following the (temporary) break-up of Die Ärzte in 1988. After failing to achieve commercial success, Depp Jones split up in 1992. When
Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. It consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González (musician), Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. The band has released 14 studio albums. ...
got back together in 1993, González became their new band member. Although he had been the guitarist in Depp Jones, he became the bassist in Die Ärzte. While the last Die Ärzte bassist prior to the break-up, Hagen Liebing, had only been a hired band member, González has been a full-fledged member of Die Ärzte since joining the band. González has penned the Die Ärzte singles "
1/2 Lovesong "1/2 Lovesong" is a song by German rock band Die Ärzte. It is the sixth track and the third single from their 1998 album '' 13''. The music of the song was composed by Rod González. The lyrics were written by Rod Gonzáles and Bela B. The so ...
" and "
Dinge von denen "Dinge von denen" (Things of which) is a song by German rock Die Ärzte. It is the fifth track on the first CD and the second single from their 2003 album ''Geräusch''. It is about the singers dislike for hearing about other peoples ailments su ...
", among others. At the songs he sings, him and Urlaub traditionally swap instruments. Alongside bass and guitar, he has also taught himself to play the drums, keyboard and piano. The other members of Die Ärzte therefore jokingly refer to him as "over-qualified". During the ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...
'' concert '' Rock'n'Roll Realschule'', which took place in 2002 in the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Hamburg, González was the musical director and arranger for most of the songs performed.


Other musical projects

González works as a producer for various bands and other artists, such as Lucilectric,
Knorkator Knorkator is a German band from Berlin that combines Heavy metal music, heavy metal with comical elements. They proclaim themselves to be "Germany's band in the world" (), as the title "The best band in the world" was already taken by Die Ärz ...
and Panda. He is also the co-owner of Rodrec, a record company, through which both of the Depp Jones albums were re-released and to which the artists Rantanplan, Church of Confidence, and
Abwärts Abwärts ("Downwards") is a German post-punk band from Hamburg. Members FM Einheit and Mark Chung would leave the group in the early 1980s to join West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western pa ...
are signed. González has also played guitar with Abwärts since 2004. During the live concert Fußballfans gegen Rechts (''Football Fans Against Right-Wing Extremism'') on 30 January 1993 in the Zakk Club,
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, González played in the
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band
Slime Slime or slimy may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slime coat, the coating of mucus covering the body of all fish * Slime mold, an informal name for several eukaryotic organisms * Biofilm, or slime, a syntrophic community of micr ...
as a stand-in. He covered the
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
song "I'll Fight Hell to Hold You" in 2001, turning it into a disco track and singing in the
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
style. In 2005, González and Bela B. (as Zwei Fickende Hunde) recorded the song "Meister aller Fotzen" by
Die Kassierer Die Kassierer ("The Cashiers"), also Die mächtigen Kassierer ("The Mighty Cashiers"), are a satirical punk rock, punk band from Bochum-Wattenscheid, Germany. The group was founded in 1985 by Wolfgang Wendland (vocals), Nikolai Sonnenscheiße ...
for the CD Kunst to celebrate 20 years of the
Wattenscheid Wattenscheid () is a of the city of Bochum. Until 1975, it was a separate town in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wattenscheid has a population of about 80,000 citizens. Some notable firms have their headquarters in there, such as St ...
punk band.


References


External links

*
Rod Army
(in German)
RodRec record label
(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Rodrigo 1968 births Living people 20th-century German male singers Musicians from Valparaíso Musicians from Hamburg Chilean emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany