Wagner, Peter (musician)

Peavy was born in the Ruhr in a family of teachers. His father Paul played in an ensemble performing Renaissance music. His two sisters and brother also made music. Peavy mastered the classical guitar. As a child, he was a fan of The Beatles and The Police , then switched to British heavy metal ( Motorhead , Judas Priest ). Impressed by the game, Lemmy Kilmister switched to bass.

In 1983, Peavy became the founder of the heavy metal band Avenger, which later changed its name to Rage . In this group, he remains to this day a singing bassist and author of a significant part of the songs. In 1999, Peavy was the only member of Rage who refused to dissolve the group and continued to work, gaining a new composition.

He was also one of the founders of Mekong Delta , but left it before the release of his debut album. Collaborated with Axel Rudi Pell and Marcus Grosskopfom ( Helloween ), participated in various collections.

Peter "Peavy" Wagner (Peter "Peavy" Wagner) was born on December 22, 1964 in the heart of the Ruhr region of Germany (the nearest major cities - Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) and began his acquaintance with music at a fairly early age. His parents, both teachers, were real (acting, so to speak - translator's notes) musicians. Peter's father, Paul Wagner, was the leader of a band that loved and played Renaissance music (probably something similar to what Richie Blackmore is doing now - translator notes). Therefore, Peavy, his brother and two sisters got acquainted with classical musical instruments and choral music in childhood. It is noteworthy that soon Peter decided to seriously take up the classical guitar. After several years of study under the guidance of a fairly well-known professor at Dortmund University of Music Dirk Zdebel, Peavy got bored with playing the works of old masters and he began to write songs, playing them on a freshly purchased electric guitar.

The nickname "Peavy", which became, one might say, the main name, Peter received while studying at school. Once, an English teacher set up a test, passing which Peter Wagner signed with his initials - PW In the next lesson, announcing the results, the teacher asked: “And who is Pi.Vi here?”. Since then, this nickname has stuck behind him. Subsequently, Peavy began to write his middle name in much the same way as the name of the already well-known company specializing in the production of musical equipment - Peavey. What does the nickname so strongly strengthened for him that even sometimes, introducing themselves by phone by their real name, they ask Peter: "Who-who, excuse me?" He has to say: "Yes, this is Peavy!" :) "Ahh, Peavy, hello! ..."

The first groups that impressed Peter were The Beatles and Police, then Rush, Motorhead and Sex Pistols, and, of course, the British New Wave’s New Wave heroes — Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and their other contemporaries. So heavy rock music, which began its formation at the turn of the 70s and 80s, was called "Heavy Metal" and it is logical that Peavy gave his first group the name "Dark Lights". After some time, being impressed by Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister's play, Peter decides to switch from guitar to bass. In addition to several photos and concert recordings of terrible quality, no other traces of the work of Peavy and Co. in those distant days, no more. Therefore, none of these records have been released. And in 1983, Jochen Schroder, Alf Meyerratken and Peavy Wagner formed the AVENGER group, which is the progenitor of RAGE.

In addition to his main creative activity at RAGE, in the mid-80s, Peavy Wagner also took part in several third-party projects. First of all, we should recall the punk band Der Riss, which, in addition to Peavy, was attended by Jörg Michael (now the drummer of Stratovarius) and Gerald Wilkes (now the concert manager of RAGE). Peavy played the guitar, Jörg (understandably) played the drums, and Mr. Wilkes was responsible for the bass. However, this project did not last long and managed to release only one record in 1983 at the company Wishbone Records titled "They all do ... image". It is almost impossible to get this vinyl now - the record has become a real rarity. Further, it is worth mentioning the famous band Mekong Delta - one of the progenitors of modern prog metal, with which Peavy worked from 1985 to 1987, as a guitarist on the first two demos, and then as a vocalist and songwriter on the first two albums - "Mekong Delta "1985 and" The Music of Erich Zann "1986. Unfortunately, the views on the further creative development of the group between the leader and founder of Mekong Delta Ralph Hubert and Peter Wagner diverged. Peavy wanted to be a vocalist leader, and Ralph believed that Wagner’s voice did not fit the band’s music at all.

Also, but very rarely, Peavy takes part in the recording of some albums as a guest musician. Among such projects, it is worth mentioning Peter’s participation in the recording of Axel Rudi Pell’s album “Black Moon Pyramid” as a guest bass player, on the GB ARTS album as a guest vocalist, on the German Rock Project album “Let Love Conquer The World” and, undoubtedly, his participation in the recording of the legendary New Year's project - the X-Mas Project, where Peavy not only sang two songs, but also played the bass guitar, should be noted.

• Biography on the official website