Artist Spotlight

Can you share a brief description of your musical background (gigs, tours and recording projects etc)?

My name is Hermann Utz and I am the guitarist of the German alternative rock band Stereostoned. In the past I´ve done a lot of different styles of music… blues, prog rock, metal, crossover, funk and some jazzy stuff. I started playing guitar at the age of 17 (I started on drums when I was 12 years old) and my teachers were the records I loved at this time like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, RHCP, Hendrix…….. I have done live and studio work for the last 15 years. I own a small record studio where I record bands and work on my own stuff. My work also include guitar teaching, performing and recording I am endorsed by Pickboy, Spectraflex, Pyramid Strings and SPL.

What do you have going on now?

Our CD “Stay Sexy” was released on 27 January 2012. At the moment I am doing a lot of promo work for the album. We are also planning our gigs/tour for Summer 2012. I also work with different bands in my studio, teaching, write songs for the next Stereostoned album and doing pre-production for my solo album.

Where do you see the direction of music going in the future?

I think it’s difficult to be a musician today. It has never been easier to promote your music all over the world via internet but it has been never been harder to sell CD´s because of the internet download thing. I mean nobody can change this and you have to see the chance in this situation. I think the good thing about that is that bands have to be real good live bands; that´s the only way to survive as a musician or band. You must be a real band and know how to perform.

What role did music education have on your career?

Technical/theoretical knowledge is the foundation for a lot of things. It´s the speech of musicians and it makes it much easier to work with different kinds of musicians. But the most important aspect of making music is your attitude and your talent. After you learned a lot about technical things….forget all you know and try to feel music ;—) That´s what it´s all about. The sound was much earlier than the note ;—)

Why do you like Pickboy picks?

I spent a lot of time checking out equipment like guitars, amps, speakers, cables……but picks were only picks for me for a long time. Until I had the chance to play with Pickboy picks. I tried a lot of them and they are all pretty cool. But when I found the Polycarbonate Pos A Grip 1.00mm. Wow !!! These picks were the missing link between my fingers and the strings. The shape is perfect, the grip is awesome on stage and the sound is great. Since I found them, Pickboy Pos A Grip 1.00mm are the only picks I play live or in the studio.