Ronald Brautigam | Gitarist

When I was allowed to have my oldest brother's guitar at the age of 9, “it” started for me: first with guitar lessons I practice a lot at home and my first performance at primary school when I was 12. From 1965 to 1970 it was the Beatles who first provided inspiration, soon harder bands such as Deep Purple (Ritchie Blackmore), Jimmy Hedrix and Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page). But blues bands like Ten Years After (Alvin Lee) and The Cream (Eric Clapton) were also played by me (as good as possible).

In 1972 my first real band was formed in high school: Targus. A cover band with songs from the above mentioned acts in the repertoire. When the bassist from Targus bought an LP from Yes (Yes Album) and put it on my turntable at home, I was completely sold. This was the music I wanted to make and it has remained that way to this day! In 1974, at the end of high school, I played in the (school) bands Fahrad and Gentile, where I played the bassist Albert de Keijzer got to know (later also bass player of Plackband). In these bands, together with Ton Bos as singer, my brother Martin on drums and Rob Daenen on keys, a combination of covers (Yes, Flash, Wings) and own repertoire was played. Here I gained the necessary experience that came in handy later in Plackband, November and PBII.

In 1976 I was asked to play in the band Haemorhoyd. This band already included Kees Bik and Tom van der Meulen. For me to switch back from symphonic rock to (punk) rock, but soon the new songs evolved to the for me more familiar sympho. Keyboard player Maarten Mens was replaced by Michel van Wassem and Plackband was born. Plackband received a certain symphonic cult status from 1976 to 1982. In 1994 and 1995 I formed the band November together with Michel, a symphonic rock project with Edwin Wernke on drums (FAF), Bob Blok on bass guitar and Karel Messemaker vocals. (Karel became the new lead singer of Plackband in 2003). The CD The First of November has done very well, with the single Memory even providing for commercial outings. The band has played for TV (Maan bij Nacht and 5-hour show) and radio (Leidse Kade Live, Henk Westbroek, CD show… .etc.).

In 1999 Plackband reunited in its original line-up. In 2009 we made a new start as Plackband 2 under the name PBII with a new bass player, where the musical bar was raised a bit higher. With the CDs Plastic Soup and especially 1000Wishes (with Ruud Slakhorst as singer) has even won and played considerable national and international fame in 2013 for the first time in large theaters with a complete symphony orchestra, actors, dancers, animations… .ets. With 1000Wishes we raised 20,000 euros for KiKa, which is a highlight for me!

In daily life I am married to Dineke and have two beautiful children; Bo and Donna. In daily life I have a very varied and fun job as Relationship Manager in ICT related solutions. My motto is: Financial independence gives you the opportunity to make music that you enjoy yourself! Favorite bands are: Traditionally Led Zeppelin, Yes, Genesis, Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Beck and various Jazz rock from the 70s and 80s. In recent years there have been added: Frost *, Sound of Contact, Flying Colors and It Bites. My favorite radio station is Arrow Classic Rock.

Since 2013 I have an endorsement at Line6. So I play on various Line6 equipment: - Line6 James Tyler JTV-69 (rood) - Line6 James Tyler JTV-89F (donker rood) - Paul Reed Smid (PRS) - 2 x Line6 POD HD500 - Soundcraft monitor mixer - M-Audio In Ears monitor