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Rock Hard Germany  Distribution: Germany, Austria, Switzerland and exports to 19 other European Countries E-mail: megazine@rockhard.de (general requests) online-redaktion@rockhard.de (online requests) URL: www.rockhard.de ROCK HARD started out as a fanzine in 1983 and has since gone on to become one of the most influencial European rock publications. Today's monthly circulation reaches an average of 80.000 copies in Germany (Switzerland and Austria) alone. The magazine specializes in all kinds of harder rock music, including lots of in-depth information for music insiders you won't find anywhere else. With up to 172 pages each month, ROCK HARD has much to offer. Although it may sound as if there is a lot of money involved, the magazine still is 'independently' run by the same core people that started it with 100 self-made copies twenty years ago. Looking for a similar spirit in neighbouring underground scenes, ROCK HARD has gone as far as licensing its brand name to interested parties in Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Brazil (further info on these pages). But how did it all start?  The magazine was founded by schoolmates and then teenagers, Holger Stratmann and Uwe Lerch, who met quite often to exchange vinyl and go to concerts together. In the early Eighties, hard rock shows were rare in Germany and records not always easily obtainable, especially expensive imports from England or the United States. Being fanatical record collectors, Holger and Uwe soon found trading partners in Goetz Kuehnemund and Frank Trojan who advertised in the early issues of Aardschok, a German version of the well-known Dutchmagazine.  Back in those days a lot of fans loved the Aardschok style which was the first European metal magazine devoted to underground music and the first to cover demo bands. When a really miserable 'fanzine project' of some trading friends was sent out in a monthly packet of records and tapes, Uwe and Holger thought it was time to give it a try on their own and the very first issue of ROCK HARD came to life on a photo copy machine and was sold in a local record store.  As the German Ruhr Valley is one of the most populated areas in Europe and a true heavy metal melting pot with a long tradition of steel production, it was the perfect place to start such a magazine. In almost no time ROCK HARD was available in about 30 record stores and found its way into other major cities around Germany.  The rise of the German metal scene with lots of new labels and great bands like Accept, Destruction, Steeler, Kreator, Sodom, Rage, Running Wild, Warlock or Helloween helped to establish the magazine from the very beginning. At the same time, Holger, Goetz, Frank and Uwe were keenly aware of the international music scene. Through their tape trading penpals in the USA they knew almost every important demo band of their time. Bands like Slayer, Venom, Queensryche, Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, Overkill, Metal Church and others were all featured in the first ten issues of ROCK HARD. Most of them even before they had a record out. ROCK HARD became the most popular German fanzine but stormy times were ahead. Goetz Kuehnemund got offered an editorial job at Metal Hammer Magazine, and Uwe Lerch decided to focus on his studies.  Holger ran the magazine almost singlehandedly, waking up in the morning, answering readers' letters, doing the typewriting, taking care of the business side of it, doing interviews, writing most of the stories while still attending university! If it wasn't for his mother who lent an invaluable helping hand on the dry subject of accounting (and still does as Holger hates accounting!), he might have given up in no time flat. Instead he dropped out of university (sometimes sleeping in the lecture room when he had worked late or gone to a concert), and when another commercial hard rock magazine named 'Crash' called it a day, Holger saw his chance of a lifetime to keep pace with the mighty Metal Hammer. He managed to score a deal with national distributor IPV in 1988 and ROCK HARD became the first 'fanzine' in Germany to be available through regular press outlets.  It was quite a groundbreaking achievement in an era when, unlike today, independent publications could not be found everywhere. But in the late eighties only magazines from big publishing companies (who own the distributors) were regarded as 'professional' outputs. We are talking about a time when computers slowly became available to the consumer market and the production of magazines was still slow and difficult.Goetz Kuehnemund returned to his roots as the new editor-in-chief, and together with Frank Albrecht (editorial staff) and Frittz Loch (art director) the new ROCK HARD team moved into their first small office in Dortmund. Shortly thereafter, Goetz was tapped to co-host a popular Metal show on RTL Television and became the perfect anchor man for ROCK HARD's continuing success story. In the ensuing years a video magazine was launched that even made it into the Top Ten of the German charts.  ROCK HARD was the subject of several TV features, and in 1995 a comedy band by the name of "Randalica" was created. ROCK HARD always had a great sense of humour which resulted in a print special about fake bands and a successful Randalica album ("Knast, Tod oder Rock'n'Roll" on SPV Records), presenting Holger, Goetz and Frittz as songwriters and live performers. As early as 1997 ROCK HARD established a strong presence on the World Wide Web (including a fine online shop), and in 1998 the first German hard rock encyclopedia was published. ROCK HARD can claim many more firsts and is simply not just another heavy metal magazine. Featuring various styles of rock music, it has always been at the forefront of reporting on new trends and developments, albeit never in a cheap, exploitive fashion. Special features devoted to videos/DVDs/movies, photography, making music, album artwork, top albums of the decade and lots more routinely run up to 30 pages and always strive to give a closer look behind the scenes. A lot of these specials culminated into nice books like "Rock Hard Mania" (10 years of metal history), "Best Of Rock & Metal" (500 best albums ever), "Cover Mania" (book on cover art). But like the magazine they are all writen in german.Different opinions are reflected and ROCK HARD stands as a communications platform for musicians, record companies, and most important of all - the fans. That's what the word 'media' means, right? Not bowing down to or obeying the industry. You may be surprised to hear that ROCK HARD gets criticized for being critical. Why is that?  Because it is not the norm! Record companies contribute an important share to the magazine's budget in advertisement and have their thumbs on the availability of superstars. They call in to promote their no-name newcomers every day, but if you want to do in-depth interviews with some of their most high profile artists they are simply not interested. Especially if you dare to question the creative integrity or quality of a new album! Most of the time the fans think along the same lines but they are not used to critical media and sometimes lack the background and insight that journalists collect over the years. Some of the established bands are in it just for the money or because they do not have anything better to do. Well, ROCK HARD still doesn't care ... ... and instead puts a festival together that has the family charme of "the good, old days" - and features the most happening artists of today! Check the current programm on: www.rockhardfestival.de Although the company has to survive in an overly commercialized world and is responsible for about 25 employees who try their best month by month, the 'Megazine' keeps up and thrives on the fanzine spirit. The above mentioned bands were the ones that had a certain punk rock/'fuck off' mentality combined with outstanding heavy music that established the magazine in the first place. Why change that? Who do YOU support? Think about it for a moment. Whoever, wherever you are. |
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