Christoph Schneider (born 11 May 1966) is a German musician, best known as one of the founding members and the drummer of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. He has released eight studio albums and three live albums with Rammstein. Schneider was previously a member of punk bands Die Firma and Feeling B.
Early life
Schneider was born in Pankow, East Berlin.[1] His parents were both involved in music, his father as an opera director and his mother as a music teacher.[2] Schneider also has a younger sister.[1] During his youth, he was a handball goalkeeper for four years.[3] He later attended a special music school connected to a Pioneers' orchestra, as his parents wanted him to learn an instrument.[1] He was offered the choice between trumpet, clarinet, and trombone, out of which he chose the trumpet first as it was the easiest to play. Schneider described himself as a very talented trumpeter, having joined the orchestra and started playing concerts after a year.[4] During his time in the orchestra, he became interested in playing the drums due to the size and equipment of the drum section and began building his own kit with tin cans and buckets.[1] His parents were initially hesitant to the idea of him playing the drums, but after he bought his first drumkit at age 14, his parents let him rehearse and take lessons.[4]
In 1985, Schneider quit his telecommunication job to pursue his musical ambitions and study music, but failed his admission test and was rejected due to lacking other musical skills than drumming.[1] Schneider then joined bands Keine Ahnung and Frechheit.[2] In the late 1980s, he joined Die Firma, an underground new wave punk band with gothic influences, and became a member of punk band Feeling B in 1990.[2][1][6][7]
Schneider's nickname "Doom" comes from the video game of the same name.[4] Schneider needed a name for the German copyright agency, but discovered that there were too many Christoph Schneiders already registered.[4]Paul Landers suggested the name "Doom" because they liked the game.[4] In a 2010 interview, Schneider said that if he had known that the name would appear on every record he played on, he would have chosen a different one.[4]
Schneider has been married twice. He was married to Regina Gizatulina from 2005 to 2009. He married his second wife, Ulrike Schmid, in 2014. Schneider and Schmid have three children.[10]
Schneider uses and endorses Sabian cymbals, DW drum kits, pedals and hardware Vic Firth drumsticks and Remo Drumheads. He previously used and endorsed Sonor Drums, Tama Drums and Meinl cymbals.
Current DW touring kit
Drums – DW Collector's Series Jazz, Maple/Gum shells, Matte Black Finish[13]
