Ronni Le Tekro
Encyclopedia
Ronni Le Tekrø is a Norwegian
guitarist
best known for playing with the Norwegian hard rock
band TNT
and as a solo guitarist.
Born in Oslo
Tekrø moved to Raufoss
at a young age, and he has lived there all his life except between 1982 and 1985 when he lived in Trondheim
.
s, like in the solo in "Intuition".
He covered Alice Cooper
's "Welcome to My Nightmare" in his solo album Extra Strong String. Le Tekrø has collaborated with the Norwegian guitarist and composer Terje Rypdal
and has released three albums featuring the fruits of that collaboration. Le Tekrø's vocals tend to be deep, with emphasis on vibrato
and falsetto
. His inspirations as a guitarist include Steve Hillage
, Brian May
, Jimmy Page
, Brian Robertson
, Jimi Hendrix
, and Ted Nugent
.. He also claims to have invented the "Machine Gun Style." *George Lynch of Dokken
states Le Tekrø's solo for "Caught between the Tigers" is "a real face-melter. It's spine-tingling."
guitar from the early eighties. The head is signed by close friend Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy
and formerly Motörhead. Le Tekrø uses his black early seventies Fender Stratocaster
as a back-up for live performances. On the "Atlantis" tour Tekrø uses a Epiphone
1959 or a Morgan
strat on the opening song "Hello, Hello".
He is also known for pioneering the use of the Quarterstepper Guitar. This guitar has twice as many frets as normal guitar. Normal guitars have frets like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., but the Quarterstepper has frets of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5... This guitar was invented by Bernie Hamburger of Hamburgerguitar and Le Tekrø himself. He used the guitar for the solo in Wisdom from the Intuition album, and several others recordings. Hamburger also built a 12 string hollow body that Le Tekrø has used on various tours and recordings.
In the studio Le Tekrø uses a wide range of effects and amps.
His trademark Fender Stratocaster is notably unusually set up, with a Rockinger tremolo bridge and a Seymour Duncan
pickup at the bridge position, no middle pickup, and a custom made Italian pickup in the tail position.
For live performances Le Tekrø uses:
since the 1980s, and he labels himself a witch. He even has a masters degree in Wicca witchcraft.. He claims to know how to store energies in stones out in the forest and go out and charge up his batteries from them when he needs to. He says in a Norwegian newspaper interview in 2007 that Wicca helps him deal with such matters as death
and guilt
and that he prefers this to "fairytales from the Middle East which have thrown an entire world into war".
, George Lynch
, Nuno Bettencourt
and even Ozzy Osbourne
. Osbourne has a picture of Ronni Le Tekro hanging up in his home alongside Jimi Hendrix
, Eddie Van Halen
,and his close friend Randy Rhodes.
He has been placed no 58 on the top 100 greatest Hard rock guitarists of all time.
Also in may 2009 GuitarWorld Magazine Placed him on their list of top culkt guitarists
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
best known for playing with the Norwegian hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band TNT
TNT (band)
TNT is a Norwegian hard rock/glam metal band from Trondheim, formed in 1982. The band has released twelve studio albums, three EPs and two live albums while going through numerous line-up changes since its formation...
and as a solo guitarist.
Born in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
Tekrø moved to Raufoss
Raufoss
Raufoss is the municipal centre of Vestre Toten, a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway, 10 kilomenters south of the larger town Gjøvik. It has approximately 6,000 inhabitants. The largest employer is what was earlier Raufoss Ammunitions factory, now split into several sub companies...
at a young age, and he has lived there all his life except between 1982 and 1985 when he lived in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
.
The Le Tekrø sound
Le Tekrø plays with more emphasis on volume and hard attack on the strings than distortion. He often uses arpeggioArpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s, like in the solo in "Intuition".
He covered Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
's "Welcome to My Nightmare" in his solo album Extra Strong String. Le Tekrø has collaborated with the Norwegian guitarist and composer Terje Rypdal
Terje Rypdal
Terje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
and has released three albums featuring the fruits of that collaboration. Le Tekrø's vocals tend to be deep, with emphasis on vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
and falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. His inspirations as a guitarist include Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s...
, Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, Brian Robertson
Brian Robertson
Brian "Robbo" David Robertson is a Scottish rock guitarist, best known for his work with Thin Lizzy and Motörhead.-Early life:...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, and Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
.. He also claims to have invented the "Machine Gun Style." *George Lynch of Dokken
Dokken
Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...
states Le Tekrø's solo for "Caught between the Tigers" is "a real face-melter. It's spine-tingling."
- He owns his own studio located in the woods of TotenTotenToten is a traditional district in Oppland county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten, Vestre Toten, and Gjøvik.Toten was a petty kingdom in the early Viking Ages, with Halfdan Hvitbeinn as the most notable king....
, Norway called Studio Studio.
Equipment
Le Tekrø's main guitar live is the so called "Holocaster". Originally a light pink ESPESP Guitars
, located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
guitar from the early eighties. The head is signed by close friend Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
and formerly Motörhead. Le Tekrø uses his black early seventies Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
as a back-up for live performances. On the "Atlantis" tour Tekrø uses a Epiphone
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
1959 or a Morgan
Morgan
-Places:Australia*Morgan, South AustraliaCanada*Morgan, OntarioUnited States*Morgan, California*Morgan, Georgia*Morgan, Minnesota*Morgan, Texas*Morgan, Utah*Morgan, Vermont*Morgan, Wisconsin, a town...
strat on the opening song "Hello, Hello".
He is also known for pioneering the use of the Quarterstepper Guitar. This guitar has twice as many frets as normal guitar. Normal guitars have frets like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., but the Quarterstepper has frets of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5... This guitar was invented by Bernie Hamburger of Hamburgerguitar and Le Tekrø himself. He used the guitar for the solo in Wisdom from the Intuition album, and several others recordings. Hamburger also built a 12 string hollow body that Le Tekrø has used on various tours and recordings.
In the studio Le Tekrø uses a wide range of effects and amps.
His trademark Fender Stratocaster is notably unusually set up, with a Rockinger tremolo bridge and a Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
pickup at the bridge position, no middle pickup, and a custom made Italian pickup in the tail position.
For live performances Le Tekrø uses:
- OD-1 Overdrive
- BF-2 Flanger
- CE-2 Chorus
- Roland RE-150 Space Echo Tape Delay,
- Dunlop CryBaby
- Digitech Whammy II
- Marshall 2204 heads
- Marshall 1960 A cabinets
Wiccan witch
Le Tekrø has been practicing the nature religion WiccaWicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
since the 1980s, and he labels himself a witch. He even has a masters degree in Wicca witchcraft.. He claims to know how to store energies in stones out in the forest and go out and charge up his batteries from them when he needs to. He says in a Norwegian newspaper interview in 2007 that Wicca helps him deal with such matters as death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and guilt
Guilt
Guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense. It is also a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that...
and that he prefers this to "fairytales from the Middle East which have thrown an entire world into war".
Impact
Ronni Le Tekro has influenced many musicians over the years such as Zakk WyldeZakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, George Lynch
George Lynch
George Lynch may refer to:*George Lynch *George Lynch *George Lynch...
, Nuno Bettencourt
Nuno Bettencourt
Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...
and even Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
. Osbourne has a picture of Ronni Le Tekro hanging up in his home alongside Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
,and his close friend Randy Rhodes.
He has been placed no 58 on the top 100 greatest Hard rock guitarists of all time.
Also in may 2009 GuitarWorld Magazine Placed him on their list of top culkt guitarists
TNT
- TNTTNT (TNT album)-Band:*Dag Ingebrigtsen – lead vocals and rhythm guitars*Ronni Le Tekrø – lead guitars*Steinar Eikum – bass guitar*Morten "Diesel" Dahl – drums, percussion-Sources:*...
(1982) - Knights of the New ThunderKnights of the New Thunder- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals *Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars*Morty Black – bass guitar*Morten "Diesel" Dahl – drums, percussion-Sources:**...
(1984) - Tell No TalesTell No Tales- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals*Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars, guitar synthesizer*Morty Black – bass guitar, pedal synthesizer*Morten "Diesel" Dahl – drums, percussion-Additional personnel:*Håkon Iversen – background vocals*Bård Svendsen – keyboards and programming...
(1987) - Intuition (1989)
- Realized FantasiesRealized Fantasies- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals*Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars, keyboards, 1/4 stepper guitar*Morty Black – bass guitar*John Macaluso – drums, percussion-Additional personnel:*Joe Lynn Turner – background vocals*Dag Stokke – keyboards on track 6...
(1992) - Three Nights in TokyoThree Nights in Tokyo- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals*Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars*Morty Black – bass guitar*John Macaluso – drums, percussion-Sources:*...
(Live) (1992) - FireflyFirefly (TNT album)The song "Soldier of the Light" was never meant for the album. It was a demo from the Realized Fantasies sessions and was put on Firefly because the Japanese record company liked it so much....
(1997) - TransistorTransistor (TNT album)"Just Like God" is not included on the Japanese edition.- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals*Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars, backing vocals on "Free Again"*Morty Black – bass guitar, backing vocals on "Free Again"-Additional personnel:...
(1999) - Give me a Sign EP (2003)
- My ReligionMy Religion (album)* The guitar effect in "She Needs Me" was created using the overdrive effect, and punching a hole in the speaker's powertube.* "She Needs Me" is Tony Harnell's favorite song on My Religion.- Band :*Tony Harnell – vocals*Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars...
(2004) - All the Way to the SunAll the Way to the SunAll the Way to the Sun is the ninth studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band TNT. The album was first rumoured to be on the heavy side of TNT, but came out in the end as a more straight forward pop rock album. It did not get as many positive reviews as My Religion but was still regarded as a...
(2005) - Live in MadridLive in MadridLive In Madrid is a live CD + DVD package by the Norwegian hard rock band TNT. It was the last TNT album recorded with vocalist Tony Harnell, who left the band in 2006.-Track listing - CD / DVD:#"Invisible Noise"#"As Far as the Eye Can See"...
- CD + DVD package (2006) - The New TerritoryThe New TerritoryThe New Territory is the tenth studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band TNT, and was released on 30 June 2007.-Track listing:# "A Constitution" - 4:16# "Substitute" - 2:42...
(2007) - AtlantisAtlantis (TNT album)Atlantis is the eleventh studio album by Norwegian hard rock band TNT. It was released on September 22, 2008.-Track listing:#"Hello, Hello" - 4:03#"Peter Sellers Blues" - 4:45#"Baby's Got Rhythm" - 3:39...
(2008) - A Farewell to ArmsA Farewell to Arms (album)A Farewell to Arms is the twelfth studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band TNT, released on December 15, 2010 in Japan. The album is in stark contrast to the previous two TNT albums, being a very 1980s-melodic rock-oriented album...
(2010)
Solo and collaborated records
- Wonderland (Embee Normann) (1993)
- Dedicated to Thin Lizzy (Bad Habitz) (1993)
- Vagabond (VagabondVagabondVagabond may refer to:*Vagabond , an itinerant personIn music:*Vagabond , an alternative rock band fronted by Jørn Lande*Vagabond , a band from the UK*Vagabond , a song by Australian band Wolfmother...
) (1994) - A Huge Fan Of Life (VagabondVagabondVagabond may refer to:*Vagabond , an itinerant personIn music:*Vagabond , an alternative rock band fronted by Jørn Lande*Vagabond , a band from the UK*Vagabond , a song by Australian band Wolfmother...
) (1995) - Rypdal & Tekrø (Terje RypdalTerje RypdalTerje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
) (RCA 74321 242962) (1997) - Rypdal/Tekrø II (Terje RypdalTerje RypdalTerje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
) (1997) - Starfire (Jorn Lande) 2000- Guest on "The Day the Earth Caught Fire"
- Extra Strong String (2000)
- Magica Lanterna (2002)
- Under the Misteltoe (Evil Elf Band) (2002)
- The Radiosong (Terje RypdalTerje RypdalTerje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
) (2002) - Camouflage (Wild Willy's Gang) (2005)
- Gods Of Thunder - A Norwegian Tribute To KISS ( Covered Detroit Rock City by Kiss along with former band-colleague Tony Harnell. )
- Unlocking the Past(Jorn Lande)(2007)(guest on "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" rerecording)
- Kingdom of Norway (2007)
- Demonoir' (1349(band)) (2010)
- Social Experiment (2011)
Literature
- Østbø, Stein Hekta : Ronni Le Tekrø : et liv i rock, N.W. Damm & Søn AS, Oslo (September 2007), 211 pages, ISBN 978-82-04-13130-0 (includes CD)