Andy Susemihl

Andy Susemihl has shared the stage with such rock icons as Ozzy Osbourne, Guns’n’Roses, Deep Purple and Lita Ford. His songs and guitar work have been showcased alongside the work of such noted guitarists as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Stevens. An artist of multifaceted abilities, Susemihl’s maturing talent glows increasingly brighter, ready to flare into a raging inferno of creativity.Born and raised in Germany, Susemihl first picked up a guitar at the age of 12. Within a year, he was cranking his amplifier as loud as it would go....then cranking it a bit more (the notorious eleven), driving his parents nuts and driving Andy out of the bedroom and into the clubs.Susemihl’s heavy, but melodic guitar riffs soon earned him respect on the local rock scene. Over the next few years, that respect extended to fellow musicians from across Germany.In 1986, Susemihl joined Noise International’s recording group Sinner to record its fourth album "Dangerous Charm". The album’s release was followed by a European tour and publicity campaign, positioning the band as a formidable newcomer.In 1987, Udo Dirkschneider, the notorious lead singer of the popular heavy band Accept, recruited several talented musicians to form a new project entitled U.D.O. Susemihl joined the U.D.O. tour in support of the group’s first release, "Animal House". With both the album and tour a success, the band rocketed to the forefront of the burgeoning heavy metal scene.The band’s popularity with both metal heads and rock fans in Europe helped bridge the jump to the American market where U.D.O. toured with Guns’n’Roses for the "Appetite for Destruction" tour. The tour propelled Guns’n’Roses to super stardom and established U.D.O. in the U.S.As a result of this high visibility exposure, the band returned to Europe and to the Studio to record their next album "Mean Machine". This album, released in 1989 through BMG/Ariola, was produced by Mark Dodson, who also produced Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies. The album sold 250’000 units worldwide, earning the band the opportunity to play on all the European dates of Ozzy Osbourne’s "No Rest for the Wicked" tour.Following that tour, Susemihl felt a wind of change fanning his creativity. Bolstered by his experiences in the studio and on the road, he felt compelled to follow his intuition and strike out on his own.In 1990, Polydor approached him to lay down two tracks for a compilation CD, titled "Guitar Ballads" and featured respected guitarists Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker, Gary Moore and Steve Stevens. On the CD, Susemihl wrote, composed and performed two rock-oriented tracks, "Cloud Nine" and "Alley Cat".Since 1990, Susemihl has produced, recorded and played with a variety of multifaceted groups and artists, including, Lazy and Angel Heart. In 1993, he recorded several tracks on Sinner’s "No more Alibis" album (Mausoleum Records/MMS). Later that year, he recorded the CD, "Fasten Seat Belts" with the band Mr. Perfect.(Long Island Records/On Air), which became a big hit in Japan. Recent noteworthy jams at various trade shows have included performance with Dan Huff (studio musician appearing on albums by Madonna and Michael Jackson), Bonfire’s Angel Schleifer and Peter Baltes of Accept.In 1994, Susemihl relocated to Los Angeles, CA, and in early 1995 he recorded "Life among the Roaches"(Voices/Gun Attack), which, in his own words, is rather a home recording capture of some great times with good friends than his first solo album. "Life among the Roaches" is now available through AndySusemihl.com.Since his move to L.A., Susemihl was involved in many local as well as international projects. His credits over the last years include studio sessions with artists and producers such as Richie Kotzen (Poison/Mr.Big), Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix) and Shay Baby (Ozzy Osbourne/Warrant).In 1996 and 1997 he recorded the albums "To burn together" and "From the Journal of Mr. Black" (Pinch Hit Records) for the Malibu-based progressive rock band Miracle Mile. Both albums were produced by Jonny Indovina from Human Drama.At the same time, in 1997, Susemihl formed his first band as a guitarist and vocalist that eventually turned into 7-9-7.Numerous side projects had to come to an end – including a trip into country music with the album “Ready, Fire, Aim” by the Burbanks.In 2000 he started to record the 7-9-7 debut “Get me to the World on Time. The same titled single was mixed by Rob Jacobs (Alanis Morisette, U2, Eagles) The album eventually hit the stores 2006.One year later the band went out to Europe for a brief stint that would turn into a several years stay due to good media response.The following years, Andy was involved in many projects, extended his live experience by sharing the stage with acts such as Bob Geldoff & Seal as well as being responsible for the musical direction & composition of the huge “Leila” marketing campaign for Wyeth Pharma.Andy spent most of the year 2007 in the studio recording his 2nd release “King & the Giant” and his first instrumental guitar album “Supermihl & Superfriends” with guest appearances from artists such as Richie Kotzen and Rafael Moreira (Pink). Both albums will be released in 2008.