Claus GRABKE - a musician and a skateboarder


Curriculum vitae

Claus Grabke was born on January 30, in 1963 in Gütersloh - Germany, where he attended school and began his musical career as a member of the school choir, and also learned piano while very young. Claus Grabke has established himself as a renowned musician, as well as one of the greatest skateboarders ever skating on this planet. At the young age of thirteen, Claus Grabke first became a skateboarder, and quickly won several competitions that led to the top of the skateboarding world. He won his first local amateur contest in 1977 and became a professional skateboarder in 1981.

His many accomplishments include:
-19 times German champion in various disciplines (street, half pipe, and mini ramp)
-25 times European cup-winner
-2 times official European champion
-2 times sixth in world championships
-4 times winner of the Monster Mastership (the World Cup of skateboarding)

But his passion for music took charge of his life. So in 1993, he gave up all of his active skateboarding in order to pursue a musical career. But even during such change in his life, he still maintained somewhat of a pro skateboarding status with "Titus Skateboards", and most recently with "Pocket Pistols Skateboards” organizations still notoriously often mentioning his name. He was the man behind Germany’s biggest skateboard magazine "Monster Skateboard Magazine".


He also brought out his very own skate-zine magazine called "Death Zone". Claus was a chief photographer and writer for international skateboarding magazines such as "Thrasher" and "Transworld Skateboarding". He had his own skate/street fashion label, named "Homeboy", and also hosted an MTV show called "Titus TV".

Claus Grabke’s music career began in the years just before he gave up active skateboarding, with his first band "Eight Dayz" being formed in 1985. His first album "Every Day Is Like A New Beginning", was produced in 1989 through Trade Records, followed by a second album "When You Call For Me" in 1991. The third and final album “Nothing To Lose” was released in 1992. Claus then formed two very different bands: "Tree" (which was very melancholic) and "Thumb" (which was very loud and hardcore). And later on the band "Alternative Allstars" in 1997. In 2002 Claus Grabke opened his own recording studio and became the producer for many international groups, such as "Dog Eat Dog" (USA), "The Jessica Fletchers" (NOR), "Boozed" (GER) and "The Datsuns" (NZ/GB) as well as many others. He then formed a new band, simply named "Claus Grabke" in 2005.

The “Claus Grabke Band”:

Lena Jeckel: bass and backing vocals
Sven Pollkötter: drums, vibraphone and all percussions
Claus Grabke: vocals, guitar, keyboard