Wolfgang Honecker. The vocalist, the guitarist and the founder of the legendary heavy metal band MGFT.
It is just a coincidence that on Friday 13th of February, 1970, the same day that Black Sabbath made their debut as the first heavy metal band in the world, Wolfgang Honecker was born in Berlin, the capital city of the former East Germany. He was a quiet child and not really that much different from the other kids at school. A major turning point in his life suddenly occurred one day when he found a discarded radio that had presumably been left behind by a soldier from West Germany. It was no great radio by any means but was still good enough so as to receive music programs from overseas. Even though he didn't understand what they were talking about, the music that was playing on the radio was really exciting and influential to him. It was due to living in such a closed society he was so deeply intrigued with the music. One summer day in 1980 whilst he was hiding in his shed, listening to his radio, a song was broadcast which had an enormous impact on him. The song was Sanctuary by Iron Maiden. It was unlike anything he had ever heard. He started hearing a number of other heavy metal bands including Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motorhead amongst many others. Through the radio he was able to experience the big explosion of L.A. metal. Around the same time he purchased a secondhand electric guitar. He went crazy listening to bands such as Slayer, Metallica, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister and other metal bands but his favorite was Motley Crue. Playing the guitar whilst listening to Motley Crue on his radio and pretending to be Mick Mars was his daily ritual.
In 1988 Guns 'n' Roses released their first album and at around the same time Wolfgang Honecker had become completely enthralled with heavy metal. The next year he planed to secretly cross over to West Germany but the day before he was to go, the Wall was demolished and the borders were open. He felt deflated but at the same time got the freedom that he had desired for such a long time.
He started on a journey across the globe in search of musicians to start a band. He met a bass player in Sweden by the name of Wilhelm Malmsten and it didn't take long for them to become close friends and together they formed MGFT. Wilhelm Malmsten talked incessantly about the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness.
Even though the popularity of heavy metal was declining and grunge music started to become popular, MGFT enthusiastically continued to be active and in 2000 they celebrated their 10th year and released their first album in Japan at the same time.
They followed up with three more albums and a fourth release entitled I LOVE TOKYO which came out in 2005. I LOVE TOKYO became a huge hit and at the same time their close friends The Darkness grew to be another great success. Wolfgang Honecker was well known for his expressive vocals and always wore the same accessories that his favorite bands wore. In 2006 the 'Wolfgang Honecker signature model' guitar was produced and quickly gained worldwide admiration as an exquisite piece of art.


Wolfgang Honecker。
伝説的ヘヴィ・メタル・バンド"MGFT"のGUITAR/VOCAL兼リーダーでもある彼は、1970年2月13日の金曜日、旧東ドイツの首都東ベルリンにて生を受ける（奇しくもこの日は世界初のヘヴィ・メタル・バンド、BLACK SABATHのデビューした日だった）。幼少期から特に目立つ子供ではなかったが、旧西ドイツ兵が捨てていったラジオを手にしたことがキッカケで人生が大きく変わる。彼のラジオは十分な感度ではなかったが、外国放送を受信することができた。言葉こそわからなかったが閉鎖された社会で聴く外国放送、その中でも音楽は十分刺激を与えてくれた。1980年、いつものように納屋で隠れて音楽放送を楽しんでいると、今まで聴いたことの無い音楽が流れてきた。"IRON MAIDEN"の衝撃が彼の全身を駆け抜けた。以降取り憑かれたように"JUDAS PREIST""AC/DC""MOTORHEAD"などのヘヴィ・メタルを聴き漁り、その後80年代中盤に起こったL.A.メタル・ブームもラジオを通じて体験。同時期、闇市でエレキ・ギターを手に入れた。ヒドイ演奏だったが、毎日放送される"MOTLEY CRUE"とセッションするのが彼の生き甲斐だった。SLAYERやMETALLICAも嫌いではなかったが、QUIET RIOTやTWISTED SISTERなどのメロディアスな音がお気に入りだった。彼のヘヴィ・メタルへの憧れが沸点に達したのは1988年のGUNS'N ROSES登場でだ。翌年、旧西ドイツへの逃亡を計画。遂行前日にベルリンの壁が崩壊。拍子抜けながら自由を手に入れた彼は憧れのHEAVY METAL BAND達を目の当たりにし、最強のヘヴィ・メタル・バンドを組むべくEUを中心に各国を放浪しメンバー集めに励む。1990年、SWEDENで知り合った現BASS担当の"Wilhelm Malmsten"と日本の誇り"LOUDNESS"の話で意気投合しそのまま移住。2人が中心になってバンドを結成し、度重なるメンバーチェンジを経て現メンバーに落ち着く。グランジの台頭によりHEAVY METALの衰退が訪れるが、反して沸き上がるMETAL愛、東ドイツで培った反骨精神を糧に活動継続。2000年極東の地日本の熱狂的なファンに支えられ、バンド結成10年にして遂にCDデビュー。以降2004年までに2枚のアルバムをリリース。2005年、盟友"The Darkness"によるNEO HEAVY METAL MOVEMENTと共に4th Album"I LOVE TOKYO"が大ブレイク。愛機"Wolfgang Honecker signature model"で奏でるサウンドは縦横無尽に、メロディアスな楽曲を弾きこなす表現力は無敵である。2006年、彼が憧れた数々のアイテムに身を包み、初のWORLD TOURを遂行。日本を皮切りに"MGFT"の快進撃が始まる。