Let’s time-warp back to 1985, when Brian was still in the army. The rec center at Kelly Barracks was the ultimate hangout where soldiers could unwind and make some music. Brian had his heart set on playing guitar, and although the one on loan at the rec center was a bit battered and cheap, it got the job done. It was there that he first crossed paths with bassist Mike Lieberberg and drummer Ernst Theobald.
Mike, also a veteran, was busy building his 5-Star talent agency, which primarily catered to the military club scene in Germany. Ernst, a local national with a Ph.D. in theoretical mathematics, was juggling his part-time gig at the base exchange (PX) while nurturing his robotics startup on the side.
During the stretches between Brian’s deployments, the three of them would come together to jam, primarily focusing on Rush songs that they all loved. As they practiced, they gradually sharpened their skills, landing paid gigs at local rock clubs in Sachsenhausen, near Frankfurt, and at the Rainbow NCO Club in Darmstadt. They decided on the band name 2112 as a playful nod to the progressive rock band they idolized…