Claus Legarth is drummer in German goth rockers Beyond The Void. Legarth joined the group in April 2007, after previous drummer and founding member Benjamin Pflug had decided to depart.



Claus Legarth has studied his art under drum icon Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody among others), and at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, USA.



Biography (in his own words):

When becoming aware of music at the age of four by getting a hold on a Beatles tape, music happened to become the most important thing in my life. While other kids played with toys, my cassette player that I rebelled to get for my fifth birthday and my parents' record player became my best friends.



I do not come from a family of musicians, so my story isn’t exactly like the dreamstory of some music greats. Yet it is true that at the age of six I expressed my wish to play the drums by banging on pots and washing powder packets. When going to Halloween parties, instead of jumping around like other kids, I stood at the side of the stage and watched the musicians.



As a teenager, I finally confronted my parents with buying a used drumset and I managed to make them accept my decision to play the drums. With 13 I started to play in my first band with friends of my older brother who were all grown-up (I replaced their drummer who was 19). By then I hadn't had a single lesson, yet. Soon later, I was known around my hometown as a talented drummer and I played with a lot of different musicians and bands. They still had to pick me up at home because I didn't have a driver license.



Resistance struck again when I couldn’t talk my parents into sending me to a private drum school in Munich, Germany, to become a professional drummer. So I finished highschool, went to university and entered the job as a software developer. I still played a lot in bands and projects and gathered experience.



The final turning point came when I moved very close to the drummer’s focus (the school mentioned above) and I started the professional program in evening classes next to my job. From then on, there was no going elsewhere than being a professially working musician, because I also reflected on my life and realized that my passion for music was the only thing that had outlasted everything, hobbies, girlfriends, you name it. Not a single day without music in my system.



I left the computer business job when my crafts reached a professional level and when I had the best equipment available to be prepared for the job. This was in 2004. To this day I am working hard to get into the big leagues. I was fortunate to be on stage with Yes in the Olympic Hall in Munich to accompany Alan White’s drumsolo. I also played behind british popsinger Beverly Knight and german Rock 'n Roll legend Peter Kraus on national television.



In 2005 I went to the Musician's Institute in Los Angeles and had the opportunity to work with Jeff Richman, a brilliant fusion guitarist and composer. He taught me how to read right!! I also work as a composer, drumteacher and solo/original artist.



In my offtime I love spending quality time with my loved ones, friends and my golden retriever Beverly. I enjoy traveling, languages, being active and open minded.



Vita:

My professional training started in 1998 at the drummer’s focus in Munich, working with Alex Holzwarth (drummer of Rhapsody and Sieges Even) for 7 years.



At the same time I managed all belongings of alternative rockband splendour for 5 years and released 3 records, the last one in 2004 to be engineered by Gerhard Wölfle who worked for X-Blocks, Paradise Lost and Guano Apes.



I then left splendour and went to the Percussion Institute of Technology in Los Angeles to finish the one-year program in only three months.



In my current progressive speedmetal project SLID, I'm working with Martin Mayrhofer, guitarist of Marco Minnemann’s Illegal Aliens which is challenging and tons of fun.



Until now I have played numerous live and TV shows in all different genres (Funk/Pop/Rock/Alternative/Metal/Crossover/World/Fusion).