News Tour Dates Biography Discography Pictures Reviews Guestbook Links Contacts Credits

Roger Staffelbach was born on February 19, 1972 in Sursee, Switzerland. He began his musical career at the age of 7 by starting a training in trumpet playing, which he continued until he was 14. Having been a rock fan from a very young age, he decided to immediately pick up the guitar after listening to Yngwie Malmsteen's "Trilogy" album, which is still one of his favourite records. At the age of 15, Roger started playing in local bands. From 1990 to 1992 he attended classes and took lessons at the Jazz School in Lucerne. During this time he met Vitalij Kuprij, while he was playing piano at a small bar in Roger's hometown. Artension was founded 3 days later under their former name "Atlantis Rising". The band was playing several instrumental gigs in Switzerland. Alantis Rising recorded 2 Demos in '93 and '94. Roger furthermore attended the G.I.T. in California in 94/95, studying with greats like T.J. Helmerich, Tom Kolb and others. That's where he got in touch with Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who showed interest in the band after he had received a demo from Atlantis Rising. Roger played guitar on all Artension records. He is an endorser of Soultool Guitars, a company focussing on high quality custom made guitars, based in Switzerland. Apart from Artension, Roger is taking part in several studio projects in the Swiss area. Roger uses Soultool Guitars and Engl Amps. Visit Roger's web site