Rupert Keplinger was born in 1981 in Austria.
Early life
In his youth, Rupert attended Vochdorf elementary school and later would attend the Bundesgymnasium Gmunden, in which he would leave after obtaining his matura in 1999.
Rupert's family was always quite musical. Music would always be playing from classical to rock and everything in between. At the age of 15/16, Rupert knew he would dedicate his life and career to music.
The first guitar that Rupert would ever pick up would be his grandmothers acoustic guitar at the age of 14 but Rupert's first electric guitar was an Ibanez. The first songs he learned were from Nirvana but Rupert credits James Hetfield and the complete official Metallica tablature as his primary guitar teacher.
In 2001, Rupert would move to St Pauli, Hamburg and would complete both the contact study course at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama and vocational training at the Hamburg School of Music.
Rupert has stated that it was difficult finding work in music for a few years without connections. He would need to work a few jobs here and there until his career even began.
Professional career
Rupert's first releases would come alongside Nordend Antistars and Drai. But his writing credits would grow to include bands and projects such as Lord of the Lost, Peter Maffay, Oomph!, Der W and Sotiria, among many more.
Darkhaus
In 2007, in Frankfurt, Germany, Rupert would meet Gary Meskil for the first time during the writing sessions of Der W's debut album Schneller, Höher, Weidner. The 2 men would get along really well and in April 2011, when Gary was wanting to start a new band. Rupert was the first man he would call. Leading to the creation of the band Darkhaus.
Click here for a history of Darkhaus.
Eisbrecher
In 2011, Rupert would first interact with the band Eisbrecher during the recording sessions of Die Hölle muss warten. On 21 March 2013, Rupert would be announced as the replacement bass player for Dominik Palmer, with his first live performance being the 29 March 2013 concert in Zürich, Switzerland.
Click here for a history of Eisbrecher.
Antitype
In an unknown year, Rupert and Andreas Ohnhaus would meet after Rupert would hear some demo recordings of Andreas's voice on some songs that he had written for other artists. The 2 men shared a similar musical upbringing and decided that they would create a band in 2020. This band would become Antitype .
Click here for a history of Antitype.
Universum25
In 2019, Pat Prziwara of Fiddlers Green and producer Jörg Umbreit had the desire to start a band. In the following months, the band would find multiple other members, one of which would be Rupert on bass. This band would become Universum25.
Click here for a history of Universum25.
Eurovision 2023
In March 2023, Lord of the Lost submitted their song Blood & Glitter to Unser Lied für Liverpool to win a chance at performing in the 2023 edition of Eurovision. Lord of the Lost would win the qualifier with 146 points and would earn the right to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest. The track was co-written and co-composed by Rupert.
For more information on the song and its Eurovision journey, click here.