ULI JON ROTH Launches ALPHA EXPERIUM Label Imprint

According to Musik Woche, legendary German guitarist Uli Jon Roth has launched his own label imprint called Alpha Experium. In addition, the 68-year-old musician has inked a distribution deal with the Wuppertal, Germany-based distributor Cargo Records.

This summer and fall, Alpha Experium will release new editions of the first two albums from Roth's post-SCORPIONS project ELECTRIC SUN, 1979's "Earthquake" and 1982's "Fire Wind". Neither album had previously been made available on vinyl with a gatefold sleeve before, according to Cargo Records. Hagü Schmitz transferred "Earthquake" and "Fire Wind" from the original master tapes at the Dierks Studio and both LPs were then remastered by sound engineer Dieter Wegener to "ensure the best possible sound quality." Additional releases are planned for the coming months.

Having his own label enables Uli to "realize artistic visions and projects independently and uncompromisingly," according to a statement from Cargo.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Roth was forced to postpone his previously announced North American tour due to health reasons. The trek was scheduled to launch on September 6 in West Hollywood, California and conclude on October 1 in New York City. According to a statement on Roth's social media, he recently underwent a "successful kidney removal operation" and "is fit to play, but has been advised not to embark on a full-scale major tour just yet. Uli will be performing at selected shows in continental Europe during his recovery period."

Roth was in the SCORPIONS for five years before leaving the group in 1978, following the release of the live double album "Tokyo Tapes".

In recent years, Roth has revisited the early music of his period with the SCORPIONS, which resulted in the "Scorpions Revisited" double CD and "Tokyo Tapes Revisited" DVD/Blu-ray releases.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players ever, Uli pioneered a unique style of guitar playing which — for the first time — combined complete mastery of the instrument with an intensely melodic and emotional appeal.

From his earliest days onwards, Uli has always been a bold and uncompromising musical innovator of the first order. Being the first guitar player in rock to incorporate complex melodic arpeggio sequences, Uli Jon Roth — in the eyes of many of his peers — practically reinvented modern guitar-technique almost singlehandedly during his SCORPIONS tenure, but even more so during his ELECTRIC SUN days.

This past April, Roth told Canada's The Metal Voice that he used the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to write a book called "In Search Of The Alpha Law". He added that the book "is not about myself — it's not about my life on the road or my life. It is about my — well, my philosophy of life. Something which I've… Ever since the early SCORPIONS days, I was a closet philosopher. I love thinking about things, thinking deep thoughts," he said. "Not that I mind shallow thoughts occasionally as well, just like everybody, but sometimes I go into this zone, and then, for me at least, interesting things come out. And a lot of that has to do with the inner spirit and architecture of music, the laws of music, which I found are the same laws that govern pretty much everything else that we see and perceive, if not the whole universe. I think these laws are these fundamental laws of nature, and even beyond that, because they also apply to our mind and our spirit, our soul. These laws are, to me, very fascinating to look at them and try to understand what they even are. And it's not easy to put these things into words, but I tried. And I'm quite happy with the outcome."