How it started

Born 1970 in Leverkusen, Germany, Christian Tolle was raised in a family where music had, and still has, its place. With a father who is an enthusiastic singer and a grandmother who played great piano, he discovered music quite early. At the age of 12, he got a guitar and took classical lessons. Soon after that, he got a Stratocaster copy and rocked the neighborhood with power chords and Heavy Rock. His first definitive statement was in 1987, when he released a song on a compilation of the German musician magazine “Musiker” at the age of 17.

Many wonderful band efforts followed. He played with the Cologne-based bands Underdog and Black Rose. In addition, he studied economics and started freelancing for WDR radio and the largest German musician magazine FACHBLATT.

Inspired by Los Angeles big players, with whom he became acquainted during his time as a music-journalist, he decided to start his own project with the friends and musicians he had met and played with over the years:

From Better Than Dreams to The Real Thing

Tolle recorded, then, with Steve Lukather, Tim Pierce, Michael Thompson and Lauren Scheff in LA. But not only the big names make his albums strong. Every musician put his/her whole heart and soul into the songs. And that is still the main goal behind C.T.P. The debut cd Better Than Dreams was released in 2000. It got excellent reviews and feedback from the press, media and the AOR community.

5 years after the release of Better Than Dreams it was time to continue. With the release The Real Thing, Christian again delivered 10 songs, that feature a refreshing variety of modern Rock music. An impressive list of guest musicians gives the album a very special flavour. Christian is again joined by Steve Lukather, Doug Aldrich, Morris Adriaens, Chuck Wright, Lauren Scheff, with Pit Hupperten, Stephan Scheuss and John „Jaycee“ Cuijpers handling vocal duties.

From COOPER Inc. to The Higher They Climb

Because of the great chemistry between Christian and frontman John Cuijpers, both decided to join forces. With the Dutch based band Cooper Inc. Christian supported TOTO in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Vengeance, Kane and Jorn. Cooper Inc. also did many shows on their own especially in the Benelux area and Germany. The band got together with producer Michael Voss to record the full lenght album Pulling The Trigger, which got released in October 2009.

2012 was the year of C.T.P. again: The third release The Higher They Climb got released on Fastball Music in March 2012. Christian and Michael Voss co-produced 12 tracks between summer and winter 2011. The result is nothing short of stunning meldodic rock. Performed with an incredible amount of energy the album contains a powerful mixture of hard hitting Heavy Rock tracks and catchy hooklines, great guitar work and some of the best voices in the genre: David Reece (Ex-Accept, Bangalore Choir), Leon Goewie (Vengeance), Paul Shortino (King Kobra, Ex-Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt) and Michael Voss (Michael Schenker, Casanova, Mad Max). Christian also invited a few of his friends to join as guests: L.A. guitar wizard Michael Landau, Ben Granfelt (BGB, Ex-Wishbone Ash), Andy Susemihl and Morris Adriaens perform a guitar solo on one track each and give the record a special flavour.

From The Higher They Climb to Now & Then

The fourth C.T.P. release Now & Then is a very special one: Christian revisited some of his best tunes from the past and re-recorded them, added a bunch of great new tracks and wrapped everything in a very organic production. A wide variety of classic rock tunes, from hard pushing uptempo tracks to catchy AOR anthems. Christian is joined by John Parr, Philip Bardowell, Rick Riso, David Reece, Michael Voss, John Cuijpers, who deliver the vocal goods. Drummer Raymond Herveille sets the beat, Chuck Wright, Lauren Scheff and Christian himself rock on bass. Add Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Tim Pierce and Doug Aldrich guesting as guitar players and the menu is set: Now & Then delivers excellent Classic and AOR-Rock with great hooks, energy and melody.

From Now & Then to Point Blank

The 5th record came out in 2018. Over a period of 10 month 10 rockers had been recorded, reaching from the uplifting opener and title track Point Blank to the driving grooves on Too Late or the hook-ladden bangers Black Friday or Borderland as well as two covers: the legendary Since You've Been Gone and Classic Rock treasure Lonely Is The Night by Billy Squier. The production pounds with punch and transparency, so that Point Blank has become a real listening pleasure. The cast contains of David Reece (Ex Accept, Ex-Bonfire, Sainted Sinners, Bangalore Choir) and John Cuijpers (Cooper Inc., Praying Mantis, Ayreon) on vocals and Morris Adriaens on keyboards and backing vocals. Mathias Dieth (ex-UDO, Gravestone) and Doug Aldrich (Dio, ex-Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies) refine the album as guests with extraordinary lead guitars.

... Time for an “ENCORE”

Fast forward to 2022: After the pandemic had slowed things down in an unfortunate matter for almost every artist, it is now time to release album number 6. Again, Christian decided to revisit some of the earlier tracks and combine a fresh and new sound with some brandew tunes for another very special release: Now & Then “Encore” Some of Christian's strongest tunes can be found here, such as the epic Ain't Gonna Let It slide, the cracker Fire Away or the great energetic power play in Never Had It So Good. The cast of musicians contains again the long year partners John Cuijpers (Cooper Inc., Praying Mantis, Ayreon), David Reece and for the first time David Frazee (Burning Water, Michael Landau Liquid Quartet) on vocals. Guitar wizard Mathias Dieth (ex-U.D.O., Gravestone) guests on two tracks, Michael Thompson takes lead guitars on one tune as well, long time companion Morris Adriaens is on keyboards, Hammond organ and backings. Also Randy van der Elsen (Vandenberg) added backing vocals as well as Mendy Sneijers and Theo Talboom. Christian is responsible for guitars, bass, drums, production and mixing. It is fair to say that Now & Then “Encore” delivers a wide range of handmade Rock: pure variety, excellent songs and a modern, rich sound - Classic Rock with a modern edge.

Sessions and Songwriting

Beside his own releases with C.T.P. and Cooper Inc. Christian is also very active as a session player, songwriter and producer for a couple of years. He contributed songs for other bands and artists such as David Reece, Bangalore Choir, Vengeance, Reece/Kronlund, Universe or Tango Down for example and was honoured to work with some of the greatest musicians around. Christian recorded for Bangalore Choir, REECE, Vengeance, Andy Susemihl, Lauren Scheff, Kevin Martin, FIASKO, as well as playing live with Wolf Maahn, David Garfield, John Pena, Eric Marienthal and Russ Miller. While co-producing for the the great Frenchman Frédéric Slama of AOR fame, Christian joined recordings with Philip Bardowell (Beach Boys), James Christian (House Of Lords), Steve Newman (Newman), Rick Riso, Bill Champlin, Vinnie Colaiuta, David Diggs, Sarah and Melissa Fontaine (Chasing Violets), Ken Sandin, David Mark Pearce, Manu Esteve and Alessandro Del Vecchio.