Klaus is the newest addition to the band; he originally was Pat Verano's replacement but has since been accepted on his own merits rather than as a substitute for someone else.  Never having met Pat, he tends to take a hands-off approach to referring to his predecessor, in that he will leave a room when people begin reminiscing about him.

    Klaus's parents were East German emigrants who fled to West Germany and finally to the States not long before the collapse of the Berlin Wall (ironically, Klaus's political preferences tend to run towards the Marxist end of the spectrum, and when that's not an available choice, he tends to opt for anarchism).  They speak little English (his mother is generally limited to knowing the names of various food products and holding rudimentary conversation), and Klaus himself is bilingual, speaking both German and English, though he really only likes to use German to translate for his parents and swear.
    His interests in music stem from an older, American cousin's CD collection, which he gradually stole as said cousin got older.  In college, there was a brief garage-band fling which didn't pan out very well after his girlfriend (the bassist) dumped him for the drummer (her ex) while in Tennessee.  Ever intelligent (/sarcasm), Klaus stormed out of the room and ended up being left behind by the rest of them, forcing him to hitchhhike a ride to Chicago with a couple guys on their way north from Atlanta - Adam Kolcenke and Tim Ryder.  (As for the girlfriend - the ex-ex was stringing along another girl while dating her, and eventually chose the other girl.)
    For no apparent reason, he kept in touch with Kolcenke and Ryder and was a common participant in jam sessions with the rest of the band.  It was a somewhat gradual transition in which he began to replace Pat and infuse the band's music with his own energy.  Eventually, the switch was formalised, and some days even Tim forgets that Klaus wasn't the band's original guitarist, he meshes so well with them.
    Klaus is probably closest to Tim, out of all the band members, though that's not to say that he hates the rest - he likes sitting around with Lindy and discussing nothing at all.
    And while he adores being with this band, he is a part of a garage band in whatever free time he has (not much).  The other band isn't looking for popularity, and his first love is still the one that he joined first (the one that hit it big), but occasionally it's fun to experiment with other styles of music and deal with different people, which is what the other band is for.  They hold rehearsals in the drummer's basement and play at block parties when the urge strikes them and the opportunity pops up, but they're not doing it to make a name, just to have fun jamming together.  Sometimes he hauls Tim along with him just for the entertainment value of watching his face when he tries to talk to the other bassist, who is somewhat frighteningly naive, has no idea who Tim is, and is also violently homophobic. 
   

Basic Stats
Instrument: guitar
Height: 6'0"
B-day: October 27 (Lindy has declared him a Sagittarius, but he thinks astrology is bull anyway)
Favorite color: Dark browns, blacks, darker earth tones
Blood type: A+
Favorite food: Reheated pepperoni and anchovy pizza.  For some reason, though, his girlfriends never let him get any, and Adam threatens to maim him every time he tries.
Drug of choice: Does it make him see things?
If you could make any wish (excepting eternal life), it would be:  That he is never again so broke that he is grateful for cat food.