Life and career
He was born and raised in Solingen, Germany. He began playing piano at the age of five, at the age of twelve he devoted himself exclusively to classical music, in 1969 he founded his first band, the Avengers.
In 1972 he got his first big success: He won the "battle of the bands" in Solingen, where he met Dieter Rubach (amongst other members of the popular heavy metal band Accept), but turned down to play with them as he got the opportunity to play with German entertainer Howard Carpendale, from 1974 to 1977.
In 1978 he founded Break Point, a band playing rock and roll in the USAF Europe Club Circuit, recording an album in 1981.
In 1985, he moved to the United States. From 1987 to 1989 he was the keyboard player for Lita Ford (who amongst others also supported Bon Jovi around that time, where a concert at Wembley Stadium was shot); in 1989 and 1990, he played with Meat Loaf's Neverland Express. In 1991, he played with Vanilla Fudge on the album "Back On Stage", and in 1991 and 1992, he was a permanent member of "The Doughboys/PFR." In 1991 he also played with Kingdom Come. From 1993 to 1998 he played in the Walter Trout Band, where he met drummer Bernie Pershey.
In 1999, he was asked to be the keyboardist for Eric Burdon & the New Animals, after Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) left the band. In late 2001, their drummer Aynsley Dunbar was replaced by his old friend Bernie Pershey. Gerschwitz stayed with Burdon and his new Animals until late 2005 and played on four albums with them.
Since 2005 he has played with the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, both as a singer and keyboardist.
In the 2000s, he formed "Martin Gerschwitz & Friends", including Dieter Rubach on bass, Jan Mengeling on lead guitar and his childhood friend Martin Schwebel on drums. They also recorded a live DVD at the SAE, Frankfurt, in 2004. He continues to play worldwide tours with Iron Butterfly and solo.
