Austin Guitar House
http://www.austinguitarhouse.com
Inspired by a Passion for Music
Interview by Randy Connelly
The year was 1985 and amongst the 250,000 people at the Rock In Rio show stood a naïve 14 year old boy named Oz Hofstatter. The concert went on all day and night with a star-studded line-up of great bands such as Whitesnake, Ozzy, and the Scorpions performing. The only food or drink to be had was the small rations that Oz brought to the show and carried on him, because the lines were too long to waste time and he would rather be right there in front of the stage. He stood ankle deep in mud because of previous rain. Towards the end of the concert a band, who went by the name AC/DC, hit the stage. The wide-eyed young Hofstatter stood in awe as he watched this electrifying group perform. The sounds of AC/DC , “Changed my mind for music,” as Oz puts it. From that moment on, Oz has idolized AC/DC and considers them the pinnacle of music and the measuring stick to which all other bands are compared to.
Fast forward to the year 2015. The young boy from Brazil is now a grown man with a family and happily living in the USA. On one unexpected morning, Oz gets an email from one of his lifelong idols, Cliff Williams of AC/DC. Cliff contacts Oz as he wants to purchase a custom made Teye Bass guitar that Oz sells at his boutique music store, The Austin Guitar House. Oz communicates with Cliff over the course of the next few months and finally ships to him a one of a kind, custom made bass guitar that would make most any bass player jealous beyond belief. As Oz is carefully packing up the guitar and prepping it for shipping, he can’t help but reflect back on that day, so many years ago, at the Rock In Rio concert and realize that his life has just come around full circle.
We recently had the chance to sit down with Oz and ask him some questions about growing up in Brazil, how he came to the United States, and why he decided to open his Austin, TX based music store called The Austin Guitar House. The story is fascinating and we hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Fast forward to the year 2015. The young boy from Brazil is now a grown man with a family and happily living in the USA. On one unexpected morning, Oz gets an email from one of his lifelong idols, Cliff Williams of AC/DC. Cliff contacts Oz as he wants to purchase a custom made Teye Bass guitar that Oz sells at his boutique music store, The Austin Guitar House. Oz communicates with Cliff over the course of the next few months and finally ships to him a one of a kind, custom made bass guitar that would make most any bass player jealous beyond belief. As Oz is carefully packing up the guitar and prepping it for shipping, he can’t help but reflect back on that day, so many years ago, at the Rock In Rio concert and realize that his life has just come around full circle.
We recently had the chance to sit down with Oz and ask him some questions about growing up in Brazil, how he came to the United States, and why he decided to open his Austin, TX based music store called The Austin Guitar House. The story is fascinating and we hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Randy: Tell us a little bit about your childhood and what it was like growing up in Brazil
Oz: A big part of my childhood revolved around soccer. I played soccer from the age of 3 years old until I was 35. My father was a professional soccer player in Brazil and most of my friends in the area where I grew up played, so it was natural for me to play. Soccer most certainly was the best game in town! I can remember in the summer waking up in the morning and playing soccer all day long until it got dark. We did not always have a soccer field to play on and sometimes not even a real soccer ball. We made due with what we had. There was a professional soccer team in my city (Gremio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense) as well as other small teams in town and that made the game that much more intriguing to me. I was very passionate for the game and later on in my youth career, I played up 2 age groups while competing. At that time I was working my way up the ranks to play on the best professional soccer teams in the country but my family and I decided that it was best for me to pursue a career in law.
Randy: Tell me about your career in law
Oz: My father was the Register-Chief of the 3rd Civil Notary. After he retired as a professional soccer player, he worked for the government from 1958-2007. As I mentioned earlier, he encouraged me to follow in his footsteps. One of the main reasons he encouraged me to the field of law is that he wanted me to make money so I could provide a good living for myself and my family. When my dad was a pro soccer player there was very little money in the sport and he wanted better for me. I studied law from 1988 to 1992. I was the youngest student in the program, but I was a determined student and I went on to work in the field with my dad from 1988 until 2001. My father was one of the most respected in his field in all of Brazil and worked some of the top cases in the country. It was a lucrative career for me but also full of a lot of stress. At the age of 32 I decided to hang up my law career and I have never looked back.
Randy: How did you get into the business of selling musical instruments?
Oz: First of all I want to say that I never even started playing guitar or really getting into instruments until I was 20 years old. Again, my childhood was filled with playing soccer and that is what I did most everyday. I wanted a guitar when I was younger but my dad would not buy one for me. He told me I could get one when I worked and could afford one. In 1990 I was finally able to afford my first guitar. I played guitar for 5 years and finally decided I wanted to buy a nicer guitar. Now remember, in Brazil we did not have the selection of musical instruments like there is in the United States. In order to find a really nice guitar, I researched and found a local luthier by the name of Alex Cheruti. I wanted to hire Alex to make me a high-end instrument. In the end, I ended up partnering with Alex and we started manufacturing high end electric and bass guitars. Almost everything that I know about instruments today is because of this period in my life. That period of time manufacturing instruments was like college for me. We made some tremendous instruments that I’m very proud of. The company was dissolved in 2005.
Oz: A big part of my childhood revolved around soccer. I played soccer from the age of 3 years old until I was 35. My father was a professional soccer player in Brazil and most of my friends in the area where I grew up played, so it was natural for me to play. Soccer most certainly was the best game in town! I can remember in the summer waking up in the morning and playing soccer all day long until it got dark. We did not always have a soccer field to play on and sometimes not even a real soccer ball. We made due with what we had. There was a professional soccer team in my city (Gremio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense) as well as other small teams in town and that made the game that much more intriguing to me. I was very passionate for the game and later on in my youth career, I played up 2 age groups while competing. At that time I was working my way up the ranks to play on the best professional soccer teams in the country but my family and I decided that it was best for me to pursue a career in law.
Randy: Tell me about your career in law
Oz: My father was the Register-Chief of the 3rd Civil Notary. After he retired as a professional soccer player, he worked for the government from 1958-2007. As I mentioned earlier, he encouraged me to follow in his footsteps. One of the main reasons he encouraged me to the field of law is that he wanted me to make money so I could provide a good living for myself and my family. When my dad was a pro soccer player there was very little money in the sport and he wanted better for me. I studied law from 1988 to 1992. I was the youngest student in the program, but I was a determined student and I went on to work in the field with my dad from 1988 until 2001. My father was one of the most respected in his field in all of Brazil and worked some of the top cases in the country. It was a lucrative career for me but also full of a lot of stress. At the age of 32 I decided to hang up my law career and I have never looked back.
Randy: How did you get into the business of selling musical instruments?
Oz: First of all I want to say that I never even started playing guitar or really getting into instruments until I was 20 years old. Again, my childhood was filled with playing soccer and that is what I did most everyday. I wanted a guitar when I was younger but my dad would not buy one for me. He told me I could get one when I worked and could afford one. In 1990 I was finally able to afford my first guitar. I played guitar for 5 years and finally decided I wanted to buy a nicer guitar. Now remember, in Brazil we did not have the selection of musical instruments like there is in the United States. In order to find a really nice guitar, I researched and found a local luthier by the name of Alex Cheruti. I wanted to hire Alex to make me a high-end instrument. In the end, I ended up partnering with Alex and we started manufacturing high end electric and bass guitars. Almost everything that I know about instruments today is because of this period in my life. That period of time manufacturing instruments was like college for me. We made some tremendous instruments that I’m very proud of. The company was dissolved in 2005.
Randy: What did you do after that?
Oz: In 2008 my wife, Ana, was offered to relocate to Austin, TX for work. She worked for Dell, Inc. and they wanted her in the Austin area to be part of the “Supply Chain” team. We both have always loved the USA and had traveled to the states many times before. Though we had a good life in Brazil, there were many challenges that went with the lifestyle we were living including needing to have a full time bodyguard to protect us in our day-to-day lives. We decided to accept Dell’s offer for relocation and bought a house just north of Austin in the city of Cedar Park. We have been here ever since and absolutely love it. We are also proud to say that we have applied for U.S. citizenship and will be taking our final citizenship tests next month.
Randy: Rumor has it that you are quite the long distance runner. Tell us about that.
Oz: Like I mentioned earlier, soccer was always a big part of my life growing up. One of the reasons that I was a successful soccer player was that I was given a great gift to be able to run fast for long periods of time without tiring. So distance running was a natural progression for me. I started distance running in 2005 and it was love at first sight! Though I got good results at the end of my first year in distance running, it was not until around 2007 that I got really serious into running and competing. From the years 2007-2011 I was logging in around 100 miles per week while training for races. I ran races from as short as one mile all the way to marathons. I won the Masters Category of the “Congress Mile” in 2011, here in Austin. I was also 6th overall in the Austin Marathon logging in a time of 2 hours, 38 minutes. The majority of my winnings were 5k races. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was a famous race that I won in 2009. I won my age group in Austin’s “Turkey Trot.” That was great as I received free subs from Thundercloud for an entire year! I also qualified to run in the US men’s marathon in the Master’s Division at the Rose Bowl in Southern California. I was unable to run that race as that is when I opened the Austin Guitar House and I needed to dedicate my time and energy to the store. What you need to know about me is I go “all in” when I do things. In order to give my full attention to building one of the finest boutique music stores in the world, I was unable to put in the training time that it takes to win a race like the US Marathon.
Oz: In 2008 my wife, Ana, was offered to relocate to Austin, TX for work. She worked for Dell, Inc. and they wanted her in the Austin area to be part of the “Supply Chain” team. We both have always loved the USA and had traveled to the states many times before. Though we had a good life in Brazil, there were many challenges that went with the lifestyle we were living including needing to have a full time bodyguard to protect us in our day-to-day lives. We decided to accept Dell’s offer for relocation and bought a house just north of Austin in the city of Cedar Park. We have been here ever since and absolutely love it. We are also proud to say that we have applied for U.S. citizenship and will be taking our final citizenship tests next month.
Randy: Rumor has it that you are quite the long distance runner. Tell us about that.
Oz: Like I mentioned earlier, soccer was always a big part of my life growing up. One of the reasons that I was a successful soccer player was that I was given a great gift to be able to run fast for long periods of time without tiring. So distance running was a natural progression for me. I started distance running in 2005 and it was love at first sight! Though I got good results at the end of my first year in distance running, it was not until around 2007 that I got really serious into running and competing. From the years 2007-2011 I was logging in around 100 miles per week while training for races. I ran races from as short as one mile all the way to marathons. I won the Masters Category of the “Congress Mile” in 2011, here in Austin. I was also 6th overall in the Austin Marathon logging in a time of 2 hours, 38 minutes. The majority of my winnings were 5k races. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was a famous race that I won in 2009. I won my age group in Austin’s “Turkey Trot.” That was great as I received free subs from Thundercloud for an entire year! I also qualified to run in the US men’s marathon in the Master’s Division at the Rose Bowl in Southern California. I was unable to run that race as that is when I opened the Austin Guitar House and I needed to dedicate my time and energy to the store. What you need to know about me is I go “all in” when I do things. In order to give my full attention to building one of the finest boutique music stores in the world, I was unable to put in the training time that it takes to win a race like the US Marathon.
Randy: How did the Austin Guitar House come to life?
Oz: Though I loved to run and really enjoyed that time of my life when I could dedicate myself to training and competing, those competitions were not paying the bills. The longer I had lived in the Austin area and the more I traveled around and visited the great music stores that were in the area, I started to notice that there were no music stores dedicated to the high-end “Boutique” instruments that I was so interested in. Because of all of these things, it became clear to Ana and I that opening up a boutique music store in Austin would be a good move for us. We found a great location just North of the city and close to a couple of other music stores. We wanted a spot close to an established store like Guitar Center as it would be easy for a musician to go from one store to the next. Ultimately, however, we knew that what we would be offering would not be in direct competition with these other stores as we were offering hand made, boutique instruments that catered to a niche cliental. In September 2011 we opened the Austin Guitar House doors at 2206 W Anderson Lane in Austin, TX and are still in the same building today.
Oz: Though I loved to run and really enjoyed that time of my life when I could dedicate myself to training and competing, those competitions were not paying the bills. The longer I had lived in the Austin area and the more I traveled around and visited the great music stores that were in the area, I started to notice that there were no music stores dedicated to the high-end “Boutique” instruments that I was so interested in. Because of all of these things, it became clear to Ana and I that opening up a boutique music store in Austin would be a good move for us. We found a great location just North of the city and close to a couple of other music stores. We wanted a spot close to an established store like Guitar Center as it would be easy for a musician to go from one store to the next. Ultimately, however, we knew that what we would be offering would not be in direct competition with these other stores as we were offering hand made, boutique instruments that catered to a niche cliental. In September 2011 we opened the Austin Guitar House doors at 2206 W Anderson Lane in Austin, TX and are still in the same building today.
Randy: Tell us about some of the instruments that you sell in the store.
Oz: Again, we basically offer only hand made, boutique guitar gear. We specialize in electric guitars, electric guitar amplifiers, and effects pedals. Some of the brands that we carry are Mesa Boogie, Suhr, Fano, Two Rock, and Carol-Ann Amplifiers. Of course we have many more brands than this, but these are some of our best sellers. Recently we have added some high end Lakland bass guitars, Elrick bass guitars, and Bergantino bass cabinets, as well as some amazing McPherson Acoustic Guitars, and even harmonicas (Hohner). We were able to do this as the Bass Emporium closed down as well as Quinces who specialized in acoustic instruments. There was a need in the market and we were happy to step in and field that need for the musician. We also carry high-end accessories such as picks, strings, guitar straps, capos, slides, etc. Nothing you see in our store will be cheaply made or mass-produced. We sell only high quality instruments and accessories, and we certainly do not cater to the masses. Because of this, we sell about 20% of our inventory out of the store and 80% of our inventory we sell and ship to customers who live all over the world. We’ve sold instruments to people in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, France, Brazil, and more. It is still very important to me to run our business out of a brick and mortar store, however, as it gives the local Austin area customer the chance to come play the gear before they purchase. It gives the global customer confidence that we are a legitimate music store and not just some guy running the business out of his garage.
Randy: Tell us about some of the customers that come into your shop.
Oz: We have all kinds of customers that come into the Austin Guitar House. We certainly have a group of “regulars” who you see in the store often. They come in, sit on the couch, and just enjoy the space and enjoy the time spent with fellow “gear hounds.” We get plenty of people who are in the Austin area for vacation and have heard about us and want to stop by to take a look. Even though we’ve been opened for almost 4 years now, we still get a good amount of customers who live locally and stop in the store for the first time as they stumbled across in by accident. Austin is a large city and getting the word out to all the musicians in the area takes time! We’ve also had some semi-famous and famous customers buy from us. Lance Keltner frequents the store a lot. The Peterson Brothers have made a nice name for themselves in the Austin area and have been in the store. Walter Becker from Steely Dan stopped by one time and bought a Kelton Swade and Forshage Guitars as well as a bunch of pedals and accessories. The Nelson Brothers were in the shop one day and bought a Fano JM6 Guitar. Of course, Cliff Williams of ACDC recently purchased 3 custom built Teye bass guitars from me. The first was a Teye La Mora with custom engraving and the other two being “Road Warrior” Teye basses, as Cliff put it. I enjoy working with the customers who both visit the store and purchase online. I’ve met some great people from all over the world and I really enjoy that part of my job.
Oz: Again, we basically offer only hand made, boutique guitar gear. We specialize in electric guitars, electric guitar amplifiers, and effects pedals. Some of the brands that we carry are Mesa Boogie, Suhr, Fano, Two Rock, and Carol-Ann Amplifiers. Of course we have many more brands than this, but these are some of our best sellers. Recently we have added some high end Lakland bass guitars, Elrick bass guitars, and Bergantino bass cabinets, as well as some amazing McPherson Acoustic Guitars, and even harmonicas (Hohner). We were able to do this as the Bass Emporium closed down as well as Quinces who specialized in acoustic instruments. There was a need in the market and we were happy to step in and field that need for the musician. We also carry high-end accessories such as picks, strings, guitar straps, capos, slides, etc. Nothing you see in our store will be cheaply made or mass-produced. We sell only high quality instruments and accessories, and we certainly do not cater to the masses. Because of this, we sell about 20% of our inventory out of the store and 80% of our inventory we sell and ship to customers who live all over the world. We’ve sold instruments to people in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, France, Brazil, and more. It is still very important to me to run our business out of a brick and mortar store, however, as it gives the local Austin area customer the chance to come play the gear before they purchase. It gives the global customer confidence that we are a legitimate music store and not just some guy running the business out of his garage.
Randy: Tell us about some of the customers that come into your shop.
Oz: We have all kinds of customers that come into the Austin Guitar House. We certainly have a group of “regulars” who you see in the store often. They come in, sit on the couch, and just enjoy the space and enjoy the time spent with fellow “gear hounds.” We get plenty of people who are in the Austin area for vacation and have heard about us and want to stop by to take a look. Even though we’ve been opened for almost 4 years now, we still get a good amount of customers who live locally and stop in the store for the first time as they stumbled across in by accident. Austin is a large city and getting the word out to all the musicians in the area takes time! We’ve also had some semi-famous and famous customers buy from us. Lance Keltner frequents the store a lot. The Peterson Brothers have made a nice name for themselves in the Austin area and have been in the store. Walter Becker from Steely Dan stopped by one time and bought a Kelton Swade and Forshage Guitars as well as a bunch of pedals and accessories. The Nelson Brothers were in the shop one day and bought a Fano JM6 Guitar. Of course, Cliff Williams of ACDC recently purchased 3 custom built Teye bass guitars from me. The first was a Teye La Mora with custom engraving and the other two being “Road Warrior” Teye basses, as Cliff put it. I enjoy working with the customers who both visit the store and purchase online. I’ve met some great people from all over the world and I really enjoy that part of my job.
Custom built Teye Bass for ACDC's Cliff Williams
Randy: So where does the Austin Guitar House go from here?
Oz: I’m proud to say that the store has grown each year as our customer base widens. Our product line continues to expand and the quality of instruments that we sell also continue to get better and better. We have been able to be even more selective and truly only offer some of the very best boutique instruments that you can find anywhere in the world. We are not only proud of the high quality, hand-crafted instruments that we can offer our customers, but we are also proud of the outstanding customer service that we provide. My goal is to make the Austin Guitar House one of the staple boutique guitar shops in the USA. I want our store to be one of the top 5 music stores in the entire country for high-end/boutique gear and I am confident we will get there.
Oz
2206 West Anderson Lane
Austin, TX 78757
512 243-6036
[email protected]
Oz: I’m proud to say that the store has grown each year as our customer base widens. Our product line continues to expand and the quality of instruments that we sell also continue to get better and better. We have been able to be even more selective and truly only offer some of the very best boutique instruments that you can find anywhere in the world. We are not only proud of the high quality, hand-crafted instruments that we can offer our customers, but we are also proud of the outstanding customer service that we provide. My goal is to make the Austin Guitar House one of the staple boutique guitar shops in the USA. I want our store to be one of the top 5 music stores in the entire country for high-end/boutique gear and I am confident we will get there.
Oz
2206 West Anderson Lane
Austin, TX 78757
512 243-6036
[email protected]