Olaf Keil was the founder and lead guitarist of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 rock & roll group The Keil Isles, playing on their pre 1963 recordings on the TANZA

TANZA

TANZA was a pioneering New Zealand record label, from 1949 to 1956. TANZA stands for To Assist New Zealand Artists, and was the first company to record and produce records in New Zealand...

 and Viking

Viking Records

Viking Records was an independent and prominent record label that featured many New Zealand and Polynesian recording artists.-Background:In the 1960s, the company was the largest locally owned record label in the South Pacific with its New Zealand head office in Wellington and a branch in Sydney...

 record labels. He was also a custom guitar and banjo builder for Fender

Fender

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Fender, of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster...

. He is also the creator of the Keil Midi. For a period of time he also managed and took care of the booking for the Keil Isles.

Bio

He was born Apia, Western Samoa in 1934. When he was young, as early as ten years of age, he began making his ukuleles out of coconut shells. He had a keen interest in electronics, photography and woodworking. In 1951 when he was 17, he left in Western Samoa to got to Fiji for a six month photography course. The next year he arrived in New Zealand.

He began his musical career by playing in his uncle's 14 piece band and would back his cousin Freddie Keil on rock and roll songs when asked to. He taught his younger brother to play guitar and in 1956 he and his younger brothers formed the Keil Isles

Keil Isles

The Keil Isles were a New Zealand-based Rock & Roll group which consisted of the Keil Brothers, Olaf, Herman, Rudolf, Klaus and their cousin Freddie Keil. They were all Samoans with German ancestry.-Band history:...

. The Keil Isles would end up becoming very popular and Olaf and the rest of the group would tour New Zealand with Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 and The Shadows

The Shadows

The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

 in 1961.
Olaf Keil was considered to be a brilliant musician and he could replicate the guitar solos that were heard on overseas records. With his technical knowledge he was able to successfully design and build the first echo unit in New Zealand and attempting to copy that Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 instrumental sound that was heard on his records. This gave the Keil Isles an edge to compete with overseas acts from the UK and the US.

He left the group in 1962 to move to the United States.

Work at Fender

After being convinced by singer Del Shannon

Del Shannon

Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...

, he decided to move to America. In spite of his band having signed a $28,000 guarantee with Philip Warren in 1962, he still managed to go to America. He worked for some time in a clothing company and then joined the Fender company in 1962. He began working in the wiring department and later on to the construction of guitar bodies and then guitar necks. He actually ended up working in every department. Fender ended up accuiring a banjo building business and Keil had the distinction of being its sole banjo builder. At a period in time he was making five custom instruments every week.

In addition to custom-made banjos, he has also custom built guitars for artists as diverse as Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

, Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell

Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...

, Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

 and Buck Owens

Buck Owens

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...

.

Later years

Having learnt to play the Hawaiian steel guitar, he and other Fender musicians did a Polynesian act for a show in Las Vegas. He left the Fender company in 1973. Later with his family he was to form a Polynesian group that would work in New Orleans, Dallas and Pensacola. They were doing promotions for airline companies advertising flights to Hawaii as well.

In 1978 he moved to Central Florida and did a Polynesian act for Sea World. He later moved to Kissimmee

Kissimmee, Florida

Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...

and in April 1990 he opened Olaf Keil Woodworking Projects.