Panik (band)
Panik |
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Panik is a German rock band consisting of six members from Neumünster that was established in Hamburg in 2007 under the name Nevada Tan. Almost all of today's members have made music since 2002 in another band called Panik. On 20 January 2008, Nevada Tan announced that they have officially changed their name from Nevada Tan to Panik[1].
Band members
| Name | Instrument | Birth date |
|---|---|---|
| Frank "Franky" Ziegler | Vocals | April 28, 1987 |
| Timo "T:mo" Sonnenschein | Rap/Guitar | September 20, 1987 |
| Christian Linke | Bass/Guitar/Vocals | March 11, 1987 |
| David Bonk | Guitar/Piano/Vocals | February 06, 1988 |
| Jan Werner | DJ | March 01, 1988 |
| Juri Schewe | Drums | November 24, 1986 |
The band
Panik unites rap elements with hard rock - this genre is called Crossover. Their style is often compared to the style of Linkin Park, although they don't like being compared to them. The band members have stated that anger moves them and that they can express all their emotions properly only in their maternal language - German.
The band had its first official performance at The Dome 41 in Mannheim, on March 2, 2007.
Nevada Tan performed at the biggest Open Air concert of the summer, the Schau nicht weg! (Don't look away!) concert, organized by BRAVO and VIVA, against school violence. The concert was held on August 25, 2007, in front of the Brandenburger Tor.[2] More than 50 stars came to support this event. There were 119 000 people in the audience. (Nevada Tan were one of the eight main performing acts, the other seven being LaFee, Sarah Connor, Bushido, Monrose, Gentleman, MIA. and US5.)
The band is on its way to become internationally popular: they had a concert in Paris, France, and due to an unexpectedly big number of fans, they went back for few more concerts in October.
Their first big tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland was held from October to November 2007.
The band recently announced on their official myspace profile page that they were leaving their record company Vertigo and join Universal Records and have officially become Panik.
Franky, the singer of the band, is the only one who was born in South Germany, in Heidelberg. He met David through the internet. In order to meet the others, he went to Neumünster and, after being accepted as a band member, took up permanent residence there. He said that it was a bit difficult to get used to the fame, as he was raised in a small town; he has also said that he misses his home town and family. In October, BRAVO confirmed that Franky had a girlfriend, a former Popstars candidate, who was in the run for Monrose, and came within the Top 10.But according to Frank's personal online account (account name can not be revealed as requested by his personal wishes not to be pestered by adds)he says that they broke up officially as of January 10th of this year. The cause of the break up between him and his girlfriend Leo has been rumoured to be due to the fact that she was cheating while others said it had something to do with the long distance they had started facing recently.
T:mo is the rapper of Nevada Tan. His father was the bass player of the German band Illegal 2001, so he had made his first music experiences very early in life. His hobbies include making films and music videos. The song Neustart is his personal showdown with the enemies he had in high school.
David is the band's guitarist and piano player. He and T:mo have been best friends since their early childhood. Their friendship lasts for over 16 years. Even though they went to different schools, they remained very close. The other band members meet in David's house to do brainstorming, and they play music in his garage.
Jan is the band's DJ. Nevada Tan said they are proud that their band has a DJ, on top of all the other instruments. Jan was the biggest mystery of the band, because in the beginning he wore a black mask that covered all of his face except for the eyes. Later, in an exclusive photo-shooting for the BRAVO magazine, he took off his mask for the first time. Jan said that he was too shy to show his face as the band rose to fame, and he will remain masked at their concerts since it has become his trademark.
Linke, the bassist, was also born in Neumünster. He is known to be fluent in English, and an avid book reader. He has a tattoo on his forearm that reads Edmond Dantès (the main character from The Count of Monte Cristo). Linke has said that the tattoo should always remind him about how self-destructive revenge really is. He has also very recently become a very popular myspace after he launched his personal myspace profile.
Juri is the drummer of the band. The other band members describe him as the most hard-working of them all. He also finished high school with the highest average. He is the "boss" of the band: he talks to their label about important decisions, and takes care of financial and legal matters. In Juri's words, "David's domain is internet, T:mo makes films and documents everything. Jan is our driver, Franky is the cook, and Linke is the one who always makes up something fun to do".
Chart success
The band debuted successfully in the German charts: the first single Revolution entered the charts at #15, and the album Niemand hört dich (Nobody Hears You) peaked at #8 in the album charts.
The band has become so popular in such a short notice thanks to major support from the BRAVO magazine and German music television VIVA.
Future plans
Nevada Tan have stated for BRAVO that they will not make a time-out from the music business and are already in studio, working on the new songs for their second album. They said that their sound is now going to be even heavier. On January 20, 2008 the band officially announced on their blog on myspace that they were leaving their record company Vertigo to work for Universal Records and that they were going to now be known as officially as Panik.
Discography
Singles
| Song Title | GER | AUT | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolution | 15 | 25 | March 30, 2007 |
| Vorbei | 29 | 42 | June 08, 2007 |
| Neustart | 44 | — | August 24, 2007 |
Albums
| Album | GER | AUT | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niemand hört dich | 8 | 21 | April 20, 2007 |
DVDs
| DVD | GER | AUT | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niemand hört dich - Live | 10 | — | September 28, 2007 |
Trivia
- The band's former name comes from Nevada-tan, a Japanese schoolgirl notorious for murdering a fellow classmate with a box-cutter.
- The first Nevada Tan photos in BRAVO were in Manga-style.
- T:mo has a tattoo with the logo of his first band Panik on his right arm.
- David has won many prizes playing piano at a competition called Jugend musiziert.
- The second video for the single Vorbei shows the band members as Ninjas.