Panik (band)
Panik |
---|
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] because of differences with their management, resulting in their switch from Vertigo Records to Universal Records.
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 od 2007, 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.
During the summer of 2007 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.
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. At the beginning of January 2008 they broke up, due to the distance between them, although rumors say that Leo was only using Franky to promote herself and left him after getting a record deal.
T:mo is the rapper of Panik. 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. 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. The band 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, the debut album Niemand hört dich (Nobody Can Hear You) peaked at #8 in the album charts and the DVD Niemand hört dich - Live entered at #10 in the DVD 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.
Nevada Tan tour 2007
The first Nevada Tan tour was supposed to be held from October to November 2007, but obstacles appeared already in the beginning, when their supporting act had a car crash. Then, at the end od October they had an accident on their way to Celle. Everybody was sleeping except for David, who was the only one hurt[3]. He was released from the hospital that same day, with only a few scratches in his face. Still, he played at the next concert. But there were other problems: the tour bus had to be repaired, and a part of the equipment was damaged. But the tour definitely had to be stopped when Franky was diagnosed with Laryngitis. By that time most of the crew was infected with flu. The tour was subsequently finished in December 2007, while the old tickets were still valid[4].
Future plans
The band has 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. The second album (first under the name Panik) will be released soon.
Discography
Singles
- as Nevada Tan
Song Title | GER | AUT | Released |
---|---|---|---|
Revolution | 15 | 25 | March 30, 2007 |
Vorbei | 29 | 42 | June 08, 2007 |
Neustart | 44 | — | August 24, 2007 |
- as Panik
Song Title | GER | AUT | Released |
---|---|---|---|
Was würdest du tun? | TBA | TBA | February 15, 2008 |
Albums
- as Nevada Tan
Album | GER | AUT | Released |
---|---|---|---|
Niemand hört dich | 8 | 21 | April 20, 2007 |
- as Panik
Album | GER | AUT | Released |
---|---|---|---|
TBA | TBA | TBA | Spring 2008 |
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.