12 POINTS (part 1: Kasper Keen)

Ok, ho pensato di iniziare ad aprire una nuova rubrica. Si chiama *12 POINTS* e si tratta di una serie di interviste che farò/sto facendo a una serie di personaggi che per un motivo o per l'altro sono inseriti all'interno del mondo della musica, e più nello specifico del punk rock. A dire il vero non sono vere e proprie interviste: è una chiacchierata di 12 punti, appunto, tra curiosità, gossip e belinate varie. Il primo che m'ha risposto è Kasper dei 20 Belows, e quindi copio/incollo qui sotto:

Music has made me meet a lot of cool people, nice bands and some great friends. I'm glad to write my first questions to one of my favourite persons on this planet. Here I am, writing my “12 points” to Kasper from the 20 Belows (pop punk from Denmark) and Panther Booking.

1. You lived in Denmark, Holland, France and now you moved to Innsbruck, Austria. Tell me, what was/is your favourite place where to stay? And how's the life there on the other side of the Alps?

Hey Simone.

Yes that is right, ive been super lucky to be able to move around like this the last couple of years, i profit a lot from learning stuff from different countries and cultures. So far i dont really have a favourite place to live, i really like Holland and France a lot, but so far Austria is up there as well, Innsbruck is a cool little city, with a great nature and good scene for music the possibilty to put on shows, so for now i am happy to live here, but dont know for how long i will stay;)

2. How many languages do you talk? In what language do you usually think by yourself? And in your dreams??

So far i speak Danish, English, Dutch, and learning German now. I like to be able to speak the language of the country i live in, all though i hate school very much, i kinda have to force myself to keep learning;)

Its a pretty good questions, and i am actually not totally sure about this, i think i mostley think in English/Danish, but sometimes i catch myself talking dutch to myself as well, so its more on big mess of what language i just used, haha!

3. What was the first Cd/cassette/record that you ever bought? And the one that made you fall in love with punk rock?

I had a lot of cassettes growing up, but actually never think i bought an original, first Punk Rock Cds i remember i bought, was Bad Religion : Against The Grain, No Control,Nofx : SM Airlines, Ribbed. I dont know if that really counts for Punk Rock Records, but before this i was very much into Beastie Boys, Nirvana, and the whole grunge scene.

4. About Panther Booking. When/how/why did you start? What is your goal? Do you find a way to raise any money or it's just for passion/fun? What bands are you currently working with?

Panther Booking by name is not that old, ive been booking under this name for around 4 years now, but started booking earlier than this, in the beginning it was only to get more contacts and better network for my own bands, so we could tour more, but after a while more bands kept asking if i could help them with shows, tours etc, and then it kinda took off from there.

I love touring and being on the road, i never really saw this is a real job, and its far from a real job still, since making enough to just live from it in the this scene of music is almost impossible.

Its definetley not for the money that i do the booking, i would make way more a month working part time or less at Mcdonalds, so its about the love for the music, and help promoting the bands that i care about, and wanna see get bigger and better.

Maybe one day when i get more time on my hands i will go for making Panther Booking my full time job, but that will also mean constant touring, and as much as i like touring, this is not really possible for me to do at this moment.

I am currentley putting last details on a tour for The Connection(USA) with start 30.08.2013, mainly Spain and France.

Also have Direct Hit(USA) touring all of europe with support from The Priceduifkes(BE) and Low Derive(IT) in October.

Parasites(USA) in October as well full europe tour.

And do a lot of one off shows in NL and DK, have 4 shows booked for Kepi Ghoulie and Forest Pooky in November, and also work with many other smaller US and Euro bands.

Lots of plans for next year with new bands on my Roster as : The Capitalist Kids(USA) Devon Kay And The Solutions(USA) The Fake Boys(USA) The Leeches(IT).

All dates and news can be found on www.pantherbooking.com in the near future.

5. About the Hitchcocks. You were good! Why did you quit? Did you write all the songs? What is your favourite?

Thanks Simone! I actually really liked to play in this band as well, even though the whole horror thing never really got that much into me, i think we had a good vibe/energy in the band and we could have pushed this further than we did.

To be honest, the line up in the band never really worked, we all come from different aspects in the punk scene, from pop punk/punk rock to 77 punk, Hardcore, Metal and even Rockabilly in the beginning.

Many people saw us the first years as rockabilly band, and this also stuck to us, even after we kicked the bass player out the band, dont really know why that was, most have been the whole horror singing about monster thing i guess.

And the line up was also the reason why we ended the band, and also the fact that i moved from Denmark to Holland, none of the other guys had the motivation to keep up the band going when i was not around, we tried in the first months, but i kinda came to the point where it was better to call it quits.

All though we never truly called it the quits, we just stopped playing, so who know maybe one day the band will rise from the dead, me and Mads Murder is still fully members of the band, and there are even songs that where never recorded, so lets see what time brings.

I wrote around 60 % of the songs myself, i also co wrote a lot with Mads Murder.

Thomas who was our drummer for the first era of the band, also wrote a handfull of songs.

My favorite Hitchcocks song is probably still Werewolf, its short easy to plan and have lot of power in it, this was also the first song i wrote for The Hitchcocks.

6. You like going to the gym, training and other healthy stuffs. Good job! Do you walk to take long walks on the mountains? Don't you prefer to lie down at the beach and try to get a tan??

Haha yeah, i do like going to the gym, and i am really interested in Nutrition as well, i now live 98 % Vegan, only animal product i still eat is Eggs. I started eating vegetarian 5 years ago, in the beginning mainly since i felt better with out eating meat, but over the years i goes more in the direction of the Animal reasons, i think meat and to much meat is the course of many bad and shitty things on this planet, and i dont feel like contributing to this anymore, and on the other side of this i never felt better, so this is at least the right way to go for me.

I do like to take long walk in the mountains, i dont have to much time to do this these days due to work and bookings, so i run instead;)

Its hard to say, because i really like working my tan as well, i never quite get that nice italian color though, my skin wont really work that way.

So i guess i take both, first i would run up and down the mountain and after that go lie on the beach and work my tan, or in this case a lake(since Innsbruck dont really have beaches in the near)

7. You always look very calm and patient. Do you ever get angry or mad at anyone? Has it ever happened on tour? I mean, you didn't even get mad at Ippo when Goonies stayed on stage more than the 20 Belows! (and that happened almost all the times you played here!!!)

Thanks, i take that as a compliment! Haha no i would never get mad at Ippo, Goonies can play for as long as they wont! And yes i do also get mad sometimes, but always good at preventing situations before it gets to the point where i would have to get mad at someone;)

8. What was the worst place where you had to shit on tour? Did you ever shit at Lucrezia Bar?

I guess somewhere in Italy, Lucrezia is not the place, from what i remember they even have a real toilet and a lock on the door!

9. You have a lot of tattooes. What is your favourite? And the most meaningful? Send me some pictures to show your female fans!

I have a lot of favorite tattoos, i like em all! Some have meaning and some dont, i am a big of old school tattoo arts, and it does not always have to have meaning for me, if i like the motive i just go for it, so far i dont really regret any of it, and guess it will stay that way!

10. What is your favourite place in Italy? And tell everyone, say it publicly, that I'm your favourite italian person!

From what i seen so far, i like Genova a lot, its a pretty city, and have a cool vibe to it, but there are many other places i like in Italy, so dont have specific city or area.

Simone Thellung is my favorite Italian person, together with Billy Bubblegum;)

11. What is the last album that you got? Reccomend me 5 bands that you really like lately!

The last album i got, is the new Murderburgers record, this is a great record, and people should check that one out as soon as its out!

Direct Hit(USA)

The Connection(USA)

Low Derive(IT) 

The Leeches(IT)

The Priceduifkes(BE)

11. The 20 Belows are one of my favourite euro-bands. Do you guys find a way to practice, sometimes? Any plans for the future? Tours?

Unfortunatley we have not been able to practice much with The 20Belows lately, and the last shows they played have also been with out me, since its super hard to plan everything.

But there are a lot of new songs in the works, and soon we will have a brand new 7 inch out out Screaming Records from Copenhagen, 4 songs in total i believe.

This year we only have 2 more shows planned, 1 in Klagenfurt in September for the DeeCracks anniversary party and at MZ mash in Innsbruck in December.

We are planning to tour again from start 2014, already got confirmed for Crossbone Fest in Belgium in March, and after that plans are to do 2 euro tour including Italy, and go back to the states later in 2014, + recording a new full lenght album.

Thanks a ton to Kasper from the 20 Belows / Panther Booking for replying these questions. Don't try to ask him to play some acostic versions of some Hitchocks songs, because he will say NO.