Panik (band)

Panik
Band performance in 2008
Background information
Also known as	Nevada Tan (2007)
Origin	Neumünster, Germany
Genres	Rap rock, rap metal, nu metal, alternative rock
Years active	2002 – 2010
Labels	Universal Records (2007-2008); Vertigo Records (2008-2010)
Website	http://www.panik-musik.de/
Members	Timo "T:mo" Sonnenschein David Bonk

Panik was a German rock band consisting of two members from Neumünster that was established in Hamburg in 2007 under the name Nevada Tan. Nevada Tan consisted of six members: David Bonk (guitar, vocals), Timo "T:Mo" Sonnenschein (rap/vocals), Christian Linke (bass guitar), Frank "Franky" Ziegler (vocals), Jan Werner (DJ), and Juri Schewe (drums). In 2008, after a break with management, Panik was created consisting of David Bonk, Timo Sonnenschein, Christian Linke, Frank "Franky" Ziegler, Jan Werner, and Juri Schewe. As of November 2009, this band was dissolved to create a two-member band also called Panik. Members David Bonk and Timo Sonnenschein, as well as former members Jan Werner and Max Böhlen (drums), also made music from 2002-2007 in another band called Pan!k.

On January 20, 2008, Nevada Tan announced that they had officially changed their name from Nevada Tan to Panik^[1] because of difficulties with their management, resulting in their switch from Universal Records to Vertigo Records.

On April 24, 2010, the band played a final concert in Paris, France. Former members Frank, Jan, and Juri were present. Linke was noticeably absent, a replacement bassist, Tim from Destination Anywhere, playing his part. There are no plans to reunite the band in the near future.

Band members

Former members

The band

Panik unites rap elements with hard rock - this genre is called nu metal. 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.

The band had its first official performance at The Dome 41 in Mannheim, on 2 March 2007.

Nevada Tan performed at the biggest open-air concert of the summer of 2007, the Schau nicht weg! (Don't look away!) concert, organized by BRAVO and VIVA, against school violence. The concert was held on 25 August 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 unexpected number of fans, they went back for few more concerts in October.

Franky, the former singer of the band, is the only one who was born in South Germany, in Heidelberg. He met Linke 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. Next to the music he likes to cook and is often called "Bandmum" by his friends.

Timo 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. He is also known just like David to resent his dad, Fred Sonnenschein, for having divorced his mother when he was 1. He often talks about all the hardships he had to face as a teen because he and his mother never got any support or money from his dad, even saying that at 15 he was working, and living as a really poor child in a one-room apartment with his mom.

David is the band's guitarist and piano player. He and T:mo have been best friends since David's first day in kindergarten(Timo was 4, David 3). 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. Also, in his house in the basement there is known that David has a studio which his mother and step-dad built and allowed David to continue his musical pursuits and are glad to allow him to. The song So Wie Du is based on his dad and how he left his family without a word and cheated on his wife. He is also the producer of the band's new album Was Würdest Du Tun? after some of the music was recorded at his house. On May 28, 2008 David was rushed to the hospital, the reasons remain unknown, only was it revealed that is doing better, on Panik's KYTE channel it shows the ambulance taking David away. It is rumored that he had some type of reaction. David has recently made claims during a Rock One Magazine interview to having composed the majority of the Panik album:

"Timo wrote 90% of the texts and sung more than half of the chorus on the last album, of which I almost composed the totality of the music."^[3]

The discography states otherwise, with Linke's name appearing on a good half of the songs.

Jan is the band's former 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 shoot 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. He stopped wearing it after the band changed from Nevada Tan to Panik. He is now always seen with his mask off, having overcome his shyness. Jan spent time at a chemical lab before Nevada Tan emerged on the scene and has said previously that, should anything happen to the band, he would likely return to chemistry.

Linke, the former 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) as well as a tattoo along the left side of his neck that reads "Licentia Poetica". Linke has said that the former tattoo should always remind him about how self-destructive revenge really is. He writes his own songs and covers songs from bands like "30 Seconds To Mars" or "Incubus". His full name is Christian Linke and he often is known to go by Chris, Linke, and Lefti (link- meaning left in German). He was the first member to leave the band after their German tour in December 2009 . He has since moved to the US to pursue a solo career. He released an album containing six of his songs.

Juri is the former 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, Timo 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". He is also known to be very smart when it was revealed some of his grades were of the grade point 1,5 when in Germany the highest is 1,0. His full name is known to be Juri Ibo Kaya Schewe. He is the only one from the band who has had little trouble from fans and is more low key than the rest of the band. He also is known to be an active swimmer and to especially like pudding.

Max was the drummer before the band name changed to Nevada Tan. Very, very little is known of Max or why he left the band. It is likely he was a fellow schoolmate of Timo and Jan's due to the time frame of his leaving and his amicable presence on stage on the rare occasions when he has appeared at Nevada Tan/Panik concerts. He has never been publicly discussed by any of the members of Panik.

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 Hears You) peaked at #8 in the album charts and the DVD Niemand hört dich - Live entered at #10 in the DVD charts.

The band received 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; however, their supporting act had a car crash. At the end of October they had an accident on their way to Celle, although David was the only one injured. David later said that he was shocked by the accident but soon ran out of the bus to check on the woman who had crashed into the car. She was fine and had no injuries of any kind. He also said that he was happy because there were no severe injuries and everyone was ok.^[4] He was released from the hospital later that same day, with only a few scratches on his face. He was able to play at the next concert, though the tour bus had to be repaired, and part of the equipment was damaged. The tour was postponed when Franky was diagnosed with laryngitis. By that time most of the crew was infected with the flu. The tour was subsequently finished in December 2007, while the old tickets were still valid.^[5]

Plans

On 11 November 2009 it was announced on the Panik homepage and Myspace that the band was dissolving come the end of their December 2009 tour.^[6]

In his Myspace blog, Timo released this apology to his fans both in the original German and in an English translation:

"It's tough for us to write these lines. As yet it's been a long struggle, an exhausting way, and a part of the band doesn't have the energy to walk this way anymore. It hurts but we have to understand and accept. Due to this, we're forced to announce the band PANIK will not go on in this constellation, and the tour in December will be the last tour in Germany.

As someone on the outside you don't really know nor learn much about the music business. You hear a song and if you like it, you get it, no matter legally or illegally, and that pretty much wraps it up in the most cases. We are living in a world, where you can get music for free, but we can´t live without at least minimum of money. What's behind each and every song is unknown to the most. A production, a management, a record label, a publisher and many, many more people and things. If one of these pillars breaks away, it's tough for the band to fully focus on the music. It's just too much politics; sometimes it's a never-ending fight to do what you actually want. Just music.

For this album release we fought and set all the stuff we didnt want aside. We didnt "prostitute" ourselves. Unfortunately it's inevitable with our attitude and approach that a few of those supporting pillars break away. All we can say is that not many bands went through the stuff we had to.
Loads of people kept telling us that we are pretty much like a magnet, attracting the shadowsides of this business. We'd like to thank all the people who accompanied us in the last couple of years and stood in our rows loyal to the core. It was a great and unbelievable time with you. You're great. And we think you might feel a little as we do. An era comes to an end and this era was that unique due to you folks.

Thanks.... Your guys from PANIK

Ah, and for fuck sake, the questionable journalism of the German youth magazines doesn't even allow us to explain this to our fans first. Frank never was in touch with that magazine... Thank you very much. "

^[7]

Timo and David have announced that Panik will continue indefinitely.

Timo is producing a short film At Second Glance which will be available on the Panik Kyte channel.^[8]

Frank "Franky" Ziegler has announced a role in the September 2010 Walt Disney Motion Pictures Germany GmbH film Alles für Lila as a guitarist in the band "Berlin Mitte".^[9][10][11] In an interview in Nuremberg during the Snipes shoestore tour, he elaborated on his role.^[12] Alles für Lila has been renamed 'Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück'.^[13]

On April 27, 2010, Christian Linke announced that he had permanently taken up residence in California (USA).^[14] He continues to write and sing music, which is available on his new Myspace page, dertollelinke.^[15]

Juri Schewe has been mentioned as taking over a drum school.

"All that I know is that Juri decided to take over a drum school. He told me that his life rhythm has become very different, because he already knows his program for the year to come! He just wanted to be free and be able to do what he wanted."^[16]

The FAZ newspaper article Die Gruppe Panik: Verheddert im Musikdschungel (English: Music Group Panik: Adrift in the Music Jungle)^[17] offers these tidbits about Jan, Frank, and Juri's future plans:

Werner wird seine Lehre als chemisch-technischer Assistent fortsetzen, Schewe studiert seit Oktober Schlagzeug in Bremen, Ziegler hat eine Rolle im Film „Alles für Lila“ ergattert.
(English: Werner will resume his studies as a chemical engineering assistant, Schewe has been studying drumming in Bremen since October, Ziegler has managed to snag a role in the film "Alles für Lila".)

^[18]

This reaffirms Frank's upcoming role in Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück (formerly "Alles für Lila") as well as Juri's drumming plans but this is the only information available about Jan Werner, though he has in the past reiterated that he would return to chemistry should his career in music end.

On April 28, 2010, Juri posted this blog on his Myspace:

April 28, 2010 - Wednesday

Piazu Manju

Check out my new band Piazu Manju:

http://www.myspace.com/piazumanju^[19]

Juri also lists numerous upcoming dates for Piazu Manju beginning in late May. This announcement, in light of Linke's absence at the final concert in Paris as well as his move to the United States to begin solo work, once again casts doubt on Panik's official announcement that the band had broken up due to stress and overwork on the parts of Juri, Linke, Jan, and Franky.

Discography

Singles

• as Nevada Tan

• as Panik

Albums

• as Nevada Tan

• as Panik

DVDs

Trivia

• The band's former name comes from Nevada-tan, an internet meme of Japanese schoolgirl who committed the Sasebo slashing.

Change of name from Nevada Tan to Panik

The band officially changed their name after they demanded a civil suit from their old producers and managers. The band claimed to have been cheated out of money, and had not received a penny from the CD Niemand Hört Dich. They also revealed that they had been used and that the producers and manager had plan to exploit them as some pop teenie band. In an interview with Stern TV they showed parts of videos that Timo had recorded and showed them to see how they had treated Panik. David also said that he had gone about 4 days without a shower, and that they were forced not to leave the studio and sleep on the floor.^[20] Also, without the band knowing it the producers and managers had gone ahead and put legal rights under the name "Nevada Tan" therefore if the band wanted to leave they could not use the same name. In the Stern TV interview it was revealed because of what had been done to the band and the fact that the producers and manager used them the contract was null and void.^[21]

Support for Genderqueer People

David Bonk of Panik supported the birth centenary of British mathematician Alan Turing Rainbow festival with a programme for high school students focusing on various aspects in Science and Gender diversity organized by Srishti Madurai, the first Genderqueer student resource circle of India, The Asia's first Genderqueer Pride parade and Genderqueer education programme for Schools and Colleges in Madurai was inaugurated by Anjali Gopalan along with David Bonk. ^[22]

References

1. ↑ Viva.tv - Stars - News - Nevada Tan heißen ab jetzt Panik!
2. ↑ BRAVO.de - Stars - Mix - Events
3. ↑ http://panik-musik.blog.cz/0912/rock-one-mag-60-interview-with-timo-david
4. ↑ Viva.tv - Stars - News - Nevada Tan: Auto-Unfall!
5. ↑ Viva.tv - Events - Eventnews: Nevada Tan – Tourabbruch
6. ↑ http://www.panik-musik.de/news/stellungnahme
7. ↑ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=93277057&blogID=518052044
8. ↑ http://www.panik-musik.de/
9. ↑ http://www.mediabiz.de/film/news/rothemund-sieht-merkwuerdig-lila/278817?py=1
10. ↑ http://www.aim-pr.de/detail.php?id=101&pn=&cat=set&PHPSESSID=tkd0isno09t0dgob36snbfapk6
11. ↑ http://panik-canada.e-monsite.com/blog,alles-fur-lila,181161.html
12. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUBZ_4EhdPg&feature=player_embedded
13. ↑ http://www.filmstarts.de/specials/767-Setbesuch-Groupies-bleiben-nicht-zum-Fr%C3%BChst%C3%BCck.html
14. ↑ http://twitter.com/chrislinke
15. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/dertollelinke
16. ↑ http://panik-musik.blog.cz/0912/rock-one-mag-60-interview-with-timo-david
17. ↑ http://www.faz.net/s/Rub64992C04CF2F4A2E8399BD4B893B56FE/Doc~EF05EA44B7EC94787901F23131F61DE55~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html
18. ↑ http://www.faz.net/s/Rub64992C04CF2F4A2E8399BD4B893B56FE/Doc~EF05EA44B7EC94787901F23131F61DE55~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html
19. ↑ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=204126271&blogId=533556192
20. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJ5tQv2I54
21. ↑ http://www.universalpanik.com/wiki/index.php?title=Stern_TV_-_February_2008
22. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/making-themselves-heard/article3605820.ece

External links

• Official homepage