Gerspunken

Infobox musical artist
Name = Gerspunken
Img_capt = Gerspunken's Bruno Speltervasser and Hans Burstein perform in 2006
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Origin = Mayrhofen, Austria
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Genre = Glam metal
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Years_active = 2006-present
Label = Independent
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URL = [http://gerspunken.com/ Gerspunken Official Site]
Current_members = Bruno Speltervasser, Hans Burstein, Arnold Speltervasser, Reinhold Meyer, Karl Steiner

Gerspunken is a Glam/metal band from Mayrhofen, Austria. Formed in 2002, the band released their first album, "Geworden Spunker!" ('Get Spunked!') in 2005.Gerspunken's combination of classical instrumentals and themes into their tracks (The band's front-man and bassist Bruno Speltervasser and lead guitarist Hans Burstein met whilst studying at the Konservatorium Wien, Vienna's Conservatorium of Music, in 2001) is unique in the glam genre. This facet of their composition has attracted mixed criticism, [ Harpen, Dan, "Bad Alchemy", “Taking Punk Head-On,” Issue 51 July 2006 ] as has their utilization of electronic music generation. [ Ibid ] = Origins = The group’s origins can be traced to the time Speltervasser and Burstein spent at the Konservatorium Wien in 2001. The duo were familiar with each other from their youth in the Tyrolean town of Mayrhofen, and had worked together for a short period at the Peter Habeler Mountaineering Academy during the summer of 2000. Burstein, originally born in Poland, moved to Austria when he was seven. The pair were accomplished young musicians at this point but played exclusively in the classical genre, Burstein as a flautist and Speltervasser playing Violin and Viola for the Tyrolean Youth Orchestra. Burstein took up a position at the Konservatorium in late 2000 at the suggestion of his parents, and Speltervasser joined his friend at the institution the following year.

Konservatorium Incident

During 2002 the duo caused considerable drama at the Conservatorium, which Speltervasser accounted to his disenchantment with the rigid and uncreative structures of the institution. Immediately before the annual enrollment, Burstein changed his name by deed-poll from "Hans Rinehold Burstein" to "Megatrön", with the specific intention of irritating the college staff who by law were forced to print the Annual Vienna Orchestral Roll with Burstein's new legal name. When asked by the Konservatorium's Dean about the deed-poll incident, Burstein claimed that he had been "..inspired by Megatron's example of fortitude and leadership in the quest of the Decepticons for the Creation Matrix," and that the gratuitous heavy metal umlaut was the "sign of the beast." [ Burstein, H, Interview with Greysteins, D of http://www.metal-planet.com Oct 2005 ] When the Konservatorium demanded that he change the registered name, Burstein refused and consulted a friend engaged in legal studies and successfully petitioned the authorities to allow him to register his new legal name in the Tutonic Blackletter of the Mötley Crüe Logo, thus becoming the only person in Austrian history to have legal name in a specific font. After his expulsion from the Konservatorium, Burstein changed his name back to that of his birth.

Disenchanted with the classical establishment, the duo resigned from their courses in 2002, joining with fellow Mayrhofen local Karl Steiner, then living in Vienna playing drums for a local band, and Munich guitarist and singer Reinhold Mayer.

During the summer of 2002 the band played in many venues throughout Vienna and at Tyrol, and were the resident act at the Blue Tomato Nightclub on Johnstrasse in Vienna.

= Updates =

During the late Spring of 2007, the band was cemented as a unit with the introduction of Arnold Spelterwasser (Bruno's younger brother) on keyboards. Unfortunately Arnold's limited grasp of English hasn't permitted him to comment on his new placement, but of guitarist Hans Burstein, he commented: "...Is Hans. Is good."

= "Geworden Spunker!" = -->In early 2005 the group released their first album, on which they had worked throughout the previous year at their self-titled “SpunkStudio” in Mayrhofen. “"Geworden Spunker"!” ('Get Spunked!') was touted by Ablaze Magazine as “…the heaviest offering from any band in Germany or Austria in 2005. How can these guys still hear?” [Calvin Messner, http://www.ablaze-magazine.de/, 27/5/05]

“"Geworden Spunker!"” met with mixed reviews, however. Das RuhrMetal.de, an online Punk e-zine from the Ruhr region, claimed “…this cacophony is fit only for the fire. These young men seem set on single-handedly destroying an entire genre.” [G.J.Lloyd, http://www.ruhrmetal.rockt.de/, 3/6/05]

"Delphinjäger"

Track 2 on this Album, entitled "Delphinjäger", ("Dolphin Hunter")- a cover of the classic by Australian heavy metal band, Powerflame - incited rage among Austria’s Green community. “We believe this to be an astonishing insult to such a precious species,” [Sheen, M, www.greenpeace.te, 12/2/06] said Greenpeace CCE spokeswoman Marie Sheen. The line from the chorus “Bumsen Sie jene faulen grauen Fische, essen Sie sie alle,” (“Fuck those lazy grey fish, lets have some dinner,”) was particularly contentious.

During the 2006 Australia/New Zealand tour, Burstein was asked on an interview with Richard James of Fbi 94.5fm about the issue. “I had a traumatic experience with a dolphin once,” he explained. “When I was twelve, I was swimming with my male nurse Sven on a family holiday at Hossegor, and what you could call a freak dolphin incident occurred.” [Burstein, H, in an Interview with Richard James of Sydney's Fbi 94.5 in February 2006]

= New Album = In October 2007 Gerspunken announced the release of their long awaited second studio album, entitled "Hassen Sie Nicht Freiheit"!" ("Don't Hate Freedom"!".) In a press conference in Mayrhofen, Speltervasser explained the new direction the group's creative process had taken during during their time working on "Hassen sie nicht Freiheit"!" "We are a much tighter unit now, much, much tighter," Speltervasser explained to Carmen Tomachich of German punk E-zine SOUND.de. [Speltervasser, B, in an Interview with Tomachich, C of www.sound.de in October 2007] "The creative juices are flowing in the "SpunkStudio" and we're all getting in on the act together, instead of just me and Hans like it used to be. Even Arnold is involved, and his wife Sara also comes sometimes as well. It's a much bigger process now." [Speltervasser, B, in an Interview with Tomachich, C of www.sound.de in October 2007] The album's cover has, like much of Gerspunken's art and music, attracted considerable negative criticism.

=References=