Die erste Show, die erste Platte und seine größten Einflüsse! Wir sprachen mit Templeton Pek Gitarrist Kevin Green über seine Hardcore-Punk Roots und wie er zur Musik und Szene gekommen ist.
1How did you get in touch with hardcore (music)?
I must have been around 17/18 years old. My musical tastes were changing, I was playing more guitar and generally loving the heavy guitar riffs that I was coming out with… I wasn’t much into playing lead riffs I was more enjoying playing more fast/ heavy rhythms and chugging haha! This in turn led me to Hardcore music and I quickly discovered my local scene and a lot of great bands! I was totally blown away by the community spirit within the scene at the time. My first real show as a punter was H2O in the “F.T.T.W” album tour… lots of local bands including a great band at the time called “Spine” supported them, There was about 100 people in an 80 capacity room, the microphone was being passed around the crowd, everyone was singing along and it was another life changing experience to see such great unity and also the power that music can have on people! Such a great night!
2Who influenced/inspired you most?
I’d say one of my favourite hardcore bands is an American band called straight faced! Their album “Broken” was the first thing I heard from the band. I can recall hearing the first song “conviction” and just thinking wow! The whole album for me is faultless and was a perfect introduction to hardcore for me.. from there I discovered Ignite, Indecision, Ensign, Sick of it all, youth of today, Quicksand, and also Uk bands such as Knuckledust, Stamping Ground, 17 Stitches and many more. I think the Hardcore/punk element of Templeton Pek definitely comes from my side of the things and all of this heavily influenced me in the music we made today.
3Tell us about your first/best show you’ve ever played!
I’d have to say that the first show Templeton Pek played was on a local band night in Birmingham at a venue called the Flapper and Firkin. We were on a bill where we were the only punk band as the other bands were a lot more quieter sounding shall we say haha! it was a great start though and everyone has to start somewhere J I remember the singer at the end of the headline bands set was trying to be “rock and Roll” by causing a scene on stage and just as it looked like he might smash his guitar he realised he couldn’t afford a new one so gently placed it on the floor! Haha! Then goes to storm off the stage by kicking a door open.. the only problem was that unfortunately the door was locked haha!
As for the best show.. we have had so many if I am honest.. one that sticks out is when we supported Rise against in Düsseldorf. Those guys opened the doors early so that we could play to a full crowd! They didn’t have to do that at all and seem to go out of their way for anyone which is great to see a band like that who are so grounded! Prior to getting these shows Rise Against came to see us play on their day off in Berlin the week that “End Game” went to Number 1! We played a punk rock squat show and rise against are amongst the crowd of 40 people!!! That was a very surreal moment for all of us!
4Tell us about your first/favourite hardcore record!
My first record as I said earlier is “Broken” by Straight Faced as for my favourite it’s really difficult to say as I like so many….. I think tho “conditioned” by straight faced was an awesome record! This was the one after “Broken” it is a lot more heavier guitar wise and basically has all the elements that made me fall in love with hardcore music in the first place. The song “Rumour Mill” was the first song I learned how to play off that record… I learned the whole record pretty quickly after that and used to play guitar along with it nearly every day!
5Which bands and songs cannot be missed in your personal hardcore playlist?
- Knuckledust – Dust to Dust
- Sick of it all – Death or Jail
- Ignite – Embrace
- Straight Faced – Insecure
- Straight Faced – Runour Mill
- Stamping Ground – officer down
- Coneback Kid – GM Vincent & I
- Expire – Pretty Low
- Snapcase – Guilty by Ignorance
- Endign – Pale Horse
- Indecision – This time Tomorrow