What do a play by Max Frisch and the psychedelic blues rock of the late 1960s have in common? Both are part of the history of the four-piece band The Arsonistswho match the sound of their role models – Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin – bring back from past decades. At a time when you have “perfectly timed drums and autotune on all kinds of instruments,” says Nick Steinel, 22, the band’s bassist. “Music is becoming more and more perfect – and we don’t do that.”
On the recordings and at their concerts, every take and every solo sounds different, says Robert Lingner, the band’s guitarist and singer, who likes to play his solos longer at performances. But for the four on stage, eye contact is usually enough.
It was also the guitar solo on the song “Stairway to heaven” by Led Zeppelin, which prompted the 22-year-old to get the dusty guitar out of his parents’ basement five years ago. He was bedridden for several months at the time. Robert had a hole in his third lumbar vertebra, which is why the vertebra collapsed at the time. Back then, Robert played six to eight hours a day. When his back cooperated again, he met regularly with Dexter Greiser and Enrico Antinori for jam sessions.
Max Frisch’s “Biedermann und die Brandstifter” was then responsible for the sessions becoming a band. For a school performance of the play, Robert, Dexter and Enrico were to provide musical accompaniment between scenes. Two weeks earlier, Robert had brought in Nick. During the rehearsals, the first song ideas emerged. “Actually, we knew from the first rehearsal that we would stay together as a band,” says Nick. “We thought we were really cool. We felt like the biggest rock stars because we played in such a small play,” says the bassist with a little self-mockery. Since then, the band has been rehearsing for several hours almost every day, and they even live together now.
There is no longer any trace of the self-image of the great rock star. “Of course we’re a rock band, but the whole thing about being late and drunk at the gig is not our thing at all. We thought, if we do it now, then we’re doing it right,” says Robert. Even if the band name suggests otherwise. “The Arsonists” translates to “The Arsonists”.
The Arsonists
Style: Psychedelic blues rock
Occupation: Robert Lingner (vocals, guitar), Nick Steinel (bass), Enrico Antinori (vocals, guitar), Dexter Greiser (drums)
Out of: Munich
Since: 2019
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearsonists_band/