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KENT NIELSEN

In 1980 Kent Nielsen, then in high school, was looking for a cure for small town traumas. Seeking refuge in the nearby Danish city of Odense, Kent soon found himself a new home in the growing local punk rock community, singing and performing with various punk and no wave bands. In 1985 he joined the Danish hardcore band L.U.L.L. (Leben Und Leben Lassen). The band virtually put Odense on the Danish punk rock map. In 1987 they landed a record deal with the West German label Starving Missile, and released their debut LP "The Highest Wall" in the same year.

Extensive touring followed and L.U.L.L undoubtedly left a permanent impression in many a European punk rock mind. Despite the succes of L.U.L.L, Kent Nielsen disbanded the band in 1988 after the recording of their second LP "Freakline". Fed up with an apolitical and ignorant local musicians' community trying to cash in on the success of L.U.L.L and appalled by the speed at which the original punk community jettisoned their original convictions and beliefs owing to the rise of NYHC and the initial crossover wave of hardcore blending with heavy metal, he relocated to the north German town of Lübeck. Although still singing in L.U.L.L, Kent had involved himself in another project together with a handful of distinguished likeminded punks from Poland, Norway and Germany: Attent!on. Their debut album "Hearts Of Stone" was released on X-Mist Records in 1988.

Now based permanently in Lübeck, Kent refused to rest on his laurels and pushed himself even harder. By the end of 1989 he had established his own label, Twah! (Tunes With A Heart), and together with Attent!on drummer Gustav Kaspereit formed the band "Ugly Food", who released 2 LPs and completed several European tours. In the following year, Kent formed the more roots rock-oriented "Band Full Of Leroys" together with Skinny Kaspereit and Torsten Scharfenberg. However, the local Lübeck punks didn't take too kindly to roots rock and the band repeatedly managed to provoke outrage when entering the stage clad in everything from confederate hats to Cro Mags Longsleeves. In 1991 "Ugly Food" was put to rest, leaving Kent to focus on his label and "Band Full Of Leroys". Despite a somewhat difficult start, "Band Full Of Leroys" continued their work throughout the best part of the nineties.

Band Full of Leroys released two full-length albums - "Asshole Of The week" in 1993 and "Between The Chairs" in 1995 - as well as a number of singles. They also appeared on various compilations and toured extensively in both England and mainland Europe. On their second German tour they were joined by Mohawk Activist Don Patrick Martin, and released the benefit single "Mohawk revolt at Oka" on Twah!. In support of the 1995 "Between The Chairs", Band Full Of Leroys released a video clip for the song Apology, which received airplay on MTV and numerous other European music programs. The following year, Band full Of Leroys shortened their name to Leroys, and contributed a song to the official compilation CD for the World Championship in skateboarding. Touring activities in Italy, England and Germany continued into the spring of 1998 when the band split up, worn out by constantly changing line-ups, lack of success and the general financial and physical strain of constant touring.

However, Kent was already planning new projects. As 1999 dawns, he forms the roots rock-oriented One Bar Town with Stefan Kletetzka and his two loyal swordsmen Skinny Kaspereit and Jerk Christiansen from Band Full Of Leroys. The band's relentless touring schedule didn't keep Kent from forming a project band called "99% Bitch" with Hamburg punks Pizza, Pohl, Don Henry and old time L.U.L.L. guitarist Lars Coma.

And this pretty much brings us up to date with the situation today. 99% Bitch has been laid to rest due to health problems of individual band members but One Bar Town is still in full swing, touring and putting out records.

With some 27 years of touring and recording with different acts, you might wonder why Kent Nielsen needs to launch yet another act, this time under his own name. Kent explains:

"After the Leroys disbanded I once said (half jokingly) that if I ever had to start another band it would be under my own name. The reason for this is that specific project in particular had members walking in and out like a revolving door. I have actually demoed and played acoustic shows under my own name before and when Stefan Kletezka and I started writing for what would eventually become One Bar Town, we talked about running the project under my name. I didn't really feel comfortable about it at the time, so eventually we opted for One Bar Town.

Then in the autumn of 2004 I had an idea, which to start with was just a joke as well but almost immediately took on serious proportions. I can't play guitar to save my life so I've always been fortunate enough to work with some extremely talented songwriting partners. But I also have some very talented friends who I never actually got to play with. So the idea was to write 2-3 lyrics for each of these musicians, have them write the music, and then go record the whole thing in short and snappy sessions in their respective home countries. At the time I thought once the thing is finished I can still see if anybody's interested in it, agency or label-wise. If not then fuck it, I'd just put it out myself, hopefully having made a very diverse and varied album the way I like them, had tons of fun with my friends, and I could retire to Langeland a happy man and never be heard of again.

Buuuut then (due to an Ugly Food reunion which never got off the ground), I had been rehearsing with Torsten who used to be in Ugly Food, as well as Daniel who was originally one of our roadies, and now supposed to be the new guitarist with U.F., they brought in Ollie, another former Ugly Food roadie who we had all played with before. And all of a sudden there were these three stinking hot musicians who completely understand each other on stage. I asked them if they'd consider being the live band for my solo project and they agreed. So now it's Kent Nielsen & I've Had Enough! when it's the full band. If I'm going out solo with a guitarist, it's just me under my name.

Q: Why now?
A: "That's a tough question but I'll try and answer it. As far as the album is concerned, every musician wants to make the perfect album, something that you can be proud of your whole life. Also, I have a very diverse taste in music, and again consider myself very privileged to know and be friends with exactly those people who can/are willing to help me make an album as varied as some of my favourite records. And the live version of I've Had Enough? Well, most bands break up because people don't have the same vision of what they would like to happen in that band. Ollie, Daniel, and Torsten are the same age as me and they're still as hungry as I am to get out there and kick some serious ass. I would be an idiot not to try and take this band as far as we can possibly manage. I'm busy writing new songs with the live band, I wrote a couple with Tom Golzen (ex-Quire Boys, ex-Brothers Grimm), and there are plans for more co-writing sessions with both him and other friends. The recordings for the new album won't start until 2009, but I've been able to nail over 30 songs as demos/pre-production over the course of the last years. We recorded our first band show too, so we have a live demo for booking purposes in case anybody is interested."

So the next year we'll probably see Kent off to yet another bash of clubs around Europe. Alternatively, we'll see him retire to Langeland or maybe even see him try his hand as a wedding singer. Well actually he's already had a shot at the latter, but that's another story…

Impressum
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