First Arsch

First Arsch are a Schwerin-based punk rock band formed in 1984 by Till Lindemann, lead-vocalist for the German band Rammstein. In First Arsch he played the drums.

The band would also book concerts under the name First Art due to the communist authorities.^[1]

History

First Arsch formed in 1986 when vocalist-bassist Mielke and drummer Lindemann met at Lindemann's birthday party. The group played many concerts around East Germany and in the early 1990s recorded their debut album, Saddle Up, released in November 1992, with Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe of Feeling B as guitarists.

In 1993, Lindemann, Kruspe and Landers left First Arsch to form Rammstein and Mielke replaced them with Volker Voigt and Tom Knopf. This lineup released a new song, "Das Schlagzeug fliegt da fast außernander", in 1995, alongside a video. In the video, Voigt and Knopf kidnap Mielke, an occultist, from an abandoned house he is practicing magic in, before it cuts to the three musicians playing in a small room. Late in the video, Mielke realises the men he is playing with are the same men who kidnapped him, and runs out of the room, before ending with Voigt and Knopf cutting power to a lightbulb.

First Arsch are still active and continue to perform the occasional concert, the last known one being in 2012.

Saddle Up

Saddle Up
Studio album by First Arsch
Released	November 1992
Genre	Punk
Length	42:22
Label	D.D.R / Kessel Records
Producer	First Arsch

Saddle Up is the first and only album by the German punk band First Arsch. It was released in November 1992. The album's art was created by Matthias Mathies, who would later work together with Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann on his book "In stillen Nächten".

References

External links

• http://www.discogs.com/artist/First+Arsch
• http://parocktikum.de/wiki/index.php/First_Arsch

Further reading

• Michele Bettendorf (2002), Ursprung Punkszene (in German), Books On Demand, ISBN 3-8311-4493-1