VIOLENT JASPER

Violent Jasper biography
Violent Jasper is the combined solo project of Sylvan keyboard player Volker Söhl and their guitarist Johnny Beck - with Sylvan's singer Marco Glühmann supplying guest vocals on four of the ten tracks which make up their debut album 'Control'. Multi-instrumentalist and producer Jens Lueck (Single Celled Organism) is responsible for the drum parts, in addition to co-producing the album alongside Johnny Beck and Volker Söhl, and also taking care of the mixing and mastering of the album.

Volker Söhl was born in Hamburg in 1971, and began taking piano lessons when he was 9 years old. After graduating from high school and completing his Voluntary Social Year (Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr, or FSJ), he studied music education at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Hamburg, and graduated as a music teacher. He is a founding member of Sylvan, and has been a self-employed piano teacher for around 20 years with experience in a number of different fields, including classical piano literature, film music, rock, pop, improvisation and composition.

Johnny Beck has played guitar for Sylvan since 2013. He is also one half of the pop duo Juvil, consisting of himself and singer/songwriter/guitarist Vince Adam. The duo has been active in the German (and especially Hamburg) music scene since 2016, and concentrates in the main on giving living room concert tours and club concerts, but has also performed at some festivals. Johnny Beck has also contributed guitar to the last two of Jens Lueck's Single Celled Organism albums.

The idea for the 'Control' album arose from Volker Söhl's love of film music, which goes back to his early youth, along with his wish to create a solo concept album containing female vocals. The female vocals on the album are provided by Wild As Her singer Caroline von Brünken, who also performs as a guest vocalist with RPWL. The album focuses on how feelings can sometimes take control of our thoughts and actions, and asks whether we are in control of our emotions, or if they control us. The 'Control' album was released by the Gentle Art Of Music label on October 27th 2023.