Kettcar is an indie music band based in Hamburg, Germany.
Former German punk rock great Marcus Wiebusch of …But Alive and bass player Reimer Bustorff, who were both members of ska band Rantanplan, decided in 2001 to break away from punk’s and ska’s traditions of aggressive, political lyrics in favor of developing a more emotional, laid-back style. Together with Erik Langer (guitar), Frank Tirado-Rosales (percussion) and Marcus’ brother Lars Wiebusch (keyboard), they formed Kettcar as a guitar pop group exploring the experiences of grown men in their lyrics.
When they failed in finding a label to publish their finished first album “Du und wieviel von deinen Freunden”, Marcus Wiebusch and Bustorff banded together with Tomte-singer Thees Uhlmann and formed the independent music label Grand Hotel van Cleef out of Wiebusch’s own B.A.-Records and Uhlmann’s label Hotel van Cleef. In early 2002 “Du und wieviel von deinen Freunden” became the first record to be released by the new label. Its success, while still moderate, exceeded expectations by far and Kettcar became darlings of the German music press.
Today the label is successful in Germany, having signed a number of other independent artists and releasing LPs from such acts as Death Cab for Cutie in Germany, and takes up most of the band members’ time. But they managed to record and release the even more successful second album “Von Spatzen und Tauben, Dächern und Händen”. Their third album Sylt will be in stores April 18th 2008. |
