kaspar laval

As a child Kaspar Laval started torturing his guitar and vice versa. At home he got familiar with Harry Sacksioni's music. Meanwhile he played in different venues with symphonic rock groups in the style known from bands like Rush. When as a thirteen year old boy he witnessed the Pogues going crazy at Pinkpop, he started being fascinated by energetic Irish traditional music. Later he expanded his interests to music from Asturias which is a true inspiration for his Stargazer compositions. Besides melody, Kaspar's main focus is rythm. Especially the bouzouki grabbed his attention. This extraordinary instrument enables him both to play subtle picking parts and to be the driving force behind a band. His rythmic playing style is influenced by The Edge, Johnny Marr and the Macedonian tambura. For many years now Kaspar has been playing with uilleann piper Stijn van Beek, currently in the shimmering bands Stargazer and Hot Griselda. As an instrumentalist, composer and arranger he was also involved in a project with bandoneon player Carel Kraayenhof and singer Niamh Pasons with whom he played at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam last year.