Carsten Rasch has been a camera operator, club owner, earring-maker, drummer, pizza baker, music promoter, film director and producer, occasional dealer in illicit substances, music journo, and the owner of Blah Blah Bar, a live music venue.

He is presently an entrepeneur, music curator and writer.

His memoir, Between Rock & a Hard Place (MFBooks/Jacana), an account of his adventures and misadventures as a music promoter in the eighties, was published to critical acclaim in March 2019. He is busy writing a follow-up memoir about his early years in the film business.

He is the founder of startup Gigll, a digital platform to facilitate music in South Africa, and co-founder and curator of STARTfest, an arts festival in Stanford (South Africa). For his sins (which are legion), he is the drummer in a band of unapologetically ageing reprobates called the Hearts of Darkness. 

urban noizz is Carsten’s personal brand and blog.

 

Praise for Between Rock & a Hard Place:

As a chronicle of 20th-century counter-culture, it stands shoulder to shoulder with the classics in the genre

Rian Malan (My Traitor’s Heart)

Unlike many books in this genre, he doesn’t lose steam towards the end. In fact, he picks up speed. Yet he is never out of breath, and in total control of the story. Rasch is a formidable writer, and I hope to see more of his work in the future.

Deon Maas /for Media24 (Witboy in Africa)

This book by Carsten Rasch is a compelling memoir that’s both funny and full of insight. I recommend it highly.

Eusebius McKaiser/Radio 702 (There’s a Bantu in my Kitchen)