"Tokio Hotel takes Buzznet on an Amoeba Adventure, showing us all all their favorite music
and what records have been the most inspirational to them."
October 29, 2014
Buzznet : Tokio Hotel Answers Your Twitter Fan Questions- Los Angeles, USA (29.10.2014)
"We hung out with Tokio Hotel and had them answer YOUR questions you sent via Twitter!"
October 26, 2014
Jolie Meets Bill and Tom Kaulitz - Jolie #12/2014 [Germany]
Jolie Meets Bill and Tom Kaulitz
The Tokio-Hotel-Twins talk about their new home Los Angeles, wild orgies and Helene Fischer.
You really have to accomplish something like that first: Tokio Hotel have been out of the spotlight for four years – in spite of that, the Pullman Hotel in Erfurt is surrounded by fans that want to take a picture with Bill and Tom Kaulitz. They moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and are now in Germany to promote the new album of their band, called “Kings Of Suburbia”. Their celebrity status is however challenged by their english bulldog, Pumbaa, who wants to be pet by everyone and constantly runs in front of the camera. During the interview you immediatelly notice how similar the identical twins are – they even finish each others sentences. There was only one topic they didn’t agree on: Anise-Candies.
Jolie: You’ve got a really cool dog there, Bill.
Tom: We live together, therefore you can say that Pumbaa is our dog.
Bill: No, he’s my dog. You’ve got your own.
Tom: But he’s a big hound dog and didn’t even come with us. Travelling with him is very strenuous.
Jolie: Which one of you takes the dogs out for walks?
Bill: I take Pumbaa out – but only when there aren’t a dozen fans surrounding us or if I can leave through the garage. In any other case an assitent, sadly, has to take him for walks. In Los Angeles it’s always us, who do that, though.
Jolie: People like going for a walk in the morning in Venice Beach there…
Bill: We have a completely different rhythm than the people there. They all get up at eight in the morning and do Yoga or Pilates, get a healthy drink afterwards and buy a salad from the organic market. No one smokes, no one drinks too much. At two in the morning night clubs already close – everything in L.A. is very reasonable. And we…
Tom: …are usually awake until six, seven in the morning…
Bill: …and sleep until late afternoon. We actually live a very european lifestyle.
Jolie: Why did you choose to move from Germany to Los Angeles, specifically?
Bill: That’s a question I’ve been asking myself now too, because L.A. is a little too boring for me. The people and the fashion in New York would inspire me much more. In L.A. you have to make sure that you don’t let yourself go. Everyone there wears flip-flops and shorts because of the heat. But after spending some time in Hamburg, where it was grey and cloudy, it was wonderful.
Jolie: Do you feel like you can call the US your home now?
Tom: Home, for me, always refers to your own house – doesn’t matter where it is. As long as my dogs, my family and my friends are there with me, I feel home. But when we come to Germany, we have a feeling of being in control. We understood that country (culture/mentality) completely, there was no culture shock. But a lot of things in the US are also awesome, like the park service and Restaurants or hotels. Why isn’t this a normal thing here as well? I would love to just throw together the best of both worlds to create the perfect country.
Bill: The visa and greencard formalities alone, always remind us that we’re not Americans (laughs). I also always connect home to the taste of “Schmalzkuchen” and german bread.
Tom: Yup, as well as roasted almonds.
Bill: Yes, yes, yummy!
Tom: And I love Anise-candies.
Bill: Ew (Tom laughs)
Jolie: Your career took off when you were teens, now you’re 25. Do you feel like adults?
Tom: Honestly? I feel like less like an adult today than I did with 15.
Bill: When I was 15 I hated it when people would ask me for my ID, for example…(falters for a moment) when I wanted to buy alcohol (both laugh). In the past I felt ready for everything. I wanted to earn my own money, live on my own and be responsible for as many things as possible. But everytime I don’t have to show them my ID now I always ask myself: “Why?” (laughs)
Tom: Since I’ve grown a beard people rarely ask me for it.
Jolie: Do you come off as younger or older to women?
Bill: Just recently a women at a party wanted to know how old I was. I let her guess my age. Then she looked at me, thought about it for a while and said: “Maybe 34?” I was shocked. And what does she do next? She makes it worse by saying: “It’s so hard to say with your costume on.” And I just went: “Which costume?” She said: “You have so many tattoos and piercings.” It was unreal.
Jolie: You’re probably not going to see her again.
Bill: Definitely not. Although, at the end she did say that my eyes look very young. (both laugh)
Jolie: Does being an adult have its drawbacks?
Bill: I can’t recover that fast from partying all night anymore. I always end up thinking: “Oh my god, look at those eyebags!” Or: “We should drink less.” We do notice that we have to take more care of ourselves.
Tom: Maybe we should start living that healthy-L.A. lifestyle as well. (laughs)
Jolie: More salad, less burgers?
Tom: We’re lucky, because we can eat what we want and not gain any weight.
Bill: All men in our family stay really thin right up until they reach an old age. But I do have to admin that we’re unhealthy eaters.
Jolie: Do you at least compensate for the unhealthy food with sports?
Tom: In the past we went to the gym a lot, but we haven’t been going there regularly anymore.
Bill: I hate that. We only go there to look reasonably good. I always feel like I’m under pressure when I see all those fit guys in their tanktops there.
Tom: By the way, that’s another pro about living Germany – you can hide everything under your winter clothes.
Jolie: In the video for your single “Love Who Loves You Back” you are dressed revealingly and there’s a wild orgy. Who came up with that idea?
Bill: I’ve been wanting to shoot such a music video for a long time, because I really like the last scene in the movie “The Perfume” – which is quite similar. It was important for me that we show same-sex couples, skinny and big and old and young people in the video. Because I think that you can’t choose who you fall in love with.
Jolie: Are you all of the same opinion, when it comes to those decisions, as a band?
Bill: Creatively we all decide everything together, the individual tasks then get allocated.
Tom: With the orgy the only question that came up was, if we would all participate or not. But we all agreed pretty quickly that only Bill would take part in that.
Jolie: Did you, in the US, hear about the huge success that your colleague Helene Fischer (German singer) has had in Germany?
Bill: I heard of it, but it’s hard for me to comprehend. She’s probably a really nice women, but I’m really not into her music style.
PROFILE – TOM:
– The guitarist likes going out to “Hyde” in Los Angeles: “It’s a bar and nightclub in one with a good smokers’ corner.”
– Which dish can you always successfully prepare?: “Penne Pasta with Ketchup”
– What did you want to be when you were six years old?: “Mechanic”
– What do you think of right before you go to sleep?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What’s the most expensive item you own?: “Bill”
PROFILE – BILL
– Bill named his dog Pumbaa after the wart hog from “The Lion King”: “Thankfully he’s easy to train.”
– What’s the first thing you do in the morning?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What’s the most expensive item you own?: “Tom”
– Which three traits are typical for you?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What do you think of right before you go to sleep?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
Translation by Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
Scans by: Tokio Hotel China
The Tokio-Hotel-Twins talk about their new home Los Angeles, wild orgies and Helene Fischer.
You really have to accomplish something like that first: Tokio Hotel have been out of the spotlight for four years – in spite of that, the Pullman Hotel in Erfurt is surrounded by fans that want to take a picture with Bill and Tom Kaulitz. They moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and are now in Germany to promote the new album of their band, called “Kings Of Suburbia”. Their celebrity status is however challenged by their english bulldog, Pumbaa, who wants to be pet by everyone and constantly runs in front of the camera. During the interview you immediatelly notice how similar the identical twins are – they even finish each others sentences. There was only one topic they didn’t agree on: Anise-Candies.
Jolie: You’ve got a really cool dog there, Bill.
Tom: We live together, therefore you can say that Pumbaa is our dog.
Bill: No, he’s my dog. You’ve got your own.
Tom: But he’s a big hound dog and didn’t even come with us. Travelling with him is very strenuous.
Jolie: Which one of you takes the dogs out for walks?
Bill: I take Pumbaa out – but only when there aren’t a dozen fans surrounding us or if I can leave through the garage. In any other case an assitent, sadly, has to take him for walks. In Los Angeles it’s always us, who do that, though.
Jolie: People like going for a walk in the morning in Venice Beach there…
Bill: We have a completely different rhythm than the people there. They all get up at eight in the morning and do Yoga or Pilates, get a healthy drink afterwards and buy a salad from the organic market. No one smokes, no one drinks too much. At two in the morning night clubs already close – everything in L.A. is very reasonable. And we…
Tom: …are usually awake until six, seven in the morning…
Bill: …and sleep until late afternoon. We actually live a very european lifestyle.
Jolie: Why did you choose to move from Germany to Los Angeles, specifically?
Bill: That’s a question I’ve been asking myself now too, because L.A. is a little too boring for me. The people and the fashion in New York would inspire me much more. In L.A. you have to make sure that you don’t let yourself go. Everyone there wears flip-flops and shorts because of the heat. But after spending some time in Hamburg, where it was grey and cloudy, it was wonderful.
Jolie: Do you feel like you can call the US your home now?
Tom: Home, for me, always refers to your own house – doesn’t matter where it is. As long as my dogs, my family and my friends are there with me, I feel home. But when we come to Germany, we have a feeling of being in control. We understood that country (culture/mentality) completely, there was no culture shock. But a lot of things in the US are also awesome, like the park service and Restaurants or hotels. Why isn’t this a normal thing here as well? I would love to just throw together the best of both worlds to create the perfect country.
Bill: The visa and greencard formalities alone, always remind us that we’re not Americans (laughs). I also always connect home to the taste of “Schmalzkuchen” and german bread.
Tom: Yup, as well as roasted almonds.
Bill: Yes, yes, yummy!
Tom: And I love Anise-candies.
Bill: Ew (Tom laughs)
Jolie: Your career took off when you were teens, now you’re 25. Do you feel like adults?
Tom: Honestly? I feel like less like an adult today than I did with 15.
Bill: When I was 15 I hated it when people would ask me for my ID, for example…(falters for a moment) when I wanted to buy alcohol (both laugh). In the past I felt ready for everything. I wanted to earn my own money, live on my own and be responsible for as many things as possible. But everytime I don’t have to show them my ID now I always ask myself: “Why?” (laughs)
Tom: Since I’ve grown a beard people rarely ask me for it.
Jolie: Do you come off as younger or older to women?
Bill: Just recently a women at a party wanted to know how old I was. I let her guess my age. Then she looked at me, thought about it for a while and said: “Maybe 34?” I was shocked. And what does she do next? She makes it worse by saying: “It’s so hard to say with your costume on.” And I just went: “Which costume?” She said: “You have so many tattoos and piercings.” It was unreal.
Jolie: You’re probably not going to see her again.
Bill: Definitely not. Although, at the end she did say that my eyes look very young. (both laugh)
Jolie: Does being an adult have its drawbacks?
Bill: I can’t recover that fast from partying all night anymore. I always end up thinking: “Oh my god, look at those eyebags!” Or: “We should drink less.” We do notice that we have to take more care of ourselves.
Tom: Maybe we should start living that healthy-L.A. lifestyle as well. (laughs)
Jolie: More salad, less burgers?
Tom: We’re lucky, because we can eat what we want and not gain any weight.
Bill: All men in our family stay really thin right up until they reach an old age. But I do have to admin that we’re unhealthy eaters.
Jolie: Do you at least compensate for the unhealthy food with sports?
Tom: In the past we went to the gym a lot, but we haven’t been going there regularly anymore.
Bill: I hate that. We only go there to look reasonably good. I always feel like I’m under pressure when I see all those fit guys in their tanktops there.
Tom: By the way, that’s another pro about living Germany – you can hide everything under your winter clothes.
Jolie: In the video for your single “Love Who Loves You Back” you are dressed revealingly and there’s a wild orgy. Who came up with that idea?
Bill: I’ve been wanting to shoot such a music video for a long time, because I really like the last scene in the movie “The Perfume” – which is quite similar. It was important for me that we show same-sex couples, skinny and big and old and young people in the video. Because I think that you can’t choose who you fall in love with.
Jolie: Are you all of the same opinion, when it comes to those decisions, as a band?
Bill: Creatively we all decide everything together, the individual tasks then get allocated.
Tom: With the orgy the only question that came up was, if we would all participate or not. But we all agreed pretty quickly that only Bill would take part in that.
Jolie: Did you, in the US, hear about the huge success that your colleague Helene Fischer (German singer) has had in Germany?
Bill: I heard of it, but it’s hard for me to comprehend. She’s probably a really nice women, but I’m really not into her music style.
PROFILE – TOM:
– The guitarist likes going out to “Hyde” in Los Angeles: “It’s a bar and nightclub in one with a good smokers’ corner.”
– Which dish can you always successfully prepare?: “Penne Pasta with Ketchup”
– What did you want to be when you were six years old?: “Mechanic”
– What do you think of right before you go to sleep?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What’s the most expensive item you own?: “Bill”
PROFILE – BILL
– Bill named his dog Pumbaa after the wart hog from “The Lion King”: “Thankfully he’s easy to train.”
– What’s the first thing you do in the morning?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What’s the most expensive item you own?: “Tom”
– Which three traits are typical for you?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
– What do you think of right before you go to sleep?: “(Note: I sadly can’t make out what the scans say :()”
Translation by Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
Scans by: Tokio Hotel China
October 11, 2014
yahoo.de : "Exclusive Interview with Tokio Hotel"
Bill: Hey, we are Tokio Hotel and we'd like to greet all Yahoo-users. We just released a new album, "Kings of Suburbia", maybe you'd like to give it a listen, we'd be happy about that, so best greetings and see you!
Question: What's new with that album?
Bill: Concerning the music we did entirely new things, after the last album we actually didn't quite know what we wanted to do. We just wanted to make an album, which we also find amazing ourselves and wanted to make music which we listen to and like at the moment. There was an extreme influence by the party life, by going out, by DJs.. it became quite electronic, and we also produced the album ourselves for the first time. And we just did things we had never done before, because we finally had the time for doing that.
Question: Why is your album called "Kings of Suburbia"?
Bill: We just thought that the title was cool, we had the idea as we were in the car and on our way to Georg and Gustav. And our rehearsal room is in the suburbs as well...
Tom: Everything's in the suburbs, we grew up in the suburbs, LA is still a suburb, we live there at the moment..
Bill: We just have that extreme ghetto-suburb-background... and sometimes we have that great feeling, that feeling of self-consciousness, when we're in our rehearsal room and rehearse our songs and you just think "Wow, everything's so amazing", but when you look at it from above and you see all those billions of people, then it doesn't mean anything of course, because everyone has their own universe and priorities. But nevertheless it's an important feeling and that's what we had when we were recording the album, and therefore "Kings of Suburbia".
Question: How do you like the Video for "Love who loves you back" yourselves?
Bill: We all are extremely happy with that and I think it's a really beautiful, aesthetic and cool video... I actually already wanted to shoot such an orgy, so to say, much earlier.. and for "Love who loves you back" it was of course just perfect. When we recorded the song, I immediately knew "okay, that will be the song for the video" and then we found the right director and could finally implement it.
Question: How was it for the other guys - besides Bill - at the set?
Bill: Highly erotic.
Tom: Highly erotic, yeah. Pure erotic at the set, so to say. Nah, we only watched. But to be honest, we didn't envy him for that. I think we just were quite glad that we didn't have that much tongue in our faces.
Question: Do you also want to sing in english in the future?
Bill: I think we'll do a lot of songs in english in the future, like on the new album. Because when you're living there [in LA], of course you also start to write in English, I also already noticed that on the last tour, that I really like to sing in english as well and that I actually like it more. But it can change of course. For example there were songs from the last album which I liked better to sing in german. It doesn't always work in both languages. That permanent translating is just a bit annoying.
Question: Will LA remain your home?
Tom: Well, right now we actually don't think about where we privately live. We'll be on tour for so long again, so that it doesn't matter anyway. I think next year we'll tour the entire year, we'll be sleeping in the tourbus and set up shop there. So, I think we'll stay in LA for now, we have a house there and I think it will stay like that for now.
Question: What do you miss when you're in LA?
Tom: Well, when we're in LA there are a lot of things from Germany that we miss... things like german bread, I always really miss the German Autobahn, to drive fast, and of course family and so on.. but we have to say that we always have a full house in LA. We always have friends or family over, someone's always there. That means we're actually doing quite well.
Translation by Herzblut @ TokioHotel_Info
October 10, 2014
noisey.vice.com : "I always tell people that I’m a czech pornstar" - Interview with Tokio Hotel.
"Ich erzähle immer, dass ich ein tschechischer Pornostar bin"
You might have heard it. Tokio Hotel released a new album on the German day of unity. It’s called Kings of Suburbia and – you can calm down now – it did not turn into the “defining record” of our generation. But it did have the potential to be. The requirements for a unexpected comeback are picture perfect: Four years ago Bill and Tom Kaulitz moved to L.A. and, with that, away from the craziness that has been following them around the globe since the release of their single “Durch den Monsun”. Tokio Hotel performed in front of the eiffel tower and filled stadiums in Japan, they even got israeli teenagers to learn German. Imagine half the world watching you while you grow up and you having to explain your sexual orientation over and over again.
That’s what has been going through my mind, while I’ve been waiting in the foyer of the Ritz Calrton like a little boy, to be escorted to the interview with Tokio Hotel. While I wait I watch Russian girls in Prada shoes, Indian “styler” with Dolce and Gabana belts and Americans in Givenchy-Shirts, pass by. This situation already feals surreals. The moment I see a basketball player of my favorite team, the San Antonio Spurs, walk by, I know that this interview is going to be magical. (A little tip: Just sit in the foyer of the Ritz and watch people. Maybe you shouldn’t wear a Thug Life t-shirt when you decide to do that…)
A few minutes later I get escorted into a double suite. Soon the four popstars are going to come out of the other room, partly shuffling and partly on heels – because Bill is wearing pumps with french fries on them. All four grin at me.
Noisey: Bill, at the press conference on thursday you said that you’ve never been to the “Berghain”. I have something over you. I went there for the first time two weeks ago.
Bill: And? How was it?
Well, it was seven in the morning and I was sober…
Bill: I also heard that people go there at nine. Didn’t they just get up at that time? Do you already start drinking then?
I think a lot of people go there, get a stamp, go home and come back in the afternoon just to stay until Tuesday or something.
Bill: Okay, and you went there at seven in the morning and stayed until tuesday?
God no. I went home after three hours. But why exactly is the “Berghain” so fascinating for you?
Bill: I just heard that it’s the most awesome club and that people from all over Europe come to Germany to party there. In the US, especially in L.A, there is no such thing that you can party at a club for 24 hours straight.
When is the “curfew”?
Bill: 1:45 in the morning is the last call.
Tom: At 2 – on the dot – they take your drink out of your hand.
Bill: And then the lights come on. They don’t make any exceptions. It’s really boring. But is it hard to get in?
When I was there, there was no line. But I also already heard of people who stood in line for three hours and didn’t get in. But did you know that they also have darkrooms?
Bill: There are darkrooms at the “Berghain”? Then I want to go there all the more! (laughs)
Georg and Gustav, would the “Berghain” also be something for you?
Georg: I’d check it out.
Gustav: The darkrooms, definitely. That was the convincing argument.
Bill: I think the darkrooms would totally be your thing.
Tom: Then they would finally get some.
Enough talk about the “Berghain”. Five years ago you moved to L.A.. Did you want to flee the “Tokio Hotel craziness”?
Tom: It wasn’t primarily about L.A. as a city. The situation always felt unbearable to us. The tipping point was when people broke into our home.
Fans?
Tom: About 50 people were standing in front of our house every day. It was probably one of them. When they broke in and took our last 600 m² of private life with them, we just said that we have to leave. We knew a few people in L.A. – we just packed our stuff and moved.
Bill: We also didn’t see the house we would be living in before that, we just up and moved.
Tom: That glamorous hollywood-image you have of L.A. would have actually been the exact wrong reason to move there. We wanted to disappear for a while. That’s what we did when we moved into a house that was located a little outside of L.A., because we weren’t in the mood to walk the red carpet or to attend some celebrity party. We simply didn’t do anything for a while and tried to hide.
How did it feel, being anonymous for the first time?
Tom: It was incredible!
Bill: It was like a dream. In the beginning it took us a little to get used to it. You look around, to see if there’s someone waiting for you in front of your house. In L.A. we can go placed and reserve tables under our own name. When we check into a place here, in Germany, we have aliases to make sure no one knows about that. When we stay in a place for too long, there’s nothing good waiting for us. That’s why we’re actually constantly on the move.
Georg: We can reveal his alias here: It’s Vivian Schmitt *they all laugh*
When you want to be left alone it’s probably not the best alias.
Bill: True, then other people are going to be standing in front of the door.
Tom: With a strap-on.
You said that you caught up on life in L.A. – what does that exactly mean?
Bill: Exactly, we went out and partied a lot. I also had to learn that at first: going to a club at night without security. Here, it’s like that: You call someone, they reserve a table in the VIP-corner for you which is separated by a red barrier tape. Then you sit there, pretty much like animals in a zoo, and people stand around you and take pictures. That’s not fun at all. You can’t really sit there with friends and have fun.
Tom: We also choose the clubs by their smokers’ corner. I love hanging out and talking to people there.
When you sit in those corners and talk to people that don’t know you, how do you explain to them that you’re Germany’s most successful rockband of all time?
Bill: In L.A. people immediately tell you what they do for a living and how great they are. Tom and I usually keep our mouths shut, which is why they usually think that we’re really weird. When I’m somewhere alone, I simply lie – I tell them that I’m a student. Just recently someone asked me what I do and I told him that I’m a photography student and he said: “No way! I’m a photographer!” I just thought: “Shit!”. Then he started asking me what my favorite camera and camera lense was.
Tom: Did you tell him that your favorite camera is iPhone camera?
Bill: (laughs) I always asked myself what’s realistic, what they would believe when I told them.
Tom: I always tell them that I’m a czech pornstar.
Can you imitate the czech accent as well?
Tom: No, I just show them my “thing”. That’s enough evidence.
I think the next time you think of a job, you should do more research.
Bill: We should. Next time we should really say something we have experience with. We also sometimes said that we have rich parents, but they never believed us.
You’re back with new music after five years. Which insights did you gain in that time for your future?
Bill: I think it’s important to find a balance between the Tokio Hotel hype and our private life. In the past we were basically living in this bubble. After a while you just get depressed and can’t enjoy it anymore. Then you simply don’t care about which city you’re in now or which award you win. At some point you also don’t know how the TV show is called you’re performing on. To be able to relish and appreciate it again you need a safe haven. The goal, for us, is to keep the one in L.A., just because we have it right now.
Did you listen to music more consciously?
Tom: Of course – we attented a few festivals and in the beginning of producing the album you listen to a lot of music. At the moment I listen a lot to stuff from Chet Faker. I also really like his new music video, even though it’s simple. How did they do that? They never ever drove through the streets while shooting it – the camera work is way to smooth for that. It’s ingenious.
How do you want the people to take the new Tokio Hotel up?
Tom: We want the people to take to our new album neutrally and to simply listen to the music. I just like well made music. As soon as I hear a song where I think “That’s good songwriting paired with good production”, I like it. I don’t care who it is from or where it comes from. That’s what you wish for yourself as an arist too. That’s why we took a break, because we wanted to come back with music that people can talk about, and not just about our private life.
Can you even rate it (your music) neutrally? “Durch den Monsun” has already been etched into my mind, and I – honestly – didn’t like it much then.
Tom: It’s the same for us. When we were 15 and recorded “Durch den Monsun” I genuinely thought the song was awesome. Today we probably wouldn’t write the song like that anymore.
Bill: It always depends on how open the people are. When I like a song, I always listen to only the song first – only afterwards I know who sings it. Just because a specific person is this singer I didn’t like that much in the past, doesn’t mean that I can’t listen to it. That’s why we released 3 songs from our album. People should listen to the music first and then look at how we look.
We just rant out of time, but when will we go to “Berghain” together?
Bill: I would love to go now. There’s just this problem that we’re flying to France the day after tomorrow. But we’re currently working on building-up a studio in Berlin. We want to move our base from Hamburg to Berlin. I hope we’ll have an opportunity to go there soon though.
Georg: It’s still open. Theoretically we could still go there now.
Bill: Right. Let’s just cancel all appointments and we’ll see each other again on tuesday evening.
Source: noisey.vice.com
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
You might have heard it. Tokio Hotel released a new album on the German day of unity. It’s called Kings of Suburbia and – you can calm down now – it did not turn into the “defining record” of our generation. But it did have the potential to be. The requirements for a unexpected comeback are picture perfect: Four years ago Bill and Tom Kaulitz moved to L.A. and, with that, away from the craziness that has been following them around the globe since the release of their single “Durch den Monsun”. Tokio Hotel performed in front of the eiffel tower and filled stadiums in Japan, they even got israeli teenagers to learn German. Imagine half the world watching you while you grow up and you having to explain your sexual orientation over and over again.
That’s what has been going through my mind, while I’ve been waiting in the foyer of the Ritz Calrton like a little boy, to be escorted to the interview with Tokio Hotel. While I wait I watch Russian girls in Prada shoes, Indian “styler” with Dolce and Gabana belts and Americans in Givenchy-Shirts, pass by. This situation already feals surreals. The moment I see a basketball player of my favorite team, the San Antonio Spurs, walk by, I know that this interview is going to be magical. (A little tip: Just sit in the foyer of the Ritz and watch people. Maybe you shouldn’t wear a Thug Life t-shirt when you decide to do that…)
A few minutes later I get escorted into a double suite. Soon the four popstars are going to come out of the other room, partly shuffling and partly on heels – because Bill is wearing pumps with french fries on them. All four grin at me.
Noisey: Bill, at the press conference on thursday you said that you’ve never been to the “Berghain”. I have something over you. I went there for the first time two weeks ago.
Bill: And? How was it?
Well, it was seven in the morning and I was sober…
Bill: I also heard that people go there at nine. Didn’t they just get up at that time? Do you already start drinking then?
I think a lot of people go there, get a stamp, go home and come back in the afternoon just to stay until Tuesday or something.
Bill: Okay, and you went there at seven in the morning and stayed until tuesday?
God no. I went home after three hours. But why exactly is the “Berghain” so fascinating for you?
Bill: I just heard that it’s the most awesome club and that people from all over Europe come to Germany to party there. In the US, especially in L.A, there is no such thing that you can party at a club for 24 hours straight.
When is the “curfew”?
Bill: 1:45 in the morning is the last call.
Tom: At 2 – on the dot – they take your drink out of your hand.
Bill: And then the lights come on. They don’t make any exceptions. It’s really boring. But is it hard to get in?
When I was there, there was no line. But I also already heard of people who stood in line for three hours and didn’t get in. But did you know that they also have darkrooms?
Bill: There are darkrooms at the “Berghain”? Then I want to go there all the more! (laughs)
Georg and Gustav, would the “Berghain” also be something for you?
Georg: I’d check it out.
Gustav: The darkrooms, definitely. That was the convincing argument.
Bill: I think the darkrooms would totally be your thing.
Tom: Then they would finally get some.
Enough talk about the “Berghain”. Five years ago you moved to L.A.. Did you want to flee the “Tokio Hotel craziness”?
Tom: It wasn’t primarily about L.A. as a city. The situation always felt unbearable to us. The tipping point was when people broke into our home.
Fans?
Tom: About 50 people were standing in front of our house every day. It was probably one of them. When they broke in and took our last 600 m² of private life with them, we just said that we have to leave. We knew a few people in L.A. – we just packed our stuff and moved.
Bill: We also didn’t see the house we would be living in before that, we just up and moved.
Tom: That glamorous hollywood-image you have of L.A. would have actually been the exact wrong reason to move there. We wanted to disappear for a while. That’s what we did when we moved into a house that was located a little outside of L.A., because we weren’t in the mood to walk the red carpet or to attend some celebrity party. We simply didn’t do anything for a while and tried to hide.
How did it feel, being anonymous for the first time?
Tom: It was incredible!
Bill: It was like a dream. In the beginning it took us a little to get used to it. You look around, to see if there’s someone waiting for you in front of your house. In L.A. we can go placed and reserve tables under our own name. When we check into a place here, in Germany, we have aliases to make sure no one knows about that. When we stay in a place for too long, there’s nothing good waiting for us. That’s why we’re actually constantly on the move.
Georg: We can reveal his alias here: It’s Vivian Schmitt *they all laugh*
When you want to be left alone it’s probably not the best alias.
Bill: True, then other people are going to be standing in front of the door.
Tom: With a strap-on.
You said that you caught up on life in L.A. – what does that exactly mean?
Bill: Exactly, we went out and partied a lot. I also had to learn that at first: going to a club at night without security. Here, it’s like that: You call someone, they reserve a table in the VIP-corner for you which is separated by a red barrier tape. Then you sit there, pretty much like animals in a zoo, and people stand around you and take pictures. That’s not fun at all. You can’t really sit there with friends and have fun.
Tom: We also choose the clubs by their smokers’ corner. I love hanging out and talking to people there.
When you sit in those corners and talk to people that don’t know you, how do you explain to them that you’re Germany’s most successful rockband of all time?
Bill: In L.A. people immediately tell you what they do for a living and how great they are. Tom and I usually keep our mouths shut, which is why they usually think that we’re really weird. When I’m somewhere alone, I simply lie – I tell them that I’m a student. Just recently someone asked me what I do and I told him that I’m a photography student and he said: “No way! I’m a photographer!” I just thought: “Shit!”. Then he started asking me what my favorite camera and camera lense was.
Tom: Did you tell him that your favorite camera is iPhone camera?
Bill: (laughs) I always asked myself what’s realistic, what they would believe when I told them.
Tom: I always tell them that I’m a czech pornstar.
Can you imitate the czech accent as well?
Tom: No, I just show them my “thing”. That’s enough evidence.
I think the next time you think of a job, you should do more research.
Bill: We should. Next time we should really say something we have experience with. We also sometimes said that we have rich parents, but they never believed us.
You’re back with new music after five years. Which insights did you gain in that time for your future?
Bill: I think it’s important to find a balance between the Tokio Hotel hype and our private life. In the past we were basically living in this bubble. After a while you just get depressed and can’t enjoy it anymore. Then you simply don’t care about which city you’re in now or which award you win. At some point you also don’t know how the TV show is called you’re performing on. To be able to relish and appreciate it again you need a safe haven. The goal, for us, is to keep the one in L.A., just because we have it right now.
Did you listen to music more consciously?
Tom: Of course – we attented a few festivals and in the beginning of producing the album you listen to a lot of music. At the moment I listen a lot to stuff from Chet Faker. I also really like his new music video, even though it’s simple. How did they do that? They never ever drove through the streets while shooting it – the camera work is way to smooth for that. It’s ingenious.
How do you want the people to take the new Tokio Hotel up?
Tom: We want the people to take to our new album neutrally and to simply listen to the music. I just like well made music. As soon as I hear a song where I think “That’s good songwriting paired with good production”, I like it. I don’t care who it is from or where it comes from. That’s what you wish for yourself as an arist too. That’s why we took a break, because we wanted to come back with music that people can talk about, and not just about our private life.
Can you even rate it (your music) neutrally? “Durch den Monsun” has already been etched into my mind, and I – honestly – didn’t like it much then.
Tom: It’s the same for us. When we were 15 and recorded “Durch den Monsun” I genuinely thought the song was awesome. Today we probably wouldn’t write the song like that anymore.
Bill: It always depends on how open the people are. When I like a song, I always listen to only the song first – only afterwards I know who sings it. Just because a specific person is this singer I didn’t like that much in the past, doesn’t mean that I can’t listen to it. That’s why we released 3 songs from our album. People should listen to the music first and then look at how we look.
We just rant out of time, but when will we go to “Berghain” together?
Bill: I would love to go now. There’s just this problem that we’re flying to France the day after tomorrow. But we’re currently working on building-up a studio in Berlin. We want to move our base from Hamburg to Berlin. I hope we’ll have an opportunity to go there soon though.
Georg: It’s still open. Theoretically we could still go there now.
Bill: Right. Let’s just cancel all appointments and we’ll see each other again on tuesday evening.
Source: noisey.vice.com
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
wz-newsline.de : "Tokio Hotel: Starting over" - Interview with Bill & Tom.
Tokio Hotel are back, and not only Bill and Tom Kaulitz are – outwardly – barely recognizable, also their music style radically changed.
Düsseldorf. Tokio Hotel from Madgeburg broke all the records as a teen-band in the 00s. But soon the success overwhelmed the young musicians, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, which is why they decided to flee into anonymity in 2009. In Los Angeles the, by now, 25-year old twins didn’t just find their luck, but also the muse for a new album. They talked with us about “Kings Of Suburbia”, their adoptive home and the sins of their youth.
Tom and Bill, you’re not teenagers anymore – you now have to break into the “adult pop-music” market. Were you aware of that fact when you recorded the album?
Tom Kaulitz: No. In the beginning we didn’t think of anything. We were already taking a risk with taking so much time off. If you don’t release a song every week in the music business of today, there’s already a new artist on the horizon and you’re history. We didn’t care about that, we still went through with it. I think it’s strange when musicians release new songs and work on new albums non-stop. It just doesn’t work like that when you’re really creative. Writing songs takes some time.
Bill Kaulitz: I don’t believe that you can sit down and cater to a specific target market. With this album, we just made the music that we would listen to in private as well. That’s the only way success can happen: When you yourself think that it’s the best thing out there.
Was it your goal to reinvent yourself musically?
Bill: We took a break for five years, because I had the feeling that I had already told all the stories with our songs that I could have. I also couldn’t stand to hear the name Tokio Hotel anymore.
Tom: At some point we just went back to the studio and were turning over a new leaf. Each song on our new album is extremely different. We only have 2 pure ballads on there, where we didn’t use a synthesizer – but also songs with a lot of bass- and hooklines.
Love or hate – no other german band polarized a crowd in the past as much as Tokio Hotel did. Do you want to stick it to those people who always said that no one should take you seriously now?
Bill: Sometimes I’m a little afraid that people don’t even hate us that much anymore. There is nothing better that could happen to you in your career than to polarize. But we never expected such strong reactions. Everyone just though that we have this huge marketing team backing us.
If people had known who was really backing us, they would have probably laughed. It just happened, there was no secret plan from an awesome marketing team who thought “Hm, let’s create a band”. Today I’m really glad that people have such different/crass opinions. I hope that there will always be people who think that we’re crap. The worst thing would be if people simply didn’t care at all.
Are Tokio Hotel polarizing in the US as much as in Germany?
Tom: In the US barely anything polarizes. They have a different mentality. Not even those so-called celebrities, famous people who don’t really know how to do anything. There is nothing like that in Germany. Here celebrtities are walking the red carpet next to real rockstars.
How much do you work?
Bill: Since we finished the album we have longer working days. Tom and I are really involved in every step. There is no e-mail that doesn’t go through us first. We helped pick the artwork and I’m also sitting in on the merchandise meetings, because we can’t handle when other people choose everything for us. I don’t want to have a superior.
With the new album it’s even a little more extreme. Sometimes I would really like to do less, but we just can’t handle that because we’re controlfreaks in that sense. Sometimes I would really love to only be the singer who leans back and lets all the others do the work.
Is something that you did in the past embarassing to you now?
Tom: For me, everything that we did so far, at that time, was always really awesome. That’s exactly what I always wanted to do. As long as I can think back to how it felt at the time where it happened, nothing I did makes me feel embarassed. I still think back to our last European tour, watch the DVD and think: “I hope we can do this/create this feeling with our next tour as well”. You want to push yourself.[...]
Source: wz-newsline.de
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
Düsseldorf. Tokio Hotel from Madgeburg broke all the records as a teen-band in the 00s. But soon the success overwhelmed the young musicians, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, which is why they decided to flee into anonymity in 2009. In Los Angeles the, by now, 25-year old twins didn’t just find their luck, but also the muse for a new album. They talked with us about “Kings Of Suburbia”, their adoptive home and the sins of their youth.
Tom and Bill, you’re not teenagers anymore – you now have to break into the “adult pop-music” market. Were you aware of that fact when you recorded the album?
Tom Kaulitz: No. In the beginning we didn’t think of anything. We were already taking a risk with taking so much time off. If you don’t release a song every week in the music business of today, there’s already a new artist on the horizon and you’re history. We didn’t care about that, we still went through with it. I think it’s strange when musicians release new songs and work on new albums non-stop. It just doesn’t work like that when you’re really creative. Writing songs takes some time.
Bill Kaulitz: I don’t believe that you can sit down and cater to a specific target market. With this album, we just made the music that we would listen to in private as well. That’s the only way success can happen: When you yourself think that it’s the best thing out there.
Was it your goal to reinvent yourself musically?
Bill: We took a break for five years, because I had the feeling that I had already told all the stories with our songs that I could have. I also couldn’t stand to hear the name Tokio Hotel anymore.
Tom: At some point we just went back to the studio and were turning over a new leaf. Each song on our new album is extremely different. We only have 2 pure ballads on there, where we didn’t use a synthesizer – but also songs with a lot of bass- and hooklines.
Love or hate – no other german band polarized a crowd in the past as much as Tokio Hotel did. Do you want to stick it to those people who always said that no one should take you seriously now?
Bill: Sometimes I’m a little afraid that people don’t even hate us that much anymore. There is nothing better that could happen to you in your career than to polarize. But we never expected such strong reactions. Everyone just though that we have this huge marketing team backing us.
If people had known who was really backing us, they would have probably laughed. It just happened, there was no secret plan from an awesome marketing team who thought “Hm, let’s create a band”. Today I’m really glad that people have such different/crass opinions. I hope that there will always be people who think that we’re crap. The worst thing would be if people simply didn’t care at all.
Are Tokio Hotel polarizing in the US as much as in Germany?
Tom: In the US barely anything polarizes. They have a different mentality. Not even those so-called celebrities, famous people who don’t really know how to do anything. There is nothing like that in Germany. Here celebrtities are walking the red carpet next to real rockstars.
How much do you work?
Bill: Since we finished the album we have longer working days. Tom and I are really involved in every step. There is no e-mail that doesn’t go through us first. We helped pick the artwork and I’m also sitting in on the merchandise meetings, because we can’t handle when other people choose everything for us. I don’t want to have a superior.
With the new album it’s even a little more extreme. Sometimes I would really like to do less, but we just can’t handle that because we’re controlfreaks in that sense. Sometimes I would really love to only be the singer who leans back and lets all the others do the work.
Is something that you did in the past embarassing to you now?
Tom: For me, everything that we did so far, at that time, was always really awesome. That’s exactly what I always wanted to do. As long as I can think back to how it felt at the time where it happened, nothing I did makes me feel embarassed. I still think back to our last European tour, watch the DVD and think: “I hope we can do this/create this feeling with our next tour as well”. You want to push yourself.[...]
Source: wz-newsline.de
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
Interview with Très Click : "Stuck in the Elevator with Bill Kaulitz"
Im Aufzug stecken geblieben mit Bill Kaulitz
Woman: I heard you're a control freak, how big is your panic and claustrophobia now on a scale from 1 to 10?
Bill: Not too bad in fact, because luckily this is a luxurious and big Elevator, but it's actually true, I'm a real control freak, I'm never able to hand over control to someone else. Sometimes I'd like to be a bit more relaxed, and would like to withdraw myself sometimes from things to only concentrate on doing cool things. But I always have to take a look over everything and always double check if the door is closed and so on, and I think to get stuck in an elevator would be pretty much my nightmare.
Woman: In your new song it says "Love who loves you back". Have you ever loved someone who didn't love you back?
Bill: Uhm... yes, I did. It also happened to me. I guess a lot of people always think that as a celebrity you're protected from that, but in fact it also happened to me... Uhm, yeah.
Woman: You haven't been to Germany in a long time. What did you miss the most?
Bill: I have to say that actually I miss german plum cake the most. Plum cake from my grandma. And the German Autobahn, because the traffic is a lot better there than in LA.
Woman: You look really rad, you completely changed your style in my opinion, do you have a favorite fashion designer or how did you get inspired?
Bill: Uhm, I totally like Givenchy, they're my absolute favorite at the moment. And apart from that the '90s are coming back, Buffalo designed new shoes which I find cool. And yeah, those are my favorites at the moment.
Woman: I heard a rumor that you want to start your own fashion line. Is that true?
Bill: I would totally like to do that, that's a dream I have always wanted to fulfill once.. and also with that it's like that I want to do it right if I do it, and then I really take it seriously, and I hope I'll have the time for that. I absolutely want to do that, I already have designs and names, so I hope it will work one day.
Woman: In your job there are often crazy situations, just like now, do you remember a shoot or a job that was just crazy?
Bill: Uhm... my most beautiful or one of the most beautiful shootings I had was the one with Karl Lagerfeld, which I find super cool and we got along super well, we actually just chatted the whole time and didn't took that many photos. The shooting itself was done in only 5 minutes, he's incredibly fast. But I have good experiences with shootings in general, so with "...." (couldn't understand who he meant, sorry) it was also a great shooting, she's also a super nice woman and I already shooted with many phothographers who I really like to remember.
Woman: Did your dog Pumba get along well with "Choupette"?
Bill: With who?
Woman: With "Choupette", the cat.
Bill: Oh, the cat! She wasn't there, and I also didn't have Pumba at that time. I have had Pumba for 10 months now, and he's my new love in my life so to say.
Woman: Aww, okay, that's nice. Last question: Was this the strangest interview you have ever done?
Bill: Uhm... It definitely belongs to the scale, absolutely...
Woman: Okay, I'll let you out now, thank you!
Bill: Thank you!
Translation by Herzblut @ TokioHotel_Info
October 9, 2014
volksstimme.de : "Where Home Is" - Interview with Bill & Tom.
They started as a school band in Magdeburg and had their wordlwide breakthrough soon after that. With a little showcase at Radio SAW, Tokio Hotel presented their fourth studioalbum “Kings of Suburbia”. Elisa Sowieja from Volksstimme spoke with the twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz.
How does being home feel?
Bill: Wonderful! Sadly we never actually get to see anything of the city we’re in at that momen – although we already know Magdeburg by now. But we’re still happy to be here.
You played a concert here, in front of two dozen people. How did that feel?
Bill: It was kind of odd! But I do like being so close to the people you’re performing for once in a while.
Tom: I’m always a little more excited than usual. It just feels more intimate, performing in front of such a small crowd.
You’ve already been in Germany since the past week. What did you do since then?
Tom: We’ve been promoting the new album from the morning until the evening. We start at 9 in the morning and that just goes on until 10 at night. Then we go to sleep and drive to the next city.
How much time do you have left for friends and family then?
Bill: Not much, sadly. Tom and I are looking into maybe extending our Germany-visit for a few days to visit family. Sometimes some of them are also present during media appointments. But afterwards we usually have to leave immediately, so we don’t get to go out and eat with them.
Tom: Before we started promoting the album, we went to Hamburg to start planning our tour.
Are you planning on coming to Magdeburg then?
Bill: We don’t actually know that yet. I think we’re going to tour the whole of next year, by blocking the tourdates. We will probably only start thinking about a specific tourplan in the next few weeks.
Tom: Maybe we’ll just play a secret concert under a fake name at the “Factory”!
You’ve been living in Los Angeles since 2010. What does Magdeburg have to offer, that L.A. can’t?
Tom: Plum and rhubarb cake.
Bill: Exactly. Our grandma always makes a nice plum-cake and freezes it until we visit her. We generally miss German baked goods – dark bread and bread rolls. They don’t have that in the US!
Do you still see Magdeburg as your home?
Bill: Not really. You have to remember that we never really directly lived in Magdeburg, but in Loitsche. And we moved away from there when we were 15 years old. For us, home is where our family is. In the beginning they came with us to L.A. and Tom and I always have family with us, since we’re brothers. But we do have some memories of Magdeburg. When you drive through the city now, it all seems so much smaller – which may be because I grew a little.
Tom: Of course we have memories of Magdeburg, we went to our first party’s here.
Speaking of family: You’re still living together – your brotherly bond seems to be very strong.
Bill: Not living together is out of the question for us. We would really like having a house that’s connected by a tunnel in the future. But at the moment we’re stil living together in a house.
Tom: The family bonds is strong with all of us though. Georg and Gustav actually stayed in Magdeburg because of their family.
While the two of them were living in Magdeburg, the majority of the album was actually recorded in L.A. – how did you do that?
Tom: We produced in L.A. and came to Germany a few times. A lot of stuff also happened via internet, partially even whole songs. Some producers would simply be sitting in Germany and you’d have sessions with them. As a band we recorded a lot in Hamburg.
And no one noticed.
Bill: No, it’s not like we announced that beforehand.
You probably wear disguises when you go out Germany.
Bill: When we go out privately, we always try to stay unnoticed.
Tom: On Instagram we’ll always write “Hello Mexiko!” beforehand – and no one knows that we’re here.
There is no German song on the album. Is that a final decision regarding your music?
Tom: No. With this album we just didn’t feel like translating the lyrics. With the last one we did it quite often, sometimes even by about 90% from English to German. It was kind of expected of us and we felt like we had to. This album though we wanted to leave the way it was created. When we write a German song in the future we won’t translate it into English anymore.
The new album has a very electronic sound. How big was your fear that your fans won’t like the new sound?
Bill: When you’re a fan of a band you would like them to never change, but we don’t want to fulfill any expectations. I think you can only be successful when you can stand behind what you’re doing 1000% and like it. It’s normal that there are a few people who won’t like that. But by now it changes from song to song. I think you’ll make yourself crazy by thinking about this too much.
In the first two videos from your new album and on the Single-Cover of “Love Who Loves You Back” sex plays a pretty big role. Was it a conscious decision to be so procovative?
Bill: A lot of people say we created a kind of “sex-package”, but we actually didn’t. We have to say: We always make decisions in the moment we do something. There were a few weeks in between the videoshoots. The public simply got that “package”, and we ourselves didn’t really notice that it could come across as being so full of sex.
But you have to say that the video for “Love Who Loves You Back” is very “sexy”. It shows you in the middle of a kissing-orgy.
Bill: That was a very conscious decision. I already wanted to shoot a video like that for the last album, because I like the movie “The Perfume” too much. The last scene there is an orgy, where the murderer puts the perfume on that he created. I wanted to do that with music. It just fit the song really well.
What inspires you?
Bill: Cheekiness. We were able to lead a normal life in L.A., after a long time of not being able to do that, and were able to let ourselves be inspired by new people in this new city. That was the time we also started writing songs again. Before that, we spent so much time in venues that – at some point – I didn’t even know what we could write about anymore.
Tom: Also the time that we spent outside of L.A. was inspiring. We travelled a lot and attented a few festivals. Our own music taste just changed.
In Germany you were also scared – for example, when someone broke into your Villa in Hamburg. Is it oppressive, coming back to Germany then?
Bill: Germany just feels a lot more intimate. There are so many people in L.A., you can just disappear. When I got off the plane in Germany, last week, I had to buy some dog food. I was the only person in the shop and an employee immediately came to help me. When you need help in L.A. you have to look for someone to help you first, which could take you about an hour.
Tom: You can also talk in German, without anyone understanding you.
Bill: Exactly. There are a lot of freaks over there, you don’t really get noticed much.
Then moving back is currently not an option for you.
Bill: Life in L.A. just feels very relaxing for us. I wouldn’t want to give that away for anything. When we’re on the road a lot in Germany, it works well. But when we’re in one place for too long, a lot of people start coming there and everything gets harder. That’s why living here didn’t work that well.
But you like coming back as visitors.
Bill: That’s nice, we like being in Germany. If we could have lived here, I wouldn’t have left. I actually find it a little embarassing to say that I live in L.A., because everyone has this certain image of the city. We don’t have anything to do with that. We moved there to disappear. We didn’t attend party’s or red carpet events and we didn’t want to lead a glamour-life. We chose L.A. because we already knew people there.
Source: volksstimme.de
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
How does being home feel?
Bill: Wonderful! Sadly we never actually get to see anything of the city we’re in at that momen – although we already know Magdeburg by now. But we’re still happy to be here.
You played a concert here, in front of two dozen people. How did that feel?
Bill: It was kind of odd! But I do like being so close to the people you’re performing for once in a while.
Tom: I’m always a little more excited than usual. It just feels more intimate, performing in front of such a small crowd.
You’ve already been in Germany since the past week. What did you do since then?
Tom: We’ve been promoting the new album from the morning until the evening. We start at 9 in the morning and that just goes on until 10 at night. Then we go to sleep and drive to the next city.
How much time do you have left for friends and family then?
Bill: Not much, sadly. Tom and I are looking into maybe extending our Germany-visit for a few days to visit family. Sometimes some of them are also present during media appointments. But afterwards we usually have to leave immediately, so we don’t get to go out and eat with them.
Tom: Before we started promoting the album, we went to Hamburg to start planning our tour.
Are you planning on coming to Magdeburg then?
Bill: We don’t actually know that yet. I think we’re going to tour the whole of next year, by blocking the tourdates. We will probably only start thinking about a specific tourplan in the next few weeks.
Tom: Maybe we’ll just play a secret concert under a fake name at the “Factory”!
You’ve been living in Los Angeles since 2010. What does Magdeburg have to offer, that L.A. can’t?
Tom: Plum and rhubarb cake.
Bill: Exactly. Our grandma always makes a nice plum-cake and freezes it until we visit her. We generally miss German baked goods – dark bread and bread rolls. They don’t have that in the US!
Do you still see Magdeburg as your home?
Bill: Not really. You have to remember that we never really directly lived in Magdeburg, but in Loitsche. And we moved away from there when we were 15 years old. For us, home is where our family is. In the beginning they came with us to L.A. and Tom and I always have family with us, since we’re brothers. But we do have some memories of Magdeburg. When you drive through the city now, it all seems so much smaller – which may be because I grew a little.
Tom: Of course we have memories of Magdeburg, we went to our first party’s here.
Speaking of family: You’re still living together – your brotherly bond seems to be very strong.
Bill: Not living together is out of the question for us. We would really like having a house that’s connected by a tunnel in the future. But at the moment we’re stil living together in a house.
Tom: The family bonds is strong with all of us though. Georg and Gustav actually stayed in Magdeburg because of their family.
While the two of them were living in Magdeburg, the majority of the album was actually recorded in L.A. – how did you do that?
Tom: We produced in L.A. and came to Germany a few times. A lot of stuff also happened via internet, partially even whole songs. Some producers would simply be sitting in Germany and you’d have sessions with them. As a band we recorded a lot in Hamburg.
And no one noticed.
Bill: No, it’s not like we announced that beforehand.
You probably wear disguises when you go out Germany.
Bill: When we go out privately, we always try to stay unnoticed.
Tom: On Instagram we’ll always write “Hello Mexiko!” beforehand – and no one knows that we’re here.
There is no German song on the album. Is that a final decision regarding your music?
Tom: No. With this album we just didn’t feel like translating the lyrics. With the last one we did it quite often, sometimes even by about 90% from English to German. It was kind of expected of us and we felt like we had to. This album though we wanted to leave the way it was created. When we write a German song in the future we won’t translate it into English anymore.
The new album has a very electronic sound. How big was your fear that your fans won’t like the new sound?
Bill: When you’re a fan of a band you would like them to never change, but we don’t want to fulfill any expectations. I think you can only be successful when you can stand behind what you’re doing 1000% and like it. It’s normal that there are a few people who won’t like that. But by now it changes from song to song. I think you’ll make yourself crazy by thinking about this too much.
In the first two videos from your new album and on the Single-Cover of “Love Who Loves You Back” sex plays a pretty big role. Was it a conscious decision to be so procovative?
Bill: A lot of people say we created a kind of “sex-package”, but we actually didn’t. We have to say: We always make decisions in the moment we do something. There were a few weeks in between the videoshoots. The public simply got that “package”, and we ourselves didn’t really notice that it could come across as being so full of sex.
But you have to say that the video for “Love Who Loves You Back” is very “sexy”. It shows you in the middle of a kissing-orgy.
Bill: That was a very conscious decision. I already wanted to shoot a video like that for the last album, because I like the movie “The Perfume” too much. The last scene there is an orgy, where the murderer puts the perfume on that he created. I wanted to do that with music. It just fit the song really well.
What inspires you?
Bill: Cheekiness. We were able to lead a normal life in L.A., after a long time of not being able to do that, and were able to let ourselves be inspired by new people in this new city. That was the time we also started writing songs again. Before that, we spent so much time in venues that – at some point – I didn’t even know what we could write about anymore.
Tom: Also the time that we spent outside of L.A. was inspiring. We travelled a lot and attented a few festivals. Our own music taste just changed.
In Germany you were also scared – for example, when someone broke into your Villa in Hamburg. Is it oppressive, coming back to Germany then?
Bill: Germany just feels a lot more intimate. There are so many people in L.A., you can just disappear. When I got off the plane in Germany, last week, I had to buy some dog food. I was the only person in the shop and an employee immediately came to help me. When you need help in L.A. you have to look for someone to help you first, which could take you about an hour.
Tom: You can also talk in German, without anyone understanding you.
Bill: Exactly. There are a lot of freaks over there, you don’t really get noticed much.
Then moving back is currently not an option for you.
Bill: Life in L.A. just feels very relaxing for us. I wouldn’t want to give that away for anything. When we’re on the road a lot in Germany, it works well. But when we’re in one place for too long, a lot of people start coming there and everything gets harder. That’s why living here didn’t work that well.
But you like coming back as visitors.
Bill: That’s nice, we like being in Germany. If we could have lived here, I wouldn’t have left. I actually find it a little embarassing to say that I live in L.A., because everyone has this certain image of the city. We don’t have anything to do with that. We moved there to disappear. We didn’t attend party’s or red carpet events and we didn’t want to lead a glamour-life. We chose L.A. because we already knew people there.
Source: volksstimme.de
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
October 7, 2014
Tokio Hotel @ Circus Halligalli - Berlin, Germany 06.10.2014
Translation - Interview
Klaas: Here are Tokio Hotel!
(...)
Joko: Nice to have you here. ... Let me hug you.. come here, boy. (to Gustav)
Klaas: And we have on seat left.. Well, first, nice to have you back again, huh. We haven't seen each other in a very long time.
Tom: Yeah, the last time we saw each other we were drunk at the EMA-Aftershow-party.
Joko: *laughs* That may very well be...
Klaas: But that's been also some years ago now.
Tom: Yeah.
Klaas: That was when the EMAs were in Berlin, right?
Tom: Yes, that was here in Berlin.
Klaas: Yes exactly. But you're simply not here anymore. So you still live.. well, we get to see from time to time again now, but your whole stuff is in LA. At least two.
Bill: Yeah..
Tom: Yeah at least two, the others still live in Magdeburg, but that's almost as beautiful as LA.
Bill: Exactly.
Klaas: Yes exactly, that's not especially not comparable at all. How do you make it to get together as one band again, living under those different cultural circumstances and maybe not having seen each other for one year or so and not having that much contact?
Bill: The contracts make it possible.
*they laugh*
Bill: Uhm, nah, in fact both of them sometimes were in LA at our place, and we also were in Germany sometimes, and we also skyped and so on.
Joko: I know that! I also do that sometimes... with my friend Zach Braff.
Bill: Yeah.. and we always kept the contact, and we also were in the studio in Germany actually. and yeah, we were always in an exchange so to say.
Klaas: In a german view one always thinks that you were away for incredibly long, but that's not really true, because you were on tour for a very long time and then you just took time for the album.
Bill: Yeah, the last album was released in 2009, that's a bit of a time ago of course, but we were in South America and were in Japan and so on, and just toured a bit longer with the album..
(the subtitle text that is shown says "In France they are called Tokio Otel")
Tom: We toured until 2011, right?
Bill: Yeah, until 2011.
Tom: Even until the end of 2011, that means it didn't even take that long.
Joko: Then for how long didn't you actually do anything?
Tom: Then we made a break for one year and we actually just relaxed, and then we produced the album in a few days.
Klaas: Who can even do that? Being one year in early retirement when you're only mid-20.
(the subtitle-text that is shown says "They're part-time child detectives & solve murder cases on fairgrounds")
Tom: Yeah..
Klaas: How is it like? What do you do the whole day then?
Bill: Nah, we have, we were, we were only on parties and sunbathed, and didn't do anything.
Joko: A jetset-life so to say...
Tom: A jetset-life like you have it as well, only that we didn't have cameras with us.
Klaas: But we work the whole time.
Tom: Yeah...
Joko: We worked permanently since we had last seen each other... that's the difference, and we're ten years older than you.
Klaas: But I imagine it being hard if someone comes and tells you tomorrow at 10 am you have to get up and it seems like in the middle of the night for you.. tomorrow at 10 am you have to be here and there...
Bill: Totally. I have to say we're also so exhausted, I could take another break for four years already.
Klaas: Seriously?
Bill: Yes, totally.
*People laughing*
Bill: Nah, it's exhausting but...
Joko (to Tom): How long have you been working again now?
Tom: Feels like some weeks already.
Joko: Really?
Tom: Totally.
Klaas: That's not that long though of course.. but tell me, you also live together, right?
Bill: Yeah.
Klaas: A real brother-living-community...is that like it used to be back then, just with different circumstances, or... I mean, you've already been living together your whole life.
Tom: Yeah exactly..
Bill: Well, we don't even ask ourselves the question if one day... we'd one day like to have two houses which are connected with a tunnel where we can always go to one another..
Joko: We'd also like to have two houses, but without a tunnel.
*people laughing*
Klaas: How is it, do you have some cleaning roster or how do you arrange that?
Bill: Uhm, nah, actually we both don't do anything... so...
Klaas: You really just only sat on your chairs for years and now you're back again...
Bill: Exactly, yeah..
Joko (to Gustav and Georg): How was it for you.. because you [Bill and Tom] probably flew first to LA and built up a life there, and did they just say "Well, just follow us" or...
Georg: Exactly..
Joko: Isn't it absurd, if the people who you spent your childhood with live there then?
Georg: Nah, it was kinda nice, I didn't have to book a hotel, I could hang out at their place...
Bill: ...they slept in my wardrobe...
Tom: Actually before they came to LA we had rented a smaller house, otherwise they would have noticed that we always took something from the band funds... uhm yeah..
Klaas: But how's it like when of course you're there everyday.. in LA it's very concentrated on music, actors or whatsoever of course, in what extent does one become a part of that scene there, and does what other people might know from the newspapers?
Bill: Well, we didn't want to be a part of any kind of scene, we went there to hide ourselves so to say, that means we were nowhere.. we also didn't do any interviews or were on red carpets or at any events, we just thought there are so many people who want to be famous and they should just do that, but we just disappeared. For us it was just a good city to disappear. It could have also been any other city, we're even not that crazy for LA, well it's quite okay but..
Klaas: In Magdeburg you also just disappear if you want it or not, right?
*people laughing*
Tom: Georg just went on with his life as a VIP in Magdeburg. He enjoyed his VIP life.
Klaas: But how is it like when the first hype is finally over and you're both in Magdeburg, and of course you know friends from school and so on, but what when that machine suddenly stops to work and you do your planned break, do you start to do things again you already did before or how does that work?
Georg: I just did nothing first, to be honest. I went for a walk with my dog...
Tom: You mean when it's starting again or what?
Klaas: No no, I mean that time in between. that you go back to old habits again...like "Well, today I'll go to the city festival.."
Bill: I also always ask you [Gustav and Georg] what you're doing there the whole day..
Joko: *laughs* You sound like their mother! "What are you doing there?"...
(subtitle-text that is shown says "Each of their hair has its own hairdresser")
Bill: No, I have..
Joko: Well, what do YOU do the whole day?
Bill: No, I also asked him, I don't know at all what you do there, because I didn't know at all what to do there..
Georg: ..longing for you...
Tom: Just hanging around at the bus stop and smoking and drinking booze..
Gustav: Well, with that you at least don't attract attention in Magdeburg.. smoking at the bus stop and drinking booze..
Bill: You can't go wrong with that.
Klaas: So you drive with your car, open doors, music on and Burger-King-badge?
*people laughing*
Tom: Yeah.. showing off, three BMW, lowered...
Klaas: Well yeah, why not? The main thing is that you find back together and.. uh.. tell me, you just rightly said that you hid..
Bill: Yeah..
Klaas: That means that in the end you were so fed up that you said "That's becoming too crazy, we have to disappear." How bad was it in the end?
Bill: Uhm, well it was.. we actually only wanted to have a second home somewhere in the sun, but then they broke into our house and that was the last thing.. it was also rather a prison, we had a fence where you couldn't see through and there were always people there and we just couldn't go out there anymore. We just were inside all the time and somewhen they also even broke into our house and after that we searched online for a house in LA and then we just disappeared within four weeks.
(subtitle text that was shown said: "Did an interview-diet for more than one year")
Joko (to Georg and Gustav): But for you it's easy? [concerning their private life]
Georg: It's really more relaxed, you can't compare that.
Klaas (to Gustav): You always have that firm handshake, people don't dare to do such things to you, huh?
Gustav (with puppy eyes): I'm sorry.
Klaas: But you already used to have that [firm handshake] before! You almost broke half my hand then.
Georg: He's compensating something...
Klaas: For example at VIVA Live he almost...
Tom: Small noodle, firm handshake.
*people laughing*
Klaas: So is that an old saw from Magdeburg?
Georg: An ancient wisdom from Magdeburg.
Tom: Yes, a wisdom from Magdeburg.
Joko (to Tom): Have you actually accepted by now that Bill is a bit strange? Because I can remember times in which you always nagged at Bill "He's looking so weird", and so on..
Tom: Bill?
Joko: Yeah.
Bill: That has always been Georg.
Tom: Actually it has always been Georg, yeah.
Joko: Really?
Georg: I always got a good dressing-down.
Klaas: But between you, you sometimes even offended each other in interviews and I remember that sometimes it really came to real fights, and one sat next to you and it was almost a bit awkward..
Bill: Really?
Klaas: Yeah, because you thought "Just stop that already." Is it between brothers that they fight mercilessly, is it still like that? I sometimes was a witness of it..
Tom: Really? Where was that? At VIVA? Probably we frantically tried to get to MTV because all the time we were at VIVA..
Klaas: I had also been there for years..
Tom: Yes exactly... Nah, actually not at all, I mean of course we fight but Bill and me, we lead an identical life. 1 to 1. We know everything of each other. And that's.. we sometimes fight really hard, because of course no one can provoke Bill better than me.
Klaas: Yeah of course
Tom: ..but that's kept within limits actually. Because both of us do the same every day.
Klaas: How is it when you work and when you're on tour and you write a song, you're mentally full in swing, and then you take a holiday for a year, especially in LA which is not really a city full of academics, how did you make it to not go daft in the hot sun?
Tom: We didn't make it.
*people laugh*
Tom: We dropped out of school at the age of 15, and then immediately to LA and now we're completely stupid.
Klaas: Well then. You didn't lose your honesty.
Bill: Well, we still had contact with all the people from Germany the whole time. It wasn't that we didn't see each other for four years and then said "Let's do an album together quickly." We just did nothing for one or 1,5 years. Then Tom and I build a homestudio and started to produce, we actually produced the whole album, Musically we did things for which we hadn't had the time before. We always had studio sessions before where we had to record everything within 2 or 3 weeks. And this time we did it at home. So yeah, and Tom produced and programmed everything, not only guitar, synthesizers, piano and everything..
Klaas: Well, you were really modest, you actually grew up to a, let's say even more adepted musician.
Bill: For us it was really important privately and also musically, we had so much time for the album that we could do way more on our own than we had done before.
Translation - "Journey to Vulgaria"
(Explanation: they're playing a game with German "swear words". Someone's saying a (invented) swear word and the next one has to say a new word that starts with the last letter of the previous word.)
Klaas: I'll start with a little test round now, and simply say "jerk". ("Trottel")
Gustav: Lolly. ("Lutscher")
Klaas: Very good. So I see you understood the game (...)
- break -
Klaas: And here we go.
Bill: Donkey fucker. ("Eselficker")
Klaas: Yep, that's a veritable swear word. - uhm, uhm, roulade ass! ("Rouladenarsch")
Gustav: .... *says nothing*
Klaas: Aaaah, Gustav.. but that was an "h". I'm sorry, I think you have to get up and stand behind the chair now.
Gustav: I would have almost said "Hublot-wearer" now. ("Hublot-Träger")
Klaas: "Hublot-wearer", oooh, that would have been false.
Joko: Oooh, that statement would have reached us.
Georg: Uhm, "Randfichten-Fan". ("Randfichten" is a band who makes traditional german folk music)
Klaas: Uhm, "Neomagazin"-host. ("Neomagazin-Moderator")
Tom: I always get the "r", that can't be true! I already had anus ("Rosette")... Ass crack fucker! ("Ritzenficker")
Georg: Uuuhm, "bully". ("Rüpel")
Klaas: Oh. Oh, such a subtle mister.
Joko: Leek. ("Lauch")
Bill: Uuuhm, "sky-blue-lover"! ("Himmelblau-Liebhaber") - [it's wrong]
Joko: *laughs* Awww.
Bill: What? Why?!
Klaas: We asked 100 people, that's not an insult. ... Okay, what was it now?
Tom: An "H".
Klaas: An "H". You "Hämpfling".
Joko: Cucumber fucker. ("Gurkenficker")
Tom: ...always "fucker".
Joko: Can we add "fucker" to every word?
Klaas: Well then, radishes fucker. ("Radieschenficker")
Georg: Radish fucker. ("Rettichficker" - seems like Radieschen & Rettich are the same in english)
Joko: Uh, something with "r" for a change!
Tom: Uhm, snout pig. ("Rüsselschwein")
Joko: Umbilical cord wearer. ("Nabelschnurträger")
Klaas: That's babies, that's not an insult! "Umbilical cord wearer"...
Tom: Yeah, that's babies, that's tasteless!
Klaas: A very good insult... Nazi.
Georg: Hedgehog fucker. ("Igelficker")
Klaas: Animals, vegetables...and adding "-fucker" to that.
Joko: ..something with "r"
Tom: Ass crack cunt. ("Ritzenfotze") - [it's wrong] ...What?!
Joko: Maybe because it's the same..
Tom: You meant cunt and cunt is the same..?
Klaas: A so-called tautology.
Georg (murmurs): Ugh, I have no chance.
Klaas: So, "e". ... fleabag. ("Ekelpaket")
Georg: Uhm, tea drinker. ("Teetrinker")
Klaas: Snot slurper. ("Rotzschlürfer")
Bill: "f"!
Georg: What?
Bill: Ah, "RotzschlürfER"! ...
Georg: Uhm...
Bill: Ass crack licker! Man! ("Rillenlecker")
Georg: No, not a clue.
- Klaas won that game, he says nothing important anymore :) -
Whole Translation by Herzblut @ TokioHotel_Info <--
October 6, 2014
Tokio Hotel @ Spotify Soundrop & Listening Session - Berlin, Germany 06.10.2014
● Hi guys - we're on - so great to meet you here!
● "Kings Of Surburbia" - we had the album title before we had the actual song #kingsofsuburbia
● mid 8 is a special prayer that means a lot to me - Bill
● Next "We Found Us" Bill's favourite song of the album
● Tom - My favourite is GGAG
● Georg - Im currently into LWLYB
● "Great Day" is coming up
● "Great Day" is one of the last songs we've wrote for the album. can't wait to play it live
● We would love to come to Italy but the record company just cancelled the trip...
● your support is amazing and we are overwhelmed!
● Gustav - my fave is FIA
● "The Heart Get No Sleep" is next
● Do you know the feeling when your body wants to sleep but your heart can't?!
● Pumba is enyoing the Soundrop
● @ Carla - Buddy is fine miss him so much (Georg)
● "Louder Than Love" is coming up
● We are putting together first live dates for next year as we are talking
● @ Joselyn Latin America shows is a YES
● @ Tina the album art is featuring a sound wave that's the line we always use
● Which song would you put out as the next single?
● @ Valeria def Banana Split
● Next is "Never Let you Down"
● This is our single "Love Who Loves You Back" - take your clothes off and enjoy the song
● @Cloui I love German Riesling
● @ AAAALLLL make sure to request LWLYB at your local radio station!!
● "Dancing In The Dark" will be the next
● @ emmi - Make sure to not miss out on the new season of Homeland
● We try to come everywhere - we'll keep you posted!
● This one is "Invaded"
● One of the two ballades we wrote for this album
●@ Nadia - not yet
● "Stormy Weather" is next
● Gustav: Yes I have a dog!
● @ Julie - There will be VIP packages at our shows
● Bill: I'm so excited!
● @ Meme - Pumba is barking to GGAG !!!
● Bill: We designed the whole merch personally
● GGAG!!!!! Who loves the video as much as I do? Tom
● Bill: We just don't want to translate anymore. But if I write a song in german it will stay german!
● Next for you "Feel It All"
● Turn your speakers up - it's our favourite after hour song ..
● Bill: the whole video was just so much fun to make!
● @ Emma - most difficult song was Covered in Gold
● We might come over to Southamerica in november
● This is "Masquerade"
● @ Alexandra - GGAG was a LOT of fun to write, and Run was a really special song to sing in the studio
● Tom: For me writing "Covered In Gold" was special.
● This one is "Run Run Run"
● Great Day represents the end - Bill
● 5 minutes to go
● Next song is Kings Of Suburbia!!!
● Yes Döner, but we can't have it anymore, cause we don't eat meat - but Gustav does!
● Final Post!!! coming up
● Au revoir - bye - adios - ciao - doswidanija - tschüss ...
● thanks to everyone - we love you guys!
● "Kings Of Surburbia" - we had the album title before we had the actual song #kingsofsuburbia
● mid 8 is a special prayer that means a lot to me - Bill
● Next "We Found Us" Bill's favourite song of the album
● Tom - My favourite is GGAG
● Georg - Im currently into LWLYB
● "Great Day" is coming up
● "Great Day" is one of the last songs we've wrote for the album. can't wait to play it live
● We would love to come to Italy but the record company just cancelled the trip...
● your support is amazing and we are overwhelmed!
● Gustav - my fave is FIA
● "The Heart Get No Sleep" is next
● Do you know the feeling when your body wants to sleep but your heart can't?!
● Pumba is enyoing the Soundrop
● @ Carla - Buddy is fine miss him so much (Georg)
● "Louder Than Love" is coming up
● We are putting together first live dates for next year as we are talking
● @ Joselyn Latin America shows is a YES
● @ Tina the album art is featuring a sound wave that's the line we always use
● Which song would you put out as the next single?
● @ Valeria def Banana Split
● Next is "Never Let you Down"
● This is our single "Love Who Loves You Back" - take your clothes off and enjoy the song
● @Cloui I love German Riesling
● @ AAAALLLL make sure to request LWLYB at your local radio station!!
● "Dancing In The Dark" will be the next
● @ emmi - Make sure to not miss out on the new season of Homeland
● We try to come everywhere - we'll keep you posted!
● This one is "Invaded"
● One of the two ballades we wrote for this album
●@ Nadia - not yet
● "Stormy Weather" is next
● Gustav: Yes I have a dog!
● @ Julie - There will be VIP packages at our shows
● Bill: I'm so excited!
● @ Meme - Pumba is barking to GGAG !!!
● Bill: We designed the whole merch personally
● GGAG!!!!! Who loves the video as much as I do? Tom
● Bill: We just don't want to translate anymore. But if I write a song in german it will stay german!
● Next for you "Feel It All"
● Turn your speakers up - it's our favourite after hour song ..
● Bill: the whole video was just so much fun to make!
● @ Emma - most difficult song was Covered in Gold
● We might come over to Southamerica in november
● This is "Masquerade"
● @ Alexandra - GGAG was a LOT of fun to write, and Run was a really special song to sing in the studio
● Tom: For me writing "Covered In Gold" was special.
● This one is "Run Run Run"
● Great Day represents the end - Bill
● 5 minutes to go
● Next song is Kings Of Suburbia!!!
● Yes Döner, but we can't have it anymore, cause we don't eat meat - but Gustav does!
● Final Post!!! coming up
● Au revoir - bye - adios - ciao - doswidanija - tschüss ...
● thanks to everyone - we love you guys!
Transcript by TH Wonderland
October 5, 2014
[RTL] Spiegel TV Magazin (05.10.2014) - Interview & Report: "Tokio Hotel are back"
Voice-over: Germany's pop-refugees are back. Friday evening. Rehearsal for Tokio Hotel's first live performance after four years. They chose "Wetten, dass" in Erfurt. Millions of people are going to watch it. Also stars get their nerves.
Bill: I'm always nervous. Well, always. If we're on tour and we have like 35 shows, I'm still nervous until the last show. Well, I think it's just a part of it, but before a show I'm not approachable, I'm super concentrated and totally nervous. I'm glad that I don't have to throw up though, because I know some colleagues who always have to throw up before a show.
Voice-over: In the past it got loud when Tokio Hotel were on tour. Worldwide pubertary teenagers feel into euphoria. In 2005 "Durch den Monsun" catapultated the band to the very top. Puppy charm, misfit-profile, rebel-attitude. A freak-counterdraft to well-behaved boybands with side-parting.
Bill: We look back and we're incredibly thankful and proud, and are happy about all the opportunities we had. No one of us would have ever considered that we'd have that much success, even in foreign countries. It was really surprising for everyone and yeah, I look back to it and I'm so thankful. In my opinion there aren't a lot of negative things.
Voice-over: For days fans had been camping in front of venues to get the best places back then.
Question: Hello, how did you like it?
Fans: *screaming*
Question: Why are you crying now?
Fan: Because Bill looked me in the eyes.
Question: He looked into your eyes?
Fan: *nods* And Georg smiled at me.
Question: For how long?
Fan: Long.
Fan 2: Very long.
*Another fan talks about the concert.*
Voice-over: Bill, Tom,Georg and Gustav more or less belong to Germany's superstars. 7 Million sold sound carriers, 68 times platinum. When they were teens, they became stars. But they had never been typical teen stars. According to music journalist Tobias Rapp, that's the recipe for their success.
Tobias Rapp: Tokio Hotel is a total exception. A band which is not only successful, but also has the thing which stars, real stars, gotta have. To look crazy, to transport a certain image, which is a fictional image. The reason why Tokio Hotel are, in my opinion, incredibly interesting stars is because they're breaking out of that middle class world, out of the suburbia-hell. They embody the wish to be unpredictable, to be different.
Voice-over: Their comeback is strategically planned. First the release of the new songs, after that the press conference with journalists and selected fans, who are clearly more quiet than in the last years.
Bill: For us it doesn't feel like a comeback to be honest. Because we never were.. Well, of course we didn't make an album for a long time, but we didn't break up or something. We only took some time with the album.
Voice-over: New look, new sound. But topic #1 is Bill's performance in the new video. Tokio Hotel has grown up. Also in the matter of love.
Bill: I think it's beautiful that love actually has no religion and no gender. You can and you should love who you want to love, without it being made a fuss about. And because of that.. there are also some funny moments in the video and because of that we just put the message across. I think you also shouldn't take it too seriously.
Voice-over: Not only Tokio Hotel, also their fans are no teenagers anymore by now. To not lose their fans, the band has to change their profile as well.
Tobias Rapp: Most fans are embarassed to once have loved the favorites of their youth. Most people are embarassed by that. All stars, if that's Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, or even Tokio Hotel, have to somehow find a way how to deal with that. And that's really difficult. And the simplest way to deal with it is sexuality.
Voice-over: After the press it's the fans' turn. Signing session was yesterday. Today only a selfie counts. They [the fans] dreamed about that in the past years of Tokio Hotel's abstinence.
Fan: We somehow felt alone, because well, we grew up with them and suddenly they were gone. We really kinda missed them.
Fan 2: I'm 24 now and I've been a fan since I was 15. I saw them on TV and fell in love immediately.
Fan 3: I moved from Hungary to Berlin and we actually only learned German because of them.
Fan 4: Yes, only because of Tokio Hotel. So that's a big moment for us. We've waited for it for almost 10 years.
Voice-over: No other band strained the vocal chords of fans that much as Tokio Hotel in the past. The envy of other colleagues was kept within a limit though, because almost no other fans were acting so extreme. The musicians from the East of Germany were loved unconditionally, but also hated. Some fans especially followed the Kaulitz twins 24/7. And if they don't get the stars personally, the fans just took pretty souvenirs.
*Fan is talking about the waste bin she got from the bus stop in Loitsche, where the twins lived.*
Tom: The squealing has never been a problem. It was those really freaked out people, who weren't even fans, they had a love-hate relationship to us and were completely out of control. They didn't only stress us, but also our families and friends. In addition to that there was the pressure of the media. And that's also a point why you can't lead a normal life. when there are always photographers and every newspaper writes about every step you make. It was not about music anymore, and somehow we wanted to get out of that as well.
Voice-over: "Run run run", exactly that's what Bill and Tom did at the end of 2010. With the age of 21 they abscond to LA and into the city's anonymity. They had enough of growing up with the public's eyes staring at them. Georg and Gustav stay home, but they like to come to LA for party.
Shrinking from superstars to ordinary people, living without assistants and with new freedom.
Bill: We first did completely normal things. I first had to get used to opening the door and going out without someone standing there and waiting for me. You could just "swim along" with all those people there without having a VIP-bonus. We didn't even try that and we didn't tell anyone what we're doing, we had simply gone underground.
Voice-over: "Going underground" lasted four years. Now their new album wants to be promoted. Photoshoot yesterday for the woman's magazine "Jolie".
Tom: And? Are you all fit?
Guy: Yeah, Here we are again, good to see you back.
Tom: Yeah, we're also happy about it.
Bill: Pumba... that's Pumba. He's really friendly and he doesn't bite anyone.
Guy: Is Daft Punk okay or do you have another music request?
Bill: Uhm...
Tom: We actually only listen Tokio Hotel music privately. *laughs*
Voice-over: Often the look makes a star become a megastar. Alien, manga, androgynous being - there were a lot of description for the band's frontman. He always occupied center stage - and he missed that though.
Bill: I missed being on stage - to perform, to be on stage, you just miss that. But of course it was also nice to be away from that for a while, so that you can even miss it again. Sometimes it was like that I didn't even know in which city we are or what we have to perform, it didn't matter that much to you anymore.
Voice-over: In the meantime the fans are already waiting outside. It's as if the band was never gone. Also today a real fan has to be very patient.
Fan: We are from Munich, we came here in the night and slept in the car in front of the venue, and we met some people who were driving around and were looking where the band could be, and they called us that they're here.
Fan 2: We've been fans for nine years, we have no photo or autograph so far. We have to get one.
Voice-over: Later they're dream will come true. And then - one hour before the live performance there's this feeling again, which the band just knows too well. That mix of anticipation and anxiety.
Bill: When you see people who are so happy that we're here, when you can read the emotions in the faces, there are so many people who start to cry or actually don't want to cry, it touches me every time. And some waited for nine years and see us for the first time and that's totally cute, and on the other hand it can be too much for you.
Markus Lanz (Wetten dass): Here are Tokio Hotel!
Voice-over: After the performance the boys only celebrate briefly. Because the machine "Tokio Hotel" is working again.
Bill: Now we'll fly...
Tom: We'll make a break now again, we'll fly back to LA and have a 4-year-break.
Bill (completes Tom's sentence): ...and have a 4-year-break.
Bill: Nah, tomorrow it goes on again, we have a full press day, uhm, a live performance, a small mini concert tomorrow, in Magdeburg, our hometown.
Tom: After that we'll drive to Circus Halligalli.
Bill: Afterwards we'll go to Berlin, then we'll have another TV show with a different song, then we'll fly to France, there we'll also be on two TV shows. Then Italy, where we'll also have a TV show. Well... It goes on like that now.
Voice-over: Taking a break is only allowed for dog Pumba.
Credits for the English Translation to Herzblut @ TokioHotel_Info
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