bullettmedia.com : A Conversation with Tokio Hotel (09.02.2015)

After a five-year hiatus since their last album Humanoid, Tokio Hotel is back and better than ever with a new masterpiece titled, Kings of Suburbia. A rapid departure from the band’s carefully crafted emo-punk signature that made them a breakout sensation throughout Germany (before they even hit puberty), Kings of Suburbia kicks off like a rave from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, transporting the listener through a colorful world of Los Angeles-inspired glamour, vanity, and romance. Kings of Suburbia took five years to record, and is also the first album the band produced independent of a major record label, allowing the members to let loose with an entire arsenal of electro-pop, alternative rock, and EDM. Set to tour Europe later in March, we called up the international princes of punk to discuss making their latest album and the role technology has had on contemporary music.

You guys have a tour coming up fairly soon. What’s been the process of preparing for it?

Bill: Actually, it takes a while. We have a big rehearsal space in Germany where we usually go – we just got a brand new one – we go there and start out by putting together a set list that makes sense and the content for the show, visually that fits what songs we want to play. All the visual stuff comes first, and then we go in and see what we want to do with the songs, and then we arrange the songs with the band. Usually we think about which instruments each of us can play and what we can do, and then we go through the set list and really take it song to song. We would do that for four weeks, and by the end of those four weeks we start dress rehearsal with the whole crew and hit the road.
Tom: (Laughs) The only problem is that we’re really lazy as a band because sometimes on rehearsal days we’ll come in, eat, take a break, sing a song, eat, and take a break again. And then the day’s over!

How does your new album, Kings of Suburbia, differ from your previous work?

Bill: Kings of Suburbia turned out to be way more electronic than the stuff we’ve done before. We kind of took a break after we put out our last album. It turned out to be a longer break than we thought, because we were kind of burnt out and didn’t know what music we wanted to make. We had no inspiration anymore so we kind of had to step back from the career a little bit just to live life and find inspiration for new music. For a year, we didn’t really do anything, and I think that was good because for the first time we had time to produce and write and think. We had no pressure from the record company, which was great, so we really got creative and tried new things. With the time out, our personal tastes also changed and we parties a lot so there was a lot inspired by the LA nightlife and the DJ scene. We started to lay down synths and stuff like that. The turnout was way more electronic, and it was the first time we produced the entire record.

Which gave you a lot more control. What’s the difference once you have all these artistic liberties now at your disposal?

Tom: We really dived in the whole production aspect of it, from pre-production, creating the demo, to the final master. That was really the first time we did that. Once you really dive into the whole process, it takes you a while because once you’re there, you’re searching for samples, you’re creating drums, you’re always in search for the perfect sound. It’s a lot of freedom and it takes a while. In the meantime, we didn’t even have instruments because we just wanted to be on our own in the studio; we did everything. It was really great to do the whole production and decide when you want to work with people and when you don’t.
Bill: And we just took the time this time. The truth is, we never really had time because we were on the road and had to make an album in two weeks.

So the year off was spent songwriting and getting back into the groove of redefining your sound?

Bill: Exactly. We were just living life. We thought we missed out on so much because we had been on the road for so long. Tom and me were living in Europe, that’s why we moved to America… to find that freedom. In Germany, we couldn’t go out to the street because we were so locked up in our house and everything had to do with security. We were so over it and needed that change to be with people and party and go out. Personally, and music wise, it was a good move for us to move to America.

Kings of Suburbia has more of an electronic feel to it. You guys first got together in the early 2000s; how would you describe the evolution of Tokio Hotel’s sound alongside technological advances in the music industry?

Tom: First of all, when we started in the early 2000s, we couldn’t really play our instruments. (Laughs) We were like 12 years old or whatever. When we first started writing songs, we just wanted to go out and perform them. We didn’t care how bad it was, we just wanted to be on stage. It was really fun. The good thing about that is we were on stage and performing live, and that’s what we’ve kept on doing up till today. We played hundreds and thousands of concerts and really enjoyed that. Also finding the right things to transport the electronic sound through the venues isn’t always easy, but something we enjoy.
Bill: We definitely started out with simple instruments, and nowadays we’re trying so many more things. Everyone’s trying something new and even plays different instruments on stage; synths, pianos, and stuff like that.
Tom: The recording has also changed a lot. We started to record on a whole different basis on the last record we put out in 2009, Humanoid. We would have changes in the studio where we would Skype and do recordings over the Internet with our producers sitting in Germany, while we were in L.A. Weird stuff! It was crazy to us that this was possible. All the new techniques and all the new technologies out there give you way more opportunities. I can’t even remember… I think our first record, which we started recording in 2003, we were using Logic 7 or something even earlier than that. It’s crazy how far all these music programs have come.

Bill this question is for you… I’m on the Internet right now looking at this fan site devoted to you. What goes through your head when you see something like that?

Bill: What is it? I want to check it out!

It’s this Wikihow titled, “How to Become a True Bill Kaulitz fan.” It has these steps on how to be just like you, while noting that you don’t have a MySpace or Facebook. It also mentions your tattoos.

Bill: I feel like with our fans it’s crazy how intense they are, and I mean that in a good way. They are just so supportive. That we were even able to take a break as a band for four or five years and that they are still there waiting for our music– that shit’s crazy!
Tom: The ones who tattoo Kings of Suburbia on their arm and stuff like that… I feel like that’s the biggest type of success you can have, if you have people and fans like that who stick with you and like you all these years and go to your shows and buy your music. We appreciate that a lot and are super happy we have it.
Bill: I feel great about it. It can also be hard for a person sometimes, but for the band it’s great.

What’s been your favorite country to play in?

Tom: Whenever we play in South America is great. Mexico’s definitely a lot of fun.

Any specific reason?

Bill: Just because the people are going crazier there! I love that. We were just there for a standing session, and the last time we played our tour there we had to take a break because it was just out of control. Security told us to leave the stage so we had to turn the lights on and we had to leave because there were these huge hoards falling on top of each other. It was absolute craziness! They appreciate the music so much. For an artist, that type of energy is insane.

Interview by David Richardson
Source: Bullett Media 

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

 

   

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 

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 

[RTL] Spiegel TV Magazin (05.10.2014) - Interview & Report: "Tokio Hotel are back"

Woman: The entire world is talking about Tokio Hotel and their "comeback", but the boys themselves see it differently. According to them they never were away, they just took their time for coming back. Four years are between back then and today. The former long-haired-teenies are now wearing beards and a lot of metal in their face. Their new video is about boundless love, in other words tongue kisses and other oral encounters. Not really clean anymore - when teen stars are growing up.

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 

Tokio Hotel @ Radio SAW Interview (Part 1) - Magdeburg, Germany 10.05.2014

Part 1 [Full Interview the next Satuday Oct. 11, 6pm - 8pm (german time)]
Translation's Note: Just the most important parts.

Interviewer: So how exactly did we manage to get you to play here for us on Radio SAW?
Tom: We were actually very keen on it! We got a special acoustic set and it was really fun.

Interviewer: How was Wetten dass…? for you guys? Since it was your first performance after such a long time?
Bill: It was really great, the people were nice, we had a lot of fun, the performance went really well! We only slept three hours then but it was worth it!

Interviewer: You’re now in Magdeburg, is it still like home for you or is it just a city for you guys?
Bill: Well for Georg and Gustav it’s still home, they still live here. And for Tom and me, of course we feel connected to Magdeburg, we grew up here. And our family still lives here too of course.
Tom: Home is for us where we have our own house, where our family, friends and dogs are. And yes we feel very connected to Magdeburg, we grew up here, had our first sex here, … *they both laugh*

Interviewer: Many of your family members are here, are going to meet them and have dinner together?
Bill: Yes, it’s very stressful because we’re heading to Berlin tomorrow already but yes we’re trying to come together and eat something together.
Tom: Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake).
Bill: Yes, Pflaumenkuchen. *they laugh again*

Interviewer: So how many people told you that taking a long break is a career suicide?
Bill: Everyone!
Tom: Yeah, literally everyone told us but we didn’t care, we needed to take a break, we did it anyway.

Interviewer: What do you think about the criticism you receive? Are scared of it?
Tom: No actually, we don’t read stuff like that because it’s mostly negative, a radio show in Berlin recently gave us a very good one and I was very glad about that, that’s the only one I’ve read.

Interviewer: We recorded the acoustic concert and gonna play some parts of it tomorrow, tomorrow morning you’re also going to hear the whole interview. You’ll get pictures of the concert and also a video so stay tuned! Now let’s listen to Love who loves you back!

Translation by truealien4 (tumblr) 

Tokio Hotel @ "Wetten, dass..?" Backstage Interview - Erfurt, Germany 03.10.2014

Part 1 - Welcome back Tokio Hotel

Woman: Well, today it's a holiday (side note: October 3rd is actually the Day of German Unity in Germany) because we celebrate the release of the new Tokio Hotel album in Germany, and here they are - I have a premiere in their wardrobe, hello Tokio Hotel!

Bill: Hello!
Tom, Geo, Gus: Hi

Woman: You took a break for five years, now one could think you also took five years to produce this album, is that true?

Bill: Nah, we didn't... uhm... do anything for the first 1 1/2 years. We withdrew ourselves first for 1 1/2 years, we did nothing, no Music, nothing. And then we slowly started to go back in the studio. You have to say, the last album was released in 2009, we were on tour with this album until 2011, we were in South America then, in Japan, in Russia, and toured. And then... uhm.. we didn't do anything for 1 1/2 years and only then started to make the album, so in reality those 4 or 5 years are passing by very fast.

Woman: Why didn't you do anything?

Bill: Uhm, we didn't want to do anything first because we had worked for so long and we wanted to live life to get inspired for new things, for new songs and so on, because we didn't even have to tell and to say anything anymore. And we also didn't know which music we'd like to make and I just suddenly stopped to write down things. and because of that I just thought 'Okay,, I think we just need to live life now." to somehow get inspired by it again.

Woman: I already read in many articles that you had a real crisis in that time and that you moved to the USA because of that, 'cause you couldn't deal with the success here anymore, and stalking, and stressful fans.

Bill: Yes exactly, Well, success.. not because of the success, success is always something beautiful, but it was just hard for us, or at the end even impossible to have a private life, and you also only realize that a bit later. I also think that when you get a bit older, like at the beginning of 20...

Tom: (interrupts) It was a mix of it won't work here in Germany or in Europe to build up a private life, but on the other hand we couldn't even do that because we were permanently on tour since we were 15.

Bill: Yeah, and somewhen you notice that you also want to have something outside, as a balance. We just missed the balance to the career. Suddenly it was just that [the career] and there was nothing privately and we could lead no private life at all, and so we thought "Okay, we just need that now."

Woman: And how do you live in LA now? Do you live together?

Tom: Yes, we live together and we'll probably always have it like this. We can't even imagine to live seperately.

Bill: Nah in our house it's like a big living community...

Tom: But at our place it's always full, we always have friends over, family, so someone's always there, it's never only the two of us in the house, so yeah...

Part 2 - Two brothers, an opinion

Woman: What would interest me, do you have a special twin connection? Because that really exists, that when you're not together once, you still feel that the other twin feels bad...

Tom: Exactly, you dream the same things and so on...

Woman: Are you serious?

Tom: Yes!

Bill: Well, the thing is what most of the people would never expect at all, but Tom can't be without me at all, even less than I can't be without him.

Tom: (interrupts) That's such a... He planned to spread that rumor now!

Bill: Nah, Tom can't even.. he wouldn't even fly to New York for two days without me! When I sometimes do things on my own, he immediately calls or texts me "Where are you? When will you come home? May I go with you?"....

Georg: (in the background) May I go with you...

Bill: ... so we always do things together, we can't... it's like we're one person, there isn't one thing in this world that Tom doesn't know about me and vice versa. There's not a single secret between us.

Woman: Can I test that?

Bill: Yeah.

Woman: I have a bet for you, a backstage-bet. Yours would be "How well do I know my brother?". So you sit back to back that you can't see each other. I'll make claims about you, and if it's true, then thumbs up, if it's not true, then thumbs down. If I win, then I'll go with you to your release party.

Bill: Okay, deal!

Tom: What if we win?

Woman: Then, uhm...

Tom: ... you won't come. *twins laugh*

Woman: Well okay, deal!

Tom: That means you'll get something and we don't get anything, okay...

Woman: Well, I'll start now. - Tom takes a long time in front of the mirror in the morning.

Tom: *thumbs up*

Bill: Tom, you also have to think about what I'd say. *thumbs up*

Woman: So I think we can say that's the first conformity. How much time does Tom take in the bathroom?

Bill: 1 1/2 hours.

Tom: Bullshit!

*twins laugh*

Bill: But you have to put lotion on your whole body!

Tom: Well, that's the problem...

Woman: That means when you did thumbs up and that's 1 1/2 hours, then it means that you even take longer than 1 1/2 hours, that's a bit crazy!

Tom: The crazy thing is that.. well, I have the quirk that I always put lotion on my entire body as soon as water touches my body. And especially for my lower regions that takes its time.

Woman: Uhm, next... you have the point! Next claim. Bill drinks his coffee black.

*both thumbs down*

Woman: Okay. Point for you. Tom is homesick for Germany.

Bill: Ehmm.. 

*both thumbs down*

Woman: Conformity. Bill was the better pupil.

*both thumbs down*

Woman: Tom was the first to have girls.

*both thumbs up*

Tom: Wasn't that a conformity or...

Bill: It was.

Woman: Of course! I don't even have to say anything anymore. I just think "shit shit shit" now, it was so clear. - Bill gets jealous very fast.

*both thumbs up*

Woman: Point for you again! Are we at 7 points already?

Georg: One point left, then the game's over. So the release party is history for you.

Woman: Well, I have one left. Bill sleeps naked.

*both thumbs down*

Woman: Ugh, boring! Okay, you won.

*Bill and Tom cheering*

Woman: Do you still want to do the ones who are left?

Bill: Yeah.

Woman: Tom is impatient.

*both thumbs up*

Woman: Bill's favorite color is red.

*Bill is unsure and starts to laugh*

Bill: I don't even know that myself.

Tom: Me neither. ... *they're laughing* We've never talked about that.

Woman: Nice that you both don't agree on that. Attention, I still have one. Tom talks in his sleep.

*both thumbs down*

Woman: That's also right.

Tom: Very good.

Woman: Oh man, you're flagship-twins!

Bill: Well, we told you that we're like one person.

Woman: Okay guys, then we'll stop, you'll get rid of me now, we'll never see each other again, but it was really nice with you though!

Bill: Tom: Thank you!

Woman: And I wish you a lot of success with the album and have fun at "Wetten, dass..." tomorrow!

Bill: Thank you very much!

Credits for the English Translation to Herzblut @ TokioHotel_Info 

Interview With Bill & Tom - "Bill & Tom Kaulitz über's Erwachsenwerden" - Mate #43/2014 [Germany]

"Bill & Tom Kaulitz über's Erwachsenwerden"

Idolized, dismissed, celebrated and sneered at, but never overlooked: After the release of their debut single “Durch den Monsun”, Tokio Hotel became one of the most successful German music export of the past decade. Especially in France the band found a buyership and their singles and albums found a spot in the French charts. By now, even the average German who listens to music has come to terms with the expressive style of frontman Bill Kaulitz – you could even say that people are proud of the four boys from Germany, because they made it abroad – a rarity for German artists. In our interview with Bill and Tom Kaulitz, we intended to find out where they have been in the past four years, if we will – at one point – get to see Bill wear a plain T-Shirt and Jeans and especially: how the new album sounds.

Your, by now, fourth studio album will be released soon. It’s been five years since you released your last one. A year after releasing “Humanoid” you decided to take a break from your life in the limelight and moved to Los Angeles.
Bill: Yes, frightentingly, four years already passed.

Why did you choose to move to America specifically?
Bill: It was a spontaneous decision. We knew we had to leave Germany, and we already knew some people in L.A. – therefore it could’ve been any other city. At that time we had been looking for a secondary residence for a while now and didn’t even intend to move out of Germany completely.
Tom: After the situation had gotten so crazy in Germany, we basically just ended up moving away over night. We hadn’t even seen the house we would move into, we just chose it online. Then we simply packed our things and moved, without a return ticket.

How hard was “doing nothing” for you?
Both: Not hard at all! (laugh)
Bill: It would be stupid to say that we worked on the album the whole time. At first we really didn’t do anything. We simply chilled and did things that we didn’t have time to do before.

In 2013 you were part of the Jury for “DSDS”. Was this because you did miss being on stage a little?
Bill: We just didn’t have the time for such things. When we were on the road with Tokio Hotel, being in the jury of a casting show was out of question. There were constantly offers for such a job, and at one point it was just so good that we couldn’t even say no to that anymore.
Tom: (laughs)

How did you stay in touch with your fans in the past four years? You uploaded a bunch of backstage videos on your Youtube-Channel. Was that a way for you to say: “Hey, we’re back!”?
Bill: Yes, we basically started with posting Tokio Hotel TV episodes again. We had already done this in the past. With the new album we started giving people a look into our life and a behind-the-scenes look at our studio work again.

Tom, in the official trailer for the new album we also see you mixing the songs, apart from just playing the guitar. When did you exchange the guitar for the mixing console?
Tom: It was more out of a necessity. When we started that whole process of picking the first songs, making music and meeting with producers again it all went in a direction that we didn’t want to go into. Writing sessions with other songwriters, for example, didn’t go the way we imagined them to. And that’s why I told Bill that we had to do everything on our own. We built up our homestudio and just started. It wasn’t even with the goal to produce the whole album. It just developed like that and now Bill and I are executive producers of the album and it just so happened that I produced a majority of the songs. It’s a great feeling, but it was – of course – only possible because we had so much time for that process to happen.

Let’s talk about the trailer again: Bill, in it you yourself say that you do say “no” to some songs that took hours to produce. Who in the band has the last word when it comes to choosing songs? Or is it indeed a group decision?
Bill: We’re pretending that it’s a group decision, but in reality I’m the one pulling the strings in the background (grins). Of course we do decide it together, and we make sure that everyone can live with the decision. We know what’s important for the other. Tom knows, that if I say “No” to a song in a specific way, he knows that he doesn’t even have to try to convince me otherwhise, because he knows he won’t change my view on it – he let’s it go and vice versa.

Who’s responsible for the lyrics?
Bill: We all wrote the album together.
Tom: But the majority of them have been written by you.
Bill: Of course I’m mainly responsible for the lyrics. A few songs have been completely written by us, others with other songwriters and producers.
Tom: If the lyrics are brilliant and on point, then they’ve been written by me. Everything else by Bill. (grins)
Bill: (laughs)

You’re using more more electronic effects and vocoders – is that the direction Tokio Hotel will be taking musically in the future?
Tom:  Especially when it comes to the vocal effects, I wouldn’t really say that that is where our musical style is going. It always depends on the song. We didn’t set a goal to use a vocoder or autotune. There are vocals you can do a lot of different things with, and this sounds cliché, but then there are also some that even sound good with an obscene amount of autotune, and that’s the category Bill’s voice fits into. At first I left those effects out of the song, because I thought that they weren’t needed. But then Bill kept on singing flat, because he can’t sing so the effects were needed. (grins, Bill laughs)
Bill: We didn’t really think of a direction we wanted to take the album in. That was also partly a reason why we took a break, because we didn’t really know what we wanted to do musically. But since so much time passed, a lot of things happened. You change and develop a different taste. The album was also inspired by the nightlife, since we went out and partied a lot. We wanted to make music that we, ourselves, love listening to.

What was the last album you bought?
Tom: I mostly just buy songs. I just recently bought a song from – how is he even called? José?
Bill: (jumps in) Hozier or something. I don’t even know how to pronounce his name.
Tom: What’s the song called?
Bill: “Take Me To Church”
Tom: “Take Me To Church”. That’s the one I bought. We created our own playlist on Spotify in which we hid the clue for the release date of our album. The playlist pretty much reflects our music taste.
Bill: I also love Robyn. I buy every song she releases. I also really like Ellie Goulding.

The styling was also always an important part of Tokio Hotel. What can we expect there?
Bill: You can expect a lot. (both laugh) Apart from the music, the visual aspect of everything is also very, very important. We had a great photoshoot the other day where we just let loose. My style constantly changes anyway.
Tom: Bill definitely let loose, the rest of the band just relaxed. (laughs)

Bill, you also wear costumes on stage that don’t really look all that comfortable. Do you sometimes wish to just play a show in a simple T-Shirt and Jeans?
Bill: When I go out with my dog I also sometimes wear sweatpants. It would never even cross my mind to wear that on stage. When we’re on tour and I don’t have an outfit to wear I feel really uncomfortable. Wearing a basecap, jeans and a t-shirt on stage would probably make me feel really insecure.

You always gave off that vibe of handling the media in a very relaxed manner, especially you, Tom, seem like you’re having fun teasing journalists. How would you describe the relationship you have with the media?
Tom: Yes, we try to handle them in a very relaxed manner. But I do have to admit that this wasn’t always the case. I already had my first headline in BILD before our first song was even released. The next day I had to go to school and confront my colleagues there. As a young person you do get overwhelmed by it. At one point you just learn to deal with the situation, because it’s part of this job. It was a process, it didn’t just happen magically. You try and find a balance. When our career took off, we just did stuff that came our way. Now we do choose them wisely.

Do you think it was easier or harder for you to handle the media because you were so young?
Both: Easier.
Bill: I think when you’re that young you don’t really think about it. The older you get – and everyone probably knows that feeling – the more you think about this or that thing. You get nervous more easily and some things get harder for you to do. As a young person you just take things in stride. That’s like Alcohol or Drugs. As a young person you pulled an all-nighter and get up the next day. Today you think more along the lines: “Ok, when do I have to get up tomorrow?”

Are you grown-ups now?
Tom: We just recently had that conversation. We were sitting outside, the sun was just coming up because our rhythm is really skewed. I said: “We’re 25 now and I still feel like a little boy.”
Bill: I also don’t feel like a grown up. You’re just more mature in the sense that you put more though into what you do, and that you take more care of yourself. When you turn 25, people say that it just all goes downhill from there. (laughs)
Tom: That’s because when you look in the mirrow now you can actually see the traces of the night before on your face. (grins)
Bill: You always feel younger on the inside.
Tom: When I was 15 I felt like an adult.
Bill: Exactly! When I was 15-years old I went to clubs and thought: “How dare they ask me for an ID”. And today I just feel so young and almost shocked when people think that I’m older than I actually am. I believe that you learn a lot as time goes on. We will probably look back at this album and the interviews we gave, when we release our next one, and think: “Look how young and inexperience we were!”. I think you never really grow up in that aspect.
Tom: Especially when you can do what you want to. We’ve been doing that since we turned 15. (grins)

Translation: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com

Interview with Bill & Tom - "Americans think we're some weird german celebrities" - stuttgarter-zeitung.de

„AMERICANS THINK WE’RE SOME WEIRD GERMAN CELEBRITIES“

Los Angeles – As a teen band Tokio Hotel from Madgeburg, broke all the records in the 00s. But the success soon overwhelmed the two front men, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, which was why, back in 2009, they decided to flee into anonimity. In Los Angeles the, now 25-year old, twins didn’t just find their luck, but also the muse for a new album. It’s called “Kings Of Suburbia” and is about “the feeling, that means everything but at the same time nothing”. In our interview the brothers talk about home, their English lyrics and paparazzi in Los Angeles.

Bill and Tom Kaulitz, this interview is taking place at one in the morning (californian time). Are you nocturnal people?
Tom Kaulitz: For us that’s even early. Our rhythm is pretty skewed. We always stay up until six or seven in the morning and get up when the sun is already going down again.

The new album “Kings Of Suburbia” only sounds melancholy, from time to time even optimistic in comparison to your past music, which sounded more gloomy. What happened?
Bill Kaulitz: We found new inspiration in the US, since we’re living a completely different life here than we did in Germany. It also has something to do with the fact that we were able to retreat and not do anything for a long time. Of course we also changed. The music on our new album feels good to us though. It’s not a concept album where everything was planned through, we simply started with writing and producing.

Why didn’t you just decide to work with a popular producer from L.A.?
Bill: We did actually work with a few people from L.A., Rock Mafia for example. But also worked with our old team.
Tom: The first few sessions were really unsatisfying for us, because music wise, it just wasn’t going in the direction we wanted it to. That’s when we realized that we wanted to do everything ourselves. We built up our home studio and recorded songs in different parts of the world. The cornerstone for the album was the song “Stormy Weather”, which has been for three years years already.

To what extent were you able to refince your individual specialties in L.A.?
Tom: We were totally able to do that. But it was less because of the city L.A., even if you do run into international artists and producers pretty often. We learned a lot here, but what really helped us was the time. We had five years to master the art of mixing and producing a song.

Are you not interested in writing German songs anymore?
Tom: This time there aren’t any German ones, because we find it difficult to translate our lyrics word for word without them losing their meaning. We already noticed that with our last album. We didn’t want to go through this process again. Today we either immediately write the song in English or in German, and with this album we just kept writing in English so we thought: Let’s keep it that way! We didn’t want to force anything.

Does Los Angeles feel like home to you?
Bill: We like living here, but we could also decide to go to India tomorrow. There are a lot of things I miss about Germany, that’s why I like coming back once in a while. But I also like going back to L.A.. Home, for us, is where the people live with whom we get along, since we took our family and our dogs with us to the US.

Is the album a hommage to life in Los Angeles?
Bill: It’s more a hommage to our own life. Germany just didn’t work for us anymore, because in the end we didn’t really have a private life left next to our career. Moving to L.A. was the right decision for us. It doesn’t have anything to do with the city itself. It’s important for us to find the right balance between our job and our private life.

Do people in L.A. expect you to take part in the social life of the high society?
Tom: Yes, they totally do. A lot of celebrities there can’t understand the fact that we don’t want to. We came to L.A. to retract. We didn’t want to go to any parties, have paparazzi surround us or walk the red carpet. For a lot of people here that’s normal though, even calling photographers is. I’m not in the mood for all that when it isn’t an officially scheduled appointment/date. It bores me – maybe because we already went through a lot of similar situations. We just want to make music, and as soon as we get home, we don’t want to have anything to do with Hollywood. I think a lot of Americans think we’re some weird German celebrities because of that.

Do you still live together?
Bill: Yes. We couldn’t even imagine living seperately from each other. That would be compeletely unnatural for us, because we don’t even like to spend a second without the other.

Did you go through the same experiences/gain the same insights in the US or do they now differ when it comes to certain things?
Bill: Each of us, of course, has some private things going on, but if Tom has some kind of problem then it immediately turns into my problem. I actually never need Tom’s advice. He usually already knows about any problem I might have. If I needed advice I would probably ask a friend or my mom.

Is your togetherness exhausting for people you work with?
Tom: I know that, from time to time, people would prefer to have only one of us talking to them on the phone. It’s just that I’m the likeable twin and Bill the unlikeable one. (Bill laughs)
Bill: I myself sometimes think that we’re exhausting. Since we’re of the same opinion most of the time, people always have to deal with a unit if they go against us.

How often do you meet up, as a band, with the other two band members?
Tom: For a while we only skyped. When everything started again the other two flew over here a few times. But we’ve also been to Germany in between, even if it wasn’t often.
Bill: It sounds cheesy, but we’re really good friends. When we see each other again, after a long break, it’s just like it was before. This energy between us is back. For people looking in, especially for our record label, it’s not always easy to get through to us. Sometimes I really feel bad for them.

In the video „Bill’s special Pill“ on your website, Bill suprises watchers with a his drug-related comment: “But with a little Heroin and a little Cocaine everything works.” Was that a joke or do people have a legitimate reason to worry?
Bill: Nooo, in this case it was only a joke. Someone who’s a real heroin or cocaine addict would probably never say that. I can’t lie – we do have a lot of fun here – I love the nightlife and everything it entails. However you have to say that the nightlife in Europe is a lot more awesome than the one in L.A. L.A. is a pretty boring city, but I still like to go out to party and drink. I really like this feeling of being alive. In Europe it wasn’t possible to do this that easily. But no, I’m not a heroin addict!

Bill and Tom Kaulitz, Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer released their debut single “Durch den Monsun” under the bandname Tokio Hotel in 2005 and immediately took the charts by storm. All their albums were extremely successful: „Schrei“ (2005), „Zimmer 483“ (2007) and „Humanoid“ (2009). Millions of girls, especially in Germany, lose their mind when Tokio Hotel perform.

Five years after their retreat to California the quartet is back – with a new look and a new sound. The songs from the album “Kings Of Suburbia”, which will drop on 3. October, are more electronic than their old tracks and all written in English. Tokio Hotel will be guests at “Wetten dass…?” on 4. October.

Source: http://bit.ly/1ojrLxi
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com

Interview With Bill & Tom - RTL Exclusiv Weekend (12.05.2013)

Transcription:

Kena Amoa: It’s been decided at 11.05pm last night: the winner of DSDS‘ anniversary season is called Beatrice Egli. She also softened the Tokio Hotel brothers Bill and Tom with Bohlen’s song “Mein Herz” [“My Heart”]. What advise do the twins give the budding “Schlager“ queen and where are things going for Tokio Hotel from here on now? Comeback or rather more private life in Los Angeles? David M. and Pamela Sch. met the twins for the big DSDS final interview.

Voice-over: There really was a very thin line between joy and sorrow yesterday evening. On one hand there was the winner Beatrice Egli and on the other, there was the loser Lisa Wohlgemuth. She, who had some kind of a premonition all evening.
Lisa: Beatrice will surely make it.

Voice-over: She was right after all. Beatrice: Super star from now on. Her first single “Mein Herz“ is already number 1 in the iTunes charts and the hype is massive. That’s something they’re familiar with: Bill and Tom. The trip to the judges‘ desk has come to an end for the Tokio Hotel twins. Alongside Dieter Bohlen who’s nothing but full of praise [for them].

Dieter: We did sit next to each other all the time. That was perfect. On the beach we’ve had every… every once in a while we’ve had little discussions about candidates, the ones I’ve had with Bill. That was always totally friendly, and kind… I very much enjoyed working together with them. They really are two totally likable, endearing guys.

Voice-over: What’s up next for the Tokio Hotel brothers now? Private life or are they ready to jump back into the show business after a more than two years long hiatus in Los Angeles?
Bill: One can…
Tom: Well, now that I’m meeting you here, I’m thinking “Nah, I could do with more of a break…“ 
Bill: No joking aside, it’s like that. Once can’t… One can’t…. One can’t live with it and one can’t live without it. That’s just what it’s like a little.

Voice-over:  It’s 11.10pm. The winner has been known for five minutes. And we’re meeting Bill and Tom on the stage. Actually both of them are not the biggest fans of “Schlager“ music. However, somehow the overall “Beatrice“ package did manage to convince them in the end. 
Bill: A little while ago I’ve also seen that I said “No“ in the casting because I was really convinced… I thought like „Ok, that might somehow be enough… for a funny party somewhere in a village, like in a beer tent.” Because I was…
Tom: For me it wasn’t so much about warming to Schlager at all but rather about her having already found her genre and somehow she just was already the kind of artist who stood for something.

Voice-over:  In these minutes Beatrice Egli still can’t believe her luck.
Reporter: Can you already believe it somehow? You actually made it.
Beatrice: Erm… Nah, I can’t believe it. I’m singing Schlager because I’m purely passionate about it and people let themselves get bitten by the bug.

Voice-over:  What will be coming up next now? Can a career be planned? What things need to be considered? That’s what we want to talk about with Bill and Tom. Their career is unparalleled. They became mega stars aged 14, received international awards, have got screaming fans. They know all of this. However, first of all there’s one thing we need to settle: Tom Kaulitz’ extremely buff upper body.

Reporter: What happened there? How often are you at the gym?
Tom: I’m not often at all at the gym. That’s all…
Reporter: Oh, come on!
Tom: … natural.
Reporter: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom: I’m lucky.

Voice-over:  By all means, a second career as an underwear model is not out of the question. However, it’s currently not up for debate. Bill and Tom are working on the new album. Their hiatus in Los Angeles has already been going on for more than two years. Now there’s this massive hype again with them being members of the judging panel on DSDS.

Reporter: They’re still screaming hysterically, there are barriers. Is that something now, erm, that you… where you say to yourselves “We’re ready for this again.” or are you saying “Nah, it’s quite good that we’re rather backing away from it a little right now.”
Bill: Well, it was definitely good. Well, the way I feel is that when, erm… I then… Well, I’m a total workaholic. I can’t sit still at all and can’t be not working. Meaning, that even when we’re withdrawing ourselves, we certainly still keep on working in the background. One also has to say this of course. Well, of course we’re still always in the studio then and keep on doing everything in the background then. That’s what we’ve also been doing all those previous years. Erm, therefore, I can’t just only hang around. Erm, however, it did feel extremely good to back away from the public and to deliberately have a break.

Voice-over:  The new album is supposed to be released this very year and that also means there’s bound to be lots of publicity again. Stressful promotion, tours. All those things the twins desperately needed to distance themselves from in September 2010.

Bill: Well, one has got to say that we… deliberately make and deliberately try to withdraw ourselves. Meaning, all photos and all the things that came up really happened unintentionally. So, we would never call someone or knowingly go someplace where something like this happens but rather we’ve really tried… and keeping our private life undisclosed is something we plan with utmost care. Erm, to not disclose where we live, what we do, erm… to just draw a line, you know? That’s because we were very young when we were in the public eye and of course we’ve then somehow tried to create a private life for ourselves.

Voice-over:  That’s not so easy with half of the republic watching how Bill and Tom were growing up. Whereas Tom has always been happy-go-lucky with regards to his affairs, Bill recently declared in an interview to never really have been in love. Quote: “To this day I haven’t found somebody to whom I could say ‘Yes, I love you. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

Tom: It has always been tough for Bill though. I mean, he got to know many people who only ever wanted to get to me through him and that just changed his standard and of course that’s disappointing.
Bill: *laughs* Yes, it’s still like this.
Reporter: However, you do believe in love?
Bill: I believe in love. Certainly! Well, of course. Well, I’ve always been saying this, back when I was 14, 15 and I’m still saying it these days that to me love is just the most important thing for everybody. I mean, that’s what it’s all about in life.

Voice-over:  What advice can the old showbiz hands Bill and Tom give or want to give this year’s winner and newcomer Beatrice Egli?
Tom: Advice, yeah, that’s something we actually don’t like to give, like. Well, I do think that they somehow have to figure it out by themselves and, and have to fall flat on their faces and so on but, erm… we… Of course I’m able to relate to it. And especially right now when I’m seeing Lisa like that. Somehow that does make one feel bad, even though we’re saying, like, “Yes, we’re supporting Beatrice.” Which we were!

Voice-over:  The upcoming weeks will be exciting for Beatrice Egli: video shoot, album production, TV appearances. Tokio Hotel intend to release their new album at the end of the year and when we ask them what their biggest dream would be they surprise us with the following statement at the end of the interview.
Bill: Well, Tom and I absolutely want to go to India.
Tom: Yes.
Bill: We want… We’re always toying with the idea of completely parting with all the things, we’ve got, cars, house, pool, whatever else there is of all the luxury articles one has got and that one does not carry around in their backpack and erm… to just take off, not telling anyone, and to completely go into hiding.

Voice-over:  That’s definitely very new to our ears. However, the spiritual quest for meaning in India is hopefully pie in the sky because before it’s time to retreat once more the musical comeback is on the agenda first for now.

Translation / Transcript by http://tokiohotelstreetteam.co.uk

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