(21.10.2014)

Bill Kaulitz: “The balance was missing“

Four years ago the twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz moved to Los Angeles and enjoyed life out of the spotlight. Now they are back with a new album. In the Interview with “spot on news” Bill Kaulitz and Gustav Schäfer talk about the hiatus and why their comeback actually isn’t a real comeback.

The ex-teenie-band has just released their new album “Kings of Suburbia”. Before that the four boys had been disappeared from the screen for four years. The twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz (25) ended up in Los Angeles. Also Gustav Schäfer (26) and Georg Listing (27) caught up on a lot of things in that time. But the new record is a success again. At the beginning of the sale the album was on #1 in various countries.

It must be a good feeling to know that the fanbase still exists…
Bill: That’s so cool! It has always been incredible. In the four years we still won awards from time to time. Our fans were always voting for us. Even in that time when we didn’t do anything actually. The support of our fans is incredible and not taken for granted. Before our break we’ve been told: You can’t do that, it’s “career-suicide”. But we accepted it. We didn’t want to make an album we don’t like or which is only half as amazing. But we just personally needed the time. And at the end of the day it wasn’t career suicide.

Why did you move to Los Angeles with Tom in 2010?
Bill: At the end we didn’t have fun here anymore. We couldn’t build up a private life apart from our career. The balance was missing. After our house had been broken in, we told ourselves: We won’t look for a new house here again and build a prison for ourselves, in which you can’t look into. Within four weeks we planned, packed our bags and just left.

Which things couldn’t you do in Germany anymore?
Bill: Actually anything. It already starts with ordering a pizza. Or in the hotel, we checked in with cover names. We can’t stay at a place here for too long. We always had security people with us. There were always 20 people following us in the car and 50 stood in front of our house. Then your private life takes place inside of your own four walls behind a gate and a fence. You don’t get anything of life or the world anymore.

How was it in LA?
Bill: It was totally different. In the morning I asked myself: What will I do today? Am I going to the restaurant or go grab a coffee? Just the normal things, for example to plan the day on your own. If I wanted to go out with my dog now, it would have to be organized first. When you’re on tour it’s okay, but you just don’t want that in your private life. You need the balance and we found it in LA.

There you could live like normal 20-year-olds…
Bill: Absolutely, we partied in night clubs, and sometimes we were pissed like a rat. Just like others in our age do it as well, just without it being written in the newspapers the next day. We didn’t want private stories anymore. The music wasn’t in the foreground. It was way more interesting what we say or do, where we live, what we wear and who we sleep with. In the four years we didn’t do any interviews, to bring in a bit of calmness again.

What did you not like about LA?
Bill: For example that every club closes at 2am. At 1.45am you get your last drink and at exactly 2am in every club and bar the lights go on. So you have to already start drinking in the afternoon. I won’t ever get used to that! It’s annoying me so much that I even almost would rather like to move to New York by now. Furthermore we miss the German bread, plum cake and driving fast on the Autobahn.

Gustav, what did Georg and you do in that time?
Gustav: Georg as well as I traveled to cities we have actually already been to for a hundred times, but where we didn’t see anything apart from the airport and the hotel. Just like me Georg was also in Paris for the first time. There we went with the metro for the first time.

For the first time at all?
Gustav: Yes, for the first time in my life. In Paris. We have also been on the Eiffel Tower, the whole tourist-thing with lining up and so on. That was fun!

Did you get recognized?
Gustav: No, not at all. That was a good feeling.

So, also a break for you two…
Gustav: Yes, we also caught up on the missing time with our families. For example just having lunch at Sunday noon. Of course we also didn’t leave out partying.

Why now the comeback?
Bill: For us it doesn’t feel like a comeback. Until the end of 2011 we still were on tour in South America, Japan and Russia. Then we took a break for 1 1/2 years. It didn’t feel like it was that long. Then we started to make music in the studio again. We didn’t put our feet up for four years straight. Back then it used to be normal that bands didn’t release a new album for four years. And we never split up. It was clear that we would make another album one day. Only the point of time wasn’t clear.

Are you worried about the future? What if one day you won’t have success with your music anymore?
Bill: After the fourth album we are relatively relaxed. I think we’ll always have a future with music. We can say that relatively self-confident. We built up a good base in the last ten years which will always be there. That has rather less to do with the success of a single album. Furthermore there are a lot of other fields in music: Tom for example wants to write and produce for other artists.

Can’t you imagine something else?
Bill: No. I’m incredibly thankful that we all could go this way. I can’t imagine doing an other normal job, which I actually don’t want to do. We have the luck every day to do what we love and like to do and what we also feel called to do.

Wolfgang Joop likes your style. What does fashion and style mean to you? Is that art for you?
Bill: Yes, totally. Fashion is my second biggest passion next to music. For me that also goes along with each other. I don’t see myself as singer-songwriter who stands on stage and only sings. I have always been more of a singer and performer. I like to have a show. We do a lot more on tour than just playing our instruments. For me fashion is a part of that as well. I also fulfilled some of my dreams concerning that matter: I worked with photographers, labels and designers I have already wanted to work with for a long time. I really have embosomed Wolfgang and we get along very well. He’s a great designer. One of my big dreams is to have a fashion line one day. I want to fulfil this dream for myself one day. But also concerning that I want to take time to do it seriously. I don’t want to simply write my name on something. There are also already some designs and names I have been working on for some years now. By now there hasn’t been the right moment yet, but it will come one day.

But for now the music’s first?
Bill: The next time it’s the album’s turn. We have an incredibly full schedule, there is no minute for other things. Therefore it will still take a bit of time.

– original article

Translation by:Herzblut

(04.10.2014)

Friendship, Sex, Money, and All the Rest

After a four year break, Bill and Tom talk with us about their life after leaving Germany. Gustav and Georg are happy that the band continued making music. An interview by Sophie Albers and Ben Chamo.

How do you feel now, after your first fan contact and press conference, after this four year break?
Bill: It was a long, but good, day. We actually just talked about that in the car: Everything went really well.
Tom: There are, of course, days that don’t go so well. I always try not to lose my train of thought, but sometimes you just have those days where the interviewers want to annoy you. But today: We got some good feedback, had nice conversations.

How close have you guys actually been in the past four years?
Georg: Very close actually.
Tom: Just as close as we always were, the only difference was that we didn’t go out with each other as much. We’ve been friends for 14 years now, not much can happen now to change that. We can go two or three months without being in contact at all, but when we meet again it feels like the last time we saw each other was only yesterday.

But geographically you’ve actually been quite far apart.
Georg: We temporarily also spent some time over there, we talked on the phone and Skyped with each other. We always stayed in contact in some way.
Gustav: If we couldn’t physically be there, then we saw each other via Skype.

Could you actually have lived the rest of your life from the money you earned in the past? Could you have retired?
Bill: Depends on how you would have wanted to live. It depends on your standards. I honestly never thought about it in that way.
Tom: We could have lived a pretty normal life after releasing “Monsun” until the end of our time. It was never a topic that came up though, because we invested most of the money we made into our career. We’ve had people and companies working for us since we turned 15…

What type of companies?
Tom: Band companies. The band is our one true love and what we live off. We invest an unbelievable amount of time and money into our stage productions and videos. We did that since we started. It was always very important to us. We never really made sure to get the biggest profit out of something. On tour, a lot of partners always asked us why we spend so much money on our stage productions.

Did you miss being on stage?
Gustav: Yes.
Bill: Definitely! Absolutely! We attended a few concerts in the US and watched other bands play. I always thought: Aaah, I want to be on stage too.
Gustav: It does make you shed a little tear.
Bill: Of course it’s nice to be on the other side for once, and be able to relax for once. And I think you can also learn a lot, when you see what things other bands pull on stage. When you’re only standing up there without doing anything, you sometimes don’t know how the audience is going to like it. I enjoyed attending Coachella without the pressure of having to perform soon. In the condition I was in sometimes, it wouldn’t even have been possible. (laughs)
Tom: We’re also always extremely nervous before we go on stage.

What? After all these years?
Bill: Oh yes. When we’re on tour I’m the most nervous person in the world. I’m so nervous that I’m afraid of fainting at some point. I always feel like I’m another person in that moment. You can’t even approach me at that time because I’m so concentrated.
Georg: We always obsess about this together.
Bill: One and a half hours before each show, we have off-time. No interview, no pictures, nothing. Because we’re so nervous.
Gustav: And all three of them are so nervous that I have my own room. They really obsess over everything, like lunatics. It’s annoying.
Bill: But you also get nervous.
Gustav: I get nervous, yes, but I’d rather lie down for 20 minutes.
Bill: But the moment I’m on stage, everything is okay again. The worst part is before you go on stage. And it’s not getting better.

Did you choose the album release date on purpose? Because of the re-unification of Germany?
Bill: Nope, I actually only noticed it when someone told me.
Tom: Are the stores actually open that day, so people can buy the CD?
Georg: No, that’s the problem.
Tom: We released our album that day and no one can buy it?

But you can download it. How hard is it, coming back? Georg, Gustav you led less of a “wild life” in the meantime, therefore you essentially had to make a decision: Back to the craziness or not?
Georg: To be honest, I never actually asked myself that question. It was always clear to us that the four of us would be doing something together and be on the road again.
Tom: We just didn’t want to work on a new album for a while. It wasn’t the disbandment of the band.
Georg: I didn’t spend a second thinking about that. “What will you do now, study business studies?”
(loud laughter)
Bill: For everyone else it feels like a longer period of time passed. In 2011 we were still on tour, then we didn’t do anything for a year and in 2013 we had actually planned to release our next album. But we made a last minute decision and said no, because it was going really well in the studio. We didn’t plan that four years would pass. We never said that we’re taking a break now. We just didn’t know when and how we would continue.

When did you actually get that tattoo on your hand?
Bill: Shortly after I moved to L.A.
Gustav: That one is already old.

Why something so morbid?
Tom: Pride in being ugly.
Bill: I thought it was beautiful. I wanted to get a tattoo that covers my whole hand and I found a tattoo artist in L.A. that I really liked. He also did all my other tattoos.

At the press conference you were labeled the representatives of the “selfie generation”. Does it mean something to you?
Tom: By now, yes. In the beginning we still wanted to print autograph cards. Then we realized that it doesn’t make sense anymore, because people only want to take selfies nowadays. We’re still from that classic time where everyone wanted to have something signed, but those times are over.
Bill: Yes, sometimes we even feel a little old school. When we started, there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram! Ten years ago, when we released out album “Schrei” everyone was standing there with our album in their hand and they wanted to have it signed. Nowadays no one wants an autograph anymore! It even happens that people want to take a picture and I say “I can’t really do that right now, but I can sign something for you”, and then they say: “No, I don’t need an autograph”. We didn’t have any social media accounts for a long time, we actually just started with that. Everything changed.
Tom: But I think that change is good, it also has positive sides. We just noticed that artists have their own medium now and that they can control it in a different way than in the past. We can send out something when we want to.
Bill: Only yesterday we activated our Tokio Hotel Instagram account

Your videos have been received by people as being very controversial. Why are you so against people describing them as being “provocative”?
Bill: I simply cannot understand why people are so enraged over the video for “Girl Got A Gun”!
Tom: I didn’t expect that. I thought they would find it atypical. I thought it was funny.
Bill: Exactly! A lot of people took it way too serious. Oh my god, where do all those discussions about it lead?! We thought of that plushie being a cool gag/joke. But it shouldn’t be a huge deal that it has a penis.

Did you discuss it as a band? Did you find it less funny than the others, Georg?
Georg: We all thought it was funny. It was actually more about the cool video director for us.
Bill: Apart from that, there was quite a timespan between us seeing the videos and the covers. We chose them individually, it wasn’t a package that had been planned before. You have to look at those things separately.
Tom: The single cover for “Love who loves you back” was my idea. I found it online and couldn’t stop laughing. I thought it was a perfect fit.

But it is a little cynical.
Tom: It has some depth to it for me. Look, I for example, only found my love by watching porn online for years. By using the computer mouse. Like on the picture.
Bill: There are a lot of people out there that find their love on the internet. Just as many people have watched porn online at least once in their life. We thought that it fit the theme.

Tom, that’s not funny at all, it’s sad.
Tom: We still think that the single cover is funny.
Bill: It does have a meaning. We always decided on the cover art and the videos in the same moment we recorded the songs. Then we have an idea for it. We didn’t want to give the people a sex-package. That’s what the media is making out of it, but if you look closer, there’s more to it.

Bill, a question from women….
Tom: Women (laughs)
Don’t these shoes hurt?
Bill: Oh yeah, they are extremely uncomfortable. I actually almost face-planted while we were leaving, because there were so many people and Pumba pulled me. I almost took them off then.

But why are you doing this to yourself?
Bill: Because they look extremely good. You just have to get through this sometimes. I always had a penchant for extraordinary shoes. My shoe bag is bigger than my suitcase.
Tom: You don’t just have a inclination for extraordinary shoes.

Back to the topic of sex and “Love who loves you back”. I generally think that motto, “Love, who you want, regardless of age, looks and orientation”, is great. But is love not more than sex? And we’re back to the topic of online porn.
Tom: Finding your big love often starts with sex.
Bill: Exactly.
Gustav: You don’t want to buy a pig in a poke.
Georg: It’s an important part of love. There cannot be good love without good sex.
Tom: We’re still in that phase where we have a pretty active sex-life.
Gustav: And afterwards you have the internet again.

Were you disappointed that your fans were so quiet at the press conference?
Bill: I actually didn’t think about this yet. It didn’t strike me as being negative. I think at concerts it’s going to get louder again. Today the media was were, therefore they held back a little. It felt good though. The tickets were exclusively raffled to few fans.

You could have also been relieved about that.
Tom: That they haven’t been screaming that loudly, there is hardly a more energetic audience than the one we had. By no means do I want the people to only applaud, and not scream anymore. There is no greater feeling for an artist when they’re on stage, than when people are going bonkers. Privately it’s a whole different story.

Will L.A. stay your home for now?
Bill: Yes. Even though I also really want to go to New York. I really love that city. L.A. is a little boring. I’m so hungry for life and adventures. I always think that I’m missing out on so many things.

What is life?
Bill: I don’t know. But for me, it already starts with the fact that when I’m home on weekends, I’m not able to relax at home and watch a movie. I always want to go out and socialize. I like when I’m surrounded by a lot of people. We also always have someone visiting us at home. I like having a full house.
Tom: We’ll stay in the US for now. It’s more relaxing for us.

– original article

(12.10.2014)

“We are shocked that there is homophobia in France”

Pure Charts invites you to discover the second part of the interview with Tokio Hotel, as part of the release of the album “Kings of Suburbia.” The group now talks gay marriage, homophobia in France, a critical look at the Bill, the character Conchita Wurst and even his solo projects …

Q: With a song like “Love Who Loves You Back” and its a very sexual clip, you knew it would shock a few …
Tom: It’s true they are a little more shocked than we thought! (Laughs) With the video for “Girl Got A Gun” also, people were a little crazy. But, I said, “Why It’s my favorite video!”. I did not think they would talk about the character Toko, the guy in blue, and it’s a shock! I love this video! It’s the same thing for “Love Who Loves You Back”, we had the idea long ago. It is inspired by the German film “Perfume”. There is a scene where people want to kill the character. There are hundreds of people shouting at him, he sprayed perfume and people start to love him and to love them. We go from hate to love. We loved this scene! We wanted to make a music video in this spirit, it turns into orgy. It has no fragrance but we have the music!
Bill: And it is a scandal because people make a scandal! One should not make a fuss. It’s just love, that is the message. I do not understand why people say, “Oow la la, there are boys with boys, girls with girls.” All right, we’re in 2014!

Q: I do not know if you are aware but the issue of marriage for all rocked France, it was pretty tense … It offends you?
Bill: Of course I am always shocked when I hear things like that, all this homophobia …
Tom: We’re shocked, because it’s always the same old story …
Bill: Everyone has the right to love who he wants, we must stop with these issues of gender, religion… In some countries, it is a problem. In other all goes well, it’s beautiful! We should not even ask the question …

“At school, I always had problems because of my look”

Q: By doing a song like “Love Who Loves You Back,” you wanted to help your fans with their sexuality identity?
Bill: Yes. We want to give them confidence. I’ve always been like that myself … I hate it when others tell you what to do, how to be, what to think or what to say. I believe in freedom. Everyone should be able to do what they want, love who he wants. It has always been here and that’s fine.

Q: Exactly, Bill, you had to face a lot of criticism on your look. It was hard to live?
Bill: The thing is what I had used when I was little (Smiles) I went to school with nail polish, make-up … I have always had problems.
Tom: I was the older brother who was defending him in the playground!
Bill: I have always been at odds. In hindsight, yes it was a provocation, perhaps I was trying to cause this reaction. But I’ve never understood why it might bother someone. I wanted to show everyone that I did not care, assuming, I told them: “Fuck you”. I had the habit so I do not care if you criticize my style. It does not affect me.

“Conchita Wurst won Eurovision because of her appearance”

Q:You’ve heard of Conchita Wurst who won the Eurovision this year?
Georg: Wurst (Laughs) It means sausage in German!
Bill: It’s cool that she won. She has a good voice. It’s a beautiful message!

Q: She will dance at the Crazy Horse. For the first time, a man in the spotlight of a magazine …
Bill: That’s great, it’s a good example for people, for tolerance.
Tom: After winning the Eurovision takes over her appearance than the song, I must admit. But that’s fine! This is a beautiful symbol.

“We would like to collaborate with a DJ”

Q: Your music has changed. You too. The media and the public still talk a lot about your appearance. You were expecting so much?
Bill: Yes! Expected. After that it is normal for me, fashion, look, the artwork, photos and stuff, it’s part of the package, what you create. We just need the music to always be present.

Q: Do not talk as the rest. Bill, you love you embark on a solo career?
Georg: I think! (laughs)
Tom: I’ll make one myself.
Bill: What? You, a solo career?
Tom: ‘Yes, me and my huge penis (They all laugh) I just looking for a stage name. Maybe Tom Long Dong! (Laughs)

“I’m going to launch a clothing line”

Bill: I’ve never really thought about. I am in the group musically, I do not have the desire to do a solo album. Not right away. But I would love to get a clothing line! I love working with other people. We would like to collaborate with a DJ soon … Nothing is planned. I have to find time to do things well. I just do not want to put my name, I want to draw etc. I’ve been working on designs for several years. When the time comes, it will come out.

– original article

(15.10.2014)

“We are continuing to grow as a band”

Tokio Hotel is back to music scene with their brand new album “Kings Of Suburbia”. And despite being busy, the guys found the time to talk with “Apelzin.ru” about the modern music industry, favourite artists and as well told us why it took so long to record the new album “Kings Of Suburbia”.

— Now you are on a European promo tour. Will u come to Russia?

We would like to come to Russia. I think in the near future (like next couple of days) that’s not going to happen. But we would like to come and tour. We are definitely going to come and play live and see our Russian fans for sure.

— So Russian fans will see you at your world tour in 2015?

Oh, yes!

— Your last tour “Welcome To Humanoid City” had multiple designs on the stage. What about future concerts? Will you prepare something special?

Yeah, always. I think that people can always expect that we will create a show. So we are not just playing instruments, we are always creating a show. It’s a great experience for everyone and then they can remember. So we will definitely put on something great. We have just started with our creative concepts and ideas. We are going to make a great show. It will be hard to top the last one because it was a great tour but we differently will plan something.

— For your new album “Kings Of Suburbia” you changed the style and now you sound more electronic and even dance. Will you continue to make songs in that way?

Yes, but you never know. We have been making music as a band for 14 years now. We are continuing to grow as a band — as artists, songwriters and producers. And you keep on doing the music and of course your influences are changing over the years. It’s hard to predict the future. We love the sound that we are doing right now and we will take it from there. And will see what the next record sounds like but for now we love what we are doing.

— It took you 5 years to make a new album. Can you say why it took so long?

First of all it wasn’t that long. We put out the last record in 2009 and we worked with the album over the course of the year. Then we toured for 1 and a half years. So we finished with the tour at the end of 2011. After that we took a year off and moved to Los Angeles. We just needed some time for the creative side as well. We wanted to step out from our careers and see what kind of music we wanted to do, and see how we want to keep on doing things from that point. And after one year of relaxing we started to work on the record. It took us a little bit longer than we thought but for the first time we produced everything on our own and wrote every song. It took a little while. It’s not like other artists who take the songs from other songwriters or wherever. We really wrote everything from scratch.

— What are your favorite songs from the new album?

This kind of question you can’t ask someone who is making an album. There are so many stories and personal involvement. It’s really hard to choose the songs because we choose the songs for this album that we love 100%. It probably will change whilst touring. For now it’s «We Found Us» and «Love Who Loves You Back».

— Over the last couple of weeks U2 gave away their new album and then Thom Yorke released his solo album using torrents. What do you think about this kind of way to present new music?

It’s hard to say to be honest. U2 got a cheque from “Apple”. If somebody will pay us 75 million then we will maybe consider to put records out like that but it’s hard to say. The music industry has changed a lot over the last few years and musicians and artist are using their music more and more for promotion. None of the artists are making much with the music anymore because nobody is buying CDs, and many people are not legally downloading. The main issue is illegally downloads, with people not buy the music. Free music has a good sides and bad sides. You kind have to go with the times but in generally it’s hard. We are songwriters, we are producers and we sitting in the studios for the years and you are creating your stuff. And this is why we are doing music, because we live from that. It’s our job. People are taking it for free and it’s strange feeling for every artist and every musician. But the time is changing so you have to go with it.

— So, illegal downloads are the biggest problem in the music industry right now?

Its always going be the biggest problem that people don’t buy the music. It’s pretty hard for everybody in the music industry. It seems to be getting worse and worse. The music industry has to find the way to survive. New techniques, new ways to make money on the music and continue to make music industry improve. It’s super hard now days because you don’t need a studio anymore. Time changes dramatically so people need to buy music as they are buying the clothes and food.

— What do you guys think about the modern pop industry? Which artists did you listen to recently?

We really love Robyn. And Ellie Goulding is amazing. Her production, vocal production and the sound is amazing. The last Arctic Monkeys’ album was great too.

— Yeah! It’s my favorite too.

It’s very good.

— With who from modern pop industry you would like to make a duet?

It’s hard to say. It really depends on the song. Maybe with some DJs. It also depends on personal relationships because we want to work with people who are great in the personal way not only good musicians. A couple of DJs will be cool to work with. Will see.

— We know that Bill’s dog – Pumba – is traveling with you guys. Does he feel like superstar already?

Oh yeah! He totally feels like a superstar. He has everything he wants from everyone. He is totally spoiled but he is great dog. The cutest dog on the Earth. He loves to travel and super chill. He is super sweet.

— How do you see yourselves in 10 years? What goals would you like to achieve?

Keep going on what we are doing. We are around for the 10 years and the main goal for us are keeping on doing what we love. Putting out records, going on tours and travelling the world.

— Wow. That sounds great. What would you say to your Russian fans?

We want to say thank you because we feel the support from Russia. The Russians fans are very supportive and we see it on social media. We can feel your love and want to come back as soon as possible. We will come to Russia with the new tour. We are 100% sure and we can not wait to present you our new album.

— Thank you guys, it was very lovely conversation. Good luck with your concerts and with promotion of your new album. I hope it’s going to be very successful. I mean it’s already quite popular.

Yeah! Thank you so much. See you and good luck. Bye!

– original article