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Transcript of Till & Schneider interview – Sweden

Host:Hello there and very welcome to Stockholm, we're live and direct from Queen street here in the centre of the city and once again we have some very nice guests here in the studio today. I have two of the guys from Rammstein, so you're here, very welcome.

Till & Christoph: Thanks

Christoph: Hello

Host: How has the day been here for you in Stockholm today?

Christoph: So far very well, we've had some interviews done and enjoyed the nice weather. It's fucking cold here (laughs)

Host: So what's it like promoting again. Is it weird to be back in the limelight so to say?

Till: Yeah, it really sucks, it's very hard, 10 or 12 sometimes 20 interviews, its.....

Christoph: We're promoting our new album the name is 'Mother'....

Till: It comes out the second of April, we called it the Mother's Day.

Host: Mothers Day?

Till: Yeah

Host: Is it worldwide, a worldwide release?

Till: Exactly, a worldwide release, yes.

Host: So what has the response been so far of the new single, what does people say to you?

Christoph: Things we heard about – it's doing very well. The single is......they play it on TV stations and ...um....

Till:: Actually, we don't really know, we just came from Australia and Japan, had a couple of days in Berlin and now we're here, so, some people talk on the phone and say it's quite good.

Host: Over here in Sweden, you're very famous for your live shows. You played a gin in Hultsfred which is down near the south of Sweden, a couple of years ago and the while scene sort of.....what happened, was it a huge fire, wasn't it?

Christoph: That was a usual Rammstein concert, I would say and we had a lot of fun and we had an extra pyro show because the stage were made of wood and it got burnt and some way, but nobody gets hurt, so far and I have good memories of the show.

Till: Was it a stage curtain or something, burned up?

Host: So I'd like to point out now that it's the viewers, its you that asks the questions to Rammstein so start sending us emails now but before we start with the questions we're going to have a little look at Rammstein live from Berlin.

----'Du Hast' from Live aus Berlin ----

Host: Rammstein live from Berlin. So its time now to start with the questions from all the viewers out there. We've seen that it's a lot of folks from sort of Mexico and the States and everywhere. So the first one is actually from a guy called Ulf Eng and it's a question: The question goes like this, you have an obvious inspiration from Kraftwerk and will that create some kind of joint project in the future with them?

Christoph: I don't think so. I think Kraftwerk are a German legend and they're a lot of influence to electronical music all over the world. We love them actually, we did a cover of one of the songs of Kraftwerk but they didn't like it and I don't think we're going to do anything together.

Till: It was a shitty cover version too, but...so I can't understand this guy.

Host: But are they like legends for you?

Till: Not......not for me, in a way, but it's a part of German music.

Host: German culture almost?

Christoph: Yeah, I think it's almost, one of the bands they ever made it in the world with German music, so Einsturzende Neubauten, and that's it.....Rammstein (laughs)

Host: So Mark Sanford from the US wants to know what can we expect from your new live show?

Till: Two dildos instead of one

Host: Something else?

Christoph: I think fire is gonna be a part of the show. We're gonna keep this and what we want to do is change the stage set of course, I think we should do the artwork of the cover to the show and we don't know yet what.

Till: We're teasing the Fire Marshalls still, of course.

Host: Actually I've got a question also about the artwork and the...it's a guy called, or maybe a girl called Shelley O'Neill from California, US, says that the artwork for 'Mutter' is exceptional. Is there a particular significance to the theme of the photographs or is it just art, an artic statement. What's the thought about that?

Christoph: It's an artic statement. I think it fits very well with the music, with the feel of the whole album and so we have chosen these pictures and made these pictures.

Host: Erich says, I've been a fan of yours for like 4 years, I was wondering what your inspiration was for the new 'Mutter' album.

Till: I'm wondering why he isn't a fan for 7 years?

Host: He's been a fan of yours for 4 years anyway, so er....is there a, where did you find the inspiration for 'Mutter'?

Christoph: That's a very complex question and we are not usually, we don't listen to any other music during the recording process, during the writing process and sure, we're inspired by things we hear, we listen to, we see in the movies, we see on TV

Till: We open a shelf in our soul and look inside and we find something

Christoph: .....nothing special

Host:Do you always......

Christoph: We are just Rammstein and 'Mutter' is what Rammstein are about and in this time in these days.

Host: So we have Gustavo from Mexico, he wants to know, a lot of people around the world are wondering if you're going to do another world tour, so.....?

Christoph: They're wondering about.....?

Host:If there'll be another world tour?

Till: Of course, and Mexico we have lots of Tequila, so....

Christoph: We're going to play the whole world for the next two years, I think, and we try to go everywhere we can and everywhere people wants to have.

Host: The Mexicans seen to like Rammstein

Christoph: That's true....we've been there once and I don't know what about Mexico but people over there they're going crazy, they're watching our shows and....

Till: Maybe it's Spanish and German, it's a bit similar concerning the rolling r's, stuff like that and we went to Spain and there was the same excitement but I think maybe the temperament and the language (shrug), I don't know but we are happy (Till into the mike in a deep voice: “We are happy”)

Host: So Spain and Mexico, that's favourite places of yours to travel to?

Till: ...and Japan.....and Sweden, of course.

Host: So Erich wants to know, who is the woman in Engel in Live aus Berlin?

Till: It's my sister and my girlfriend too.

Christoph: ....and it's his daughter too

Till: No – no, no – no, a joke

Host: Who is it then?

Till: We don't really know. It was casted by a special idol we had these Walt Disney person and yeah, and some people cast her. We just talked to her two lines and that's it. That's the way it is if you screen this video shit.

Host: Alright, do you Schneider have a musical education?

Christoph: Not really, I'm an auto....autodidakt, I did it all by myself and we rehearse and rehearse and play and a lot of bands and....

Till: He's a machine, he's playing for 8, 10 hours a day, he's really....

Host:.....like a drum machine?

Till: He's a drum machine, a drum machine yeah, you can say that.

Host: And what about your singing – are you born with that talent?

Till: Oh, I'm educated a lot (nodding) since I was born, I'm singing especially in the bath tub (laughs)

Host: But you practise the drums, the whole sort of....often, .....

Christoph: Sure, I'm practising a lot and....

Host: We got a pretty serious question here from a guy who calls himself MP. What do you think about MP3 and Napster? Till: I hate it. My opinion is, nothing is for free. It's, I think we have to find a solution that music is not expensive as it is now but I think nothing is for free, that's my opinion and otherwise I like the procedure – go to a record shop – buy a CD. It's too easy, in my opinion – go home and load the stuff down and then you have to go somewhere, you have to deserve it, buy a record, stuff like that. That's my opinion. Schneider likes the Napster stuff.

Host: You do?

Christoph: I think it's an interesting development and I like the idea that you don't need the music industry to distribute music. As an artist you could put your stuff on the Internet and reach the fan in a direct way and I think those technics gonna change the world and changings are always good.

Host: Maybe except for in the beginning when it's all new, of course, for people.

Christoph: Yeah, I think the industry is gonna find a way how they can sell music, definitely, so – let's have a bit of anarchy for a short time.

Host: So Faldar wants to know – Do you ever feel that your music and lyrics are misunderstood and if so, on what way? Christoph: Who asked this question?

Host: Faldar.....Faldar....

Christoph: You have no idea where he's from?

Host: No, I don't

Christoph: Okay

Host: But do you feel you're misunderstood sometimes?

Till: people understand the music or misunderstand it, there's nothing between and it's good like it is. I'm very comfortable with that. People think about music and something, how they react, yeah, some reaction comes up and that's my intention to make music.

Host: What do you say Schneider?

Christoph: Ja...out lyrics they are very open. You could interpret them how you want and usually people doesn't like it, they wanna have a clear thing and they wanna know – what can I think about this, what they mean. I think people have to think about our music and our lyrics.

Till: (out of shot) What the fuck....! (he's spilled his drink)

Christoph: ...and for some it's hard to do this but it's the way of Rammstein and we don't care about what we're doing (Till is pouring water into a glass next to his mike and clinking ice cubes) We like that people have to change, to react how they want.........so........sometimes, er......yeah... (Till making gurgling noises and burping into his mike)....we've been misunderstood.....and he's a faggot

Till: No I'm not. No (slapping Chris)

Host: Till, what we said, what song, about the song 'Sonne'

Till: (Into his mike) For all the girls out there, I'm not a faggot. What....?

Host: 'Sonne' ?

Christoph: It's about faggots

Till: 'Sonne' actually was a job. There is maybe everybody knows the Klitschko Brothers, they are boxers and one of these brothers came up and, who's idea Rammstein can make a song for march in, enter the ring and he'd like to have a song like this from Rammstein but it was done and he don't want it anymore, so it became the fairytale, video-wise.

Host: And the video, actually we've got the video here for the song, so lets have a little look at it.

Till: Probably a good idea.

----'Sonne' video----

Host: Alright, fantastic video – 'Sonne', what was it like doing that video. I mean the whole thing, was it a nice experience?

Till: (nodding) Yeah.

Christoph: We had a lot of fun and it was very hard to get off the black paint, the paint, the black colour.

Till: ...and we're acting so good there. We were really good!

Host: You're really into it. I would say you're really in that video.

Till: We're really proud of that video.

Host: I have some more questions from the viewers out there and Stelli wants to know – how come you chose to cover 'Stripped' by Depeche Mode?

Christoph: They ask it for the tribute album – Music for the Masses, Tribute to the Masses, or what was it called (looking towards Till for help) and so we were very happy and...we did the cover version

Till: We're very proud they mention us in their autobiography, that's the best cover version ever happened was the Rammstein.

Christoph: We are big Depeche Mode fans.

Till: Oh yeah, yes.....oh yeah, definitely.

Host:Would you say you're even influenced a lot by Depeche Mode with the music?

Christoph: Yeah, we're influenced from a lot of stuff, so Depeche Mode as well.

Host: Batman wants to know – what is your favourite song when you play live?

Christoph:(long pause) I wanna play the new songs. I can't listen to the old ones anymore, We've been such a long time on tour with this and we really, really, really want to play the new songs.

Till: For me it's definitely the dildo song – Bück Dich. I like to fuck the keyboard.

Christoph: I told you he's a faggot

Till: So I'm a faggot, okay

Int: A keyboard faggot?

Till: Keyboarder! I don't want to fuck a keyboard, that thing is quite boring and cold

Host: So Mathias wants to know the name Rammstein, where does it come from?

Christoph: Oh fuck! (looking at Till who's just thrown water at him) Scuse me Mathias, there's a town in Germany called Ramstein. There used to be an airbase and there was an accident happened in 1988 and our name comes from this town and we wrote a song about it, this accident and the name. Actually the name come to us.....came to us.

Host: I have a fantastic question from Jess Marks in the USA who wants to know have any of the band members ever owned a reptile for a pet?

Till: No, fishes, but a reptile I can't remember, no – we eat it, reptiles....

(Chris looks at Till in amazement)

Till: Yeah, it's very big in Germany – eat reptiles but it's hard to get it, you have to go to Florida to get it and Japan, they do very good reptiles there.

Host: This is like sushi?

Till: Yeah, in a way

Host: It's the same taste as raw sushi?

Till: Yeah, we have cold water, a lot of salt in side and then you put it inside and wait, maybe 2 months and then it's good (straining not to laugh) Host: So it's like reptile sushi?

Till: Exactly – oh yes...

Host: So Jonas wants to know what is your future project, is there like a future project for Rammstein?

Till: Its, actually it's the world tour. that's in the near future, think we're going to make... we don't think so far.

Christoph: We're living in the present. The next thing we're going to do is the tour and other things come and ....

Host: There's a lot of explosions and stuff on stage when you're up there and Jeremy wants to know is it not a danger to the audience when you use all those fireworks and stuff?

Till: It used to be but we had a kind of accident in the old days and it was the point we changed our opinion about making everything we wanna make, so we – since that day, we have a professional crew, pyrotechnics, stuff like that. There was a big pressure from some departments, some fire departments. I had to make a pyro licence, stuff like that and all the band members, they are introduced in the things, what's going on onstage and specially stuff what's going on with the audience. There, on the stage, there's a special line, we can't.....it's like a border, don't cross this border when you do the pyro, stuff like that, you have to be very careful.

Christoph: Everything is very safe now

Till: Yeah

Host: Have you ever gotten hurt.....

Christoph: Like in the, in America, there's the Universal studios and you can experience all the movies and sitting close to the fire and water come from everywhere and you don't get wet and that's the same like Rammstein.

Till: Well, I get wet there

Christoph: Yeah, we do but nobody cares about us

Till: That's right

Host: So do you enjoy concerts in general? Sometimes they can be pretty boring. Do you wanna have it like a big sort of a experience?

Till: We wanna go for a new show and new stage, new costumes and its, now it a bit boring. The old set up and the old show, the old effects and its like shift working, we have to change it immediately.

Host: We have another question from someone who calls themselves BR – which members wrote the new album. I mean, do you write it together, or how does it work?

Christoph: We are a democratic group and every member has the same input, not the same input but I can tell you like it is, the most of the ideas came as an idea from the guitar players and we go into the rehearsal room and try to make a demo song of it. Then the whole thing goes to the singer where he tries to choose one of his lyrics and fir it together and the hardest process is to fit the lyrics on the music and that's the way it is in Rammstein

Host: Somebody wants to know – I read a small note in a newspaper that one of the members in the band dies in an accident.

Christoph: That's a lie, that's not true

Host: ...and when was this, when...

Christoph: There was something in the news, I remember a friend of us dies by airplane crash, airplane accident in Mexico

Till: That's the way it is, someone farts in Europe and in the states there's a hurricane, that's the way it is, its press.

Host: That's the way it is

Till: Okay, yeah

Host: So you've had a long day today and we've really enjoyed it, you came into the studio and chat with all your fans out there, so thank you very much for coming.

Till: Okay, no problem

Host: Nice talking to you. Maybe we should say goodbye to the audience

Till: Bye audience

Christoph: Bye bye

Host: Right, ciao!

© 2005 Sue Lindemann