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Bassiste Magazin (French) - Interview with Oli - December 2005

He’s one of the pillars of Rammstein, mostly because of his temperament. One often forgets Oliver even though he participated in the five Rammstein albums. The reason why he looks so discreet at first sight may be this one : like most bass-players, the 2-meters giant seems shy and reserved. But paradoxically enough he started as a guitar-player, as you will read hereunder…

The « Rosenrot » and « Reise Reise » tracks were written at the same period. For that reason do you see Rosenrot as a real new album, or more as « Reise Reise » vol. 2 ?

One can effectively see the new album as a following of the last album, for 6 songs were written during the Reise Reise recording.

Can you tell me which ones ?

Rosenrot, Wo bist Du, Mann gegen Mann, Zerstören, Ein Lied, Feuer und Wasser.

I was surprised by the warm, almost groovy tones of the bass line on Mann gegen Mann. We’re not used to hearing that in Rammstein…

Wait, we don’t want to do any moustached-guy rock, you know the « knee-rock » thing (he gets up and takes a sixty-years-old bass-player pose while whistling a Bavarian tune). We wanted something groovy but not too much, in order to change a little but without the shortcomings of popsongs .
So we had to be extra-careful, and if you heard groovy sounds in the Mann gegen Mann bass line, I’m afraid I messed up my mission (laughs).

Do you remember when you started playing bass and why ?

Compared to the other musicians I started playing an instrument rather late, I was around 19. As a matter of fact I didn’t start playing bass but guitar. I did quite a lot of classical guitar but I felt a bit isolated, because there weren’t many musicians in East Germany. Then I met Richard. He wanted to create a band, but what he mostly needed was a bass-player, that’s when I started to play bass, the Rammstein adventure could begin.

So Rammstein is the only band you’ve played with ?

Yes, the only real band.

Do you still play guitar ?

I have recently rediscovered the paths of guitar playing, and for a short time I’ve tried to learn flamenco.

Which instrument do you prefer, bass or guitar ?

When I’m free, I must confess I prefer playing guitar, because I think this is much more fun when you are on your own, there are more possibilities of creating ambiances. But whenever I play with a band, I really prefer playing the bass, it brings me much more pleasure.*

Since you play the guitar too, can you tell me if you’ve composed guitar lines for Rammstein ?

Actually each of us has a personnal studio, and so we can compose on any instrument on our own, and bring new ideas to the band. As for me I happened to find guitar elements that were incorporated within some songs, because even though I’m a bass-player, the guitar riffs are the main reason why Rammstein became famous ! (laughs)

Yes, however, contrary to most metal bands, the bass-player isn’t considered of a secondary importance in Rammstein. It seems you are all on equal level…

This is true, in most metal bands there is a hierarchical order in which bass-players are considered of far less importance than guitar-players. You get this impression because in Rammstein, we work in a very democratic way, and everybody is given a chance to express himself.

How do you create your bass lines ?

In most cases I only have to double the guitar. So I’m managing quite well ! (laughs) On the contrary, on the most melodic songs, I have more work to do. If you listen to songs like Seemann and Klavier, I am in charge of the main melody, so it’s Richard and Paul’s turn to adapt themselves…

On this point, on which type of songs do you express yourself the most ? I saw you on stage and I thought you had more fun on quiet songs like Seemann and Klavier…

Yes, it’s true Seemann is the song I like best, I get my kicks each time ! It’s a pity we don’t play it live that much… the new song Te Quiero Puta with samba influences was a very good experience for me, I tried to put some flamenco accords in it. Now, everything depends on my state of mind, the quick songs are nice to play when I’m stressed !

Industrial metal bands tend to exchange more and more the organic bass for a synthetic bass. What do you think ?

It can be good at times, but it won’t ever happen with Rammstein. We love electronics, but we need human energy too much to replace it with machines (laughs). And finally, nothing compares to a real bass. Although technology has progressed, there will always be a difference of sound between a real music instrument and a machine.

Yes but thinking of it, the technological evolution has suppressed employment in many areas. Do you think this could eventually happen in the music industry, knowing that many band are using machines ?

People already had such fears in the 90s because of the new studio technologies. Many jobs were suppressed at that time, because everything becomes easier with electronics, it allows to use less people and earn more money. But today we see the trend is reversing little by little, and priority is given to natural instruments again. We can take as an example the actual revival of garage rock with bands such as the White Stripes and also the Hives. I think bass-players are here to stay !

© 2005 Aeon