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Metal Eagle Online. September - 2005

Interview with Paul

The new RAMMSTEIN release "Rosenrot" makes a great impact to the rock music scene, just like their previous works. The Metal Eagle Online Magazine couldn't stand quiet to that impact and had a very interesting conversation with the band's guitarist Paul Landers (many thanks to the sweet Sotiria Friligou for her help).

Paul H. Landers: Hallo, hallo!
Sotiria Friligou: Hello Paul, good morning. Why did you bring out a new album in such a short time? Paul: As soon as we finished "Reise, Reise", we had so many songs left, that we had to make another album, just because there were so many songs.

Sotiria: Are there more guitars to be heard in "Rosenrot" or is this just an impression?
Paul: This is only an impression. First of all there are guitars present. In the "Mutter" album there were perhaps 12 guitars per site, left and right and in the "Rosenrot" album there are on occasion one guitar on the left and one on the right. It sounds perhaps like more guitars, because there are less electric sounds and because of this the guitars come more to the surface, but practically there are less guitars.

Sotiria: You all live in different cities. How are the songs being composed? Each one alone and then you come together or do you compose only when you gather?
Paul: Nothing has changed in the way we write songs. It is exactly the way it used to be, everyone tries out a few things at home and then we meet together in the rehearsal room and the ideas are being played. Most times not all of us are there, but in the last state, before the new album is released, all the musicians are there and then come the best results as well.

Sotiria: Now you are having a long pause. What are you planning to do in the meantime? Do you have any other music projects or anything else?
Paul: When someone is on the road for so long, like we are, there is a danger that a routine settles in and a burn out, or that you are bored very much and for that reason we are making right now a pause, so that afterwards weīll begin to work full with power and joy again. We donīt want to become a worn-out band, because we still find great pleasure in making music and in all other things involved and actually it is pretty good to laze around and to do things that otherwise you have no time to do, because we have always very few holidays, two weeks at the most, and now we can make long vacations and we can look after the family. Musically, we are trying a few things out, Richard is finishing his solo album and the rest of us have no concrete plans, perhaps music for a film or so, but nothing serious.

Sotiria: How did you come in contact with the singer of TEXAS?
Paul: This was an idea of our producer and he found her good I think.

Sotiria: Is there a song from "Rosenrot" that you feel the nearest to?
Paul: For the text or for the music?

Sotiria: Both.
Paul: I can only say that if we talk about the music I like the most "Feuer Und Wasser". I like it at the moment the most. And I also like "Benzin" very much.

Sotiria: A few words about the videos of "Benzin" and "Rosenrot". Directors and where were they shot?
Paul: OK, letīs start with "Benzin". Director is Uwe Flage, a German director, who was completely unknown. He is now more known because of the DEPECHE MODE videos that he made. The band doesnīt like the video very much, because we made two mistakes. First it doesnīt have much to do with the song, the meaning slips by.

Sotiria: Actually none of your videos have.
Paul: But of course, there is always a second level that fits. The text is not exactly converted into images, but we always strive for the video to have a connection with the songīs meaning. With "Benzin" that is not the case, its meaning has very little to do with the video. Personally, I find it very good, but the band doesnīt like the animation that much. That was about "Benzin". "Rosenrot" was shot in Transylvania and the band likes it very much. The director is Zoran Bihac. I donīt know if he is internationally known, he makes mostly advertising and such thing.

Sotiria: But you havenīt worked in the past with anyone of them.
Paul: Yes we did, with Zoran did we "Mein Teil".

Sotiria: Most of the RAMMSTEIN videos have an extreme aesthetic, though not always expressed in the same way, as in "Stripped", "Mein Teil" or now in "Rosenrot". Is this a part of your attitude as a band or are these the only images that fit the music?
Paul: When we make a video, we try to make one that others donīt make, that does not yet exist and that we would like to see when we are watching MTV. So we only try to make videos that we like, it is as simple as that. And I think that there are millions of bad videos out there and only a few good ones. These we try to make, because there are enough bad ones.

Sotiria: The artwork of the albums is always very well taken care of. Do you think of it as another form of art, supplement to the music?
Paul: Yes, of course.

Sotiria: So you wouldnīt release an album without photos and with a black cover.
Paul: Of course, if we liked it, but we still have ideas and we try to support the music with the cover perhaps it was not so obvious in the last albums, but practically we try to convert out musical line into images, something that is mostly very difficult.

Sotiria: RAMMSTEIN are very famous for their concerts. Do you think that you are more a live band than a studio one?
Paul: In this case we wouldnīt sell so many CDs. We are both I think, a good live band and we have also good CDs.

Sotiria: Some people think, that you give great shows, but you have boring songs. What would you answer them?
Paul: To them we say, "yes, please", if people think so. Personally I donīt interfere any more with what they think, because people think what they want anyway and if someone believes that something is black or white, then they should keep believing it. We make every album as good as we can, we simply canīt do them better. If we are lucky people will like it, if not, they wonīt like it. This changes nothing in our actions. Every group tries to make music and albums as good as they only can, even if they end up being bad, we have done the best we could, we never made a bad album on purpose, so we are happy when people like it, but if they donīt like it, we wonīt blame ourselves, because we couldnīt do it better anyway.

Sotiria: How do you feel about the fact that most RAMMSTEIN fans come from non-German-speaking-areas? Is there a part of the feeling lost?
Paul: How do you mean that?

Sotiria: I mean, the text contributes to the music.
Paul: You mean, because they cannot understand us, if this is a problem?

Sotiria: Exactly, because they cannot fully understand RAMMSTEIN.
Paul: I understand how you mean it. In principle it is simple: when you in Greece listen to a song in English, perhaps some kids canīt understand English but nevertheless like the song, because the music is good and it impresses them. I donīt think that someone should understand the text in order to like a song. In my case it was rather a disappointment when I understood the lyrics. "Smoke On The Water", I thought this canīt be true, it is such a nonsense. In my mind I had thought of much more cool lyrics and I think if you make good music and the music and what is sung fits together, then the fantasy is stimulated and they think a meaning of their own. I would go that far and say, I donīt know for sure, but it could be, that as soon as the people understand the lyrics, they donīt find them good any more. Furthermore, many things get lost in the translation. I would say that 20-30% of the uniqueness disappears, if you simplify the text and especially play on words and subtitles, that you can only understand if you occupy yourself with the language.

Sotiria: Have you had proposals to play in Greece, but you couldnīt? Are you planning to tour during summer?
Paul: We know that we have many fans in Greece and next time that we are on tour, for the next record, we will do anything possible to come and play in Greece.

Sotiria: For the next album, you mean for the one after "Rosenrot".
Paul: Yes, the one after, we are not going on tour for "Rosenrot", not even in summer, we are taking a small pause and then for the next album, we will try to come to Greece.

Sotiria: What are you listening to at the moment?
Paul: These days I listen to Gregorian monks from the 13th century.

Sotiria: Thank you very much. Is there anything that you would like to say to the Greek fans?
Paul: Yes. We know that we have many fans and it is in no way a disrespect that we havenīt played yet. It is just that our show costs 100.000 Euro per day, only the costs, without any profit, these are the money that we must get in, otherwise we have to pay ourselves, so it is very difficult to play everywhere. Our manager has to calculate everything exactly in order not to lose money. The last tour ended with plus minus 0, because we have no sponsors. We have no contract with VW or Mercedes in order to earn something from them, in these masses we should have someone, because what we do is very expensive. Nevertheless, we want to continue working, but we canīt play everywhere we would like. Despite that, in the next tour we will try to also play in countries like Greece, where we would very much like to play, but didnīt yet manage. The reasons were purely technical and not emotional. And another thing that I personally like very much about Greece, is that when I am in a restaurant the waiter doesnīt pick up the dishes as soon as I am finished, they leave them on the table and that is relaxing. In some countries, USA or Germany, in the expensive hotels, they almost tear the dish from your hand even if you are not finished yet and by doing that they cause bad mood. It is nice when everyone is still sitting and they let the dishes on the table, we like that. This results in a way in cosiness, we find it only in Greece and we like that. Also, one night, some people danced and someone threw some alcohol on the stone floor and he then put it on fire. The others kept dancing while it was burning, we liked that pretty much.

Sotiria: Did this happen in the hotel?
Paul: No, not in a hotel, it was in a village somewhere. I have never seen before people dancing in front of a fire, I really liked it.



Đ 2005 Sotiria Friligou, George Petsanis