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Translation of Toazted.com (Dutch) Radio Interview - May 2004

Interview with Richard and Schneider

- Could you please introduce yourself?
Richard: Alright its me, Richard K Bernstein, the guitar player of Rammstein and we are back.

- Yeah, you take like a couple of years rest I guess, how was it for you
Richard: It wasn't really rest, I mean... its quite hard being a European band (especially a German band) because we have to tour so much. Much more then american bands for example. You know, they're playing in their country and then they come to Europe like 10 shows and that's it. So we have to play the whole German side, and then we have to play Europe and then we have to go to America which requires much more time than American bands. So our tours are always really really hard, and so we toured alot and than we start to do the new record which is also really slow because we are six people and we are living in democracy in the band. And things had to be discussed through all the six members so it takes time, that is the reason why we need a little bit longer then other bands I guess.

- How long did the whole process take, when did you begin writing these songs?
Richard: We started to write songs I guess two years ago, so we took a little bit of time. I mean also like "Mutter" it was a big tension in the band this time. We were really aggressive like inside us and it was kind of retough to go through the whole period. And we sort of had to go our own way and also have a little distance from the band and come back and put our ego's aside and say: "Listen, you know, right now, we gotta work for the band and lets really try to make a good record". And that's what we did.

- I've heard 8 songs, I must say I'm very pleased with the result. I guess it's also a record with lots of faces: agressive sides with also, for instance, "Amour" is a little bit little softer romantic song. Can you tell something about the first song "Reise, Reise". Where is the buzz?
Richard: At first of all what we tried to do on this record was to make sounds to be a little bit more human. And because "Mutter" was so aggresive, we kinda went little bit away from the machine side to more of the human side of the band which is also there. "Reise, Reise" is a song about... You know, it can mean "Travel, Travel" or Journey, Journey", which we did specially coming from a country, we had to stay for 24 years in one country and then afterward we travelled so much that we couldn't really have the time to reflect on all the things that would happen in this time. And especially "Journey, Journey" is always something to do with to be really independant one way and the other way to be really lonely, and there is two energys that come together and sometimes not easy. The song is about to be a seaman and go on a ship and its almost like playing a rock band. That's the same thing you know.

- Is it like being on the road because I guess you guys spent almost 10 years on the road, is it the whole process of being in a group growing during those kind of trips?
Richard: Growing in which direction?..

- I don't know. It's because you're talking about democratic process...
Richard: I mean... yes, it's quite hard, because the older you get your living together in a bus for like 3 months, it's really hard and it takes alot of self control to behave in a way for one to live with you and as we know musician has big ego's so its sometimes really hard and you have to go through period of time that you have to learn and its really a self learn process, almost like a self therapy, to live with 5 other guys for the last 10 years and there's alot if things that happened and we learnt alot from them and we got back and we was stronger then before and it's the most important thing.

- Talking about music of "Reise, Reise"... there is a special guitar sound in it, can you tell us more, it's more human I guess?
Richard: Yes, it's more human. We tried this time to do that and I think one of the biggest difference is that because I've gone back to the guitar side, it's the voice of till which has developed so much over time and he became one of the biggest singers in my eears and something to do is that he found his key and all the songs are written in a D and C drop, which is a differnet key we used before. And like as a singer it's quite hard to find your key but this key he achieved now is open, it's unbelievable, beautiful.

- And at the end there is like folk music, why did you choose that?
Richard: Folk music... what song do you talk about? "Los"?

- No, I mean at the end of "Reise, Reise"... it's like the outro.
Richard: Oh, no, it's the instrument of a lonely feeling, if you have been on a boat and if are a seaman you'rr sometime really lonely and this instrument just fits the mood of the song.

- Ok, now we introduce Schneider, the drummer.
Schneider: Hello.

- Can first you introduce yourself?
Schneider: Hello. There is nothing much to say, I'm Schneider, the drummer of Rammstein, and I'm glad we can join you... and please continue (laughs).

- Ok, nice, nice. Are you satisfied with the results?
Schneider starts to talk in German. Then returns to English. Schneider: It's very satisfying result, and we enjoyed the procedure of song writing and recording the record. We had a great atmosphere compared to other albums.

- Also the drums sound is a little more bombastic, and you can clearly hear the drums.
Schneider: Yeah, Rammstein sound has always been bombastic, but this time was much more fun for me, because I didn't have to stick to the machine and we wanted to try something new, and there was alot of time and space to develop new rythm and I had alot more space to experiment as a drummer.

- How do you actually write a song, is it just through jam sessions? (says to Richard) Maybe you can answer that?..
Richard: We just came back together and we realised it was really important for us to be together for the whole band process, so we just came back to the rehearsal room, had a guitar plugged it into the amp and just jammed, just hanging around jamming. Oh, just kidding (laughs). But it was little like this, like we just jammed a lot.

- When do you decide: "Ok, this is it"? Can you describe the process of making a song?
Richard: First of all, there is something really magical, our producers tell us when the drums and guitars are meeting together. Something just comes out there... like an energy. Its really German magical whatever. So it doesn't really matter what we do, but somehow we really match and that's what we do. And we try to play on a riff and we going to more the analytic side to try to arrange a song, which requirs like verses and chorus's and bridges and all that kinda stuff. And we start record everything, and we listen to it, and we don't like it. Then we start again, and we like it, and we don't like it... it's like a big progress.

- There are also some experiments on the record like a dance beat I hear, is that true? On one of the songs there's a little dance beat.
Schneider: Yes, some songs are not so typical for Rammstein and we were this time much more open, and to do things we normally wouldn't have done with Rammstein, and try to open a little bit the world of Rammstein music, involve new elements to play around, be more confident with doing and trust in the band that in the end does sound like Rammstein.

- You recorded a song in Spain I've heard? And why did you choose Spain?
Richard: We are always trying to find a place, which is not really Berlin, becuase the problem with Berlin is that everyone is involved in personal life. We can't really concentrate on the work we do, so any other point is we gotta like sunshine around us. And it's quite difficult in October to find a place that's sunny. We had to go more south. Our first idea was to go to the South Africa, but the problem was there weren't many big studios there and it's hard to find places with space for 12 people. First we thought we go back to Mirabal, where we recorded the last record, but it was too cold there. So we chose Spain.

- Which producer did it actually?
Richard: Erm... we...
Someone talks to Richard.
Richard: No, no, no... we need a producer (laughs).

- Oh, you still need a producer?
Richard: We need a producer, but we chose the old producer. He just became part of the family. It's really important for us that he was there for this record specially, because we needed to have a stable figure through the process so, he was there as a father figure maybe.

- And just a couple of facts... How many tracks did you record? Because I've heard eight.
Richard: I think we recorded fifteen or sixteen.

- And how many are coming on the record? Ten or something?
Schneider: Maybe twelve... We don't want to do record so long.

- I really like "Keine Lust". What is it about?
Richard: It's about not being in a mood (laughs). Sometimes you have those days, when you're just not in the mood for anything. You just want to be not in mood (laughs).

- It's a really special song, I guess? One of the strongest tracks.
Richard: Yea, it's a track that we actually chose one of a different rhythm, because it's quite like the Rammstein rythm is always a one way street almost like. So in the way of the drumming it's quite boring and we have to play everything in the one note (laughs). So I guess we was really happy to do something else (laughs again). Schneider: Especially "Keine Lust" is a very untypical with us because it's... swinging. And Germans are not so swingy (laughs). But it worked out fine and I really like the lyrics of that song, which means not being in a mood and feeling depression.

- Your single "Mein Teil"... can you tell us something about it? I really remember the strange voice from Till, is it also like an experiment? What is actually about?
Schneider: It's about a cannibal story. We had a case of cannibalism in Germany last year. Oh, maybe you've heard about it. Two guys met via internet and one is eating the other one. It's about that.

- Heavy lyrics on the record I guess.
Schneider: Yes, it's heavy and this is good for Rammstein song. The interesting thing in this case is the victim came up and it's not very typical.

- Ok, and the song "Amerika"... I've heard you that live in New York?
Richard: That's true.

- Is there any political content on "Amerika"?
Richard: Not really. No. What we are trying to do is put the whole America theme in an ironic way and kind of say: "Ok, everyone is living in America", because American culture is everywhere. So sometimes things have to be balanced and right now it's a little bit unbalanced, but you have a choice, everyone is happy because you can choose what you want to do. It's not like a song against America, it's just the fact, it's how it is. And that's what we tried to do, to bring out that people should think. We have to get the balance back.

- How was it for you to live in New York, is there any influences?
Richard: No, no, no. But I did also my balance, because New York has American people and I'm usually surrounded by European people, so it's my little balance.

- Is Berlin of any influence on you guys, because you've lived their so long. Is it an influence on your lyrics or just the culture there?
Schneider: Yea, I think it is. Berlin is our roots, some of our members are born and raised there, and we lived there long time already and I think a town has some influence on you, but I can't describe what... Maybe Berlin bands sound like Rammstein.

- Yea, because the city is very hot I guess nowadays with the new rebuilding and architecture.
Schneider: Yea, many people coming there meet each other. Also the music scene is growing a lot in Berlin, so companies move. There is a lot of new bands coming up with projects, electro projects... and a lot of things are going on.

- Can you tell us something about the artwork, because mostly the artwork is very special for you guys?
Richard: The artwork in er...?

- Just for the cd and booklet and stuff...
Richard: Well, first of all I have to say first artwork we did was for the first video, because normally you have a treatment especially with Rammstein, we are always shooting videos in like a story. This time we chose a totally different way. We said: "Ok, lets make a dance performance", and we can have like two hours of moving through songs and it's kind of arty I guess.

- Was it for "Mein Teil" the single?
Richard: Exactly.

- They was looking for a double for you?
Richard: Yea, I was looking for a double, because I was wrestling against myself, so I needed somebody who looked like me. The other thing we really need to cover is that we haven't decided any real direction. We just do a lot as we can and hopefully we will feel it is the right way

- Can you lift up the curtain a little bit on which ideas?
Richard: For example, like we are going on a weekend tour with a spanish photographer and he is really interesting. So I'm really curios about what he is coming up. There is one way of doing things... we thought to name the record as "Reise, Reise" which brings you into this whole journey, travel business, but we are not sure about this right now, so we are still looking for themes that kind of fit together. And you know sometimes you need time because... that's the way it is.

- Just a couple of questions about the songs, because I've heard "Los" and the last song "Amour". Is "Amour" a very special song? It sounds like a second single.
Schneider: Yea? Oh, interesting... This song was good in the beggining and then doing the whole production we didn't really like it, so we changed it and it ended surprising well, and I really like that song too.

- Is it difficult to keep it fresh for you guys, because it's really a new direction?
Schneider: Yeah, it is, that's what I said. We tried out so many things, so many ways. And we are open just doing it. It has a lot of new dimensions, before we was "Oh, this doesn't sound like Rammstein, lets do more like that". Richard: Especially the songs reflects also a little bit the work that we did, because we was so many enslaved on computers, machines, especially this song is really about playing. Be a guitar player or be a drummer rather then follow the machine. So it's really about playing, and you can hear. It's simple, but it's playing.

- The organic feel?
Richard: Exactly.

- Is that the message from you guys? The organic feel?
Richard: I think it's one of the things we are trying to say. First of all, we are back, and we are more human than people think we are.

- Is there Pet Shop Boys remix for "Mein Teil"? Is it true?
Schneider: Yes.

- You like the work of Per Shop Boys?
Schneider: I like it, yeah.
Richard: It's very poppy also.
Schneider: Yeah, it's a pop music, but great pop music. There is a little story behind, but it's not that interesting.

- You can tell us.
Schneider: We've asked them and because they are working on movie project right now, they want to have some symphonic music. On that research they found out that we had a symphonic project too last year. The record came from young composer Torsten Rasch. Is it right name? Torsten or Günter... Torsten Rasch. And he used Rammstein lyrics for the special cycle of symphonic songs. It's not easy to listen to.
And Pet Shop Boys wanted to do something in that direction for that movie. So they worked with the same producer, the same orchestra. And we used the chance to ask them, maybe they can remix the single. On that single there are also elements from that orchestra. So there was kind of artistic interest in each other.

- One of the last songs "Los", I hear a harmonica or something? Or is that the keyboards?
Schneider: It's a real harmonica.

- Yeah, yeah, ok, very strange...
Schneider: Country music (laughs).

- Ok, German country music. Would you like to record a track for a film or a movie? Some of the songs are very movie-like.
Richard: We can't choose the movies, normally the movies choose us, so hopefully this time will be the same. We are always really happy to work in a movie project or whatever. Last when we did was Triple X, we could actually play in the movie, which was quite a fun. So yeah, I think Rammstein really works well with movies and they are always welcome to ask us.

- Any names? Which movie do you want to score?
Richard: I have no idea, because I don't know the movies.

- Ok, doesn't matter...
Schneider: The movies... the are coming, so maybe there will be interesting directors, maybe we will choose Tarantino for Rammstein. That'd be great! (laughs)
Richard: Kill Bill.

- Ok, Kill Bill 3 with Rammstein. Nice. Where do you listen to beside yourselves? What do you listen to?
Richard: It's really different. Last thing I went out and bought was the new record from Killing Joke, I was pretty enjoyed. Yeah, that was pretty cool. But, again, it's changing every time. Right now there was one record I really liked.

- What do you think about the internet? Because some see it as a danger, people downloading music, record sales are down.
Schneider: The internet is the internet. It's a part of our entertainment. I'm not afraid that things will be solved with the downloading, but you need to make sure the record company is selling and controlling a little more the things. Because for us musicians it's important that was can sell the music and not give it away just just as a present, because it's also work behind, and a lot of money. It's like any other product you have to buy. If you want the coffee, you buy the coffee. If you want to have the jeans, you buy the jeans. You can't just take it.

- You have a lot of fansites also...
Schneider: Yeah, that's true.

- If you type in "Rammstein" on Google...
Schneider: And it's interesting which format the future will bring us. There's just so many ways to store music now, it's a bit confusing.
Richard: I want to take my chance to say something about downloading, because it's time we start to educate people a little bit more. I totally understand if something is free then take it, but the problem is, as it said before, that music sometimes requires a lot of work, so sometimes you're spending a lot of hours on a song, and people just think they can take it and steal it. And in the nd they will be responsible, because the quality of music will go down, because nobody has the money to develop the bands anymore, especially in rock music, you need to support as wel to develop those bands. So I really don't understand what happened. When people, for example, stealing music, and then pay two euros for a ringtone. That's something I totally don't understand and I think it's not really cool. But internet is important. But they have to be educated and to know it's not cool to steal music.

- The pyrotechnics, will you do it in the next tour?
Schneider: We are continuing being a big live band and having pyrotechnics, and having our live shows. For sure we will do that.

- Have you already got some new ideas?
Schneider: We are planning some new stuff.

- When can we expect Rammstein in Holland?
Schneider: We start our big tour in the November. So it will be in November or December, this year. But I don't know when we will come to the Holland.

- What do you think about the American view on Rammstein?
Richard: It's hard in America because there is so much, they always forget about you, but the good thing is Rammstein is more of a cult band for kids there and we like it. It's a really difficult market so you have to spend a lot time there especially as not an American band. After September 11th it seems they are not really interested in a European product anymore and they are stuck in their own market

- How was it in America when you first got noticed?
Richard: We have a big fanbase there. But it's hard because we have to bring the big Rammstein ship over, and that requires a lot of time and money.

- You used to do the pyro yourselves, but who does it now?
Richard: We had a little accident one time, and we realised we need some professionals, people that can control it. The most ideas come from the band. If you heard of the band Great White in America, they used pyro and the whole place burned down, so we have to be really careful.

- Well, I guess next plans will be promotional. When does the album comes out? September?
Schneider: Yes, that's true.

- And the single is out on 28th of June? "Mein Teil".
Schneider: Yeah, it's gonna be the next single.

- I just want to thanks you so much...
Richard: You're very welcome. And we're saying "Hello" to our fans and we're back in November.



© 2005 Translation by suff22886 and maxim de tray