HOT CHECKS INTO TOKIO HOTEL The German group is out of this world!
“We would like to play on Mars or the moon – Tom”
Tokio Hotel needs no introduction. A few months after performing in Kuala Lumpur, the boys from Germany returned to rock our socks off again. The band, which is made up of eccentric lead vocalist Bill Kaulitz, his twin brother and guitarist Tom, bassist Georg Listing and the ever-so-silent Gustav Schäfer, has made a name for themselves as the quintessential rock band for teens with hits like ‘Monsoon’ off their first album Scream, and ‘Automatic’ and ‘World Behind My Wall’ off their second English album Humanoid.
Decked out in their own unique attire, the eccentric boys sat down with us to talk about Paul the Octopus, crazy fans and the moon.
You guys are always travelling to new places and meeting new fans. It must be really tiring when people keep asking you why your band is called Tokio Hotel.
Bill (B): (Laughs) Yes, that’s always the first question. I don’t know how many times we’ve answered this question.
How do you feel about having to constantly answer that question?
B: We’re used to it but I’m always a bit sad that people have no other questions for us! (We’ve) never thought of changing the band name because then we’ll have to start again.
What inspired you guys to do music together?
B: Basically we started when we were seven years old and our stepfather is in a rock band and he could play a lot of instruments. He could play the guitar, a little bit of drums and bass. He put a guitar in our room and Tom started playing it.
Tom (T): We had our own guitars, we started playing, wrote a few songs, went directly on stage and one day we managed to meet Gustav and Georg at a live pub.
B: It was really clear that we wanted to do music. We started when we were seven so that was really early.
What is the one thing you have to have with you when you perform?
B: My own microphone definitely, because I think it’s kind of disgusting to share with someone else (laughs).
T: I have my lucky charm. We have a couple of small things like a chain.
Georg (G): I always go on stage with this belt.
Has a girl fan ever tried to take it off you? Seriously, you have some crazy fans!
G: No, they’ve never tried (laughs).
We know that the World Cup is over and we’re sure you’ve heard of the famous German octopus, Paul. If you had the chance to ask Paul to predict one thing for you, what would it be?
B: I don’t know. Maybe we (would) ask when we (would) get the chance to go to Tokyo. We hope it will be this year but it’ll be interesting (to hear) what Paul will say.
So, no personal predictions?
T: You mean like something to do with true love? No.
Are you guys superstitious in any way? Do you believe Paul the octopus is a mystical creature?
B: Well, in the beginning I thought it was just a funny thing but he was right all the time and it was really interesting. But I believe in a lot of strange stuff. Like for example, we all believe in aliens. I generally believe in aliens. It’s kind of ridiculous to say we are the only creatures in the universe because no one knows what’s out there. I don’t think they are green or something but there is definitely something out there.
If the aliens were to come here and see you guys perform for the first time, what do you think they would say?
G: Amazing (laughs).
B: We would love to play on another planet.
T: We want to be the first band to be able to do that. The moon would be great, or Mars. Maybe in 20 years.
Back to music, you’ve gained a lot more fans internationally since you’ve produced the album in English. Does this mean that your next few albums will only be English?
B: We’re not really sure about that because to do the English album was actually our idea. There was no one pushing us. Because we were always in other countries, we couldn’t perform the German stuff. So this time, it’s better because now the fans can choose what they want to hear.
T: But the problem is that we need like two years to produce a record because we have to do it twice.
What do you think is the biggest challenge as a band?
B: To write English songs (laughs). No, I think the biggest challenge for us was to go to another country. For the public it looks very easy but it’s not, especially in the beginning. When we first went to France, it was really, really hard because everyone said, ‘We don’t want you there.’
T: And we had to ask for them to interview us!
B: I think the first international step was the hardest.
Besides being able to perform in Tokyo, do you have any other career goals?
T: We want to play in Tokyo, a world tour and on another planet.
How difficult has it been maintaining your own private life?
B: For Tom and me, it’s like impossible, especially in Europe and Germany. You always have people around you and we have a huge fence around our house. And there are people standing outside but most of the time, you’re on the road anyway so we don’t really recognise how crazy all this is. Last year, we realised it is really impossible to be private.
G: I think for Gustav and me, it’s a little bit more relaxed but you have to think about it. Like if you want to go to the cinema, you need to catch a movie, which has been running for two months, at the latest possible time.
What do you guys do when you want to take a break from it all?
T: If I want a break, I just go to my bedroom.
B: If we want to go on a holiday, we just try to search for a really small island. But even on the island, the paparazzi come on a yacht. It’s quite impossible to go on a vacation!
T: Most of the time we are indoors.
Gustav: I don’t remember my last holiday (laughs). I hate to fly and we fly all the time. It’s best to just stay at home.
If you could go to a place with no fans and no paparazzi, where would you go?
B: I would go to a theme park, have an ice-cream or normal stuff like walk on the street with my friends.
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