12.17.2014

Tokio Hotel USA : Feel It All Contest!

Tokio Hotel USA brings a fantastic contest for those who were not able to get a Limited Super Deluxe KOS! 



10.06.2014

Tokio Hotel on Circus HalliGalli [+Translation]

 Interview

Translation by Herzblut

Klaas: Here are Tokio Hotel!

(...)

Joko: Nice to have you here. ... Let me hug you.. come here, boy. (to Gustav)

Klaas: And we have on seat left.. Well, first, nice to have you back again, huh. We haven't seen each other in a very long time.

Tom: Yeah, the last time we saw each other we were drunk at the EMA-Aftershow-party.

Joko: *laughs* That may very well be...

Klaas: But that's been also some years ago now.

Tom: Yeah.

Klaas: That was when the EMAs were in Berlin, right?

Tom: Yes, that was here in Berlin.

Klaas: Yes exactly. But you're simply not here anymore. So you still live.. well, we get to see from time to time again now, but your whole stuff is in LA. At least two.

Bill: Yeah..

Tom: Yeah at least two, the others still live in Magdeburg, but that's almost as beautiful as LA.

Bill: Exactly.

Klaas: Yes exactly, that's not especially not comparable at all. How do you make it to get together as one band again, living under those different cultural circumstances and maybe not having seen each other for one year or so and not having that much contact?

Bill: The contracts make it possible.

*they laugh*

Bill: Uhm, nah, in fact both of them sometimes were in LA at our place, and we also were in Germany sometimes, and we also skyped and so on.

Joko: I know that! I also do that sometimes... with my friend Zach Braff.

Bill: Yeah.. and we always kept the contact, and we also were in the studio in Germany actually. and yeah, we were always in an exchange so to say.

Klaas: In a german view one always thinks that you were away for incredibly long, but that's not really true, because you were on tour for a very long time and then you just took time for the album.

Bill: Yeah, the last album was released in 2009, that's a bit of a time ago of course, but we were in South America and were in Japan and so on, and just toured a bit longer with the album..

(the subtitle text that is shown says "In France they are called Tokio Otel")

Tom: We toured until 2011, right?

Bill: Yeah, until 2011.

Tom: Even until the end of 2011, that means it didn't even take that long.

Joko: Then for how long didn't you actually do anything?

Tom: Then we made a break for one year and we actually just relaxed, and then we produced the album in a few days.

Klaas: Who can even do that? Being one year in early retirement when you're only mid-20.

(the subtitle-text that is shown says "They're part-time child detectives & solve murder cases on fairgrounds")

Tom: Yeah..

Klaas: How is it like? What do you do the whole day then?

Bill: Nah, we have, we were, we were only on parties and sunbathed, and didn't do anything.

Joko: A jetset-life so to say...

Tom: A jetset-life like you have it as well, only that we didn't have cameras with us.

Klaas: But we work the whole time.

Tom: Yeah...

Joko: We worked permanently since we had last seen each other... that's the difference, and we're ten years older than you.

Klaas: But I imagine it being hard if someone comes and tells you tomorrow at 10 am you have to get up and it seems like in the middle of the night for you.. tomorrow at 10 am you have to be here and there...

Bill: Totally. I have to say we're also so exhausted, I could take another break for four years already.

Klaas: Seriously?

Bill: Yes, totally.

*People laughing*

Bill: Nah, it's exhausting but...

Joko (to Tom): How long have you been working again now?

Tom: Feels like some weeks already.

Joko: Really?

Tom: Totally.

Klaas: That's not that long though of course.. but tell me, you also live together, right?

Bill: Yeah.

Klaas: A real brother-living-community...is that like it used to be back then, just with different circumstances, or... I mean, you've already been living together your whole life.

Tom: Yeah exactly..

Bill: Well, we don't even ask ourselves the question if one day... we'd one day like to have two houses which are connected with a tunnel where we can always go to one another..

Joko: We'd also like to have two houses, but without a tunnel.

*people laughing*

Klaas: How is it, do you have some cleaning roster or how do you arrange that?
Bill: Uhm, nah, actually we both don't do anything... so...

Klaas: You really just only sat on your chairs for years and now you're back again...

Bill: Exactly, yeah..

Joko (to Gustav and Georg): How was it for you.. because you [Bill and Tom] probably flew first to LA and built up a life there, and did they just say "Well, just follow us" or...

Georg: Exactly..

Joko: Isn't it absurd, if the people who you spent your childhood with live there then?

Georg: Nah, it was kinda nice, I didn't have to book a hotel, I could hang out at their place...

Bill: ...they slept in my wardrobe...

Tom: Actually before they came to LA we had rented a smaller house, otherwise they would have noticed that we always took something from the band funds... uhm yeah..

Klaas: But how's it like when of course you're there everyday.. in LA it's very concentrated on music, actors or whatsoever of course, in what extent does one become a part of that scene there, and does what other people might know from the newspapers?

Bill: Well, we didn't want to be a part of any kind of scene, we went there to hide ourselves so to say, that means we were nowhere.. we also didn't do any interviews or were on red carpets or at any events, we just thought there are so many people who want to be famous and they should just do that, but we just disappeared. For us it was just a good city to disappear. It could have also been any other city, we're even not that crazy for LA, well it's quite okay but..

Klaas: In Magdeburg you also just disappear if you want it or not, right?

*people laughing*

Tom: Georg just went on with his life as a VIP in Magdeburg. He enjoyed his VIP life.

Klaas: But how is it like when the first hype is finally over and you're both in Magdeburg, and of course you know friends from school and so on, but what when that machine suddenly stops to work and you do your planned break, do you start to do things again you already did before or how does that work?

Georg: I just did nothing first, to be honest. I went for a walk with my dog...

Tom: You mean when it's starting again or what?
Klaas: No no, I mean that time in between. that you go back to old habits again...like "Well, today I'll go to the city festival.."

Bill: I also always ask you [Gustav and Georg] what you're doing there the whole day..

Joko: *laughs* You sound like their mother! "What are you doing there?"...

(subtitle-text that is shown says "Each of their hair has its own hairdresser")

Bill: No, I have..

Joko: Well, what do YOU do the whole day?

Bill: No, I also asked him, I don't know at all what you do there, because I didn't know at all what to do there..

Georg: ..longing for you...

Tom: Just hanging around at the bus stop and smoking and drinking booze..

Gustav: Well, with that you at least don't attract attention in Magdeburg.. smoking at the bus stop and drinking booze..

Bill: You can't go wrong with that.

Klaas: So you drive with your car, windows open, music on and Burger-King-badge?

*people laughing*

Tom: Yeah.. showing off, three BMW, lowered...

Klaas: Well yeah, why not? The main thing is that you find back together and.. uh.. tell me, you just rightly said that you hid..

Bill: Yeah..

Klaas: That means that in the end you were so fed up that you said "That's becoming too crazy, we have to disappear." How bad was it in the end?

Bill: Uhm, well it was.. we actually only wanted to have a second home somewhere in the sun, but then they broke into our house and that was the last thing.. it was also rather a prison, we had a fence where you couldn't see through and there were always people there and we just couldn't go out there anymore. We just were inside all the time and somewhen they also even broke into our house and after that we searched online for a house in LA and then we just disappeared within four weeks.

(subtitle text that was shown said: "Did an interview-diet for more than one year")

Joko (to Georg and Gustav): But for you it's easy? [concerning their private life]

Georg: It's really more relaxed, you can't compare that.

Klaas (to Gustav): You always have that firm handshake, people don't dare to do such things to you, huh?

Gustav (with puppy eyes): I'm sorry.

Klaas: But you already used to have that [firm handshake] before! You almost broke half my hand then.

Georg: He's compensating something...

Klaas: For example at VIVA Live he almost...

Tom: Small noodle, firm handshake.

*people laughing*

Klaas: So is that an old saw from Magdeburg?

Georg: An ancient wisdom from Magdeburg.

Tom: Yes, a wisdom from Magdeburg.

Joko (to Tom): Have you actually accepted by now that Bill is a bit strange? Because I can remember times in which you always nagged at Bill "He's looking so weird", and so on..

Tom: Bill?

Joko: Yeah.

Bill: That has always been Georg.

Tom: Actually it has always been Georg, yeah.

Joko: Really?

Georg: I always got a good dressing-down.

Klaas: But between you, you sometimes even offended each other in interviews and I remember that sometimes it really came to real fights, and one sat next to you and it was almost a bit awkward..

Bill: Really?

Klaas: Yeah, because you thought "Just stop that already." Is it between brothers that they fight mercilessly, is it still like that? I sometimes was a witness of it..

Tom: Really? Where was that? At VIVA? Probably we frantically tried to get to MTV because all the time we were at VIVA..

Klaas: I had also been there for years..

Tom: Yes exactly... Nah, actually not at all, I mean of course we fight but Bill and me, we lead an identical life. 1 to 1. We know everything of each other. And that's.. we sometimes fight really hard, because of course no one can provoke Bill better than me.

Klaas: Yeah of course

Tom: ..but that's kept within limits actually. Because both of us do the same every day.

Klaas: How is it when you work and when you're on tour and you write a song, you're mentally full in swing, and then you take a holiday for a year, especially in LA which is not really a city full of academics, how did you make it to not go daft in the hot sun?

Tom: We didn't make it.

*people laugh*

Tom: We dropped out of school at the age of 15, and then immediately to LA and now we're completely stupid.

Klaas: Well then. You didn't lose your honesty.

Bill: Well, we still had contact with all the people from Germany the whole time. It wasn't that we didn't see each other for four years and then said "Let's do an album together quickly." We just did nothing for one or 1,5 years. Then Tom and I build a homestudio and started to produce, we actually produced the whole album, Musically we did things for which we hadn't had the time before. We always had studio sessions before where we had to record everything within 2 or 3 weeks. And this time we did it at home. So yeah, and Tom produced and programmed everything, not only guitar, synthesizers, piano and everything..

Klaas: Well, you were really modest, you actually grew up to a, let's say even more adepted musician.

Bill: For us it was really important privately and also musically, we had so much time for the album that we could do way more on our own than we had done before.



(Explanation: they're playing a game with German "swear words". Someone's saying a (invented) swear word and the next one has to say a new word that starts with the last letter of the previous word.)

Klaas: I'll start with a little test round now, and simply say "jerk". ("Trottel")
Gustav: Lolly. ("Lutscher")
Klaas: Very good. So I see you understood the game (...)

- break -

Klaas: And here we go.

Bill: Donkey fucker. ("Eselficker")

Klaas: Yep, that's a veritable swear word. - uhm, uhm, roulade ass! ("Rouladenarsch")

Gustav: .... *says nothing*

Klaas: Aaaah, Gustav.. but that was an "h". I'm sorry, I think you have to get up and stand behind the chair now.

Gustav: I would have almost said "Hublot-wearer" now. ("Hublot-Träger")

Klaas: "Hublot-wearer", oooh, that would have been false.

Joko: Oooh, that statement would have reached us.

Georg: Uhm, "Randfichten-Fan". ("Randfichten" is a band who makes traditional german folk music)
Klaas: Uhm, "Neomagazin"-host. ("Neomagazin-Moderator")

Tom: I always get the "r", that can't be true! I already had anus ("Rosette")... Ass crack fucker! ("Ritzenficker")

Georg: Uuuhm, "bully". ("Rüpel")

Klaas: Oh. Oh, such a subtle mister.

Joko: Leek. ("Lauch")

Bill: Uuuhm, "sky-blue-lover"! ("Himmelblau-Liebhaber") - [it's wrong]

Joko: *laughs* Awww.

Bill: What? Why?!

Klaas: We asked 100 people, that's not an insult. ... Okay, what was it now?

Tom: An "H".

Klaas: An "H". You "Hämpfling".

Joko: Cucumber fucker. ("Gurkenficker")

Tom: ...always "fucker".

Joko: Can we add "fucker" to every word?

Klaas: Well then, radishes fucker. ("Radieschenficker")

Georg: Radish fucker. ("Rettichficker" - seems like Radieschen & Rettich are the same in english)

Joko: Uh, something with "r" for a change!

Tom: Uhm, snout pig. ("Rüsselschwein")

Joko: Umbilical cord wearer. ("Nabelschnurträger")

Klaas: That's babies, that's not an insult! "Umbilical cord wearer"...

Tom: Yeah, that's babies, that's tasteless!

Klaas: A very good insult... Nazi.

Georg: Hedgehog fucker. ("Igelficker")

Klaas: Animals, vegetables...and adding "-fucker" to that.

Joko: ..something with "r"

Tom: Ass crack ****. ("Ritzen*****") - [it's wrong] ...What?!

Joko: Maybe because it's the same..

 Tom: You meant **** and **** is the same..?

Klaas: A so-called tautology.

Georg (murmurs): Ugh, I have no chance.

Klaas: So, "e". ... fleabag. ("Ekelpaket")

Georg: Uhm, tea drinker. ("Teetrinker")

Klaas: Snot slurper. ("Rotzschlürfer")

Bill: "f"!

Georg: What?

Bill: Ah, "RotzschlürfER"! ...

Georg: Uhm...

Bill: Ass crack licker! Man! ("Rillenlecker")

Georg: No, not a clue.


Performance

9.25.2014

STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG- Die Karriere der vier Jungs von Tokio Hotel [TH Interview]




„Americans think we’re some weird German celebrities“
 Los Angeles – As a teen band Tokio Hotel from Madgeburg, broke all the records in the 00s. But the success soon overwhelmed the two front men, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, which was why, back in 2009, they decided to flee into anonimity. In Los Angeles the, now 25-year old, twins didn’t just find their luck, but also the muse for a new album. It’s called “Kings Of Suburbia” and is about “the feeling, that means everything but at the same time nothing”. In our interview the brothers talk about home, their English lyrics and paparazzi in Los Angeles.

Bill and Tom Kaulitz, this interview is taking place at one in the morning (californian time). Are you nocturnal people? 
Tom Kaulitz: For us that’s even early. Our rhythm is pretty skewed. We always stay up until six or seven in the morning and get up when the sun is already going down again.
  
The new album “Kings Of Suburbia” only sounds melancholy, from time to time even optimistic in comparison to your past music, which sounded more gloomy. What happened?
  Bill Kaulitz: We found new inspiration in the US, since we’re living a completely different life here than we did in Germany. It also has something to do with the fact that we were able to retreat and not do anything for a long time. Of course we also changed. The music on our new album feels good to us though. It’s not a concept album where everything was planned through, we simply started with writing and producing. 

Why didn’t you just decide to work with a popular producer from L.A.? 
Bill: We did actually work with a few people from L.A., Rock Mafia for example. But also worked with our old team.
Tom: The first few sessions were really unsatisfying for us, because music wise, it just wasn’t going in the direction we wanted it to. That’s when we realized that we wanted to do everything ourselves. We built up our home studio and recorded songs in different parts of the world. The cornerstone for the album was the song “Stormy Weather”, which has been for three years years already.
 

To what extent were you able to refince your individual specialties in L.A.? 
Tom: We were totally able to do that. But it was less because of the city L.A., even if you do run into international artists and producers pretty often. We learned a lot here, but what really helped us was the time. We had five years to master the art of mixing and producing a song. 
Are you not interested in writing German songs anymore? 
Tom: This time there aren’t any German ones, because we find it difficult to translate our lyrics word for word without them losing their meaning. We already noticed that with our last album. We didn’t want to go through this process again. Today we either immediately write the song in English or in German, and with this album we just kept writing in English so we thought: Let’s keep it that way! We didn’t want to force anything.  
Does Los Angeles feel like home to you?
Bill: We like living here, but we could also decide to go to India tomorrow. There are a lot of things I miss about Germany, that’s why I like coming back once in a while. But I also like going back to L.A.. Home, for us, is where the people live with whom we get along, since we took our family and our dogs with us to the US.
 

Is the album a hommage to life in Los Angeles? 
Bill: It’s more a hommage to our own life. Germany just didn’t work for us anymore, because in the end we didn’t really have a private life left next to our career. Moving to L.A. was the right decision for us. It doesn’t have anything to do with the city itself. It’s important for us to find the right balance between our job and our private life. 

Do people in L.A. expect you to take part in the social life of the high society? 
Tom: Yes, they totally do. A lot of celebrities there can’t understand the fact that we don’t want to. We came to L.A. to retract. We didn’t want to go to any parties, have paparazzi surround us or walk the red carpet. For a lot of people here that’s normal though, even calling photographers is. I’m not in the mood for all that when it isn’t an officially scheduled appointment/date. It bores me – maybe because we already went through a lot of similar situations. We just want to make music, and as soon as we get home, we don’t want to have anything to do with Hollywood. I think a lot of Americans think we’re some weird German celebrities because of that. 

Do you still live together? 
Bill: Yes. We couldn’t even imagine living separately from each other. That would be completely unnatural for us, because we don’t even like to spend a second without the other. 

Did you go through the same experiences/gain the same insights in the US or do they now differ when it comes to certain things? 
Bill: Each of us, of course, has some private things going on, but if Tom has some kind of problem then it immediately turns into my problem. I actually never need Tom’s advice. He usually already knows about any problem I might have. If I needed advice I would probably ask a friend or my mom. 
Is your togetherness exhausting for people you work with? 
Tom: I know that, from time to time, people would prefer to have only one of us talking to them on the phone. It’s just that I’m the likeable twin and Bill the unlikeable one. (Bill laughs)
Bill: I myself sometimes think that we’re exhausting. Since we’re of the same opinion most of the time, people always have to deal with a unit if they go against us.
 

How often do you meet up, as a band, with the other two band members? 
Tom: For a while we only skyped. When everything started again the other two flew over here a few times. But we’ve also been to Germany in between, even if it wasn’t often.
Bill: It sounds cheesy, but we’re really good friends. When we see each other again, after a long break, it’s just like it was before. This energy between us is back. For people looking in, especially for our record label, it’s not always easy to get through to us. Sometimes I really feel bad for them.
 

In the video „Bill’s special Pill“ on your website, Bill suprises watchers with a his drug-related comment: “But with a little Heroin and a little Cocaine everything works.” Was that a joke or do people have a legitimate reason to worry? 
Bill: Nooo, in this case it was only a joke. Someone who’s a real heroin or cocaine addict would probably never say that. I can’t lie – we do have a lot of fun here – I love the nightlife and everything it entails. However you have to say that the nightlife in Europe is a lot more awesome than the one in L.A. L.A. is a pretty boring city, but I still like to go out to party and drink. I really like this feeling of being alive. In Europe it wasn’t possible to do this that easily. But no, I’m not a heroin addict!

 Bill and Tom Kaulitz, Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer released their debut single “Durch den Monsun” under the bandname Tokio Hotel in 2005 and immediately took the charts by storm. All their albums were extremely successful: „Schrei“ (2005), „Zimmer 483“ (2007) and „Humanoid“ (2009). Millions of girls, especially in Germany, lose their mind when Tokio Hotel perform.

Five years after their retreat to California the quartet is back – with a new look and a new sound. The songs from the album “Kings Of Suburbia”, which will drop on 3. October, are more electronic than their old tracks and all written in English. Tokio Hotel will be guests at “Wetten dass…?” on 4. October. 

Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com


9.23.2014

Der Spiegel #39/2014 - Küss Mich [ + Translation ]

 

 
KISS ME
Pop: They were teen stars from a Magdeburg village. As megastars they fled to Los Angeles. And today?
Bill kisses. Subject, predicate. Simple sentence but it’s rather complicated. „I have never kissed someone in front of a camera before“, says Bill „I’m totally shy“.

First scene of the video shooting for a new song of Tokio Hotels new album in Los Angeles: Bill Kaulitz sits in the middle of a couch, to his right brunet, to his left a Blondie, behind him a redhead and around him young pretty and half naked people, everybody tightly entwined and everybody kissing.

Second scene: Bill walks through a corridor, shoves himself between two girls who are making out, he takes over one of them: around him young pretty half naked people, everybody tightly entwined and everybody kissing.

Third scene: similar.
Before the fourth scene Bill sits on a director’s chair and chats about how weird it was at the beginning and he talks about this shock: that he got one who used lots of tongue and kind of “tongue raped” him. But now he got used to it: “I lost my inhibitions”.
Bill wears tight pants and suspenders his upper body is naked. He stands in front of an old hotel pool without water, the stone crumbles, the paint chips off, Olympic games once took place here in 1932. For the fourth scene the pretty half naked women now gathered on the bottom of the pool, they lay tightly entwined together. Bill is watching everything and says: A bit more skin would be great, you have to see some boobs as well.

“Love who loves you back” is the name of the song and “Love who loves you back” is the video which Tokio Hotel uses to show they’re still alive: Next week their new album gets released “Kings of Suburbia”.
They’re now with mid twenty something like veterans. The press release of their record label stylizes them as heroes who know that in this business you can’t just vanish for five months and especially not for five years. For Tokio Hotel there are other rules. They took over the world once before. Now they’ll try it again. With music that according to them is 100 percent Tokio Hotel and most of it even self produced.
Something that catches your eye immediately: Tokio Hotel doesn’t sound like Tokio Hotel. Tokio Hotel used to be German Poprock, now it’s mostly Pop and only in English, in between a ballad with Tom at the piano and Bill with an uncommon high voice. Apart from that mostly electronic, perfectly styled, danceable, international club culture.

Bill says, in a video shooting break of “Love who Loves you back”, that this song is one who doesn’t take love too serious. “Sometimes you just have to take yourself what you need. It doesn’t always have to be the big love. Nobody likes to be alone: simply take yourself something, someone who also loves you back. I still believe in big love though!”

Tokio Hotel are Germany’s mega stars. Seven million sold CD’s worldwide, in 68 countries they got platinum-certified and 500 000 people came to their concert at the Eiffel tower. It’s not true that Tokio Hotel were only disliked in Germany but it kind of looked like they were as much disliked as they were loved. Four years ago Bill and his twin brother Tom moved to Los Angeles. “They ran away”, that’s what Bill calls it, “we just fleed.” Back then they lived in a mansion in Hamburg, a “lovely jail”, 24 hours security, a solid fence, people in front of their door all the time. When they went out they usually set behind a barrier tape, “just like in a zoo”, around them people who stared at them and took photos. They celebrated their 21st birthday and came back home: Someone dug through their underwear, photos were spread everywhere. “I felt abused”, says Bill. “I even threw my cigarette on the floor. That’s how strange I felt in that house”, says Tom. After the burglary they didn’t sleep in the mansion anymore. For four weeks they stayed in the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm before they took off to Los Angeles with a private jet.

They wanted a break, peace from all the media, the reporters who wrote sentences about Bill such as “Hallow cheeks, the gold jewelry rattling against his chicken breast. The tattooed little arms stick out of the leather jacket, the cap pulled down covering his face. “ And: “Tom at least grins happily with his baggy look – and also obviously has more muscles on his body.”
Appearance and looks that’s what every Tokio Hotel dedicated article spoke about. “Aliens” “Outsiders” “androgynous characters” “Mangas”. And of course over and over again: Is Bill gay? Anorexic? Often the look makes a star to a superstar.

Lady Gaga and Madonna look plain on their childhood photos, with cute headbands and innocent looks. They became artistic figures later. Tokio Hotel didn’t need to become someone. They already looked like stars when they still lived in Loitsche, a little village with 700 residents close to Magdeburg.

With nine years Bill already started to dye his hair, applied black eye shadow while Tom wore dreadlocks. Everybody turned around and teachers used to rant: that’s not how students should come to school. When people kept silent, Bill once said in a documentation from a few years ago, then it was worse than when they spoke.

In primary school the brothers wrote their first song and performed at little festivals. They called themselves Black Question Mark. Then Gustav, the drummer, and Georg, the bassist, joined and they changed their band name to Devilish because a local newspaper praised the devilish guitar sound. Bill tried his luck at the casting show “Star Search”, he didn’t succeed but a producer came to see the band when they performed at Gröninger Bad and two years later they signed their first contract at Universal. Bravo made them big, New York Times wrote about them. Their first single was “Durch den Monsun”, first successful in Europe, then in North America where journalists compared them to Nena and the Beatles. They won awards and as they toasted, you can still see that on their Youtube Channel, they said “On me”.

With 18, you can also see that in a video, Bill didn’t even know what it feels like to go into a supermarket. So he went to one with his team while they made an USA trip and he got filmed while he walks through the aisles and searches for toilet paper, buys sweets and freaks out when he has to scan the groceries by himself at the checkout. “Guys, this is revolutionary! No cashier who gets on your nerves? How phat is that!”

As teens they became stars but were never typical teenage stars. They were no puppets like Britney Spears who had to shave her head to show: Hello, I’m self-determined! They had their own sound. Their image and their lyrics always rebellious – “wir brechen aus”. Clear profile (Outsiders), a clear fanbase (even kids like pop), clear messages (be yourself, live every second, live your dreams) – huge success.

Now the question is how did they develop far away from Germany? Did they grow up? Two days after their video shoot they give an interview, the first time in a group of four after a long time. The meeting place: SoHo House an exclusive club at the Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood. Bill and Tom are members in all SoHo-houses worldwide, the costs for one year: 1400 dollars. For over 27 year olds: 2800 dollar.

“I like these membership-clubs a lot because you are simply unmolested”, says Tom.
“I like that you can’t take photos here. You can drive into the underground garage, can go upstairs without going on the street. You can hide perfectly”, says Bill.
That everything starts again now with Tokio Hotel is really cool, says Gustav. It feels like they did all of that, says Georg. They drink ice tea.

The look, you can’t just get around that: striking as always. Georg (black pants, white shirt), Gustav (jeans shorts), Tom (baggy jeans, white sweatshirts with a few holes in it), Bill (completely in beige: plateau-Buffalos, flared pants, transparent skin-tight shirt, suspenders).
Especially Bill and Tom just talk how the words come to their mind and in between Tom makes his typical Tom-jokes, mostly quite pubertal, the others laugh. “I could imagine doing something different but still something creative, like a pornstar, where you can also draw but with different kind of brush.”

As they fled to Los Angeles he couldn’t hear the name Tokio Hotel anymore says Bill. “We lost the passion, we were exhausted, we didn’t have anything left to tell. I knew that if we don’t make another step then the next album would be an huge fail.”

Would it have been the end for the band?
“I think it would’ve been bad. An album that is just okay wasn’t something I was striving for. I preferred a break and then to come back with something great. Most people advised against doing a break, they called it Career Suicide. But we didn’t care.”
They just wanted to live: they furnished an house, bought pans, filled their fridge on their own, drove to the beach and took walks with their dogs, went to get a coffee from Starbucks, went to the movies. In Germany it was rather complicated to go to the movies says Bill: “I called the assistant who then called the security and then everybody planned everything. When we wanted to watch a movie then we had to rent the whole thing. The little things suddenly turned into something huge.”
They rented the whole Heide Park Soltau for their 20th birthday and drove with their cars from one rollercoaster to another. Now for their 25th birthday at the start of September they went to Palm Springs with some of their friends for 1 ½ days. Bill found the hotel through the internet and booked it on his name.

But this “new life” is somehow also weird: As Bill needed a Social Security Number there was an huge line at the office. “Do I have to wait with all of them as well? Can’t my assistant do that?”
He had to connect himself says Tom. He now has friends with whom he can go out at night to drink something. That didn’t exist in the past. Interpersonally, says Tom, he is a bit weird. Bill and him can’t really pull off a small talk because they just never really learned how it works since they were shielded from everything out there. If they meet new people they usually just stand there and say nothing. “And what are you guys doing?” – “Music”. They usually have extract every further information from them, says Bill “everyone thinks we’re weird”.

In this “new life” they somehow also found new music. It isn’t the music of a German band who once moved to Los Angeles anymore. It’s the music of musicians who live in Los Angeles. The inspiration was “the nightlife, the life itself, going out, being free, what is important to someone and what is not and has a meaning”, says Bill. “We do what we want”.

They partied a lot, maybe a lot because finally they had the chance to do it. “Nobody recognized me”, says Bill. “I had the opportunity to go into a club and get wasted, going out totally drunk without the fear of getting photographed.” Their studio sessions were almost like parties: a house in the Hollywood Hills, that’s where they partied and produced music often totally exhausted and tired and sometimes drunk until the sun rose.

As free as he feels in Los Angeles, says Bill, he has never felt in his entire life. “That’s the maximum. We couldn’t be more free at the moment except if I moved to India.” Tom: “Yes we will do that one day.” Bill: “Only with a backpack.” Tom: “I would sell everything I own before I leave. “ Bill: “That would be an huge adventure.” Tom: “That would be something completely different than what I have experienced so far. I also wouldn’t want to carry too much money with me because I know myself, I would just book an hotel and miss out the whole experience. “

There is no specific plan yet though. At the beginning of October they’ll go back to Germany for a performance at “Wetten, dass…?”. The question is what they still want there.


Translation by  www.loveth-music.com

Tokio Hotel Photoshoot 2014 [New photo]


Tokio Hotel - Girl Got A Gun


9.08.2014

Bill Kaulitz Instagram Update 08.09.14

Bill's Instagram

 
 "SOLD OUT! #kingsofsuburbia super deluxe album is already sold out! thank you guys so much! we're overwhelmed. can't wait for you guys to hear the first song! we're working on a solution with the record company to make a second edition available ASAP!!! #tokiohotel #soldout #aliens #love #thankyou"


Tokio Hotel Twitter Update

Tokio Hotel Facebook Update

9.07.2014

Gustav with a fan [07.09.14]

"#meet #gustav #from #tokiohotel #lovethisband #groupie #so #happy #gehenauftour #konzerteichkomme #traumwahrgeworden"

Happy Birthday, Gustav - September 8th

  Happy Birthday to our favorite drummer, We want to wish you a
 Happy Birthday and all the best! We love you, and we are very grateful that you exist ❤. 
Always making us smile, always knowing what to say, you are a very wise boy. We hope you keep succeeding today and always. We  hope you have a blast! Today is your day! 
Happy  Birthday GUSTAV!  
 Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

9.02.2014

Bill's & Georg's Instagram Update 01.09.14

Tokio Hotel's Message on Spotify.... ?


 
"Kings Of Suburbia" & "Third of October" The message that Tokio Hotel wanted us to find out? It seems like it is! Will this be the name of Tokio Hotel's single and also the release date? or the album's name and also the release date? Either way, I'm sure all of us are super anxious and excited!!!! Tokio Hotel is indeed very creative! and TH fans very intelligent!!!!


Tokio Hotel Update

8.31.2014

Happy 25th Birthday Twins!!! September 1st, 2014

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!
 ][
Happy Birthday to the most talented and beautiful twins!!  
We wish you all the best in this world. 
We hope you keep on succeeding!
We hope you keep on dreaming and making those dreams come true!
We love you so much, and we hope you have a blast today! 
Never forget we will always support you no matter what!
It is an honor growing up with you!
Happy Birthday!