*Я тоже об этом подумала, когда увидела детскую фотку . И, как видно, не только я. Прошло несколько лет, а сильный и добрый Жорик так и тащит на себе Густава *
MADE IN GERMANY(On the pic : When the brothers have fun.)
It would have taken three albums for Tokio Hotel to grow. Now that they’re all major and vaccinated to pop rock, the four Germans come back with big back up of humanist and full of drive songs. An ecumenicalism some will flee from (the first fans?) but it will shut some mouths for sure. Particularly to those who have repeatedly found the multiple- and real- bonds of “Humanoid” (basically from coldplay to Depeche Mode, from Nena to New Order…). But is it not more a humble and sincere approach to move forward without that veil, to create ones own references, even if they are not yet fully digested? That was probably what dominated in the writing of this third album. Given the overwhelming success of the first two discs, the quartet might have had no choice but ignore the media pressure by retreating to the best of a universal pop desired as such. As if the boys didn’t give it all already, as if their will for success everywhere they go was a daily obsession, almost infinite, as if they didn’t know the what having a rock star status tastes like, their dream since Magdeburg. At the risk of becoming the engine of their own machinations. Come on, we wish you an excellent reading and take care!
PS: Early November, ROCK ONE N°59 will be on the shelves. Followed by another hors-série with posters only. Don’t miss it!(then they give their site addresses and stuff)
Humanoid associates
Tokio Hotel
A month before the release of Humanoid, the third studio album of Tokio Hotel, we had the chance to spend a whole hour face to face with the band. Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer tell their happiness in an intimate atmosphere.
Wednesday September 2. It’s 6pm when we are headed towards one of the most luxurious hotels in Paris. A historic Monument on the Avenue Montaigne, in the Eighth Arrondissement. The Plaza Athenee is a luxury hotel where luxury rhymes with elegance. A beautiful place, ideal to meet the German group. Arriving there, we sneak amid hundreds of fans who were scrutinizing the slightest movements of their favourite band, ever since the first lights of the day. The Security Service welcomed us with great diplomacy. The dense crowd remained calm and disciplined and facilitated the work for everyone. We finally enter the majestic entrance to this extraordinary place.
World exclusivity
Once inside the hostesses very kindly invited us to go upstairs in the suite of the group. We went through classic rooms of the Loui XVI type and we met the quartet’s staff who proposed us to listen in world exclusivity to four new tracks in a sealed iPod. Next to us, the management had a meeting with our colleagues from Paris Match about the sensitive subject of Gustav’s accident. In the night of July 13 to July 14, the drummer was assaulted in the discotheque “The Club” in his hometown Magdeburg. Right then they were reminded that the members of Tokio Hotel prefer to talk about their music instead of their private lives. The great French weekly magazine started then their report.
The entire group is reluctant pose on the balcony for safety reasons and opted for a quick session in the hallway of the suite. Meanwhile, Trip Fontaine our photographer, set up his studio in the next room. Just on time to make the final adjustments and the boys enter the room. Everyone exchange greetings, remembering the good memories of the previous sessions. The atmosphere is of good humor and jokes in German fuse! As to Trip Fontaine, he regales behind his camera surprised that the group’s poses were more natural than usual.
We grew up
It’s already past 8pm when we return in the lounge with the four boys, they did not waste a minute. Disciplined and professional, they are ready to answer our questions in German. At that moment, we were exactly a month before the release of Humanoid. Bill is quick to give his first impressions. "We grew up, as was the case in our first two albums ‘Schrei’ in 2006 and 'Zimmer 483' in 2007. The first incisive riffs of "Humanoid", the eponymous track, sufficed to convince us of the radical change in TH’s sound.
Bill’s enchanting voice,Tom’s distorted guitars,Georg’s heavy bass line and Gustav’s impressive drumming evolved in sumptuous and futuristic arrangements. "We wanted to innovate on several tables. We were not satisfied with only guitar, bass and drums. We've tested a lot of sounds on synthesizers.Plus it’s been a while we didn’t write anything. So this time we decided to take our time and concentrate to compose and record new songs again." We produced it ourselves!
Indeed, TH displays the color from the first notes of "Komm," the opening track on the album. From the Japanese sounding Flutes to the synthetic lines worthy of the best of Depeche Mode in the 90's, the arrangements are simply majestic. “We are very happy about the final results, more so that we produced it ourselves!” adds Bill, obviously proud of himself. “On each of our new tracks, we worked on several versions completely different to give our best each time. Thanks to high-tech, we had fun recording some of our songs in dance version and some in rock. It was wicked to see how one song could sound so differently!” And Tom adds with a mischievous smile: “We spent so much time on this album that it’s not a surprise for us anymore!”
Thus, the Germans have worked hard to get a result worth our expectations. On the beautiful ballad "Lass uns laufen", the band launches into lyrical flights with disconcerting virtuosity.It will remain one of the best songs of the disc for sure and one of TH’s future classics.
We raced straight ahead with sports cars!
Contrary to what many detractors want people to believe, the Germans are not the type to pretend. To promote the third album, they do not hesitate to put the small dishes in the big ones. Last Friday (Aug 14), TH announced live from London’s airport that they were headed to South Africa to shoot the single “Automatisch”. Bill recalled that with a certain emotion.”To be honest, that shoot was really difficult for us. When one thinks about Africa, one tends to think that they’d die of the heat. But we arrived there right in the middle of winter and it was freezing! In the middle of the desert during five days, we experienced a tiring adventure but it was so exceptional!” As for his brother, he drove straight ahead with his sport car. “It was easier for me because I have my driving licence. The mandatory test time required in Germany is over for me. Bill has to wait till December!”
The step is now crossed between karting sessions (DVD "Tokio Hotel TV-CoC" and large cylinder cars(From the clip of “Automatisch”).
“For the video, we started with the idea that it would be a great song to listen to in a car. That desert landscape allowed us to move rapidly while giving frantic rhythms to the pictures. During the shooting of Automatisch, we really felt the need to move up a gear!” Everybody’s equal!
From now on, the group plans on continuing its international success. Thus, last October 2, the album “Humanoid” was simultaneously released in both English and German. Bill supports that strategic move. “English is an universal language. It’s now part of our environment. The choice of releasing our album in both languages self imposed itself. We wanted the fans to be on the same level to listen to the same music in the same time. Singing in English and in German permits to put everyone on an equal step, especially not putting anyone in disadvantage.”
The singer did not plan on singing in other languages. “Writing the texts and shooting the video in two versions already consumes twice of the amount of time needed. Recording in French would have taken even more time.”
Always so conscientious, the TH boys are even more so now that they’re adults. The new songs are proof of great maturity, especially when Bill tell us about human evolution in “Menschen suchen Menschen”( Literally, humans connected to humans) and relates of his pains in “Kampf der Liebe” . “The theme of human being touches me particularly. The fact of thinking that he will transform progressively in a Humanoid is a rather optimistic vision of the world’s evolution. Even if I sincerely thinks that Humans will always be behinf the machines and not the other way around!”
It will be Rock’n’Roll!
Sensitive to the world that surround them, the four Germans are more so around their fans. Last August 18, The day of the online release of the snippet of their first single “Automatisch” Bill and Tom even plugged their computers to listen to it on the internet. “We try to listen to the maximum of opinions and understand all the reactions of our fans, no matter how variable they are. That interests us a lot. It’s important to understand their comments and to know how they will welcome the new album.”
However Tom admits that the task at hand is difficult."It would take us all our lives in front of the computer to know all the opinions!” Even if the group seem to have a good control of its world scale success, Bill plays the caution card for what will come next. He quotes and example of the king of pop “I was shocked by MJ’s death. But I don’t want to add furthermore because I think that people lack of discretion while taking advantage of his death to be in the spotlight.” Humble and honest, Bill is reassuring concerning the future of his group. “The chirurgical intervention on my vocal cords went smoothly, my voice’s alright.Thus, we are ready to start a new tour in the beginning of the year to come.It will be Rock’n’Roll!” We wait for their return in France with impatience.
В воскресенье 18.10.2009 в 19:00 на www.radiokoeln.de или на UKW 107,1 интервью с Tokio Hotel .
Билл расскажет, что - привык спать там, где придется: в машине, самолете ... - У группы нас есть два новых партнера, с которыми они готовят новый тур. А кроме этого, существует множество запланированных мероприятий. - что свои прически он меняет совершенно стихийно, как и все остальное. Это - часть его свободы, он по разному чувствует себя каждый день и по разному видит себя. А Густав внесет ясность, что волосы у него стали не черные, а темно-коричневые.