Rock One n°24 [Франция]
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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.