Tokio Hotel on Bill's Condition and Breaking U.S. Market

The latest teen craze and possible future rock icon, Tokio Hotel have sat down to answer our questions that may as well be jotted by their fans. Beside talking about their immediate plan this year, the German band also share some personal stories regarding their tour experience and how they handle their female fans, including how guitarist Tom Kaulitz wishing to reunite with the “beautiful ladies” in U.S..


Drummer Gustav Schafer and bassist Georg Listing also highlight on whose music become their favorites plus reveal how each of them can actually never have one unanimous favorite. Singer Bill Kaulitz unfortunately is not available for the interview since he is in recuperation post a throat surgery and that was exactly the first thing we ask.



ASB: So regarding your canceled tour dates, what really happened at the time, did Bill start losing his voice when you guys performed in France?
Tom: Yes, unfortunately Bill lost his voice after the show in Marseille. The next day he left to see a specialist in Berlin. First he had to rest and after he saw the doctor for the second time it was clear that Bill had to undergo surgery at his vocal chords. He is fine so! He is not allowed to speak and laugh for ten days (laughing) and that’s a real hard task for him cause he normally speaks all the time. Now he is writing down everything in a book - that’s his way to communicate these days. After the ten days there will be an intense phase of vocal rehabilitation. The doctor is very satisfied with the healing process and is positive that Bill’s voice will be the same after the whole therapy. Bill is really glad that he left the surgery behind him. He can’t wait to go back on stage and perform!

ASB: For Tom, Georg and Gustav what do you guys do in the meantime?
Georg: We take the time to spend it with our friends and families and relax a little.
Tom: I’m with Bill all the time and support him. And of course we do all the work we can do without Bill at the moment.

ASB: When do you reckon the soonest time to get back on stage in compensation of the axed dates?
Tom: We are very happy cause we just approved a lot of summer festivals all over Europe starting in June. There are also talks concerning earlier dates. (Laughing) There’s no doubt: As soon as Bill is allowed he will jump back on stage and we all can’t wait to see our fans again. They were so great after we had to cancel shows. They showed so much support and love that we really want to thank them and be back for them as soon as possible.

ASB: Now that “Scream” has hit most part of the world and will soon hit U.S (May 6), what do you expect from the American fans?
Gustav: We just freaked out cause the album hit #6 of the Canadian charts out of the stand!
Tom: Yeah, this is really amazing. We actually can’t believe it. With us it’s not about expectations. We just hope that our fans do connect to our music and lyrics, that they feel it. (Smiling) I personally hope to be able to spend more time with all these beautiful ladies I saw on our first trip.

ASB: Do you find audience in America as loud as those in your home country?
Tom (laughing): Oh yes! We always say that it would be a nightmare to play in front of an audience that applauses and doesn’t scream. We love that excitement. Our fans a very energetic, very intense - they are the best fans in the world. And we were really blown away when we found out that the U.S. fans are showing the same energy. We loved it and we can’t wait to come back.

ASB: Have you thought of doing a collaboration with other American band? Which one?
Tom: We haven’t done collaboration so far. But as they say: Never say never. But nothing is planned at the moment.ASB: How do you find time to write in the middle of the tour?
Georg: Writing is an ongoing process. We always find time to sit down with our instruments even on the tour bus.
Tom: Right. Sometimes I have an idea and play it to Georg. Or I go to Bill and ask what he thinks or if he has an idea for a lyric to the music. Or Bill wrote some lyrics we do the music to it. Bill writes all the time anyways. He is always carrying a piece of paper and a pen in case he gets an idea. (Laughing) You should take a look in his book, he’s been writing all the time even now. There is no way to stop this guy.

ASB: What do you reckon the next album will be first, a German or an English?
Tom: Well, Bill always wrote in German. It’s our native language and the language he can express himself and his feelings the best. (Laughing) And honestly our English is still way too bad to write in English. Even with an English speaking girlfriend, that would help a lot by the way, the songs will be written in German and than translated into English.

ASB: You guys won some prestigious awards like World Music Awards and MTV Europe Awards in 2006 and 2007 respectively, do you have more to expect out there after such recognitions?
Tom: We honestly don’t think too much about that. But of course it’s great to win an award.
Georg: Specially the ones that are voted by the fans.
Tom: Yes, cause it’s such a great and intense feedback. But it’s not that we sit down and think about which award we could win next. Everything that happened to us so far is more then we ever expected at all. Receiving a World Music Award, being nominated at the MTV European Music Award with all these big and great international artists that have been around for ever, sharing the stage with them that night and finally winning that award - none of us ever even imagined something like this a couple of years ago, when we sat in our rehearsal room in Magdeburg dreaming of a record deal. All we ever wanted is to be able to play live in front of people that like our music. Everything that happened till today already went far beyond our dreams. And it really feels unreal sometimes.

ASB: Tokio Hotel has been on many concerts, do you have special unforgettable moment in one of the concerts?
Tom: That’s really hard to pick after we played so many amazing venues and concerts. There’s always something going on that’s really great (laughing) like the one show were people threw batteries at Georg. He actually loves it, so don’t hesitate to keep on doing it.
Georg: Ahhhhhh!
Tom: There are always signs that make us laugh during each show - (laughing) I just wish there would be more signs for Georg.
Georg: Ahhhh! I’m actually glad that I don’t get signs saying “Tom, f*** you”.
Tom (Laughing): Oh, come on. That was in France and the girl wrote that sign in German. We all know that she wanted to say: “Tom f*** me” and I’m sure you pray for such a sign every night. But to come back to your question, playing in Paris in front of the Eiffel tower in front of over 500.000 people that’s was an unforgettable moment for sure.
Everybody: Yes!
Tom: Being able to play three European tours it’s unbelievable for us. And getting the chance to go to Canada and the States to play there, finding out that all shows have been sold out - that’s still incredible to us and something that is totally unforgettable. That doesn’t happen to a German band too often, you know.

ASB: “Don’t Jump” music video saw Bill’s character falling off the building, do you guys chip in ideas in your videos?
Tom: Yes, we are always involved when it comes to our videos. We always have a ideas in our heads once the songs are written and we throw them in and work it out with the director.

ASB: We’ve been curious for sometime, which musicians in both your home town and international league that inspire you musically?
Tom (Laughing): You know, Magdeburg, the little town we are from, is not really known as the city that brings out great bands.
Georg (Laughing): No not at all. And it’s really not the place were producers and record labels would look automatically for talents to work with and sign.
Tom (Smiling): Yeah, we’ve been really lucky. But we actually never had an influence in that way cause our personal music taste is so different - we could never agree on ONE artist or band. I mostly listen to German HipHop. Bill loves Nena and he likes Coldplay, Keen, Green Day and Placebo - depending on his mood.
Gustav: I love the Foo Fighters and Metallica.
Georg: I listen a lot to the latest album of Jimmy Eat World and I’m still a big Oasis fan.
Tom: We always wanted to create our own sound, do our own thing. Our music was actually the music we all agreed on. And it came naturally once we started playing in our rehearsal room.

ASB: Last but not least, being a representative of young artists, do you have wise words to share to your fans here on AceShowbiz?
(Everybody laughs!)
Tom (Laughing): Unfortunately you are talking to the wrong people here! We hate people that need to tell you how to do things and how the world is running. We actually think that everybody needs to do his own thing, to find his own way and make his own experiences. That’s what we always did. We had our own ideas, we wanted to do our thing our way. People can tell you so much and it will always be different. (Smiling) So if we had to give an advice it would be: do your thing any time and if you are a musician play as much as possible.

FUENTE:

*TH*ELVIA*CB*