Email Interview: Tokio Hotel

If you know who these vampiric androgynes (and Gustav) are, anything I have to say about them now will be accompanied by the sound of much tutting and stroppy voices going "GOD! EVERYONE knows that!". For everyone else, this is Tokio Hotel. They are German, they are ROCK, and they are doing very nicely indeed thank you very much. Their massively successful album 'Scream' has seen them conquer Europe in a manner which I absolutely refuse to compare in any way to any World Wars of the past 100 years or so. And they're just a bunch of nippers!

And now they've set their sights on Blighty. They're releasing their first UK single 'Ready Set Go' over here on August 20th, and even though their English isn't brilliant, we still decided that the best introduction ChartBlog readers could have to their work would be in the form of our patented Email Questionnaire.

Which, now I come to think about it, is a bit cruel, really. Oh well...

QUESTION 1: Where are you (as this is email, feel free to lie if you are somewhere dull)?
Tom: We are in Hamburg today (24th. of July).

QUESTION 2: What are you doing (see question 1)?
Bill: We're at a photo shoot for ID-Magazine.

QUESTION 3: Tell us all about your new product?
Bill: It's our first English album. It's a mixture of songs from our first and second German albums and the songs have been translated into English. Recording it was a very special experience especially for me. While the others had time off (all of them moaning), cause we didn't need to record the music again, I had to go into the studio and record the songs in English. I'm a perfectionist and I wanted the songs to sound like a native speaker would sing them and not like some German trying to sing in English. It took me some time but I'm really happy with the results. I'm very proud that we did the English album.
Tom: There's one special thing about the UK-Version, we added two extra songs - "Live Every Second" and "Raise Your Hands".

QUESTION 4: Are you looking forward to a future where computers can just read your brainwaves rather than expecting you to use a keypad?
Bill: That would make life easy, wouldn't it?!

QUESTION 5: What would you like to be wearing right now?
Tom: What I'm wearing right now.
All: Exactly.

QUESTION 6: And what are you actually wearing?
Georg: I'm wearing black jeans and a black T-Shirt with a skull.
Tom: I'm wearing blue jeans, a blue XXL-T-Shirt and a blue cap.
Gustav: Light blue jeans, red T-Shirt with black sculls all over the front and a black cap.
Bill: A Red T-Shirt with David Bowie on the top, a dark blue jeans, red and black cowboy boots, leather-glam-belt with a scull, a white leather jacket.

QUESTION 7: Why do you think Donald Duck wears a tunic but no trousers?
Tom: Maybe it's because of his on-and-off-relationship with Daisy. Maybe he is tired of being treated badly by Daisy. But because he can't help it, the guy might just want to check on his chances with other ladies - or he just likes to show off.

QUESTION 8: What musical training do you have? Do you play any interesting instruments?
Gustav: I started to play drums when I was really little - about 5 years old. I used to act like I am playing drums everywhere - at the table, under the table, on the sofa - so my parents send me off to get proper lessons right away.
Bill: I never had any singing lessons.
Tom: My step-dad showed me some chords on the guitar - from that moment on I learned everything by practice. In my case it worked out - but when Georg is playing the bass, it still sounds like he never had any lessons at all.
Georg: Very funny. I started to play the bass when I was about 11 or 12 and had lessons at music school.

QUESTION 9: If you and your most musical mates all had your instruments in front of you right now, but were instructed to play a song, any song, right now without conferring, what would it be?
Gustav: 'Break away'.
Tom: 'Raise Your Hand'.

QUESTION 10: Now be honest, did you cheat on question 9?
Bill: No, these two songs are our most favorite live-songs.

QUESTION 11: What was the last thing you posted on your own message board?
Gustav: Don't forget the conference call.
Bill: Call management!
Georg: Buy eggs.
Tom: The last written thing Georg wrote, which I read: And there was the problem - the girl was the girlfriend of our guitar player.
Georg: Ohhhhh!

So there we have it. And to think there was concern that the snarky English humour wouldn't translate well!

Having said that, I would hate to be a fly on the wall of their rehearsal room when they count in to a song, and Gustav and Tom launch into a different number each. Unless it was a deaf fly.

Here's 'Ready Set Go', which is out on August 20th