mollie
March 31st, 2009, 06:30 PM
I know most ppl have it at home or have seen it on Youtube but I wrote down the interviews on the "Caught on Camera" Bonus DVD. I like to have it in writing. It's long since Bill, especially, loves to talk lol. This is part 1-2!
Interview Part 1!
Comet, EMA, Echo, NRJ, VMA, gold, platinum, what's the highlights?
BILL: To be honest, we will remember the past year as a successful one. So we will just remember it as a year in which we traveled a lot, won many awards and was all in all a successful year.
TOM: A wonderful year, but at the same time a very strenuous one lies behind us.
Watching the documentary on DVD, what thoughts go through your heads?
BILL: I sometimes think: How did we manage all of this? Without any kind of pause, or anyone burning out. Of course i had the vocal chord surgery, but apart from that we just kept going. If I now see all the places we visited, and everything we did, it's pretty incredible what you can cram into a single year.
GEORG: It feels much longer, that's for sure. To me it feels more like three years.
BILL: To me too.
Did you ever expect this success?
BILL: One night Tom and me watched videos of all our old stuff. Our very first appearances, the first interviews...
TOM: If you hear the objectives we talk about on this local TV station...You hear Gustav saying: "It'd be nice to be discovered one day, and making our own record would be grand!"
GUSTAV: Grand!
TOM: And that's...
BILL: And we've already gone beyond that!
TOM: So it's...
BILL: So none of us, and I m not just saying this, none of us never expected this, where this would lead to or anything. No producer, no manager, could've expected this 4-5 years ago.
Does the success frighten you?
BILL: Well, there are times when you realize, that goes especially for Tom and me, that we chose a life, and chose it at a age of 13, that we'll never be able to escape from. So we live a life we chose to live at 13, when we were children. So we're not frightened, but you do consider what might've been , if things had gone differently. If we hadn't got that record deal, what would've become of us? That's when you stop to think. We chose our path very early on, and it's not easy to go back on it again. We'll always be Bill and Tom Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel, we 4 are Tokio Hotel. It wont be easily forgotten and we can't just up and say "No more!" And we don't want to!
TOM: That's the result of success. With other bands it's like this: they have a few gigs, a few hits and then it's over. 5 years later they're forgotten. But in our case this humongous success left it's mark in the brains of people. Even if the band is gone in 10 years, people will remember us in 20 years. That's something very positive. And it shows that our success was awesome and will live on, but at the same time, as Bill said, it can never ever be undone. We'll never be able to say, "As of today, I'll live a normal life again". That's simply impossible. And sometimes you worry about that.
Interview Part 2!
How will you manage to concentrate on a new album after such a year?
BILL: At first it's hard. Once you've started, it's OK, but at first it's hard to clear your head and concentrate. It's important to take a break and relax. Do something completely different, put the guitar aside, and not sing for two weeks. then we get together and spend a lot of time with each other writing songs all night long, singing...It's all very informal, we spend time together, order pizza...
TOM: What is also very important is that you have different locations, that you don't always meet at the same studio in the same place to write or produce songs, we sort of divide it. We've got several studios where we do recordings. Even at home we've improvised a kind of studio so we can record stuff and save certain song ideas. It's important to have different locations.
BILL: Because you get ideas at different moments. Sometimes we're at home at night and have an idea, so we go and record it. That's very handy. It's not like: "Today we have to write one song". Sometimes we meet, write nothing and go home again. All we've done is eat pizza.
What are your ideas for the next Tokio Hotel album?
BILL: This album is going to be a real challenge. We appreciate it's importance. We want to explore more ways and try out new things, sound-wise and so on. And also, we want to work with other artists. Some of the ideas we have are out of this world. They involve people that you'd never have expected us to consider working with. But that's exactly what we need at this moment in time. We want to change, try new things. And all options are open to us. That's what's so great about being successful. You have so many possibilities, everything is at your disposal, you can talk to all kind of artists, and utilize every possibility.
TOM: For the new album it's very important to break down all mental boundaries. None of us any longer think in the terms of: "This song's gotta sound like this!" on the contrary, there are songs we've does several mixes of, one of which sounds like pop and the other sounds like the complete opposite. At first everyone was like: "We're a rockband!" Sure, we've made, and keep on making, handmade music, but we don't adhere to clichés.
Do two successful albums allow you more freedom in making the third?
BILL: We certainly are freer as far as production is concerned, and how we've seen ourselves as artists. You automatically become freer. You no longer have to prove yourself. You no longer have to explain what your name is, or why you look like you do. The people know the songs, they know us and we can build on that. That gives us the freedom we always wanted.
What's the working title of the new album? Does it have a kind of motto
BILL: It's like pressing the "reset" button. you don't have to stick to anything. In the studio there's a blank piece of paper, an empty computer. You can begin anew. There's no vocal or guitar track. You have all the opportunities that all the music in the world offers you. Be they Hiphop or Dance influences, you can tryout whatever you want. So a motto of sorts could be "Reset" or "New".
GEORG: "Experiment" maybe.
BILL: Yes, "Trying out".
TOM: We may be trying out all kind if things but we stay true to ourselves. There will definitely be songs on it that are typical for Tokio Hotel. But this time I also want a really wild mixture. We always had ballads and up-tempo songs that differed in many ways.
GEORG: But now in style, too.
TOM: Now I want different styles, too.
What is it that attracts you so much to working with other artists?
BILL: Again, trying out things, doing new things, hearing my voice blend with someone elses...
TOM: And simply hearing our music being performed by a different voice.
BILL: When you write something you automatically think of yourself, but other singers or players interpret it differently. A song benefits from having 2 or 3 people sing it.
TOM: Or you could write a song that can be sung by two people. We'll be looking for artists with whom we can imagine working together, but also whom we might suit the feeling of a particular song.
Could you give away any specifics?
BILL: No, we can't give anything away, but we're considering lots of people. Not only rock singers but also people from very different styles of music and other circles so...But we'll see what happens. Maybe we meet some artists who who we thought was cool, and it turns out to: "**** , this is never gonna work." I wouldn't waste time then. If it doesn't work you go separate ways and you do it alone. Maybe we'll sing everything ourselves after all. If no one suits us. Because we are pretty...
TOM: Picky.
BILL: Picky and also...
GEORG: Particular.
BILL: Right, because they're our songs and it's tricky to entrust them to others. But we're gonna try it and see what happens.
How is the atmosphere in the studio?
BILL: Very informal but we also get closer as a group. There are no inhibitions whatsoever. We work with the same people. I'm trying out completely new things with my voice. There will be songs on the new album of which many fans wont realize they were sung by me.In some of these songs I as a singer have a totally new sound. We now have the courage to try new things in front of the others. We used to think, "I don't wanna try this out, in case it sounds like ****" or "I just can't do it..." But this time around I've been singing to the strangest beats and guitar riffs...I just kept singing and shouting. I don't know. We try out everything. We're not afraid of each other. We're like one family who all want the same thing: create a new and awesome album which, I hope, contains something for everyone. An album we can all be happy with, that we all like and think OK. We'll only release it when we think it's the album we wanted to make
Interview Part 1!
Comet, EMA, Echo, NRJ, VMA, gold, platinum, what's the highlights?
BILL: To be honest, we will remember the past year as a successful one. So we will just remember it as a year in which we traveled a lot, won many awards and was all in all a successful year.
TOM: A wonderful year, but at the same time a very strenuous one lies behind us.
Watching the documentary on DVD, what thoughts go through your heads?
BILL: I sometimes think: How did we manage all of this? Without any kind of pause, or anyone burning out. Of course i had the vocal chord surgery, but apart from that we just kept going. If I now see all the places we visited, and everything we did, it's pretty incredible what you can cram into a single year.
GEORG: It feels much longer, that's for sure. To me it feels more like three years.
BILL: To me too.
Did you ever expect this success?
BILL: One night Tom and me watched videos of all our old stuff. Our very first appearances, the first interviews...
TOM: If you hear the objectives we talk about on this local TV station...You hear Gustav saying: "It'd be nice to be discovered one day, and making our own record would be grand!"
GUSTAV: Grand!
TOM: And that's...
BILL: And we've already gone beyond that!
TOM: So it's...
BILL: So none of us, and I m not just saying this, none of us never expected this, where this would lead to or anything. No producer, no manager, could've expected this 4-5 years ago.
Does the success frighten you?
BILL: Well, there are times when you realize, that goes especially for Tom and me, that we chose a life, and chose it at a age of 13, that we'll never be able to escape from. So we live a life we chose to live at 13, when we were children. So we're not frightened, but you do consider what might've been , if things had gone differently. If we hadn't got that record deal, what would've become of us? That's when you stop to think. We chose our path very early on, and it's not easy to go back on it again. We'll always be Bill and Tom Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel, we 4 are Tokio Hotel. It wont be easily forgotten and we can't just up and say "No more!" And we don't want to!
TOM: That's the result of success. With other bands it's like this: they have a few gigs, a few hits and then it's over. 5 years later they're forgotten. But in our case this humongous success left it's mark in the brains of people. Even if the band is gone in 10 years, people will remember us in 20 years. That's something very positive. And it shows that our success was awesome and will live on, but at the same time, as Bill said, it can never ever be undone. We'll never be able to say, "As of today, I'll live a normal life again". That's simply impossible. And sometimes you worry about that.
Interview Part 2!
How will you manage to concentrate on a new album after such a year?
BILL: At first it's hard. Once you've started, it's OK, but at first it's hard to clear your head and concentrate. It's important to take a break and relax. Do something completely different, put the guitar aside, and not sing for two weeks. then we get together and spend a lot of time with each other writing songs all night long, singing...It's all very informal, we spend time together, order pizza...
TOM: What is also very important is that you have different locations, that you don't always meet at the same studio in the same place to write or produce songs, we sort of divide it. We've got several studios where we do recordings. Even at home we've improvised a kind of studio so we can record stuff and save certain song ideas. It's important to have different locations.
BILL: Because you get ideas at different moments. Sometimes we're at home at night and have an idea, so we go and record it. That's very handy. It's not like: "Today we have to write one song". Sometimes we meet, write nothing and go home again. All we've done is eat pizza.
What are your ideas for the next Tokio Hotel album?
BILL: This album is going to be a real challenge. We appreciate it's importance. We want to explore more ways and try out new things, sound-wise and so on. And also, we want to work with other artists. Some of the ideas we have are out of this world. They involve people that you'd never have expected us to consider working with. But that's exactly what we need at this moment in time. We want to change, try new things. And all options are open to us. That's what's so great about being successful. You have so many possibilities, everything is at your disposal, you can talk to all kind of artists, and utilize every possibility.
TOM: For the new album it's very important to break down all mental boundaries. None of us any longer think in the terms of: "This song's gotta sound like this!" on the contrary, there are songs we've does several mixes of, one of which sounds like pop and the other sounds like the complete opposite. At first everyone was like: "We're a rockband!" Sure, we've made, and keep on making, handmade music, but we don't adhere to clichés.
Do two successful albums allow you more freedom in making the third?
BILL: We certainly are freer as far as production is concerned, and how we've seen ourselves as artists. You automatically become freer. You no longer have to prove yourself. You no longer have to explain what your name is, or why you look like you do. The people know the songs, they know us and we can build on that. That gives us the freedom we always wanted.
What's the working title of the new album? Does it have a kind of motto
BILL: It's like pressing the "reset" button. you don't have to stick to anything. In the studio there's a blank piece of paper, an empty computer. You can begin anew. There's no vocal or guitar track. You have all the opportunities that all the music in the world offers you. Be they Hiphop or Dance influences, you can tryout whatever you want. So a motto of sorts could be "Reset" or "New".
GEORG: "Experiment" maybe.
BILL: Yes, "Trying out".
TOM: We may be trying out all kind if things but we stay true to ourselves. There will definitely be songs on it that are typical for Tokio Hotel. But this time I also want a really wild mixture. We always had ballads and up-tempo songs that differed in many ways.
GEORG: But now in style, too.
TOM: Now I want different styles, too.
What is it that attracts you so much to working with other artists?
BILL: Again, trying out things, doing new things, hearing my voice blend with someone elses...
TOM: And simply hearing our music being performed by a different voice.
BILL: When you write something you automatically think of yourself, but other singers or players interpret it differently. A song benefits from having 2 or 3 people sing it.
TOM: Or you could write a song that can be sung by two people. We'll be looking for artists with whom we can imagine working together, but also whom we might suit the feeling of a particular song.
Could you give away any specifics?
BILL: No, we can't give anything away, but we're considering lots of people. Not only rock singers but also people from very different styles of music and other circles so...But we'll see what happens. Maybe we meet some artists who who we thought was cool, and it turns out to: "**** , this is never gonna work." I wouldn't waste time then. If it doesn't work you go separate ways and you do it alone. Maybe we'll sing everything ourselves after all. If no one suits us. Because we are pretty...
TOM: Picky.
BILL: Picky and also...
GEORG: Particular.
BILL: Right, because they're our songs and it's tricky to entrust them to others. But we're gonna try it and see what happens.
How is the atmosphere in the studio?
BILL: Very informal but we also get closer as a group. There are no inhibitions whatsoever. We work with the same people. I'm trying out completely new things with my voice. There will be songs on the new album of which many fans wont realize they were sung by me.In some of these songs I as a singer have a totally new sound. We now have the courage to try new things in front of the others. We used to think, "I don't wanna try this out, in case it sounds like ****" or "I just can't do it..." But this time around I've been singing to the strangest beats and guitar riffs...I just kept singing and shouting. I don't know. We try out everything. We're not afraid of each other. We're like one family who all want the same thing: create a new and awesome album which, I hope, contains something for everyone. An album we can all be happy with, that we all like and think OK. We'll only release it when we think it's the album we wanted to make