My Life..:-]

Tokio Hotel interviewed in Sugar magazine!

Q&A

Laura, 17, Salon De Provence, France: Bill and Tom, do you know if you will have to do your military service?
Tom: So far we did not receive any more letters from the military and we hope it'll stay like that. The problem is, that there are hardly any women in the military and I would feel pretty lonely at night ;-)

Charlotte, 13, Douarnenez, France: What are your projects for 2008?
Bill: We don't plan things that much but there are certainly some dreams and goals we have. We definitely want to do many more live shows next year with our present album and rock the house with all our fans! So I guess just like this year we will hit the road for quite some time and be traveling all over Europe.

Dimishka, 15, Lyon, France: A lot of fans think that you all have a girlfriend but you hide them because you don't want them to be chased by the press and you don't want to disappoint your female fans. What do you think about it?
Tom: Well, I don't want to say that I am always keeping my hands to myself and never meet any girls (he smiles). However, I wouldn't consider these girls real girlfriends.
Bill: If one of us had a girlfriend, we certainly wouldn't hide them! Currently, none of us is in a firm relationship.

Katharina, 15, Czech Republic: Dear Tokio Hotel, I'm from Czech republic... Why you didn't play "nach dir kommt nichts" on Zimmer 483 tour? Thanks for your answer...
Gustav: It was a tough choice to decide what songs to add to our "483 Europe Tour" set list. In the German magazine "BRAVO" we gave our fans the chance to determine one of the songs that would be included in the set list and they voted for "Der letzte Tag". Maybe "Nach dir kommt nichts" will be a part of our next huge tour.

Merete, 17, Jørpeland, Norway: We really hope you guys come to Norway! It would mean the world to us! How long did you to make 'Ready, Set, Go'?
Tom: That's hard to answer since we are not working on one song for a certain period of time and then it's done. It is more of a process! For instance, we come up with the lyrics one night in our tour bus. Then we have to wait till the tour is over to record it for a day or two in the studio. Afterwards we check the song again and find little bits of the song that we want to be changed and that goes on for quite a while – so in total it often takes a lot of time to get to the final version. However, for 'Ready, Set, Go!' it didn't take that long because we already had the instrumentals from the German version and Bill only had to record the new vocals which probably took him five minutes, right Bill? (everybody laughs)

Emily, 14, Strasbourg: I would like to know if you [Bill & Tom] are going to the army for your 18 years???
Bill: The military already announced that they would do a physical examination very soon, which is actually happening to all German males around their 18th birthday. After we didn't respond to the official letter they got a lot more serious and threatened to fine us if we don't get back to them. Currently, the status is unclear and we don't know what will happen next.

 

ב"מייספייס" יש אתר אחד שהוא טוען (ודי טוב אני חייבת לציין שהוא ביל האמיתי), אחרי שרבים אמרו שהם לא ממש אוהבים את הקעקוע החדש שלו, ביל היקר שלנו שלח כמה תגובות בו הוא מצטער אם המעריצים לא אהבו אבל זה מי שהוא והוא עדיין נשאר אותו הדבר רק עם עוד קעקוע..

הנה מה שהוא כתב (זכויות שמורות לביל קאוליטז: http://www.myspace.com/bkay__tokio__hotel):

New Tattoo

people have been talking about the tattoo. and alot of you have said you haven't liked it? if thats so, im sorry i disapointed you. im still myself. i have not changed. its just tom und ich turn 18 in about a week, so we are going to be "free" that is what the tattoo is about.

again, im sorry if you did not like it.

Much love, Bill

ב-21 לחודש התפרסם ראיון עם טוקיו הוטל שנשאל ונכתב על ידי מנהלת האתר ב"מייספייס":Official Tokio Hotel UK Street Team-> http://www.myspace.com/tokiohoteluk, קאסי (אני לא ממש זוכרת כרגע תגידו לי אם אני טועה)..

קיצר הראיון ממש נהדר מקווה שבקרוב אני יתרגם אותו.. אז הזכויות שמורות לה ותהנו!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 

UK Street Team Interview in full!

Tokio Hotel were recently in the UK promoting their debut UK single - Ready, Set, Go!  I was lucky enough to be granted some interview time with them. Things are often last minute when it comes to such a big band, but despite only receiving confirmation the day before, I was able to come up with a different way of conducting the interview. After all, my interview was at the end of the day and I knew they'd be tired and bored by then if I used the same format as every other interviewer they'd seen that week.

I decided to use Tokio Hotel inspired Tarot Cards, which were made with loving help from some of the street team, on the back were the questions and on the front were pictures that represent what we love about the band, and what is constantly picked up on in communities and forums around the internet. These were to be laid out in front of them, and they'd get to choose which questions to answer.

In the end, despite being offered 15 mins interview time, I spent 45 minutes with them, 35 minutes of which they spent answering quesitons.

Knowing that the band feel stressed and pressurised with their English when they are here, I had the interview questions translated into German in advance (many thank yous to Sara for translating at short notice!). This allowed me to circumvent the language problem if needed. I hadn't decided how to approach the interview in advance and thought I'd play it by ear when I got there on whether I would ask the questions in English and just pass the German over if they didn't understand, but Bill took over and made the decision for me! He picked out the first card straight away and read out the question to the rest of the guys in German, allowing me to sit back and observe the entire interview as they played with the cards, took turns in asking the questions and jostled each other throughout.

So now, onto the interview.

Below you can see the tarot card that was picked. Following that is the full translation of the question and answer by the lovely Annie on the Street Team. After that you can listen to the audio of the interview in full. It's worth listening to the audio - it may be long, but the boys laugh A LOT during the interview and it's really fun!

[Note that the literal translation of the questions varies slightly.]

Question 1 - 'Boxers or briefs'

Bill reads out the next question.....

Bill : "What do you expect from a perfect date?"

Tom : "That`s my question."

Bill: " Hang on, hang on, where`s the one that I just had, the one with the star? "

Tom: "It`s just there."

Bill: "Oh, ok I just have to put it to the side for the moment."

Tom : "What was the question?"

G2 : "What do you expect from a perfect date?"

Georg/Tom: "With a happy ending"

Bill: "Well.......I don`t really know......errrrm.....because I never really had a proper date. It was always like meeting up with friends and there was this girl too and it could`ve just happened that you and that girl started kissing. But having a date with dinner and candlelights and that you sit across each other......I`ve never had that, but I would love to. I think that`s really nice because I`m quite a romantic but it hasn`t happened to me so far."

 

While the translator does the translation you can hear Bill saying: "Just do it one after the other. Don`t put it back (obviously referring to the cards) Bill " Ok go on (to the boys) Toooom!!!!!"  ( like saying to him....go on then ).

Tom: "OK I don`t have to answer to this one."

 

Question 3 - What's your best chat-up line?

 

 

Tom: "What`s the best chat up line?"

Bill : "I never use chat up lines to talk to a girl, that`s too old fashioned."

Tom: "The cool thing is to chat up a girl without having to use one. That does work for me but not for the others."

Bill: "Well you just don`t walk up to a girl and say 'hey sweetie, how are you' That`s daft! You just start talking. But a chat up line is always very poor no matter what you say."

 

Question 4 - Bill, you're a style icon - ever thought about designing clothes?

 

 

Bill: "OK, hang on I pick this one."

Bill (reads out question): "Meanwhile you`re a style icon, did you ever think about having your own design line?" (he can`t finish the sentence because the others start laughing and say: "yeah, right")..........

Bill: "I knew why I picked this one. That`s because of my stripey trousers.(defending himself)

Bill : "Yes I have. I used to design my own clothes.

Tom ( to the translator ): "I think we have to translate the question too." The translator says that she will do it afterwards.

Bill: "Yeah I used to change the design of T-Shirts and I still do sometimes. Just changing the design of things that I buy. And I really enjoy that and could imagine to do that at some point. To design some fashion items, I would really enjoy doing that. And one thing that`s really annoying and makes me angry, that there are more clothes for women than for men. And you could expect that the first thing that I would design, is a collection for men. Because it`s just shit that men can never find anything. If you go into a departement store, I swear that you always have two floors of womens and girls clothes and then there`s just one corner for men, with three T-Shirts. So yeah, I could imagine doing that."

The translator starts translating........Bill interrupts: " Oh you forgot to mention the style icon bit"......they laugh!

 

Question 5 - Georg, you have a very wicked smile; does it ever get you into trouble?

 

 

Georg: "Georg, you have a very cheeky grin. Does that get you into trouble sometimes?"

Tom: "That`s pure trouble. If he grins at a girl like that, you can be sure he`ll get a slap."

Bill: "Yeah, he`s got such a cheeky face that you just want to punch sometimes. I noticed that too. So great that this question came up." 

 

Question 6 - Tom, do you ever take your cap off, or do you wear it even in bed?

 

 

Tom (reads out the question): "Do you ever take your cap off, or do you still wear it in bed?"

Tom: "Well the first thing I do in the morning, is to make a ponytail and then put the cap on. But I definitely sleep without, because I don`t think you would be able to sleep like this. Hmmmmm?" ( he goes ) "I thought this question was about how many caps I own, but well." ( Bill laughs )

 

Question 7 - Any plans on releasing in the USA?

 

 

Bill: "The next question is......Do you want to publish your music in the states" ?

Bill: "Well, we just do it step by step at the moment. But we can definitely imagine doing so. And we`ve just been to America recently, but that was just private, just to see what it`s like. And we really liked it a lot. But at the moment we can`t really imagine doing that, because it`s just amazing that we can be here in England and have the chance to play our music here. That` s why we just concentrate on Europe including England and try to give our best in these places. But we would love to play in the states. But there are no plans as yet."

 

Question 8 - What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you on stage?

 

 

Tom (reads out question): "What`s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you on stage?"

Tom : "Well the most embarrassing thing on stage is, that Georg is there with us". ( Laughter )

Georg: "Yeah I knew that this would come."

Tom: "You knew that it would be something about you, but you didn`t know the joke."

 

Question 9 - The pointing in photographs - inspired by the Spice Girls?

 

 

Georg (reads out the question): "On how many of your pictures do you point at the camera? Is that inspired by the spice girls?"

 

Hysterical laughter!!!!!!!!

 

Bill: "Well I must say that I was the one who set the trend. I just started doing it at some point because I must say that photographers are quite rude on the red carpet ( Tom agrees and says "Very rude" ).

 

You can`t always see it, but they say really rude things to you sometimes. And I found out, very quickly, that they are really easy to please. They used to shout 'Do something, do something' and I mean what can you actually do on a photo? So I found out that it`s enough just to lift your arm and everyone is pleased and they think they have the picture. That worked out for about two years now.

Tom: "Yeah, now we just quickly lift our arm and the picture`s done and we can leave."

 

Question 10 - Georg, how often do you work out?

 

 

Bill (reads out the question): "Georg, how often do you work out?"

Bill: "I just love this question."

Tom : "Me too."

Bill: "As you can see, he`s not working out at all." ( joking )

Georg: "Not really on a regular basis. I would love to more often. But I don`t have the time to."

Tom: "Well one thing that he definitely doesn`t work out enough is his penis.  You can really say that!"

Laughter!!!!!

They are choosing the next card. Bill says : "That`s not for me."

 

Question 11 - Who really gets all the girls?

 

 

Bill (reads out the question): "Who`s really getting all the girls?"

Georg : "Well that`s easy, with that picture on top." (The card has Georg`s picture on the top.)

Bill: "I won`t say that it`s Tom having the most, but it`s definitely not Georg." ( Laughter )

 

Question 12 - Bill, we know you paint your fingernails, but do you paint your toenails as well? [This question had been asked the day before by Katie Spain for her radio show - ensure you tune in tomorrow to find out how he responds to her!]

 

 

Bill: "Strange, I had that question yesterday, but nobody has ever asked that question before. Well, no. And one thing that just doesn`t do it either, is men in sandals. So, no I don`t."

 

Question 13 - Bill, when you're singing on stage in English, do you ever find yourself reverting to German accidentally?

 

 

Bill (reads out the question): "Whenever you sing a song in English, does it ever happen that you switch to German by accident?"

Bill: "No, first of all it`s really easy for me to memorise things and it`s always, that if I`ve sung a song once, I can remember it quite well. That means, I just read the lyrics and I can sing it. Although I must admit, that it was tougher with the English lyrics, because you have two versions of that song on your mind. And we`ve only done the complete set in English once. So, we haven`t done it so often and therefore it hasn`t happened. But I can imagine in the future, if we do have a show in Germany and the next day in England, that it might happen by accident, that I might sing in German because I can`t remember the English lyrics. That might happen."

 

Question 14 - Tom, if you get the chance and aren't practicing TH songs, what do you like to play on the guitar?

 

 

Tom (reads out the question): "Tom, if you don`t play any TH songs, what do you like to play apart from that?"

Tom: "Well if you just play for yourself......to be honest, we`re not rehearsing too much. But if you have the time just to play for yourself, than you just play randomly. You just make things up as they come and that`s how some new ideas for songs come up. I don`t play songs from other artists, just my own stuff."

 

Question 15 - What made you smile today?

 

 

Bill (reads out the question): "What made you smile today?"

Bill: "Today? Georg! Always Georg."

Georg: "Not just one thing."

Tom: "Georg. It`s always Georg. Mostly me, teasing Georg and making jokes about him. But you can say that Georg`s really clumsy. He`s always bumping into walls if he doesn`t watch out and that just makes you laugh."

 

Question 16 - Who is the most argumentative in the band?

 

 

Bill (reads out the question): "Who`s the one that has the most discussions?"

Bill : "I would say Tom and myself ."

Georg: "But you are more ahead of it."

Bill: "Yeah, I do discuss a lot but generally, we all discuss a lot, but if you would have to name a front runner, that would be me."

Georg to the others: "Take that book here." (pointing at one of the cards, which has a book on the top )

 

Question 17 - What was the last book you read?

 

 

Georg : "What was the last book you read?"

Georg : "Definitely the Playboy. Yeah, yeah I can really say for myself that`s the holy script."

Bill : "The last one I read was, and that was the only book I`ve ever read,  Nena`s autobiography. That`s called ` Willst Du mit mir gehen?`. That`s the only book I `ve ever read under my own free will, apart from the books I`ve had to read in school. We`re not really into books."

 

Question 18 - You all (especially Tom) seem to be into teasing Georg at the moment - What did he do??  And Georg when are ou going to get your own back?!?

 

 

Tom (reads out the question): "Why do you always pick on Georg? "

Tom : "Why do we pick on Georg? That`s just a natural development, because he`s so clumsy."

Georg : "Because of boredom."

Tom : " And he just does a lot of crappy things. (talking to Georg ) When are you going to pay it back? "

Georg : "Always if nobody else is around, because if there`s someone with us then you just start crying "

 

Question 19 - Gustav, we've all been impressed by your photography skills.  What was it like having them published in Bravo.

 

 

[I must apologise to everyone here.  I failed to do my research.  This question was given to me by a friend.  She was referring to the New York pictures, but I had no idea the NY pics were by Gustav.  I assumed Bravo had published some of Gustav's beautiful Paris pictures - they were on the official site I believe - and this resulted in MUCH confusion about what the question referred to. Sorry!]

 

Bill: "Ok, I pick this one just spontaneously. (reads out the question) Gustav, we were very impressed by the pictures you`ve taken. How was it for you when they published them for the Bravo magazine? "

Tom : "Yeah I was impressed."

Bill (talking to the boys) : "These ones or which ones?"

Gustav: "Don`t know."

A discussion between the translator and the boys starts.

Translator: " Did you give them to the Bravo magazine?"

Gustav: " Don`t know."

Tom: "Ah, I think they`re talking about the private ones. The ones that we publish online. The ones that we`ve sent from Paris."

Translator: "They were in the Bravo?"

Tom: "Naaah. Oh yeah a couple of them.

Bill: "From New York."

( confusion )

Tom: "I think they are talking about the ones that Gustav took privately."

Gustav : "Ah, ok. How was that? Ok taking pictures is generally speaking, quite a simple thing to do. But taking good pictures is another question."

Tom: "Well that`s basically me, who`s taking the good ones ."

Georg: "Pure luck ."

 

Question 20 - What's the strangest thing a photographer has ever asked you to do in a photo shoot?

 

 

Tom (reads out the question): "What was the most bizarre request by a photographer?"

Bill: "Ohhh, I`m sure I can remember one, hang on...."

Tom: "Do we want to....."

Bill: "Naahhh, we can`t mention any names here."

Tom: " No, we`re not doing that, but I try to remember. ( asks the boys ) What was really funny that someone asked for?"

Loooong pause!!!!

Georg: "Hmmmmm?"

Bill: "I `m sure they`ve asked me strange things, but I can`t remember which one really made me laugh.

( Little bit of whispering going on )

Bill: "Oh yeah, we can tell that story. Someone asked us to get some bank statements and then......"

Tom: " .........and then take off our clothes and then to hold the statement in front of our dicks!"

Translator: "Nooooo?!"

Tom: "Yeah sure".

Loud laughter!!

Bill: "The thing is, we don`t hold an account, that`s why we didn`t do it."

Tom: "You would have to get like 50.000 statements to hold it in front of mine."

(Bill laughs hysterically )

 

Question 21 - I have been in contact with a lot of fans who's lives have been affected positively by your music - they feel like you have saved them in a lot of ways.  Is it hard living up to that responsibility?

 

 

Bill: "And what`s this ? ( reads out next question ) I know many people who were influenced by your music, they`ve got the feeling that you`ve saved their life somehow. Do you find it difficult to live with such a responsibility?

Well, I think nobody`s got a perfect life and I think that`s a big rumour that there`s somebody out there who does. That just doesn`t exist. But we are really happy, that we can influence people with our music and that we can add to their happiness and make them feel better about themselves. That`s a nice position to be in and we don`t put pressure on ourselves, we just enjoy the fact. That`s why we enjoy making music, because it`s about expressing your emotions and to touch people`s hearts. And if you hear that, that you are able to do so, that just encourages you to keep on doing so.

Tom: "Do we have to answer all the questions?"

Translator: "Just keep on going. If we have to leave about three......."

 

Question 22 - What makes you cry?

 

 

Tom (reads out question): "What makes you cry?"

"Well, I start crying if my best friend and Bill make me laugh. Certain people."

Bill: "And of course things that touch your heart and make you sad. I think that`s the same for everyone. Of course, the most important thing is my family and friends. And apart from that, I have an extreme big heart for dogs and I really love dogs."

Georg: "We all do."

Bill: "We all own dogs and they mean a lot to us and they are members of our family and if there would be something happening to them, then you are extremely upset and start to cry."

 

Question 23 - What's the best live show you've ever been too?

 

 

Gustav (reads out question): "Which was the best concert you`ve ever been to. "

My favourite was 'Metallica' on the 06.06.2006 in Berlin. "

Bill: "We can`t really say the best, but maybe the last one. Because every artist`s got a different show every time. I`ve seen something from `pop productions ` to ` rock productions ` to ` no productions ` ( laughter )

That why it`s difficult to choose the best one. But the last one we went to see, all together, was 'Pink', and that was really good ".

( discussion starts, when they went to see it )

 

Question 24 - If you ruled the world, what would your first law be and where would you have your palace?

 

 

Tom (reads out question) : " If you would rule the world which law would you set first and where would you build your palace? "

Bill : " Repeat it, repeat it. I`ve got to listen to it again. "

(Tom and translator repeat together)

Georg: "Palace would be the Maldives".

Bill: "I would choose different atolls, otherwise it would be to big just for yourself. Just get some sand to have one big island and then build the palace."

Tom: "And the first law would be......that in a square of 5000 kilometres every single women would have to be naked."

Georg: "All women in general."

 

Question 25 - What is the meaning of life? :) [Note: despite the smiley at the end of the sentence, the boys took this one seriously.] [Note 2: Gustav kept hiding this card under the others throughout the interview.]

 

 

Tom (reads out question): "What`s the meaning of life?"

Bill (starts): "The meaning of life.......

Tom: " .......is everyone`s own responsibility. But to say it generally.....just to be happy. And you have to do whatever you like, to keep yourself happy."

Bill: "Everybody`s got to find out for themselves. The thing is, if you say something, that doesn`t count for someone else. Because everyone`s got a different perspective on life. And you can`t set a rule for that. You have to find out for yourself and follow it."

Tom: "My meaning of life is to have fun..."

 

And that's the full interview!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  The boys seemed to as well!