Information
Date: July 2004
Source: AgonyZone.com
Interviewed: Christoph
Translation: English translated from Swedish by
Jakob
Interview
'Interview with Cristoph over the phone. About the new album and Richard's double.'
AgonyZone:How's the promo tour for the new album going? Is it a hectic period?Christoph:It's always hectic period. It's many interviews, very much the same questions. But it's only for a short time and one can do it.
AgonyZone:Both the single and the album have been delayed several times. Why?Christoph:Marketing. We wanted to release the single only in Germany, but other countries wanted it too. We had to wait with the release, so we could release it everywhere, as a concept. It has to fit everybody. Unfortuntely we gave a date too early and had to postpone the release. But it wasn't only our fault, we were forced to find a date that could fit entire europe.
AgonyZone:But the single will be released in August?Christoph:Yes. I don't remember the date. But the album will be released 20th september.
AgonyZone:Is the album title decided?Christoph:For now, "Reise, reise". It's possible that we change it, but it's 99% chance of that being the title.
AgonyZone:You have also recorded the video for Mein Teil.Christoph:Yes, we have, and it's principally finished. It will be released the same date as the single. We hope that it will be shown on multiple tv channels like MTV and different countries' channels. Right now we discuss some scenes in the video that may have to be changed. There is restrictions for what you can show and the music TV channels are getting stricter and stricter.
AgonyZone:Are you unsure about if the video will be censored or not?Christoph:Yes, and we don't want it to. Or at the video only will be shown at night.
AgonyZone:It's now been three years since "Mutter". What have you been doing since then?Christoph:We were on a tour, and after that we started to write, slowly. We spent a lot of time in the rehersal place. We tried to find a new direction for Rammstein. We didn't know which we would take after our first albums. We were a bit tired of the Rammstein sound, with the combination of Metal and Dance elements. We felt that we couldn't do more with the style and we wouldn't make a new soup with the same ingredients. We tried to make new chords and other things like that, and it took us a year. Then we started producing.
AgonyZone:What do you think about the new album? It has been said that it will be heavier than before.Christoph:It is heavier in a way, its more rockish than the earlier albums and the sound is a bit more natural. It's more organic and dynamic. It's not so "perfect", so controlled anymore. We have worked more as a live band and we haven't used that much computers.
AgonyZone:So you're gonna let the synth fans down, but the rock fans will be happier?Christoph:Maybe. We have tried to record as much as possible with the real instruments (since we used a lot of sampled instruments earlier). On this record we have used real choirs, an orchestra and for example accordion. Even a child's choir. It sounds more alive, which was a necessary step for us to take.
AgonyZone:Rammstein have grown much in popularity the last years, what's the secret?Christoph:Maybe that we, in the large aspect of music, find something unique. Something that separates us from the rest, that we do it like we do it. We are from Germany, we sing in German, and the sound is a bit different (than other bands). And if you want to listen to Rammstein, you gotta buy a Rammstein CD.
AgonyZone:Which earlier Rammstein song is your personal favourite?Christoph:One of my absolute favourites is "Links". But of course I like the new songs better. You get tired of the old songs, since you have played them so many times live. I can't tell which is my favourite among the new songs , since noone knows them yet.
AgonyZone:When will the tour begin?Christoph:November, and it will go over Christmas and end in January or february. Tourdate in sweden is decided, but not confirmed yet, so I can't promise the exact date. But it will be this year, in November or December.
AgonyZone:Will you have a spectacular show as before?Christoph:We are known as a spectacular live band, and we are working on creating a scenography and a new show, and it will hopefully be as good as before.
AgonyZone:What do you think about the swedish audience?Christoph:It's cool to play in Sweden. We have played here two or three times, on some festivals. And we have good memories from here since we've been working with a swedish producer. "Herzeleid" was recorded in sweden, and we have mixed two albums there. THe new album was also mixed in Sweden. German and Swedish culture is not so far from each other, and maybe it's because of that the swedes like Rammstein so much.
AgonyZone:On your website, you searched for a double fro Richard, can you tell us anything about that?Christoph:We needed a double for the recording of the Mein Teil video. It's a kind of performance-concept, where every band member got the chance to do what he wanted. Richard, who was a wrestler, wanted to fight himself, and we needed a double, and we found one.
AgonyZone:A last question, what would you say is a good opportunity to buy the new album?Christoph:There is a lot of good songs there, and the music has developed a lot. Rammstein is a unique band and the ones who haven't listened to Rammstein will hopefully discover it. By the way, it's gonna be a very pretty/cool/good artwork for the CD, so it's better to buy the album than downloading it! (Christoph laughs out loud)