Information
Date: July 4, 2001
Source: Launch
Interviewed: Christoph
Interview
As my friend and I make our way toward the Hollywood Palace for a little
pre-show brain-picking session with Christoph "Doom" Schneider, drummer
for Teutonic shock-rockers Rammstein, we immediately notice a strange
vibe in the air. Scummy men keep staring lewdly at us, practically salivating
as we walk by--keep in mind, we're both dressed like average tomboys
in jeans and T-shirts, hardly like sex kittens on the prowl. As we head
to the backstage entrance, passing various roadies and techs along the
way, the stares continue unabated. By now, we're beginning to wonder
if our clothing is full of giant holes that expose our privates, because
we've never received this kind of attention, even when we've tried our
hardest. And the stares are becoming...well, creepy.
But just as the tension is starting to really get to us, out of the
darkness comes our savior: Our knight in shining armor scares away all
of the beasts as he moves toward us, like a mama bear protecting her
young. Turns out he's just the press coordinator for Rammstein, but
still, we feel protected. Our knight then leads us to the safety of
one of the Palace's smelly little rooms, where we meet up with Schneider.
There, the Doomster proceeds to fill us in (in broken English and with
the help of a German translator) on all sorts of Rammstein gossip, discussing
such topics as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of onetime Rammstein
tourmate Joey Ramone, getting arrested for simulating intercourse...oh
yeah, and Rammstein's new CD, Mutter.
Launch:So your new single is "Sonne"--can you tell me about it? Schneider:"Sonne" is a song from the rhythm; it's in the midtempo, a lot of melody inside, a lot of squires, violins...no violins, it's strings. The video is about the Snow White story. We are the dwarves. The Rammstein guys are the dwarves, and it's a story about Snow White.
Launch:So which dwarf are you? Schneider:I'm one of the taller ones, not the smallest. [laughs] The one with the red cap.
Launch:What did Snow White & The Seven Dwarves have to do with "Sonne," which translates to "Sun"? Schneider:It has actually nothing to do with the lyrics. The song has been written for a boxer. A German one--no, a Russian boxer, but he's boxing in Germany. A real good one. But he didn't want to use it as his music to step into the arena. So we had to bring up a new story, a new video story around, so we had the idea of Snow White.
Launch:So this boxer asked you guys to write a song for him, and then he decided he didn't like it? Schneider:Yes, but he's stupid. It's such a good song. He should have.
Launch:The song "Zwitter" translates to "Hermaphrodite." Is it about a real person? Schneider:No. It was more to compare with a hermaphrodite. It means that [Rammstein singer] Till's singing about that he has both the female and male side in him. And it would be better if you be a hermaphrodite and you don't have talk to girls. It would be much easier--you could satisfy yourself.
Launch:"Mein Herz Brennt" means "My Heart's Burning"--is that a literal song, with all of the onstage pyro? Schneider:The lyrics are about...a fantasy theme or topic, like the boogey man you see in Germany who comes at night to scare children, and that's basically what it's about. Ya, his heart is burning every time. "Hey, children, pay me attention, I'm the voice come out of the pillow"--that's what he's singing.
Launch:In German, Rammstein lyrics have many plays on words that don't totally make sense in English. Did you ever consider translating your lyrics into English? Schneider:The problem with translating is you can never get a definitive translation. If you took two different translators and sat them down and had them translate the same song, you would get two completely different translations, so it wouldn't work, I think.
Launch:Let's say that in five years everyone in Rammstein has drastically improved their English--do you ever think you would write songs in English? Schneider:We would love to, but we are not able to do it at the moment. I think if we would live here for a while and we would learn the English very well, we could make some English lyrics and it's more authentic. But at the moment, to translate a German lyric into English wouldn't make any sense. We would like to. We like our language and it works. People like us.
Launch:Rammstein was partially blamed for having an influence on the Colorado kids involved in the Columbine massacre--how do you feel about being implicated in this? Schneider:Ya. We were very wondering about this this time, that it's possible in America that a band gets blamed for some stupid people. I think music can't be responsible for something like this. These guys are responsible by themselves for what they have done. [speaks German to translator] Translator:Schneider says that he thinks music is more of a play on reality and not reality itself, and they should look for example more at the kids themselves--their backgrounds, their parents, what conditions they grew up in, what conditions they live in. Music is more removed from that.
Launch:Then what effects, if any, do you think your music and stage show has on kids, then? Schneider:I think it's pure entertainment. That's what I think.
Launch:A couple of years ago, you did Korn's Family Values tour. Why did you choose the Korn tour, as opposed to an Ozzfest or Tattoo The Earth tour? Schneider:At this time, we hadn't that much opportunities. We had the offer from the Korn tour and nothing else that we went for. We never got invited to the Ozzfest or something like this.
Launch:Who invited you to the Family Values tour? Schneider:The Korn guys. We did a remix for them before, and maybe that's why.
Launch:Which song did you remix for them? Schneider:The name of the song was "Good God," or something like this. I think "Good God" is the name.
Launch:Three years ago, you did your first show in L.A. with Rob Halford's band Two opening for you. Was it odd having such a metal icon be your opening act? Schneider:We didn't know then. It was not an open-up. It was not a support show for us. He played here, and we played here, and it was more like a package. He was not our support band. And I think it's a bit sad that he finished his project Two and he went back to the old metal style... Judas Priest...huh? I liked his band Two. I think it was very good.
Launch:Do you think having Rob Halford on the bill opened doors for you with the American audiences? Schneider:I have to answer in German. [speaks German to translator] Translator:Schneider said it was just a one-time thing. It was a package, like he said earlier. They both happened to play here on the same day. Rob Halford was a bit upset that he was playing before Rammstein. It looked probably like he was a supporting act, but it wasn't a supporting act, it just happened and it was a one-time thing.
Launch:Where were you when the Berlin Wall came down, and how has that affected you? Schneider:It's a typical question in America. Actually, I am very happy that I had the chance to know both systems of the old Communism idea--that we grown up in this system and now we are in freedom. "Free Bird." That night, I was at home and heard it on the radio, but I didn't believe it and I didn't go anywhere, and kept on sleeping.
Launch:Can you compare how your life differs in East Berlin now to how it was before the wall came down? Schneider:It's not that different. The places where we're living now is the same. The same people. It don't change so fast. There are new laws now and you buy some more goods and stuff. But that's not so much different. But it actually was very good that we can travel now. We have the freedom to travel.
Launch:Back in '96, you did a support tour with the Ramones. Where were you when you heard about Joey's death, and do you have any fond memories of him? Schneider:It was a big honor for us that we could open for the Ramones, these couple of concerts with Joey Ramone. It was their final tour, their last tour they did in Europe, and his condition wasn't that good anymore. But we were very happy to be able to see them once again. As we heard he died, we decided to play a song from the Ramones and we did it on the last German tour. We played "Pet Cemetery" every night in a Rammstein way. It's very close to the original. It's not that different. We like the song very much and we like the Ramones very much and I think it's the best way to have some memories of him. In memory of him.
Launch:Do you have any personal memories of Joey? Did you ever talk to him, hang out with him, or have a drink with him? Schneider:No, no, he didn't talk so much. He wasn't quite there and was occupied in his own mind and his own world. We talked to the other guys. The bass player, he was much younger than the other ones and the drummer. But Joey, immediately after the show, he went somewhere--the hotel, wherever. He never joined any party or something like this.
Launch:David Lynch has been credited as helping to introduce Rammstein to the U.S. in '96 by putting a couple of your songs on his Lost Highway soundtrack. How did David contact you about the soundtrack, and are there any future projects in the works? Schneider:After we released our first album, we sent him a copy and asked him about a video, shooting, but he never answered. And half-year later or one year later, he asked for these songs for his movie Lost Highway, and we didn't say no. And he told us that the music was a part of the shootings on the set. During the shoot or some scenes they listened to Rammstein music all together for a special atmosphere or something. We never met him personally, but the appearance on the soundtrack helped us a lot to open some doors in the international way, and people the very first time heard about Rammstein. It helped us a lot.
Launch:A couple of years ago, you toured with Kiss. I know you've been compared to Kiss constantly, so how was that? Schneider:Another highlight in our career, of course. They took us on their last South American tour. We played some shows in Brazil and Argentina and Mexico. It was great to be so close to real rock stars. They are real rock stars in my eyes. They are tall and masked. We did a photo together. We could do all of our pyro stuff. We were able to do all of this and they didn't care. They were really cool.
Launch:There are a lot of sexual connotations in your stage show. Are you guys just perverts or what? Schneider:Oh, those days are over. No, we're not perverts. We did it only for America, because people don't understand what we're singing about so we give them the visual support, so they can see what we sing about. But we got arrested for this once, so we stopped it.
Launch:What happened? Schneider:There was the scene with the penis--the plastic penis--and Till did some kind of intercourse with the keyboarder in the state where Boston is...Massachusetts. We got arrested for that. Immediately after the show, they took them to the jail. After this, they had to go to court and get some punishment. I don't know what.
Launch:What were the charges? Did they think real sex was taking place onstage? Schneider:No, no, they don't think it was real, but it doesn't matter to them if it is real or not. It was indecent onstage. Indecent behavior.
Launch:So you don't do that sex scene anymore? Schneider:We stopped. We don't do it anywhere, because we have a new show and that was our old show.
Launch:What about the song "Rein Raus," which means "In-Out"? Schneider:It's a moment. We're working on a new stage performance for it, but we haven't done it yet. Tonight, there will be only music in this song.
Launch:So no one gets "raped" tonight? Schneider:No, no one gets raped. Not during the show...maybe afterward! [laughs]