1997 December / 1998 January - Visions issue #59 - Paul & Flake

Interview: Visions issue #59

Flake: "At our tour in autumn [1997] we had to sign Christmas gifts. This is no joke! I don't understand why people want autographs. They line up for them like former East Germany when strawberries were sold... When we played in Bonn, tickets were sold on the black market for 150 DM. And I thought how can you pay 150 DM for that shit? How stupid are those people?? I have to confess that I've been an idiot too because I went on stage to play and earned 100 DM. If I had sold tickets, I would have had less stress and more money. These were the early days. Today it's more difficult."

Question: "Do you think about how the audience grasps lyrics like Buck dich? Perhaps someone is influenced by the usage of [such] language or behavior."

Paul shakes head: "As [we've] said before, then we could not do anything anymore. We don't think about if someone could misunderstand the lyrics. For example the line "ich will ficken" (I wanna fuck) from Das alte Leid. First, it was just a slogan that Till used to cry out loudly on the streets. Just for fun. We had no refrain for the song and somebody suggested this line."

Flake continues: "We don't take our lyrics for seriously like some of our fans do. Someone came to us and said, that certain songs were about suicide and that he liked them. I asked which songs he was talking about and he answered Laichzeit. I said, "okay, if you think so..."

Question: "How far do the roles you play on stage match with reality?"

Paul chooses the easy way: "You have to decide what the role is and what is real. I will not say that Till eats little girls or that he broils babies, but these images are not just invented. Nobody told us to write about such things. They come from our mind. In my opinion, and I'm one of the most critical persons in the band, everything we do is justifiable. Everything that happens, is real. There are no lies or things we have to be ashamed about. Till's lyrics are not incidental, they have causes."

Question: "Whether with or without image consultations, Rammstein have often been told that they are just a product, using symbols and provocation to cause a stir."

Paul interrupts: "This is not true. As for the accusations that we would use fascist-like symbols, it's total nonsense. We don't say, "hey, let’s play with Nazi symbols because it will bring attention and trouble". Just like Laibach, who use the swastika and then wonder why they are offended. We don’t do something like that. Okay, we are different and some people don't know how to handle us. I mean, look at Kraftwerk. They were called "neue deutsche herrenmenschen". ["new German superior race"] We don't say to Till, "please stop rolling the R because it could be misunderstood." On the other hand, we don't want to glorify German culture and we don't say that it's so fantastic to be German."

Question:Referring to the "product" discussion,

Paul says: "You cannot design a band. It just does not work. When we started, we wanted to be extreme. Do you really think, when we sat on a carpet in Schwerin and held the "ich will ficken" discussion, that just one of us believed in a success with such a topic? Or that we could make a record one day. Then we would have said: "no, that's too embarrassing." I would have never thought that people enjoy things which were thought to be frightening."

Flake also can't understand the discussion about the glorifying of Germany: "Even if you try as hard as you can, there's no way to interpret our lyrics in a fascist way. I would agree that we are sexists and rednecks. And a bit stupid. Yes, that's right (laughs). We don't have demanding lyrics like Blumfeld or Selig. Our lyrics are a bit stupid and straightforward. Sexist-like? Wheres the problem with that? Well, sexism and adverseness against women are very close. But especially women don't have problems with us. The accusation comes mainly from men. Strangely, women like it. The worse the better. Our lyrics are not against women in general but they are sexist. Actually, I don't really know what sexist means."

The interviewer explains: "If you make just an object of the other sex."

Paul: "We don’t do that. We don't debase women, but we are very straightforward about sexual things. That's right!"

Question: "How do your families and friends react to your offensive dealing with violence, S/M, and plastic dildos?"

Paul reports: "It's unbelievable. Schneider's mother is around 50. She came after a gig in Berlin to see us. We played the original version of "Rammstein" only for a short time and then the remix. She asked why we played the soft version instead of the good one. She is teacher for German. Well, I was a bit surprised. I really thought she would argue with Schneider."

Question: With their success, Rammstein have helped lots of new bands, who can be described as "neue deutsche härte". The interviewer asks Paul, if he likes bands like Megaherz, Eiskalt, Schwanensee and Richthofen.

Paul: "I don't know these bands, but I've always wanted new bands like us. It's important that these bands, whether they are from Poland or Germany or elsewhere, show where they come from. There are enough copies of American bands."

Question: "Do you want to go to America?"

Paul: "Of course, we want to do a tour in America. Since David Lynch's "Lost Highway" people know our music and like it. We like the unknown. I can imagine that we would be successful there because we are different. In Germany you are surrounded by English/American music and now we want to turn things around."