Date: 16/06/2026

Mood: tired

Listening to: Guerra - DeathbyRomy

Paul Landers on Rammstein's Early Creative Process, 1997–2004

Early Rammstein interviews rarely discuss the actual Herzeleid writing process. It's completely overshadowed by controversy, politics, and Lynch. You can't get any interviewer to ask about anything else. So this collection begins with the clearer Sehnsucht era comments and follows Paul's remarks through Mutter and Reise, Reise. I will try to deep search anything on Herzeleid from him and try to cobble something together.

Last updated: 16/06/2026

Sehnsucht (1997)

1997/10 - Rock Hard

Paul: The pressure can't get any bigger, because the first disc was definitely a great success for us. In principle, the songwriting for the next record will be more relaxed for us because we now know that everything will be fine as long as we only listen to ourselves. We've learned that things only ever go bad for us when we let other people talk us into it or when not all band members are present at the creation. So it's our job to make sure that despite all the stuff that's pouring down on us, the band's chemistry is still right.

Question: Was it an advantage for you that you played many of the songs from the second album live before the studio date?

Paul: Yes and no. The advantage was certainly that we could test the reactions of the fans to the piece. The downside is that the more times you play a song live, the sooner you get fed up with it and have to start composing new material again.

1998/01 - Visions #59

Paul: 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.

1998/06 - Guitar World

Question: At the end of 1996, the band flew to the island of Malta to record Sehnsucht at Temple Studios. Having been together for nearly two years, during which time they toured relentlessly, Rammstein was now a well-oiled industrial music machine. Dominated by Kruspe and Landers' sledgehammer rhythm guitars, which mesh together like precisely synchronized gears, the riff-laden album rivals Pantera and classic Metallica's most brutal work.

Paul: "We guitarists are the most stubborn players in the band," says Landers. "We insist on being louder than everybody else."

Question: Landers mentions that both he and Kruspe are primarily rhythm players, and when it comes time for a solo or melody line, the two will usually play the part together at the same time.

Paul: "In the beginning we tried to sample all the guitars to make it sound more like a machine," he says. "Our producer [Hellner] asked us to try playing the normal way, and it turned out much better. Richard is more of the tube guy, while I am more of the transistor guy. Tube is slow and fat. Transistor is fast and aggressive. Together they sound very good. Together they make the Rammstein sound.

Question: Both guitarists summon their ominous, crunchy tones live and in the studio by plugging Mesa Boogie and SansAmp preamps direct into the mixing board. Kruspe pummels a custom-made ESP guitar with active humbuckers, while Landers thrashes an Ernie Ball/Music Man Eddie Van Halen model.

Paul: "We came from a variety of backgrounds," notes guitarist Paul Landers, "metal, punk, folk, gothic and blues. We wanted to try out something new."

1998/09 - Blue Jean

Question: Where does the originality of Rammstein come from?

Paul: We all have very different personalities but we have the same target. There's always a quarrel in the band because we all have very different point of views.

1999/12 - rammstein.com fan submitted questions

Question: Where do you get your inspiration for the songs and the show?

Paul: We keep asking ourselves the same question.

Question: How do you develop your songs?

Paul: There are songs which are written at home which everybody agrees to immediately. There are songs which are written at home and are ruined together. There are songs which are written at home and are destroyed. There are songs which are written while jamming in the studio.

Question: How do you write your songs and texts? Is music built around a text or is it the other way round?

Paul: Music and text are usually written parallel and then have to be welded together, which is actually the most difficult part.

Mutter (2001)

2001/03 - Telehit (Spanish)

Question: Let's talk about the creative process, who writes the songs? Do you all write them together? Does anyone come up with an idea?

Paul: We have different ways of writing a song. One of them is that someone has an idea at home, we capture it on the computer, we bring it to the rehearsal room and decide, if it is good, we touch it. The other way we have is to take a song to the rehearsal room, break it into 20 pieces, mix it well and throw it in the trash. Then we thought it wasn't that bad and we rebuilt it, rehearsed it and played it, maybe after all, it doesn't sound bad. There are different ways to make music. In the end we are all a band, with the theme of lyrics there are always many ideas and we talk about it. Some sound good, others not so much, there are times when the text is good but it doesn't go with the music, so it is changed. We have a song that had 18 versions and is not on the album. It's a lot of work thrown away. We spent a year and a half with Mutter. We are slow but with quality.

2001/03 - Metal-Is

Paul: Yeah, sure, but saying that - although overall and for the most part it is atypical Rammstein - there are a few styles we've explored that are new to us. This time we went as far as to bring in a live orchestra and tried out other styles including a punk vibe and even some jungle beats.

2001/04 - WOM

Question: Just a tradition: always eleven songs on the albums. Are you an eleven-song band?

Paul: I would have loved only ten songs on the album. This time we had 30 songs to select from. From the remainder, ten were thrown into the bin, the others are either waiting for lyrics or will be on the next album.

Question: Rammstein was not always so industrious.

Paul: So we changed it. But now there is almost too much material already. If you have 14 children, you can’t wipe each of their noses individually.

Question: You also prefer a rather formal way of production.

Paul: You are completely right there. From the outset the machines are there for us. In the rehearsal room, the computer always plays a part too and for each alteration Flake or Schneider must click the software. It’s time consuming.

Question: And kills the spontaneity.

Paul: Not necessarily. In preparation for this album we also composed a few songs in the traditional way, without computers, composed, and can be heard on the album too actually. Generally however we are fated to co-operate with machines. That’s how we started and what we know.

Question: And what’s more now you’re known as a stadium rock band: “Ich will” is almost the perfect audience rouser.

Paul: For some time we wanted to create a song that only works properly with audience participation. I am sorry to say that it was not always so successful particularly all the singing interaction. The song was discussed amongst the band a little too. Some thought it too abrasive. I didn’t. I listened to the people who found abrasive good.

Question: Sounds like there are factions, and that could spoil things sometimes.

Paul: Clearly there are those, I won’t mention any names, but there is a soul faction, a rather regular more musical faction, an established show faction. We try as band to work through it.

Question: And in such a way also develop a few experiments with Dance rhythms too?

Paul: Yes, we tried to bring in some Jungle elements. That only succeeded to a certain extent for us; therefore hardly any of it can be heard on the album. Jungle is for a more ponderous, pounding band and too uncouth for such as Rammstein though.

Question: Unfortunately the sell-by date on my “Mutter” has passed. How long can Rammstein remain enjoyable?

Paul: That is always the danger: If one knits modern elements into their music, the expiry date is shorter. More timeless means longer durability. We have both - to that extent we must simply wait and see.

2001/04 - Rock Hard

Question: Does the brute aggressiveness of the band, which was particularly noticeable on the debut album 'Herzeleid', give way to a new quality?

Paul: We've just become more relaxed," says Paul. « We don't try to stay artificially evil or aggressive. Phase one is over. Back then we used to meet in the basement every day — it said 'No women!' on the door — and played 'Weißes Fleisch' for hours. [...] That was a kind of liberation. We were tough and we had fun. There's nothing worse for a band that wants to be heavy and evil than to succeed at it and become relaxed and friendly. But that doesn't really bother us. We want to develop further and do not mourn the passing of time.

Question: The further development of the band can especially be felt in Till's lyrics. Is that also an influence of success and the associated looseness?

Paul: It's true that you don't write such nasty lyrics over a glass of red wine on the Baltic Sea as you do over a vodka in a Berlin cellar. But especially with the new disc it was more exhausting to reconcile our different ideas. It's still just the six of us who count for Rammstein's development — that's always been the case and will remain so — but of course you have in mind the millions of people who bought the first records. And finding that out is very difficult.

2001/04 - Zillo

Question: You've produced your third album again with Jacob Hellner. Was it important to you to keep a continuity in sound, instead of experimenting on a large scale?

Paul: Initially we were willing to work with a different producer, simply, at the time, to make something new. But we noticed the 3rd album was unspeakably hard for us to do, so we were glad when a couple well-known people, Jacob being one, didn't complicate everything. He helped us a lot because we had frittered away a lot. We wanted to make the best record in the world and it can't be done intentionally. One can just make the next record. At some point we noticed, if we stayed relaxed, it'd be so. He helped us to not throw in the towel.

Question: You'd adjusted to playing the first album together without the world knowing there was a Rammstein. There were also no expectations for it. Now the third studio album, in contrast, what have you changed in processing this one since the first album?

Paul: Not much, really. The sole difference is, in the back of one's head, the idea which anyone in the world would have and think: My God, I, little Paul Landers now makes a music that Julio in Mexico wants to hear. He's waiting for the CD, God willing, now I actually have to think about what will make him happy. The thought isn't intentional, it's simply there. The greatest struggle of a successful band is actually not about more success or recognition but to learn to get around it. If one is at their peak, as we supposedly are, there are other annoyances, with which one must take care of, like before, finding a record company who'd release the CD. With us now, it was the big struggle, it hung in the balance, we thought, if we'd make the CD at all. We wanted to make it so good and it almost didn't happen.

Question: Does Till write all the lyrics alone?

Paul: Yes, that doesn't mean anything, though, if you have good lyrics, they must be first blended with the music. That is always the hard process, to make a song with music and lyrics. Till is very open and flexible, though. With "Rein Raus" he'd written "Du stöhnst und ich bin dein Souffleur, ein Elefant im Nadelöhr," 3 in the band thought that was crap, they didn't want the word "Souffleur" in the lyrics so Till changed it. Till can react to the state of mind of the band, because we have to also play it, we have to think it's good. If one says, I think that's silly, still nothing happens, but if the majority says, I find that disgusting, cheap or too ridiculous, then we get together and mutually try to come up with a solution or Till comes and says, I have this.

2001/04 - Rolling Stone

Paul: As a musician, you always believe that your new record sounds fresh. But it's definitely nonsense trying to explain the innovations to someone who doesn't like the record anyway.

Paul: I think we left the tried and tested and redesigned the little things. Well, of course we're not Moby, who reinvents himself for every album. But he is also alone.

After that everything was fine. Till brought 'about 50 songs' into the studio, there were discussions and then "Mutter". Life can be so simple sometimes. But now I would like to learn more about the discussions. “Of course there are two factions in the band!” Paul grins. I had already suspected that, even though Richard Kruspe didn't really want to comment on any of the lyrics at the time and Paul Landers now says: "The lyrics, that's so us!”

He says more. For example, that he is not Richard Kruspe and also belongs to the faction "which likes the piggy, messy and not the lyrically nice". His group is the stronger one it seems. But always ready to compromise. "When Till called out in a song, 'Hello hello, I want to fuck', the [band] wanted it [said] 20 times, the others didn't want it at all. In the end it happened once. We always find a good mix.”

2001/04 - Visions

Question: Paul, let's start with whether you're happy with your album.

Paul: Now I'm completely delighted with him. I'm happy with everything that's happening with the album right now - as if I'm anticipating it. We started making good music again, and now it is addressed to all people, regardless of their tastes and preferences. First of all, we are just glad that the album is finally finished. Working on it was terribly exhausting.

Question: OK, one reason we heard. Were there any others?

Paul: Perhaps yes. Work on this album lasted so long that we had to do everything almost twice. We just wanted too much, we stood in our own way. For example, after half the mixing, we decided to start all over again because we didn't like the results obtained by our sound engineer Ronald Prent, who had worked with us for a long time. The band always tries to take proven paths at first because the new sound engineer is like a new woman: you never know whether it will work out or not. Also, while recording songs in France, we reworked everything again at the last second.

Question: The third album is always considered a turning point for the group. Maybe that's why the tension was so noticeable?

Paul: Anyway, it was huge! Imagine this coincidence of circumstances: Some mother baked pies for Christmas. Her son accidentally passes one flatbread along a large digestive chain to his working friend. Eventually, the cupcake reaches the branch manager, who realizes that it is the best thing he has eaten in his life. A little later, my mother already runs a small confectionery factory where her pies are baked. But suddenly the director demands from her that, along with already known products, she bake other varieties. Mom knows another variety that her grandmother gave her, but after a while this becomes not enough. She begins to rack her brains: 'Well, how did someone like my pies there, in Mexico?' - she thinks, because her cupcakes are already sold all over the world. Do you understand? Now we, too, no longer bake pies just for our family; a lot depends on us. You're trying to get rid of this pressure, but to no avail. It's just here, and first of all it comes from yourself.

Question: Do you also sometimes quarrel in stressful situations? You are, after all, considered a democratic group.

Paul: Democracy is not quite the right word. We are a company of soldiers. A crowd in which the one who shouts the loudest is basically the winner. Democracy is just a disguise (laughs). We always grumble and argue with each other, which is sometimes too tiring. Every time we sit down in the rehearsal room and say: 'Okay, boy, that was my opinion. And you don’t like something, right? Of course, I don’t like it, what you said is complete bullshit'. But the end justifies the means.

Question: Do you think you can keep your commercial success afloat with Mutter?

Paul: I do not think so. But, based on our development today, this third record can be placed next to Sehnsucht without shame. When you really give it your all for an album, then it usually sells well. You should never think: 'I want to go on the charts!', or everything will go down the drain.

2001/09 - Kaos2000.net

Question: How does the, as we Americans have seen it, the forced equality of socialism effect the art that you are trying to make amongst six individual artists, six individual minds?

Paul: That is really another problem because a band is like a marriage and in a marriage or in a family there are relationships that just work, that have a certain harmony and there are others where it just doesn't work. Actually we are lucky that the six of us have a relationship that does work very well and the good part, in the analogy to a marriage, is that all of us have work were often in a marriage there is tension if, traditionally the woman would stay home and the man would work, so in our band everyone has a job and it works.

Question: So if everyone works who does the cooking and cleaning? (laughs)

Paul: (Laughing) Everybody in the band has their specialties and one is looking for new guitar styles and another one is unique moments and another one is looking for a German influence another is looking for international influences and one is looking for no influences! (laughs) It is a good mixture, it is our trump. That is all completely irrespective of where we come from, whether we came from the East or the West or from China for that matter.

Question: The art involved with the music portion of a Rammstein CD is very well integrated with the packaging, the CD booklets and the videos, do you take a full and active roll in all of that or are there people who handle the design of those things for you?

Paul: Yeah. We try to always keep it unique because nobody needs a cover that somebody else has had before. We certainly try not to copy anything that we have done before, we try not to repeat ourselves and all of us are always involved in all of these decisions which actually hinders the decision making process. It makes it more lengthy and cumbersome to come to a decision.

2001/11 - Peer #473 (Russian)

Question: What role do you think luck played in the success of Rammstein?

Paul: Yes, the most important one. For us, it all started with that tape that we sent to David Lynch with a request to shoot a video for us. He never responded to this request; six months later he offered to use our music for the soundtrack to the film Lost Highway. And immediately after the release of the film, amazing things began to happen to us - record labels, managers, venerable musicians suddenly noticed that there was Rammstein in the world. In general, in order to make a musical career, you need several things at once. Firstly, it's luck. Without that, nothing will work out, even if you are a super-genius musician. Secondly, it is necessary for the group to bring together compatible people who understand each other and can work together. Thirdly, you need a vocalist with character, but the voice is not important. Then, appearance is needed, if not pleasant, then at least memorable. And lastly, you need to work hard. Young musicians think that brilliant music is enough for success, but this is bullshit. A famous group is always a small company, and sometimes even a large one. And the most difficult thing is that after talking with a tax consultant, find the strength within yourself and go into the studio and pick up a guitar.

Reise, Reise (2004)

2004/06 - Rock Hard

Question: Did you notice that at the time of your debut "Herzeleid" the whole world philosophized about that unbelievable guitar sound, but the true sound miracle "Mutter" quickly was taken for granted?

Paul: At this moment I don't know what is better and what is worse. Fact is at least that Herzeleid sounds rough. Mutter however sounds more "made," more produced. However Herzeleid was at that time in a more extreme position than Mutter was years later. You can't leave out the release dates of both albums. Mutter appeared in a time, in which many other guitar bands made albums, which sounded just as good as or even better than our songs. Therefore Mutter did not enter as such a milestone in history. Afterwards, I find Herzeleid rather soft and sweet. Nowadays I don't think: Wow, what a great sound!

Question: For a large part "Mutter" was recorded and developed in a little house at the Baltic Sea...

Paul: The songs develop in different places. But we usually drive to a place, in order to record them as pre-production. Like you put together all the notes you made. The last time the pre-production took place in Heiligendamm at the Baltic Sea.

Question: The Baltic Sea seems to be very special to you, because already in GDR times you and your band Feeling B were always on the island Hiddensee to spent summer.

Paul: We still do that. There are only two possibilities of going away: Either you drive into the mountains or to the sea.

Question: Did you, in the little house in Heiligendamm - thus close together -, got to know each other better then ever?

Paul: No. you really become acquainted with each other on tour, you can't get closer in any way. Like you live in a submarine. From time to time you emerge and play a concert (laughs).

Question: How did your new album develop? How can we imagine your new album, without hearing a tone?

Paul: In contrary to our past three albums the new album was written in another constellation. Those, which brought in many ideas in former times, took a step back this time, and those, who had less song ideas before, are more represented this time.

Question: Who belongs to which group?

Paul: That's not important. It's important that the new album for reasons mentioned has another tone quality. And: In contrast to the last album we had much more fun making it this time. In addition we didn't go anywhere to write the songs this time, but we did the pre-production in Berlin.

Question: Does this mean that you had only little fun while making Mutter?

Paul: Yes, Mutter wasn't really great fun. The famous third album, as always so beautifully said. In addition there were [interpersonal] reasons. After eight, nine years the balance of power had shifted within the band. That happens in each band. Ritchie Blackmore stepped out, because he could not go through with Jon Lord anymore. Their discord and quarrels were refreshing for the listeners for many years, but sooner or later it will get too much for all who are involved, and finally one must step out.

Question: But nobody has left Rammstein.

Paul: No, that didn't happen. But there was tension and stress between two people cause of problems with competence as well with over and underestimation. We had orientate again ourselves. Finally it also cracked. But - I knock on wood! - we got over it well, and so we could work on the fourth album with lots of fun.

Question: I guess you won't like to tell the names of the two.

Paul: Correct. It can happen to everyone at times, because everyone lacks compassion and understanding from time to time.

Question: Back to the tone qualities: Can you say that there is a big difference with Mutter?

Paul: We still tried to embed the singing more into the music. Or differently said: The music is more than ever a manege, in which the singing becomes effective better. Like ten white tigers. A platform, an aircraft carrier for the words (giggles).

Question: Very lyrically expressed...

Paul: I try to find the best words. The airplanes anyhow must be able to start smooth (laughs). In addition there are fewer riffs on the album because the guitars are a bit different.

Question: Rather like a guitar carpet?

Paul: I don't know either. Different somehow. There are people, who listened to it and said that the sound was actually the same as always. For me, the album is different from Mutter, and it probably also will be for the attentive Rammstein fan. Perhaps it might be the same sound for my granny, to her, each AC/DC song sounds the same. Whatever, for one it will sound differently, for the other the new songs sound exactly the same as always. And both parties are probably right.

Question: For someone who estimates your achievement on Mutter very high, I am convinced that the new album can only become a disappointment. It is nearly impossible to take it up against Mutter or at least make an equal successor.

Paul: But I don't make an album to overrule the last one. I try to make each album a good album. That may sound boring, but your girlfriend does not end the relationship, because you have a better... Okay, maybe that's a bad example (laughs). Actually, you can find only one girlfriend, only one. If you are lucky, it is a good one, and if you have real bad luck she looks pretty, but is however totally nuts. A woman can be pretty, and every one thinks: Man, why does not remain together with her? But the woman is completely crazy. An album can sound also good, but it must also be fun to write this album. I often experienced that people, which are less successful in their work, work completely bitten and fun-free, just to have success. And those in contrast to people, who rather have fun and just roll into it all, mostly do good things. I have to say that I also met people, which have enormous success and still are totally relaxed. What can I say: Metallica also continued after their black album. You don't write a good album therefore, that you won't make another. You rather try to make each one a good album. To say it diplomatically: another album, another advancement.

2004/06 - UM Music

Question: Did you get the chance to play any of the new songs live before you went into the studio?

Paul: The way bands usually work is that they start out as a trio, and then before long in their career there's a whole brass section involved, then a percussion section, then a string quartet and then a choir. Pretty soon, they're this huge band! Were about halfway down this path, and if we don't watch out, the next album will see us with a string section onstage! Interestingly enough, though, this was the easiest album we've ever recorded. In contrast to Mutter, we felt absolutely no pressure there was pressure, of course, but we just didn't let it get to us. Another factor was that we'd already received our money for this record, and already spent it - not the ideal background for recording a new album; plus, there were personal differences amongst the musicians, but when we got into the studio and started on the songs we found it easy to work together, and the recording went more smoothly than ever before.

Question: Till's vocals sound like they've moved up another gear on this album; did you do something different in the studio?

Paul: Well, normally Till will double up his own voice, but for this album Oliver sang along too, mostly on the refrains, so if people think that Till sounds really, really good, then that's at least partly because of Oliver's involvement...

Question: And Reise Reise breaks other new ground too; as well as Oli singing for the first time, you've also included an acoustic track called Los.

Paul: Well, it was more or less our duty after three albums - three solid rock albums - to do something a little more experimental. Los was actually a normal rock song, but we realized it was maybe only half as good as a track like Rein Raus, for example, so we turned off the distortion equipment and thought wow, this sounds pretty good! Its like taking the veil off a woman. If you're lucky, there's a beautiful face underneath. When you're recording music, the distortion can be a real help its actually much harder to record a song without distorted guitars than it is to record a song with distorted guitars. Metal bands especially often hide behind those distorted guitar sounds.

Question: So did you find a beautiful woman behind the veil?!

Paul: Yes! And I hope the feedback we get on this song will encourage us to do more experimental music in the future. But what's funny is that what we call experimental is just normal music for some people although its definitely experimental for us!

Question: he new album has been produced by Jacob Hellner, who you've worked with in the studio since day one. Did you consider making a change this time around? Perhaps bringing in an American rather than a Swede?

Paul: We were somewhat insecure about the set-up for this album, including the relationships within the band; everything at the time seemed a bit unsure, so we were very happy to have at least one constant factor, and that was Jacob. But still, down the line, we'd like to go a step further and work with a new producer - not so sure it would have to be an American, though.

2004/07 - Volume.at

Question: In what ways does the new Reise, Reise album differ from Mutter?

Paul: I think it's different in the fact it's going to sell more (laughs). No, okay there's the emphasis toward playing by hand. A stronger push away from sequencers and electronics without becoming "peasantry rock". I hope... Anyway, we always have basic concepts for our albums and this time it was "everything for the vocals." So we did everything well for the vocals, even if that sounds stupid alone. That's to say that if we thought the song was actual shit, but Till sang something good on it, then we took it. Besides, we gave all the songs a shot. Before if we all didn't like a song, easy cut and gone. Now we work through it. That's why now we have some exotic songs we otherwise wouldn't have.

Question: The album has been finished. When you give it to the record company, are you 100% satisfied with the end result? Or is it the best you could do in the time you had available?

Paul: We're satisfied with most of the songs. The point here is, someday you have to just stop working on it. When you write music it's like this: the refrain of this song is weak still, the verse of that song is insane, this other one is missing a melody, this one drags on. Every song is like a child. And each child needs a different approach. One needs to see a doctor. The second one needs a tooth pulled. The third one needs to get slapped. The fourth needs to be sent to an asylum or so. And the fifth, we push into the sewer. If you're lucky, they will all grow up to be well adjusted children during the production process...

2004/09 - Heavy Rock

Question: The band’s music so far hasn’t noticed a lot of changes, aren’t you afraid of falling into monotony?

Paul: It has always been our dream to sound monotonous, although on this album we are less so than on the first, 'Herzeleid’, because there are two types of monotony: one boring and one interesting, and if our case were the first we would not have reached our goal.

Question: What are the expectations of the band towards this new album?

Paul: It is always somewhat difficult to explain the expectations of each one and if I am honest, one does not stop being afraid of rejection and of not liking anyone, but you never really know beforehand what is going to happen. When we made the album we thought more about finishing songs that we liked and we concentrated on that, we didn’t ramble so much about how the release was going to be, how successful we were going to be, but if you ask me now about my forecast I think that we are going to have success.

Question: The album was curiously recorded in Malaga; why this choice?

Paul: When we record a record we always like to go out; We prefer not to do it in Germany and when deciding we look a little at the temperatures at that time. In this case it was winter and we wanted to go to a place where there was good weather; Last year we were in France and this year we were looking for a new place, when they showed us the photos of 'El Cortijo’ we liked it right away and we quickly decided to go there, we also like Spanish coffee. What is also important to note is that we either need mountains or the sea and in this case we had both.

Question: In this new production there is a greater emphasis on the guitars, which have even more gray hair.

Paul: It’s interesting because at first we thought to give less weight to the guitars, but it may be that since we’ve also applied less electronics, synthesizers, sequences or rave mix, they sound better or stronger. Basically Christoph Schneider, our drummer, is to blame, because he was tired of having so much electronic and so many support devices; he suggested that it was necessary to remove all the surrounding paraphernalia and do what we knew how: play.

Question: You will surely know this question well, but it is necessary to ask it given the gray of the album… Is Rammstein a metal band?

Paul: It is quite difficult for a musician to classify himself or box himself in and the usual answer is a bit evasive; It is really difficult to classify Rammstein because we use elements from different styles of music and therefore we cannot say that we are a metal band. On this new album it’s especially hard to say what kind of music we represent, just pointing out that it’s rock music is a bit gross, it’s not right to classify it that way but it’s probably the closest thing to it.

2004/09 - Rock Inform (Hungary)

Question: When is the release of the new LP expected anyway? Will you continue the direction you started with the Mutter CD, or will there be any changes in the music?

Paul: The new material will be released in September, and if you asked about the new direction, I can say that even the Mutter album had fewer sequencer themes and breakbeats than the previous Sehnsucht record. Now we are on the fourth disc, and even less of this will be heard on it, we will return to traditional instruments, because we no longer feel the development in relation to synthesizers and sequencers.

Question: It's time to change the subject. There have been certain disagreements within the band lately, haven't they. I'm thinking here that you've been quite affected by the stress and pressure of popularity and that your guitarist Richard Kruspe-Bernstein has also been working with his new band, Emigrate...

Paul: The band members sometimes have too many ideas and of course we cannot use all of them within the framework of Rammstein. So when someone finds or forms another band to realize their own ideas, they are free to do so. There is no question of contradictions because of them. With us, everyone can live out their orientations. Since in Rammstein we also play of our own free will. No one is bothered by what the other is doing.

2004/10 - Legacy

Question: After taking "Sehnsucht", the first song of this album for its title, you did the same again this time – a kind of statement to say "Look, this is the direction in which "Reise, Reise" is in-tended to go?

Paul: With a bad succession of songs you can ruin a whole album, make it totally inaudible! A lot of songs do not mean automatically a good album. As an example: have a look at the FC Barcelona or Real Madrid: a bunch of good football players but not a good team. Team spirit, the team play is what counts. Rammstein always composes the succession of the songs in a way that one can and should listen to the whole album – therefore you have to compromise. Schneider really had created a good succession of the songs but our producer Jacob Hellner started to cry and begged us on his knees to change it. Schneider took the CD with him on a visit to Moscow, where he was invited. There he, too, realised, that the succession did not rock. Eventually the tracklisting is Jacob Hellner’s version.

Question: How do you create such a thing?

Paul: You just add one song after another and then listen to it.

Question: As you like it? Without restrictions?

Paul: Well, you have to care a bit. Schneider had put the songs referring to their themes: first hard, then melodious and at last soft; opposite to Jacob Hellner, who likes to jump from one theme to another.

Paul: First priority is always not to write the same song again if there has been a simi-lar song already. We did it once with "Klavier" which is very close to "Seeman". We are not perfect but we try to be careful and we don’t want to copy us. We have put up some standards for us. And if we don’t fulfill them we try something new. And of cause we develop, too. Ten years ago, at the beginning, it was just fun to play, to create music with guitars and machines. We still have fun, but now we want to try to do something different, even more, as the strong influence of electronics is over now. This kind of music is not very innovative at the moment- everything has been done with synthesizers and sequencers. Therefore we have gone back to the roots of playing, and especially after "Mutter", we concentrated on the band itself. We still use all elements in our music but the priorities have changed. The ones responsible for the basic ideas of the music this time were others and they had a stronger impact than on the last album. But of course we all worked together on that album, everybody has contributed to it; the house was build up with the same material together, but the basics were laid by others and you can hear this by the different colour of the music. We have a great potential of creativity in the band- you really could form three bands out of Rammstein – and that nearly made the cauldron burst. We have managed our inner crisis, a normal phenomenon after ten years, and we are glad that we are able to continue to work together. This process is partly the explanation why "Reise, Reise" sounds different. Furthermore in former times the guitars were the leading instruments. The riff was king – everything else had to follow, especially the vocals, which only could be second place in the ranking at best. Till did not only improved his singing ability, we even learned to put things in a way THAT Till sounds better. The guitar doesn’t only play, she hands over the plate on which the golden thrush is served. Maybe this will change with the next record and the focus then is on dancing. But on "Reise, Reise" it is definitely on the vocals. Therefore all the rest can be different – the most important thing is that the singing sounds well. It was an experiment, but as far as I know from the responses to the CD, it has worked.

Question: You mentioned a crisis: how serious was the danger of a split-up?

Paul: Everybody who has had a relationship with a woman knows: there are ups and downs, and splitting up is one possibility. In a relationship there are only two, but we are six! Surviving only one day in such a relationship already is an art, not to talk about years or a decade...And with such stubborn people like we are it is even worse, but in the end we always could agree on something, maybe because we all come from the East? We have an extremely strong staying power, a strong will to make music together. But still you cannot avoid that fame and success change the list of values and priorities – if you give 1000 people a lot of money 990 are going to be assholes and only 10 stay relaxed (although there could be 990 other reasons why 990 from 1000 people are going to be assholes - comment of the author). We had the same problem: we were just a normal band, which played music. And then suddenly you are placed directly next to the Ramones in a record shop in Texas, you earn a lot of money...this has different effects on everyone’s psyche, and everybody copes with this differently. The powers in the band changed: in the beginning everybody had the same rights, but then there was a change, but now, knock on wood (he knocks on the table- comment of the author) we have changed back. As a band we just have a self-healing character! When you sometimes read of lottery winners, who spend their money, one has to admit that we have managed those attacks on our psyche well.

Question: How often to you meet each other actually?

Paul: I see the band more often than my family! You know each other by heart, stick together on smallest room for a long time – I already mentioned: we have the energy and potential for three bands, and we have to cope with that. The advantage of this is a never ending pool of creativity, the disadvantage is you have to canalize and to compress it, have to squeeze it in a circle – I, myself, sometimes wonder, that we manage this for quite a long time already – it is nearly a mystery!

Question: Although there is sufficient energy for three bands there still are no side projects to Rammstein?

Paul: Not yet, but there will be one. I cannot tell more.....The pressure had to be set free, and I think, this decision helped to relax the situation. But this will take a while anyway, because we now concentrate fully on Rammstein.

2004/10 - Kerrang

Paul: It's a matter of remembering what's important. What we mean by the feeling we had at the start is, when you start out, your battle is to make the best record, to show what you can do. And then you've done that. So then the battle becomes to be successful. And then you have different battles. To maintain that level of success, to resist the pressure to do things you don't want to do.

2004/10 - Blistering.com

Question: Did you get the chance to play any of the new songs live before you went into the studio?

Paul: What might happen is that we’ll go and perform the songs live and then change them, so there’ll be differences between the recorded versions and the versions that we play on the road; that’s what happens with a band like Depeche Mode, and I think it’s a good thing, because it means that you end up with more than one version of the song. “So, we’ve made the songs as good as we can, we like them the way we’ve recorded them, and if we like something else later on, then we’ll simply make changes. Also, what is different with this album is that sometimes a song that two band members liked a lot actually made it onto the final tracklisting; in the past, songs that only a couple of us liked or a few of us liked would never have had the chance to get recorded or get on to an album, but that’s changed this time - some of those are included.

2004/11 - Pitfather

Question: Congratulations with Reise, Reise. I think you succeeded in exploring the ultimate boundaries of how Rammstein can sound without losing your identity.

Paul: We hoped so much that we could succeed in that. Of course we always try to do that but if it will work is something else. But we do not like to repeat ourselves; there is no fun in that. We are not like AC/DC. We like that band but that would not work for us; we do not feel comfortable with that. We are also not radical like David Bowie, we do not burn the bridges behind us. We actually try to do it just like you just said, it is our goal to sound as different as possible within the Rammstein boundaries. We are fortunate that we develop ourselves as individuals and when all 6 of us change, the sum changes. So when we make a new record, theoretically when every Rammstein member has changed a bit, the album should also. How is the music scene, how is the world, how is Rammstein, how is our alcohol addiction, it all of course puts its mark on how we sound.

Question: But this time it is REALLY different. There even are blues influences ("Los") and a real love Ballad ("Ohne Dich")!

Paul: Ballads we always had. There are people in the band that have problems with the song America, with Moscow, with Ohne Dich, with Los. But now we bring Los now, we like it all. But the other 3 songs I just mentioned are songs that are not really liked by all of us.

Question: You have 6 different people in the band and you decide in a democratic way about the songs?

Paul: Not democratically, I think that sucks. We have 6 opinions and the result is a mix. Democracy is a word that is often misused. The way it is used present days then I would say Rammstein is no democracy. We are 6 kings, we all get our share and influence in the band!

Question: Another question, it is quite known that for a while there was tension in the Rammstein camp. What I would like to know is how you managed to get over it and continue Rammstein?

Paul: It is real simple. Rammstein is for all of us individually the best thing that ever happened to us. With 6 we accomplish much more then we would individually. Of course, when success comes in and so money, people change. Not a lot if you are lucky, when you are real lucky nothing changes but with some bad luck people change because of that success and money. That happened to Rammstein. We had sudden members that became different, less easy and less cooperative. We are always a 360-degree circle. Divided in 6 parts. But when some members’ part grows they push others away, decreasing their part. The circle cannot expand more then 360 degrees and the others felt unhappy. Rammstein is only Rammstein when all members have their natural share in the circle and that was not the case anymore. We said this is not going to work this way. We must change something. Because we were with 6, the remaining members could convince the changed members that Rammstein was actually something real great to do. We draw our conclusions and everybody could think of what they had in the band. In some natural way, the band came back together. The idea was that if one of us quits we all quit. Perhaps when a guitarist leaves it is not that serious because we have 2. But it would not work and it would be less fun so we would quit. For myself I see it that if Rammstein gives me no joy anymore, my life is no fun anymore and vice versa. So it was actually very easy and now we know what we have. In a group there are always compromises. And we are 6. Compromising you can only do if you know what good things we have with Rammstein. So we took a deep breath and naturally it came together. Every now and then we are free and that means to do what we want. This 4th album we made only with pleasure. No stress. Mutter was Horror and Hell. Reise, Reise was without stress and struggle. Perhaps almost too relaxed! We did not make it easy for ourselves, talked and thought a lot about songs. But when your job makes fun, you want to do much of that job. This way it felt so good that it did not feel like a job. A job is when you need holidays, we do not need that we are on holiday all the time now!

Question: Did you made any promises to each other not to go solo?

Paul: No that is part of the freedom we give each other now. If we want now we can do it. Everyone who has ideas that he can not use in Rammstein is free and perhaps has to do something solo. Then he can say this is how I want it. That is why Rammstein became more relaxing. Who wants can do what he wants outside Rammstein. And come back later and do something together in Rammstein. We have so many ideas that in fall of 2004 we bring out Reise, Reise part 2! We all had good songs and it was too much. So we bring the other songs out later.