Tokio Hotel WW160 (Tokio Hotel Mania: A-Z)

Tokio Hotel Mania: A-Z

The concert on Saturday evening, at the Parc des Princes, undoubtedly marks the dedication of these young rockers: Tokio Hotel has never been so high…from Trabendo to the Parc des Princes in only two years, is only one of the many records and achievements Tokio Hotel has done. Managing to make a whole generation sing in German, even after Kraftwerk renounced the idea, knowing how to managed guitars at a time when people thought they were overwhelmed by synths, they explode all the sales records and rekindle the flickering flame of “mania,” just like the good old days of the Beatlesmania, all of that is just some of Tokio Hotel accomplishments.

And only a “two year” existence, and despite – or thanks to –their German rock, the Magdeburg twins’ band, this year, has beaten all records of sales and popularity. In this furious TokioHotelmania, here’s “A” for German (well it’s ‘Allemand’ in French…) to “Z” like “Zimmer 483," here’s a lexicon of anything necessary to know about Bill, Tom, Georg, and Gustav.

A: German (Allemand, in French)
From their very first concert in Trabendo, in Paris, last Summer, it was already a crazy; all the French fans sang the songs in German, they knew them all by heart, even if some didn’t know a word of German.
German contributes to the Tokio Hotel phenomenon…even with the French accent!
Bill: “We did not expect that at all, even in our wildest dreams! I had never imagined such a success, having so many French fans, who, in addition, sing our songs in German. It was very surprising, and it warmed our hearts.

B: Bill
Bill Kaulitz, singer and twin of guitarist, Tom, is just 18 years old. His hair is streaked in several places (not anymore) his makeup, his fragility, his ambiguity, and his ‘neo-goth’ look, ranging between Robert Smith and Marilyn Manson, contributes greatly to the phenomenal success of the group.
By the way, like Cure and Manson, a portion of the fans have adopted and reproduced, as closely as possible, Bill’s style.

C: Compositions
Bill: “All our songs are written in cooperation with our producers, and it would never suit us to sing things written by others, who have nothing to do with us. In a song, there must be something personal about it, in order to sing it how it should be sung. Often the producers have ideas, but it’s usually us. We unite and work together.
And after that the rights are shared, something that depends on titles, the importance of each one’s job in it.

D: Destroy
In their very first clip “Schrei,” we see the boys destroying a villa. But in real life, the boys are rather cool.
Bill: “It was a house that was going to be destroyed, it was going to be pulled down two weeks after the shooting of the clip. But that doesn’t resemble what happens during our concerts. I would not hate to destroy a hotel room. Obviously, it would please me! But on the other hand, I’m too stingy, I would not want to pay for the repairs after. So anyway, I wouldn’t do that.”

E: Recording (Enregistrement, in French)
According to our information, the recording of the last CD could have perhaps been an excuse to party. (?)
Bill: “We recorded our album in the countryside.”
Tom: “We must say that there’s an apartment above the studio where we lived, and it was such a mess! Every week there was a housekeeper who’d pass and clean up everything!”

F: Fans
Bill: “We are always amazed at what our fans are capable of doing for us. From time to time, it’s very impressive, but it makes us very happy, sometimes we even find it hard to believe!”
Tom: “Personally, I’m very happy when the girls scream my name!” (laughs)

G: Georg and Gustav
Georg: “In fact, Bill and Tom have been doing rock together since a long time, since they were 7. With Gustav, we met at a music school and we quickly started to play together. One night we saw Bill and Tom playing in this club “Gröninger Bad” and just from hearing, we knew that they needed a hand. We went to see them backstage, and that’s how the group was born.”

H: Nina Hagen
About Nena, the one who sang the immortal “99 Luftbaloons” in the early 80’s, Nina Hagen is one of the rare German influences on Tokio Hotel.
Whimsical and frosty character, she was able to make the whole planet dance with her “African Reggae.”
Bill: “Nina Hagen was really brilliant. Nena too, even if she was more pop than rock. Personally for me, I am totally a fan of Nena and Nina, ever since the age of 8.”

I: Island
When the album promo and the tour will be ended, what are they dreaming of?
A paradise island…and pretty girls!
Tom: “I dream of a remote island with plenty of sunshine, a dream beach with white sand, clear turquoise water, and long naps. And pretty girls! For me the summer often means going out with one or more chicks. With Bill and my parents, we spent most of our summers in the south of Spain. There was a such a big concentration of pretty girls, that it wasn’t hard to seduce some of them.”

J: Twins (Jumeaux, in French)
Bill and Tom are born 10 minutes apart.
Bill: “I stayed a little longer, because I turned over in my mom’s stomach, so that lasted a bit longer. Normally there isn’t more than a two or three minute interval.
It’s great to have a twin brother. We do everything together, it’s true, and we started making music at the same time. We have the same interests, so it’s not a calamity, to the contrary.”
Tom: “Often brothers and sisters don’t get along very well, and don’t understand each other. But we are twins. And since we have the same kind of interests, it’s great to work togther.”

L: LaFee
With her powerful rock, her charms and perfect German, the beautiful LaFee seems to be the feminine answer to the group from Magdeburg. But with her 17 years of age, is she a threat to Tokio Hotel’s power?
With her fiery eyes, the “Belle Christina Klein” excels in any case with her second CD “Jeztz Erst Recht.”

M: Magdeburg
Bill: “In fact, Magdeburg isn’t such a great city. On that, we all agree. It’s true that we all grew up there, we still live there, but we can’t imagine ourselves living there forever. Seriously, it’s not such a city you’d want to visit if you’re a tourist in Germany. It’s a boring hole, especially for young people.”

N: Next
The next step for Tokio Hotel, with the release of “Scream,” their first English album, is the conquest of England and the new world: America. (Not so new anymore)
Bill: “We will tour and tour and tour. We will go to as many countries as possible, where we have not yet been, and do some promo. At the moment, we concentrate on the UK, because it’s such a great step forward for a German band to succeed there.” (It’s not me who said it…)

P: Parents
The parents of Georg and Gustav have affirmed to be the more fervent supporters of the band.
Bill: “Our mother is an artist, and she paints on canvas. Our parents are divorced. And our stepfather is a musician. He plays acoustic guitar and it was he who led us to music. He made everything available to us. And at home, he had all the equipment needed.”
Tom: “For me, he put the guitar and amplifier in my room, and it was great. It was he who helped me learn music.”

R: Rock
Tom: “Our music is fast and powerful. It is also emotional. It’s good German rock. We’ve always tried to create our own original style. Ever since the beginning of the group, 7 years ago, we always composed our own music. So far we’ve only sung a single cover, it was “Instant Karma” by John Lennon and it was a sample for the benefit of “Amnesty International” where you could also see U2 and Green Day.”
Bill: “Doing our own thing, creating our own style and sound, has always been our priority.”

S: Spring Nicht
Bill: “We have always listened to our hearts, because last year we received lots of mail and e-mails from fans, we’ve also been on Internet forums and we saw that suicide is something lots of people think about, not always seriously, but some really think about doing it. It’s something that is present quite early in the heads of some teenagers. It’s happens as a result of first failures, breakups, loss of a loved one, and you don’t know what else life has to offer you. It’s an issue we wanted to deal with.”

T: Tom
Tom Kaulitz, Bill’s twin, is the guitarist of the group. He look is light years away from that of his brother’s. Far from neo-gothic, he has his cool locks and wide clothes, Tom belongs to the galaxy of riders, surfers, and skaters.
Tom: “Music is my biggest passion, my childhood dream. And today I have the privilege to accomplish this dream in the best conditions. I wake up with music and I go to sleep with music, I play in front of a great public, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

U: Universal
With global success, Tokio hotel is aimed at teens from many nations: rock has become universal and surpasses the language barrier.

V: Videos
Ever since the first clip, Schrei, Tokio Hotel has used the advantage of the offensive weapon, music clips, to capture new sonic territories.

W: Wir sterben niemals aus
Bill: “This song does not only talk about staying together for the rest of our lives. It rather answers the question: what will become of us after our death? I have thought a lot about it, and for me, each person is on earth to leave some trace behind. I can’t imagine that everything is finished after death, and there’s nothing left of us. I think every person, famous or not, leaves something behind the day they die.”

(Dunno what happened to X and Y!)

Z: Zimmer 483
Tom: “The idea of the title comes from our vacations in Spain last year, when we decided to rest and write songs at the same time. We rented a little dilapidated house in Spain which had the number 483, and that’s where we wrote the first song of our second album “Wir sterben niemals aus.” We thought it characterized this new album quite well.”

(Source: hitmusemag)