A couch, some chairs. A low table with bowls full of sweets. Bill is seated on the right, holding a cushion in front of his stomach, his black-painted nails dug into the cushion. To his right, on a chair, sits his twin Tom. He is leaned against the back of the chair, relaxed, legs apart, and his dreadlocks falling over his torso. To the left, you find Gustav, cap on, who won't say a word. Next to him is Georg, his hair straight and long, 20 years old, the eldest of the group. To greet us, they get up, present themselves, and shake hands. Georg proposes drinks, goes and gets water and coffee. It's their 5th interview today. They ask what time it is. It's a bit after 3 p.m.. Lunch time, says Tom.
You travel everywhere in the world and now you're in Germany for a few days. Are you happy to be here once again?
Bill :
A normal occurence, normal faces, we know everything very well. In foreign countries we find ourselves in surprising situations. Here in Germany, we can relax a bit more, because we are often here. Also, sometimes we go to other countries only for 2-3 days, and that makes our schedule very strict, and that's why it can be very chaotic sometimes. We always feel special when we find ourselves here.
You are going to play in Tel Aviv on the 6th of October, how did that happen?
Tom :
It happened like how it did with the other countries. France, Poland, Denmark, and others. We already have fans everywhere, before being in those countries, even before getting our songs out there. Everything happens on internet. To tell you the truth, we just found out that we had israeli fans. We already had fan clubs in France 5 months before releasing an album. In Israel, the fans started an action. They collected more than 5,000 signatures, I think, in the hopes that we would come and play in their country one day. All because we found out that the radio over there was already playing our song "Monsoon." We didn't know!
You CDs are sold in German and in English. Which version would they hear in Israel?
Tom :
I think the English version.
Bill :
But because of the Internet, it's really a mixture of both. In the countries where our English CD was released, the people also listen to the German one a lot. In France, for example.
Tom :
In Finland they listen to us in German. We released the CD in English, so they could choose. If ever they are not interested in the German, they always have the possiblity to understand our lyrics.
Bill :
It's very important to us, that people understand our lyrics. For us, it's more than a beautiful melody to dance on. Music, to us, is emotions. Because of that, I write lyrics for a long time, because it's very important to me that people understand what we sing.
How did you find out about the signed petition of your Israeli fans?
Bill :
People talked about it on Internet. I came to our producers' ears. There was an enormous paper with signatures. So many people wrote: come see us and have a concert! We said to ourselves, "Wow! It can't be possible!"
Tom :
We were very surprised. I mean, we had never been to Israel. For us, being a German band, playing there is something special.
Bill :
We didn't know that people were interested in us, over there.
You are the first German band to reach 1st place in the Israeli charts.
Tom :
A few weeks after receiving this giant paper with the signatures, we were also on the front page of an israeli rock magazine.
Once more, something no German band has ever had before.
Tom :
Yeah, it's really cool. And now, we don't know what to expect.
Bill :
We talked to our agent. He thought it was super too. He said : We'll try it. He didn't have an idea either what was going to happen, because he never organized such a thing in Israel before. So it was also strange for him.
I suppose it's the first time that an ambassador plays a role in the organization of a rock concert?
Georg :
That's correct. The fans sent the signatures to the Israeli embassador in Germany. He transmitted it.
Tom :
The embassador invited us and told us that we were welcome. We accepted the invitation.
What goes through your mind when you think about Isreal?
Tom :
I have an open spirit about. It's not like we're expecting certain things in certain countries. What's it like to play in Israel? Up till now, we never even thought about it.
Bill :
Because we saw so many countries, we know which clichés are false. In certain countries, they ask us: Ah so you come from Germany, you drink lots of beer and eat sausages, right? We always say, no, not at all. All these clichés are totally stupid.
But Israel must bring you something. A vision, a feeling.
Georg :
I have a vision of heat, anyhow.
Bill :
It will be hot for sure. Open air, right?
Tom :
Yes, that's right. Hot, yes, but otherwise, I don't know what to think.
Bill :
I heard that Tel Aviv was really a great city.
Tom :
That's true, we know several people who have already been there. They told us that it was great there, and I also heard that there were very pretty...
Georg : Very pretty women.
Tom :
That's why we are looking forward to the concert, under those aspects.
Georg :
We'll take time to make an idea...
About the women?
Bill :
About Israel.
Tom :
When we travel by plain, it's always a bit complicated, but we have a bit of time to visit. I can't wait.
How much time do you have?
Tom :
I think we have half a day free before the concert. The day after we have to go to Amsterdam for our next concert.
Now, Bill is seated on the back of the ouch. When he talks he waves his hands around in the air. We also have to add that Bill has very thin arms. It's the first time that a German band plays such a big concert in Israel. The ticket sales are going well, the person responsible for the tickets told us. Apparently the young israelis don't have a problem with seeing a German group. Is history playing a roll in 2007?
Is it all this simple?
Young Germans and young Israelis, separated from each other by history and now reunited by music?
Tell me, apart from the heat and the beauty, do you have another vision of Israel?
Bill :
Apart from this, I have no notion about the country. We are very open, like we already said.
In Israel and Germany we consider that this concert will be an extraordinary happening. It's almost a political question. Why, in your opinion?
Tom : Firstly, it doesn't happen often that a German group has a concert in Israel.
Bill :
We don't know where we'll end up. How will things roll once we do a concert there? Can we play open-air, or will it be a cool happening.
Tom :
There are several American artists who have already played there, but we are the first coming from Germany who are going to do a big concert there, that's for sure. But it will most likely turn out well. We found a good placement open-air, I think it will be good.
Bill :
I'm so excited. I'm so anxious to meet the fans. I can't wait to be there. It's gonna be so cool.
Tom :
There are so many things to think about. How are we gonna bring our stuff to Tel Aviv? It's also a question about money. Our team has to go to Amsterdam the next day. We find out that it isn't so complicated. It's easy to get amplifiers in Tel Aviv. It's not a problem at all.
Bill :
Something that I didn't know, was that these people are deep into music. I didn't know at all the type of music they listen to over there. Here in Germany, we never hear their music.
Israel-Germany, it's a special historical relationship. Does that play a roll for you?
Bill:
Mmh, mmh…
Tom :
Well, we don't really think about it.
Bill :
We don't make such a big thing about it. We just are excited to be there, it's a big honnor for us to go there. But often, they write that we are messengers, or something like that. We wouldn't describe ourselves as such. Like messengers promoting the German language, or I don't know what. It's all very intense. We don't see ourselves like this. We do music, people are interested in us and it's a very cool feeling.
Tom :
We are very happy to have received the ambassador's invitation.
This action itselft, shows that this concert is more than ordinary.
Bill :
And we owe it to our fans.
Tom :
For them, it's the only way to reach us, via the embasy.
Bill :
I try to imagine how the young Germans would see an Israeli band. I wouldn't even know what to start by in organising that.
Maybe the subjects of the Third Reich and the Holocaust are not in the young boys' heads, and that's why they don't think about itwhen they will be in Israel. Maybe us, the older generation, are the last people to see this country with prejudices. Maybe Bill and Tom and the others accomplished what we were never able to do. That them, young Germans, are able to want to go to Israel. Without any feelings of culpability. Or are they simply ignorant and naïve? Sorry, but we need to ask the question again. The Third Reich, the Holocaust, does it play a roll in all this, or not at all?
Bill :
Course we are conscious of that. But we are from a complete different generation. I think that our fans over there are also very young. They are about our age. We have an emotional relationship through music. That's what important. The concert will not suffer from the weight of the past and its happenings.
Tom :
I think that no one will have any political thoughts, or something like that. For us, it's a concert, a very exciting concert. We are welcome in Israel and for our fans, History has nothing to do with this.
You quit school very early, and you had, or still have a private teacher. Have you studied the Nazi period in history? (what a stupid question!!! dumbfuck interviewer)
All: Yes, of course.
The persecution of the Jews, the Holocaust, the Second World War--Do these subjects touch you?
Bill :
I think that's an important subject for everyone. For all the young people. We learn a bit at school and also from grand parents. Of course there are very touching stories. There are times in history, when we are sitting there and we can't even believe it happened. What happened in that period of time, all the difficult times, we cannot understand all that happened. When we wake up to this time and look around ourselves, liberty is what we have. All that we can do. It's hard to imagine how it was in the past. It's already very shocking to heard about in our education. But I think that most people our age live in the present.
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