Interview with Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel: conquering America!
German rock band Tokio Hotel has sold over two million copies all over the world. Thanks to the success of their first album in English, Scream, they’re ready to conquer America. Meeting with the twins Bill and Tom!
Sometimes, the fans get over excited for seeing their idols. What was the most surprising thing you’ve ever saw?
Bill: In Los Angeles entered our hotel room through the window. We were at the second floor. We still don’t know how she climbed so high! And a fan also gave us a star as a present. Somewhere in the sky there’s a star called Tokio Hotel.
Tom: Our fans come from far places, and they sleep wherever they can just to see us. That’s truly cool.
Which song is your favourite to play on stage?
Tom: “Raise Your Hands”. We wrote that song especially for the audience, for our fans.
Bill: In my opinion, I really like the song “Scream”, because it’s one of our first songs. It’s really good to be able to perform on stage and hear the crowd singing with you.
Which are the highlights and bad moments when touring?
Bill: The most difficult thing is that we don’t have, at all, private life. We’re everyday on the road, don’t have our own bed and can’t be with our family and friends. Sometimes, it’s pretty rough.
Tom: However, that allows us to perform on stage, and then all is worth it. We like the promotion, the interviews, the photos… but what we like the most are the shows.
Bill: We also love to travel everywhere, and sleeping in different cities each night.
Do you carry with you the same things to anyplace you go?
Bill: Each member of the band carries seven or eight suitcases, which make us, have a lot of baggage. As I don’t have a fixed residence, I always take everything I have with me.
Tom: We take everything we have with us.
Which music did you use to listen to when you were younger?
Bill: We’re all different from each other, even when it comes to music. I love Coldplay and Keane.
Tom: When I started playing guitar, I listened to Aerosmith. I was also a great Joe Perry’s fan. Now, in my free time, I listen to a lot of German hip-hop.
Do you have any crush for some celebrity?
Bill: Tom and I love the Olsen twins!
Tom: I guess that’s because they’re twins like us. I also love Jessica Alba, Heidi Klum… too long list!
Your new album contains songs from your two first albums. How did you choose the songs?
Tom: We simply choose the ones we preferred.
Bill: We wanted to select diverse songs and still confirm that we were Tokio Hotel. In the album you can find ballads and tracks with some more rhythm.
Is there any song you wanted to include in the album, but still you haven’t?
Tom: No, we selected all the songs we wanted.
If you could go on tour with any band, which one would you choose?
Tom: I would love to go on tour with a girl’s band, like The Pussycat Dolls! *laughs*
Bill: Every rock band wants to go on tour with The Rolling Stones! That would be awesome!
In which country the fans are more intense?
Bill: That’s hard to say. I think we have the best fans in the whole world, no matter if we’re in Europe, the US or Canada. It’s insane!
Tom: We’re very welcomed in every place we visit.
Bill: The fans are always there for us. Plus, they camp outside the venues where we perform. That’s really unbelievable!
You got big success around the world. Do you thing it’s weird to start it all over again in America?
Tom: Yes, for a German band it’s a great opportunity visiting the US.
Bill: It’s amazing: three years ago we couldn’t believe we would be so successful in Germany and Europe. We didn’t even think about coming to the US and also perform in Canada. We’re very happy.
Are you happy with the reactions from the American public?
Tom: We’re just starting… But this success we’re having is way more than we ever expected.
Which American city is your favourite now?
Tom: We can’t answer that, because we’ve only visited New York and Los Angeles.
Bill: I loved NY, but I also liked L.A. There we could go to the beach every days, and it’s always beautiful!
Tom: The girls are really cute in both cities. That’s important!
Where does the name Tokio Hotel comes from?
Bill: In the beginning we were Devilish. But we wanted to find a different name, a suitable one. All of us love big cities so, we chose Tokyo (Tokio in German). Once we dreamed about travelling all over the world and sleeping in hotels, we added Hotel.
Where do you see yourselves in the end of 2008?
We have many concerts in the next months. Then, we’ll be working in studio. We will write new songs and record a new album. I hope we can do it all by the end of the year!
