Information
Date: July 7, 1999
Source: Doc Rock
Interviewed: Richard
Translation: German
Interview
DocRock: Keyword Internet: Could you imagine that this medium will get more and more important for you, concerning the presentation of your band? Richard: Yes, i think so. We already thought about that for a long time, and are just working on our digital profiles. We have the conception to be placed into the Internet so that everyone can ask us any question.
DocRock: How shall that work exactly? Richard: Well, the people are asking their questions, and we're somewhere else answering them. Or there are 100 questions that are posed over and over again.
DocRock: Like a permanent Live-Chat and FAQ's. Richard: Yes, exactly.
DocRock: Your Homepage looks very personal and is very up to date. Do you work on it yourself? Richard: We're working hand in hand with the people who are making the pages. That's not just concerning the internet but also our record company. Oliver, our bass player, is responsible for the internet. He's very interested in it. We develop the ideas for the Page, which are then transferred by people who've got the knowledge how to do it.
DocRock: There's been a lot of talking about this MP3 stuff lately. What do you think about it? Do think it's rather a chance or a threat? Richard: Right now there's of course a lot of theft through the net. Someday there might be a solution, though there will always be freaks who are able to find their way. But i think in the future the people will accept that they have to pay. I don't think that the people have to be forced to pay. It always takes a certain time until a new medium is accepted, and then most of the people will pay for music from the internet.
DocRock: What do you think which Relevance will Rammstein have in the future? Will you be rather longterm figureheads for Germany, such as Kraftwerk or Can, or not? Richard: Of course i think and hope that it will be a longterm project. We are together for 5 years now, and everything's still fine, though we're together nearly every day. That's why i hope that we can keep it up for another few years. After 4 or 5 albums it's no problem to say "OK, let's take a break for one year and try own stuff", but Rammstein will hopefully remain for a long time, which shall mean that we all together will make music with this band.
DocRock: Is there already any kind of feedback concerning your new Album? Actually it's a Live-Album, so there is nothing new for the fans. Richard: Not really. But the people usually are very happy to get something new from us. I haven't been talking to the fans yet, but i neither do this when i write a song, for example. First of all we're making things that we like, and if the people like it as well, that's even better. The Album is kind of a final stroke to an era that was important to us.
DocRock: Do you feel a certain Obligation for the fans? Richard: Yes, you can't just disappear, you have to be there, and we take a certain Responsibility. We've got a Fanclub in Germany and get a lot of letters from our fans, which quite often are very personal. We don't invest into personal problems of our fans, though, that's simply not possible. Nevertheless i believe i would have the power to do so...if i would once again startover getting a job, i'd probably be a psychiatrist...
DocRock: Have you ever been in the situation where people misunderstood your Lyrics? Richard:No, not yet. It's also mostly the journalists, who ask such questions. And if you wonder whether there have been some kind of Nazis, who misunderstood our Lyrics, the answer is no. At our concerts there are strict announcements that such kind of people can walk home immediately. That are clear announcements from the band. In America there once was a guy who tried to raise his arm, but was kicked out immediately. We are really rigid with that.
DocRock: Your Music was of course the kickoff for many bands that sound alike. What do you think about those follow-ups, how do you like their music? Richard: Once in a while albums of such bands reach us. Unfortunately i don't like much of it. Joachim Witt was a highlight. I really liked that. Yesterday i listened to a track from the new album from Die Sterne. That wasn't bad either.
DocRock: What else are you listening to? Richard: Right now i'm listening to Placebo. I really like that. Besides that i'm looking forward to the new Chris Cornell-Solo-Album. I like his voice very much.
DocRock: Do you think that in Germany it's more complicated to be ironic then somewhere else? Richard: Yes, of course. That lies within the germans themselves. They have huge problems at laughing at themselves. But lately there are all these Satire-Shows at the Weekend, so it must not stay like this forever.
DocRock: You're surely playing a part in this. Richard: Quite often the people just can't laugh about us, but at least they're starting to discuss and think about it. That of course is a very good beginning.
DocRock: How did you invent your bandname? Richard: Our drummer once saw this plate: Ramstein-Air Display. That was where we started fooling around with that expression. At the beginning i thought that this name is just total shit. Do you know how it is, when you're making a joke out of it, and the name just does not disappear afterwards? That's how it happened. And it fit to the music then. But at the beginning i was absolutely against it. Nowadays i can live with it, because the name has a an own Significance. While Clinton was in Ramstein because of the Kosovo-conflict, all the medias wrote it with two M's, though it is actually written with one M.
DocRock: Did you have alternative Ideas for a bandname? Richard:That's really very difficult. No, we didn't have an alternative.
DocRock: After the Shooting in a Highschool in Denver it was you besides other bands like Marilyn Manson and KFMDM to take the blame for it. What do you think about that? Richard: I think that the media just needed someone to take the blame, to distract from the original problem, which of course is very complex. We probably, along with those other bands, seemed to be easy targets. Everybody knows how easy it is to get weapons in the states, but no one wants to realize it.
DocRock: So how did you react to these accusations? Richard: We put the letter, which Marilyn Manson published, onto our Homepage.
DocRock: After one of your Gigs in the States Till and Flake were arrested because of the offensive Stage-Show and had to spent one night in prison. Do you think that this incident was exaggerated by the media? Richard: Things are exaggerated in the media all the time. It is a basic american problem. On the one hand people are sexually constrained and on the other hand they get to see extreme violence on TV. I mean, something's just not right. So i really think it has been exaggerated.
DocRock:Thanks for the interview, Richard.