ENTREVISTA EN LA ROCK ONE

Journalist: Your last vacation was a bit special for you, we had the impression that you really needed a rest at the end of last year...


Bill: Yes, you can say so! Our only holidays, it's always at the end of the year somehow.
And, this year in particular, we were really looking forward to be there to reduce the stress of everything that is around us permanently, as soon as you move a finger.
We also wanted to relax, breath fresh air.
That's why we went very far, to the islands in the sun.
You are right we really needed to take a step back because we were beginning to feel tired of our band life.
Especially during the recent interviews, where we sometimes had the feeling of repeating ourselves, of being off topic because of too much accumulated fatigue.
Therefore, we have benefited at maximum of our last vacation lazing around in the sun.

However, it is rare enough to see you complain. Do you still enjoy your band life as much?

Bill: For us, it remains a life of dream.
You know, it is difficult to say no because we are very ambitious, and the band is always foremost.
As you have seen we need to be really at our limit before we feel the ultimate need to have vacation.
Anyway, even during vacation, we think of the band!
It is a crazy gimmick!
We get up every day for it, to play on stage and to be successful.
This means, when there is one among us who comes and says 'Hey, guys, I really can not stand it any longer’, we know that this is not pretence, he tells the truth and really needs it.
That has been somewhat the case when it was necessary to cancel some concert dates last year, because my voice had suddenly vanished and that I did not really feel in shape to face the public.

Is it just on holidays that you realise that the band is like a drug for you?

Tom: The first vacation days are always the best.
Obviously, if it takes too long, we end up being bored because band life is always in our heads.
We do not relax we tell ourselves that we want to go on the road and be on stage again.
Especially this year, because our holidays have been short.
We knew that everything was going to start again very quickly, with the next tour approaching.
Anyway, two weeks of vacation, it's not so long.
Except that for us, we do not associate Tokio Hotel with work to do, even if it is a lot of work.

On holiday, you find back to a little more "normal" life. Do you sometimes have the nostalgia of your beginnings, a time when you did not have a public life?

Bill: No, because I have always been attracted by the success, by the lifes of stars.
That’s precisely why I wanted to make music.
I found it horrible when I was still in school, having to get up every day at the same time and always to see the same people, be in the same places.
That live is awful I really wanted to get out of an everyday live which had tended to depress me.
I found this shelter in the music, this creative space where I could express myself, travel and break out with my childhood buddies.
That is why I am so happy to do this work, to see different things every day to travel on every continent and have such an exciting life.
You know, I do not feel nostalgia vis-à-vis my early childhood, when my school was difficult to live with on everyday.

What is your ambition by playing in the USA?

Bill: You can’t even imagine what's happening in our heads when we think of these concerts Americans.
It's still one part of a dream come true ... We are aware that this will not mean to have taken the cake (/have a finger in the pie??? *not sure*).

Tom: Obviously, we would have nothing against becoming even bigger and famous in the USA and Europe, but it has already reached the peak that was not even in our wildest dreams, especially in France where our success is unbelievable.
For the US, we do not have a specific strategy, we are already very grateful for our current success here.
You see, there was no plan to dominate the world, even if it would please Georg well.

Georg: you do not lose anything to wait!

Your American dream is it going beyond the music?

Bill: We would like to spend 24 hours in the Playboy Mansion (the mansion of Hugh Hefner, the Playboy boss, edit. note), even if only us three because Tom already has its own plans.
More seriously, in private, we have already visited several major cities of the United States like Los Angeles or New York.
That are fascinating cities, discovering new ones will be super exciting.
We await it eagerly to be there!

Your greatest fantasy, it's nevertheless what you are going to achieve in PDP (Parc des Princes, Paris)?

Tom: That is going to be incredible, it will be the greatest concert that we have ever given, and we are really pleased to be there, even if it's in six months.
At the moment, we are preparing the stage, and only by thinking of it you have butterflies in the stomach. Believe me, it’s going to be brilliant!

Can you tell us a little more?

Bill: There will be something new, even for us.
But to view it, you must buy a ticket, before you are going to know more.
Frankly, at this moment we are only at stage of ideas because it is not long ago that this concert is announced.
Therefore, it is unclear whether we can do anything we want to create.
It is a bit too early to talk about it accurately, we would tell you silly things and the fans would be disappointed.

Regarding disappointed fans, do the reproaches touch you?

Bill: I do not know what you mean ...

Tom: We are sorry for our very first fans if they can no longer approach us as before, but we can not do anything about it.
It is a question of time and availability.
We are sincerely sorry to disappoint some of our fans, but I think most of them show us the opposite, given the number of people attending our concert or in front of our hotels.

Bill: Our fans in France are the dearest ones in our eyes. It is clear that we would like to share more things with you, especially with our first fans.
But, as a band, we are compelled to move up and follow a program.
Anyway, we/one still have plenty of things to discover, either with our first fans, or those who discover us later on.
We want everyone to be happy with us.