Earlier I posted interview pictures and here is the actuall interview:

Georg, Bill, Tom & Gustav of Tokio Hotel

Bill, Tom, Gustav & Georg of TOKIO HOTEL were back in the MuchMusic building today, and so naturally, since it worked so well last time, I had to pull them aside for a couple of minutes to ask them a few of your fan questions. The guys were in good spirits and once again I was amazed at how relaxed, grounded and fun they were. Here's how it all went down with the German rockers...

First off, welcome back to Canada! You just performed at the Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey. How was it?

Bill: It was really, really cool. It was the first time really performing after my surgery. We played three songs and there were a lot of fans and then after that we traveled to LA and in LA we had one concert and now we are here in Toronto.

So what do you prefer? Playing in festivals or your own concerts?

Bill: I prefer doing our own concerts.

Tom: Yeah, doing your own concerts are great. You have your own production team and your own crew and your own stage and stuff. It's great.

Bill: You know, festivals are always hard because there are so many bands and then it's just crazy backstage. Everyone is talking and there are so many people.

Georg: And you don't really get a sound check.

Tom: You always have sound problems in festivals, but I think at Bamboozle it was cool.

Bill: Yeah, it was good.

Did you get a chance to see any of the other bands perform?

Bill: Unfortunately, no. We had a really, really tight schedule.

Tom: Yeah, we had a lot of interviews to do and stuff like that and yeah, not much time.

What are some of your most embarrassing 'guilty pleasures'?

Tom: [laughs] I wouldn't admit to them. But Georg, he's a David Hasselhoff fan.

How "German" of you...

Georg: Oh, come on - not again. He's told this joke, like, 10 times now.

Tom: It's not a joke. It's the truth, but it's embarrassing.

Georg: [rolls eyes]

Bill: I love dogs, but that's not embarrassing. I just really love dogs. You know, if I see a dog I just go crazy.

Any kind in particular?

Bill: No, any dog. When I see a dog, it's like, "Oh my God, come here, come here!"

Tom: And Georg really likes to surf videos on YouPorn, and that's also embarassing. [Laughs] I'm joking.

Georg, is it true that you like Nickelback?

Georg: Yeah, I love Nickelback.

Tom: I really like the video for Rockstar because there's Kendra and, uh, from the Playboy Mansion - the three Bunnies. So that's a great video.

Are there any other Canadian bands that you know of and like?

Gustav: Is King's X from Canada?

No, don't think so.

Bill: Billy Talent are cool.

Nice. Hey Georg, does it bother you when people call you "George"?

Georg: Um, people can call me whatever they want - Georg or George.

Tom: Or you know, on his case where he stores his bass, he wrote "David Listing." [laughs] He likes the name David because of Hasselhoff. George Hasslehoff!

Georg: [groans]

[all laugh]

So last time you were in Toronto, you went up the CN Tower and went shopping at the Eaton Centre and went a bit unnoticed. Do you like that? Was it refreshing not to be attacked by throngs of fans for once?

Bill: That's always the goal, to go into a city and at first no one recognizes you, but we really want people to see us and to have fans. And now it's really cool that we have Canadian fans and that we're playing a concert tomorrow night. So I think it's better when people recognize you. That's good for a band.

Tom: It's always the goal that people recognize you on the street.

Bill: But of course, sometimes when you have free time, it's nice when no one recognizes you and you can just chill.

Tom: But that's boring.

Well, your fanbase is growing in Canada and now people know you are here for the night - they'll be looking for you.

Bill: Yeah, I think there will be some fans at the hotel tonight, but our schedule is so tight so that we are doing a lot of photoshoots and interviews during the day, so we don't have as much time this time to go out and check out things in the city.

Well, is there anything about fame that you find annoying?

Bill: I hate paparazzi, I really hate paparazzi.

Tom: Especially when we're on holidays.

Bill: Yeah, especially on holidays, it's just terrible. I hate them in Europe. In America there are also paparazzi, but not as as bad as in Europe. It's very terrible, I hate it.

So are you constantly on edge when you're walking around? Do you always notice them? Are they hiding behind corners or in bushes...?

Tom: Well, yeah, it depends. Sometimes on holidays, they hide. But, you know, on the street they just attack us.

Bill: Yeah, you know, it's OK to, I dunno, when it's at a concert or whatever, but in free time or when you're in private, I think it's just annoying.

So we all know how you got your name, but how did you come up with your band's symbol/logo?

Tom: You know, the idea was that in this logo we had a lot of T's and a lot of H's. And, yeah, that's what it is - it wasn't meant to be a big deal.

Bill: We just wanted something that was very simple. And, like, everyone can draw it and that was the idea so you can paint it on walls --

Tom: -- or windows --

Bill: -- or my neck. [laughs]

Who designed it?

Bill: We did it together with a guy --

Tom: I think it was my idea.

[all groan]

Have you ever actually worn traditional German clothing like lederhosen for Oktoberfest?

Tom: No, never. Sometimes Georg does, when he's dancing to David Hasselhoff.

Bill: We've never even been to Oktoberfest so far.

Tom: No, I hate Oktoberfest.

Do you drink beer?

Tom: Yeah, we drink a lot of beer, but not at Oktoberfest.

Well, I read this study that states the average German drinks 120 liters of beer per year.

Tom: We drink that in one month.

[all laugh]

Bill: No, we drink a lot of beer, but in America it's really hard because you have to be 21 to drink alcohol.

Tom: But not in Canada, right?

No, here in Ontario it's 19.

Tom: 19?

Gustav: [throws hands up into the air] YES!

[all laugh]

But in Montreal, it's 18.

Georg: We LOVE Montreal!

Bill: It's hard, because in Germany you have to be 18 and we were always, like, "Oh, c'mon - 18, 18, 18..." and now we are 18 and we come to America.

Tom: And you have to be 21.

Do you have any favourite kinds of beer?

Bill: Um, Heineken. Heineken is a nice beer.

Tom: I don't care.

Georg: I prefer German beer.

Gustav: I like the Czech Budweiser.

Nice, I'll have to try it. Enough about beer - back to the music. Do you have any plans to do any future collaborations with any other bands?

Tom: There's nothing planned yet, but we would love to do some collaborations.

Is there anyone in particular you'd love to work with?

Bill: Yeah, I dunno - I think there are some dreams for every band to do something with, like, the Rolling Stones or whatever, but I think, yeah, let's see.

Tom: In the summer we go back into the studio to record some songs, and I say, let's see what happens.

Bill: And then we can talk to other people, but I'm not sure, I don't have anyone in mind yet.

David Hasselhoff?

Tom: Yeah, David Hasselhoff! That would be great for Georg. Maybe a dancing project with Georg and David Hasselhoff. [laughs]

Speaking of dancing, a fan wanted to know if you, Tom, knew the Soulja Boy dance.

Tom: Yeah, I know the Soulja Boy dance, but I'm not a good dancer. No, Georg can do it, he's a very good dancer.

Can we video you doing it and put it up on YouTube?

Tom: Yeah, Georg can. He was doing the dance in the hotel room [laughs]. Yeah, Georg can do it. [laughs] No, I'm not a dancer. I'm a shy guy.

Georg: Oh, c'mon. You showed it to me this morning!

Tom: No, that was you!

Bill: I don't know this dance.

Tom: I've seen the video and the personal videos that people have uploaded to YouTube who do the dance, but you know, I'm not a dancer - I'm more a sexy guitar player [laughs].

Tomorrow night at the concert, we want to see the dance.

Tom: Yeah, maybe at the show. Together with David Hasselhoff and Georg

Just so you know the translation for the article about Tokio Hotel we earlier posted is soon done, some time this weekend it will be done ;)

So far we've only got pictures but soon the rest will be up to!! ;)

Bill and Tom of Tokio Hotel dropped by MOD today for a sit-down interview with our very own Matte Babel...

...but the fans were screaming so loudly that no one could hear anything!

But then they got hugs from fans...

And told secrets...

And soon they were all smiles :)

The German teen band Tokio Hotel supports in Leipzig a musical foundation for socially challenged children.
It was announced by the foundation in Leipzig, the band donates 20.000 euro. 8000 euro will go this and next year into the project "music makes you smart". From this money at least 20 children can learn to play an instrument for a whole year.
The other 12.000 euro will go into the account of the Leipziger foundation.

tokiohotelus.com

Tokio Hotel wants to conquer America

13th of May 2008 Frank Briegmann is used to experiencing the biggest music stars in the world. And yet, there still are very special performances for the German boss of the Universal Music Group. The Magdeburger teen band Tokio Hotel, the best horse in the stable of Universal Germany, has come to New York to introduce their first English language record. Briegmann doesn’t really see himself as the type of boss that interferes in every little thing of his artists. But for Tokio Hotel, he traveled with to New York. For he believes that Tokio Hotel has a real chance of commercial success in the world music market. And if it would come that way, then it would be a rare piece of art: "There are German athletes or models these days that are famous in America, but hardly any musicians. It would be something very special if Tokio Hotel it would make it."

In fact, America is a notoriously difficult market for foreigners. This does not apply only for Germans, but also for artists from English speaking countries. Even the British superstar Robbie Williams is almost completely ignored in America. The Australian Kylie Minogue didn’t even make it in the top 100 of the American Billboard charts with her latest album "X". Germans have it even harder: Only Nena landed a hit in the US in 1983 with her "99 Red balloons". Even today you can ask the Americans what German musicians they know, and the answer is almost always "Nena". After her, the Scorpions managed to land a top 10 hit with the song "Wind of Change", and the band Rammstein managed to get a decent result, but that’s where it ends with the German artists.

Top class TV appearances secured

Tokio Hotel are already an export hit, which is a bit puzzling. The band managed their breakthrough in Germany in 2005 with the song "Durch den Monsun" and has since become a teenage phenomenon to a hysterical fans base. Soon the band didn’t just have supporters in German speaking countries like Poland and France, even with the fact their music wasn’t even publicized yet. Briegmann was sharp-eared: He introduced the band to his Universal colleagues from other countries and brought them to arrange the first performances and to design the marketing machine. In France it went beat to beat: First a mini show in front of 600 fanatical fans, then the support from radio stations, chart success for the CD and a concert in front of 500.00 people in front of the Eifel tower with other stars.

Tokio Hotel made the first jump into America in February already with little concerts in small halls: The shows were sold out, and the concert in New York was printed in the "New York Times", a lavish illustrated story on the first page on their featured pages . Now Tokio Hotel are back in New York, because they want to get into the charts with their just recently released "Scream" album. Universal boss Briegmann looks satisfied at the first evidence on the hit list of the online Music company iTunes from Apple: "Yesterday the album was on place 13, today we are on 24." Even the business of the CDs in the stores went well. "After the first prognoses, we will be climbing in the Top 50 of Billboard charts." 15,000 to 20,000 sold CDs would probably be needed, estimates Briegmann . He hopes that it will once be a total of 500,000 exemplars.

Sales so far are between 30 million to 40 million Euros

There is no shortage of hysteria in New York. Tokio Hotel have secured themselves top class TV appearances. They were on the music channel MTV on Times Square and were welcomed by screeching girls. MTV covered its glass facade of an entire floor with Tokio Hotel posters. The day after they were on the TV station NBC on the Late Night show with Conan O’Brien

Tokio Hotel have sold 3 million albums and 2 1/2 million singles around the world till now. That would make a profit of 30 to 40 million Euros if you calculate it from the usual selling prices. Around a third of that value still comes from the selling of fan items as well. The band is for Universal a handsome economic factor, even though the figures are still modest compared to the total value of the company’s profit of 4.9 billion Euros.

On the way to a global brand

But when it comes to Briegmann, Tokio Hotel are only at the beginning of the road to become a global brand: This year, America and Europe are still in the foreground, and for the coming year Briegmann wants to take Asia and South America next. Briegmann sees Tokio Hotel as one of the few that has chances to base German artists internationally. Hard to export would be groups like Rosenstoltz that celebrate their success as the second most important German band after Tokio Hotel for Universal.

The guys of Tokio Hotel are used to the success and screaming girls, but the response in America was obviously something quite different: "To see this huge poster of us on Times Square was simply overwhelming", says front man Bill Kaulitz. And his twin brother Tom tells that after the article in the "New York Times", they bought all the newspapers from the whole airport back then.

Teen bands traditionally don’t last very long

For Briegmann, the success of Tokio Hotel is a ray of hope in a difficult market. The entire music industry has been in a crisis for the past couple of years: The business with the sale of CD’s is continuing to shrink, and growth rates for online platforms such as iTunes can’t even be nearly compared. Briegmann admits that the industry must change. The deal with physical records will continue to shrink, so the income has to come from other sources. Universal has become partners with internet sites like Myspace and Youtube and cooperates with the mobile phone producers Nokia in the sales of music on mobile phones. In addition, Briegmann will increase the "adjacent areas" next to the selling of music, such as merchandise or live concerts. Briegmann doesn’t want to be part of the end of the world mood in the industry: "I’m sure that you can still earn money with the music business even in ten years."

Whether Tokio Hotel still exists is an entirely different question. Teen bands traditionally don’t last very long. The four band members are now between 18 and 21 years old and are aimed at a very young fan base. Whether the popularity will still hold the more the boys grow seems questionable. Universal boss is Briegmann optimistic: "The boys can be just as successful if they are 30." Band member Gustav Schäfer is thinking over a longer period of time: "We’ll be doing this till we’re a hundred years old." Translated by Lenny

source: faz.net

Tokio Hotel conquer Los Angeles

First New York and now Los Angeles! Since Tokio Hotel started promoting their CD "Scream" (the English version of "Schrei") in the USA, their fans have been flipping out. Together they have gathered in front of the "Avalon Club" in Hollywood, where Tokio Hotel will give a concert.

Even to the sound-check the boys came totally styled. Bill in green leather jacket, skull t-shirt, hairs high. His brother Tom relaxing skater-look.

Very easy and relaxed the boys stepped out of there black limousine, strutting down the famous "walk of fame" with his stars.

Tonight on stage and after that: Total Party! The Kaulitz twins rocked the club. Their female fans just couldn’t scream anymore. After that: Giving autographs, giving autographs. And partying.

Even "Pussycat doll" Nicole Scherzinger came by. Wow!
Translated by beertje_86

Photos @ the source
source: bild.de

Tokio Hotel bigger than Rammstein

Just unbelievable, what kind of movement our hottest music export makes in America.

The success story if the Kaulitzers sound like the beginning of a book. Now they are playing small gigs in sold out clubs like the Fillmore in New York, where also Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa have performed. As can be seen in February, the New York Times showed painted faces on their front page of their issue.

Then they performed at US-music station MTV, where they promoted their English album Scream on 6 May. After that they had a great turn out of screaming fans at their CD signing in Times Square.

Followed by a performance on the great Late Night Show. That’s what the boys did last Saturday night at Conan O’Brien, which in America is the place to be for hilarious moments. They performed their success hit: Ready, Set, Go, and straightened the road to great success.

Only the language barrier has turned out as a little obstacle, while singer Bill hasn’t really got the natural talent for English.

“To really bear his English singing you really have to be carefree,” tells brother Tom, after the Rolling Stone’s gentle judgement, Bill’s extraordinary pronunciation only makes Tokio Hotel more charming. Now, with their TV performance they have a German premiere. The US market is really hard for foreign artists, even the English artist Robbie Williams was completely ignored in America, same goes for Australian Kylie Minogue, that didn’t even make it into the top 100 of the charts with her new album.

From Germany Nena had a hit with “99 luftballons”. The Scorpions had a top 10 hit with “wind of charge”, Rammstein had some little success.
But no German has ever made the big break.

Outside Tokio Hotel? Universal chief Briegmann tells to FAZ: “As it looks now we are gonna enter in the top 50 Billboard charts.” And once America is conquered it will go much further. Next year Briegmann wanna take over Asia and South America.
Translated by beertje_86

source: web.de