Interview with Bill & Tom

Congratulations on your first day here. You seem to be very busy with interviews today, are you enjoying yourself in Japan?
Bill: Of course! I'm having lots of fun! But it's true that we have a whole day of interviews, I'd thought it'll be nice if we could go out more, but just the fact that we are here in japan makes us really happy! Anyway I think we are going out tomorrow.

Is the image of japan you had in your mind previously destroyed after seeing Japan 1st hand?
Bill: Hahaha! (laughs) It's okay! We heard that in Japan, the streets are really big and colorful, it's a crazy country, but we didn't know how it really fits the image. But seeing Japan now, there's a lot of buildings, it's a really beautiful country! I would love to see more of Japan tomorrow!

I see. Apparently the band's name and the lyrics consist of some Japanese.
Bill: When we were down in the studio in Germany we'd thought "Why not set a goal, a goal that is so far and so impossible to achieve", so we thought of including Tokyo = Tokio into the band's name. And today we're here in Japan, I would love to see how is the culture and music is like with my own eyes.
Tom: Considering the history of the band, Tokyo is an important place to us. That's why we are truly grateful that we are indeed here.

I see. Although Germany and Japan are really far away the fans are able to get to know you through Myspace and Facebook.
Tom: That's true even though we are the type who only uses e-mails (laughs), when we saw the official Myspace and Facebook we are aware of the large community of fans there. Of course the number of Japanese followers are increasing as well. It'll be nice if we're able to gain more Japanese fans during this period of time.

Congratulations to the release of "Darkside Of The Sun " a Japan limited album. The 16 songs from previous albums like "Humanoid", "Scream" and "Humanoid City Live", well that's a lot of songs. Were the songs selected by the members?
Tom: Yes! We chose them!
Bill: This is a special album limited to Japan. We have released our albums in many different countries the release of the album came the latest for Japan, so we thought that we would release our best work here. All the single releases up to date are included, so you would be able to listen to our history so far. So I suppose this is another best of album.

The 2 albums which make up this best of album, "Scream" and "Humanoid" what are the themes of these albums?
Bill: Firstly, "Scream" is our debut album, something we recorded properly in the studios. Just like the title it represents the emotions we have, how desperate we want to scream "We are right here!!!" out loud, it's a very energetic album. "Humanoid" on the other hand is something very different, we are more experienced in the studio...
Tom: We are credited as co-producers too!
Bill: Exactly! (laughs) We were more used to studio works, "Humanoid" is a creative work. As we get the opportunity to meet different people around the world we get more different inspirations, so it turned out to be more futuristic just like a sci-fi movie.

I see. Tokio Hotel's melody is very catchy and the sound is very dynamic, it seems that it's evolving and getting more and more dramatic.
Bill: The 4 members have very different taste in music, we don't have 1 specific group that we like, so we are inspired by many bands which I guess created the Tokio Hotel sound. Ever since we were young, the band had done countless numbers of live performances thats why we are able to be resonant with one another.

Artistes who were mentioned had inspired you are Aerosmith and GUNS N' ROSES.
Bill: Aerosmith is a rock legend that I really like. There aren't many bands that are that big these day are there?
Tom: Yeah. Female solo artistes, hip hop groups, rappers etc who simultaneously releases albums, however this doesn't seem to be happening to Rock bands. Having a single hit and then disappearing from the industry, there are many bands like that. That's why we respect bands like Aerosmith and GUNS N' ROSES.

I see. Putting aside Tokio Hotel's sound, visual image and creativity, do you have rock bands which you can relate to?
Bill: I think the Black Eyed Peas is great, the album's concept, live performances and video clips are really good. The producer and song writer, will.i.am is very cool! And 30 Seconds to Mars too! Their newest video "Hurricane" was great! They are a very creative band who pay attention to small details too!
Tom: But the number 1 band is still Tokio Hotel! (laughs)

Yes, (laughs) 30 Seconds to Mars which was just mentioned seems to have resonance with Tokio Hotel in terms of background and stance.
Bill: Yes! 30 Seconds to Mars is brilliant when it comes to quality! Jared as a singer is great! Both groups are perfectionists. We met them a couple of times during award ceremonies. (laughs)
Tom: Jared is a really nice guy.

Tokio Hotel who have received many music awards and is enjoying their success now, please do tell us your current goals.
Bill: Our aim would be WORLD TOUR! The actual feeling of dominating the world's market, so I was thinking about a world tour.
Tom: We have received approximately 90 awards, that's all because of our fans doing their best to vote for us, however we have not yet gotten a Grammy award. (laughs)
Bill: Yeah. It seems that fans have been posting comments in the Internet during the period of the Grammy awards.
Tom: But we have not released our album yet during that time.
Bill: Yes, it's a regret that we missed the Grammy awards! We'll be aiming for the Grammy award next time! (laughs)

Translation by Jess Ong   

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