Schneider interview with The Bosshoss
2020 (first year of the Covid pandemic, but that is only briefly mentioned), Schneider is interviewed by Alec 'Boss' Völkel and Sascha 'Hoss' Vollmer for their radioshow (Alec is also a close personal friend of Alec, you may have seen him and/or his wife Johanna in pictures with the Schneiders).
A little translation from my side into english, because i couldn't find one yet, and because Schneider is just a big sweetheart (like basically all the Rammstein guys are) in it. The Bosshoss (BH) guys tend to interrupt him now and then, but Schneider (S) manages very well to ignore that and finish his own story (many years in the Rammstein democracy training under his belt 😊), so i'll translate their stuff only when they start a new topic (and I'll leave out the initial greeting and goodbye at the end, they are probably selfexplanatory).
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BH: Was it easy to postpone the Stadiumtour?
S: I'm saying yes, but one saw the situation coming, and we secured dates in time for next year.
BH: You have been playing these really really big venues for a long time, stadiums, football stadiums, what is your favorite stadium?
S: This tour we have only been able to play for one summer, and that was just in Europe, I'm just going to say the best stadium in the world really is the Olympic stadium, that is a really great stadium..
BH: in Berlin?
S: ..possibly it fits us really well, but obviously it's also such a great location for us because we are Berliner and then it's a dream to achieve, finally to make it and play in Huxleys, or to make it to the O2, you know, and like that, step by step, and at some point you get to Die Waldbühne and then the Olympic stadium and.. if you get there at all.
BH: let's talk about you a little bit, you started learning music in an orchestra..
S: I could choose between clarinet, trombone and trumpet, and uh..one I felt was too big, the other too girly and trumpet, well, then I'll play trumpet.
BH: ..the little trumpet-boy Christoph..
S: Yes, so I had my job in the orchestra, und us trumpets, and trombones I think, we sat in directly in front of the percussionists, and I always had a lot of time to watch them during rehearsals and I thought that was cool, I was interested in Rockmusic as well..
BH: So you taught yourself to drum and then Rammstein happened? Or did you learn something properly in between?
S: No, it was like this, I really was inspired by it and at home tried to.. I collected sticks, leftovers from fireworks, Newyear's eve fireworks, really thin sticks. And then I became a self-taught-drummer, I build more and more stuff together in my room, from stools, buckets, musicstands, tried to craft myself a high-hat and played along with the music that I thought was hot.
BH: Are your 'greats' from this period, from that genre or..
S: Well yeah, I like, as you say, I like the straight drummers, the ones who are really in service of the band, the ones who see themselves as backing musicians, the ones who hold back and play what is important. The master is Phil Rudd, ACDC drummer, he influenced me a lot stylistically, he plays so minimalistic, when you analyse it, it is impressive.
BH: Are you nervous, when you play in LA some time, or elsewhere, then, I don't know, Lars Ulrich or Dave Grohl are backstage and look over your shoulder, are you excited?
S: Ofcourse, that's really really bad, for instance when you know .. is there (note: I can't make out the name he mentions) or Dave Grohl, all happened. And I'm not the best drummer..
BH: But it's not about that, maybe technically, but you play exactly the way you should..But Chad Smith thought it was cool? Or didn't he watch you yet?
S: Well, Chad Smith I actually know really well, he's a big Rammstein fan, he visited us often, and he was also with us in our rehearsal room..
BH: What, here at home? The drummer of Chili Peppers happens to be at Christoph Schneider's.
S: Yes, he was in Pankow (note: part of Berlin where Schneider is from, and i think Rammstein practice there too, if I'm not mistaken)
BH: Cool, and I'm always proud that we have a German band who is moving internationally, Goddamn that's a German band, I think that's really cool. Chad Smith eating soup in Pankow. Crazy that.
BH: Du you think it's important, you are all six from East-Berlin, that you are a East-Berlin band, that Rammstein has that background?
S: Ofcourse that's still always there in Rammstein, that rebellious, it was always about being against something, against the system and with Rammstein that is always a part of it, what can one be against, how can you provoke, not go with mainstream, that is a role we took on ourselves.
BH: Is there a band that really inspired you, or was crucial for where you are now?
S: Early on I was inspired by classical music, my parents are from a classical music background. The first rockalbum I heard was a Classic Rock album my parents got as a gift from the west, and then I got into the 70's Hardrock bands, starting with Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, but then something strange happened to me, I had listened to those Rock things for a while, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix and that 70's stuff. And then the 80's arrived with all those new bands, those Spandex bands, and those didn't turn me on, and then I took a turn and got more into the Classic Pop world for a few years, Depeche Mode, that was a different feeling at the time. At the start of the 90's a new 'bad' thing, starting with Ministry..
BH: Ministry, ofcourse..
S: .. and then Pantera, that was the only metalband... for me they were.. that was such an ultimate, banging, that was the coolest metalband ever, and that was a time just before we then started..
BH: Are there musicians who already died who you would have liked to have worked with?
S: That's a good question..
BH: Thank you..
S: ..I would love to do a little side-project..
BH: do something with Bosshoss
S: Yes, we could do something
BH: Right, we did a song of Rammstein once
S: and you did it very well
BH: Mein Land
S: Yes, and I can speak also for my entire band when I say that really impressed us, that wasn't just a remix, you did a coverversion of a song, you translated it and made a real song out of it.
BH: Yes, it was Mein Land, we called it 'My country'
S: That was better than ours..
BH: No, no, no... Well dear friends, listeners of the Rodeo Radio Rock show of Bosshoss here, Christoph Doom Schneider of Rammstein just said Bosshoss is better than Rammstein.
BH: Nightliner or private jet?
S: Well nowadays I'm going to say private jet
BH: Coolest thing is a Sprinter by the way
S: Oh, I know those days too..
BH: Hotel or rather go home
S: Well actually I love a hotel..
BH: Really?
S:.. after a concert I love to go to the hotel, have a little peace and quiet and go to sleep, well not right after a concert obviously, first get down and chill out, but not go home immediately.
BH: David Lynch or Tarantino?
S: David Lynch at the time made Lost Highway and accidently discovered our music and used it in his movie. We were megalomaniacs at the time..
BH: Neubauten or Kraftwerk?
S: I'm going to say Kraftwerk is the band that is closer to my heart, I really love them, I think it's one of the greatest bands ever in Germany, if not the greatest, because they show well everything we are, is so German, and that at a time when there wasn't anything like it. Maybe with Kraftwerk it's the music and with Neubauten the lyrics and their aggression...their consistency in breaking with everything. They also did something nobody did before, so really they are in the same league.
