The best parts of an interview with Till & Flake from Metal Hammer - September 2004.
They approach the media representatives with shirts and ties to signal that there are clear boundaries between them as private individuals and Rammstein musicians. āIn the hotel foyer Iām the āprivate Flakeā and donāt talk about the band,ā Flake begins his explanation for the visual transformation. āI am not authorized to mention the names of the band and the members in private.ā
A strange staging on the one hand, self-protection on the other, because with the size of the band you have to be careful that it doesnāt determine your entire life. āAs soon as Iām not working for the band, Iām private. Then I donāt talk about Rammstein, but I think about it,ā the 37-year-old admits. Privacy is also important for Lindemann, who shares a house with Flake (Note: Itās probably Flake or Till squatting the other house during rehearsals time rather than them actually sharing a house!). He works on his lyrics alone at home, but exchanges ideas with Flake when he comes home from the rehearsal room. The spice lies in the brevity. āWeāll discuss the latest developments on the songs in 15 minutes. After that itās all about women. Or about which liquor we buy. So after a short time the band is forgotten ā thatās important, otherwise we would go crazy!ā
In the bandās early days there were major problems in this regard, as the bandās exaggerated male image was misunderstood and overrated by many. The bandās reaction: They exaggerated the situation by, among other things, filming videos with Leni Riefenstahl aesthetics. A treat for the press, which literally felt challenged by Rammstein. āSome journalists really poke around,ā says Flake. āI understand that, after all they just want to distinguish themselves.ā This led to the fact that there are now emotive words to which the musicians react particularly allergic to in interviews. āProvocation, calculation, Leni Riefenstahl and neo-fascism,ā Lindemann lists, adding āand all that bullshitā at the end. That makes him tense, even stubborn, so much so that he would like to go home, he grumbles. It is all the more surprising that the beefy singer allowed himself to be carried away by interviews in the course of REISE, REISE. Some would even describe it as a sensation, and even Lindemannās band colleague Christoph Schneider stated in the last METAL HAMMER interview (February 2002 issue), when asked about his singerās rare appearances: āHe doesnāt want to talk. It wouldnāt be good either, because he doesnāt have the experience to do it, because he always tries to give official answers.ā A statement that Lindemann supported two years later: āThatās true. I donāt like giving interviews at all and will never do that again after the promotional tour for REISE, REISE. But the collective spirit is more important than my person. The band split into three interview groups and if I hadnāt gone along, Flake would have gone on tour alone. I didnāt want to put him into that position.ā
Rammsteinās relationship with the press is also crazy. To protect themselves from misinterpretations, the band reads the written articles (including this one) before publication. That is their right (in the truest sense of the word), and this precautionary measure is not censorship, as Lindemann and Flake agree. āThe bad experiences in the past force us to this control. Weāve often been pissed off because statements we made were edited together just to be able to pin some spite on us,ā explains Lindemann and relates, āI was once asked if weāre proud to have our albums being number one in the charts. To which I replied: 'Of course, thatās fantastic! The best thing that has ever happened to me!ā But instead of the original question, the printed version suddenly said, 'Are you proud to be a German?ā Thatās the last thing I expected!ā Then he turns it up: āEveryone can write whatever they want, and I think freedom of the press is okay. But when people sit face to face with you and then piece together something completely different from the conversation, out of displeasure and for whatever reason, thatās just bad.ā
The singer, on the other hand, finds lurid openings okay. For example, the BILD newspaper wrote about the album MUTTER (2001): āDead baby in a mason jar ā this band must be banned.ā āI thought to myself: 'Great, thatās exactly where we want to goāā, the singer remembers. āHaving a bad review in BILD is not bad at all. But when a reputable newspaper like Der Spiegel starts to twist the facts, thatās mean.ā
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