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Interviews // The big "Auswärtsspiel" Interview 2002 |
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The big "Auswärtsspiel" Interview 2002 - Part 1
??? "Auswärtsspiel" ("away fixture") is the 16th Hosen album in 20 years - is it special because of that? Campino: Well, it's nice to know that someone's keeping a tally... I tend to approach the matter like this: This could be our last album. I chuck everything I've got at that particular moment into every record. And that's why I take more trouble over it than I used to, I listen to it again and again and again, always trying to find ways to make it better. It has turned out to be a really difficult process for me now, a bit like an exam. In the same way that other people sit their exams at school or wherever, for us it's a new album every two years. And then to see what the response there is to the album is always exciting. It's certainly never boring. ??? So there won't be any special birthday launch party for the album? Campino: We'll crack open a bottle of bubbly, put six plastic cups on the table, everybody takes a drink and then we all look straight ahead again. Looking back is also permitted. After all, there are scores of things to remember, nice things as well as sad ones. However, the album had to come out now to show that that's what it's about - the Here-and-Now. The album represents Today, and that's what we want to be measured against.
??? Your last album "Unsterblich" was a landmark in the band's history -
after your song announced "We aren't the boys from the Opel-Gang no more...".
Campino: It's not as if we woke up one morning and suddenly realised: "Hey, we're different now". Something like that happens bit by bit. It was always nice for me to understand just how we have developed down the years. And quite apart from the discussion that has been conducted elsewhere, I was never completely happy about "Unsterblich" as an album. It was alright, but not the best we could have produced. ??? Looking back, how would you explain that? Campino: It's possible that with "Opium" we'd created something that was going to be a hard act to follow, because we all really like that album a lot. It's like you've got this internal pressure not to fall short of the mark, but somehow come up with something a bit different. It's easy to make a mistake. It's like a football team: You can't win week in, week out. And that's why not everything on "Unsterblich" is successful. But I didn't think it was crap. But we wanted to create an new pinnacle so to speak, because we've still got something to say, we're not stumped for words yet. ??? So the new album doesn't sound like a continuation of "Unsterblich", but has turned out somewhat heavier, tougher?  Campino: Well, that's because we consider "Unsterblich" to be too "insipid" by our usual standards, so we put the brakes on any songs heading in that particular direction. Another factor is the fact that Vom has really come into his own during the past couple of years. Wölli was still actively involved in "Unsterblich". Wölli's presence was everywhere and it was difficult for Vom to fill out that role. On the one hand he had to play like Wölli, on the other to put his own personality and performance in there, without overdoing it. Something like that takes time. He did a good job at the time, but not as well as he might have done. Now he's free of that burden and is able to input more of himself. And that's positive for us and our music. That's why we've generally got more energy. ??? "Faith" was the theme of "Opium fuers Volk", transitoriness that of "Unsterblich". Is there a recurring theme on "Auswärtsspiel"? Campino: We managed to do that from beginning to end with "Opium", but "Unsterblich" was less consistently so. I think that there is a subliminal theme throughout this one, like there's a rear-view mirror we're looking into, and yet we're looking ahead all the same. "Schlampe" ("Slag") was one image I enjoyed describing. It's the metaphor, as if your life is a relationship, that you can finish with at any time and get a new one. There is no real truth in it though. My life was nothing like as messy as I depict it in the song. And we're nothing like as old as we pretend in "Graue Panther" ("Grey Panthers")! It's all a bit of a jest. But it's also significant that the album is more humorous. ??? The songs for the new album were written during warm-weather training in Spain. Is there any truth in the rumours that you recreated your Düsseldorf rehearsal room exactly inch for inch?  Campino: We covered up all the windows, that's for sure, so as not to be distracted by the beautiful weather outside. What was probably being referred to in the "exact recreation" comment is the squalor, which is normally generated when you hole yourself up for three days without a break; that Kuddel doesn't clear away his cigarette-ends, that drinks are left half-finished and that after a few weeks you get mould growing over them... Anybody who has ever been in a band knows exactly what a rehearsal room looks like. And we had absolutely no trouble in recreating this atmosphere in Spain. ??? Why did you go to Spain? Campino: It wasn't directly related to Spain, it could easily have been the Sauerland (hilly rural area east of Düsseldorf). Spain is particularly suitable, because there are loads of vacant holiday homes in winter, which you can get for next to nothing. All there was, was a coffee bar and a tapas joint, that's all. It was crucial for us to be in a place where there wasn't a telephone to disturb us, a place removed from our normal everyday life. It was a madly intense period for us. It was music, music, music the whole time.
 ??? You collaborated with the Berlin musician Funny van Dannen on "Unsterblich". Did you hatch anything together this time? Campino: Funny helped out again. Since I met him, I have absolutely no inclination not to collaborate with him. It inspires me enormously, and I hope that there is a mutual effect in some small way. Last time around it was more the case, that he had the kernel of an idea for a song and I added to it, whereas this time, I had the idea which way the song was heading and he added his bit. ??? Which songs did you collaborate on this time? Campino: We only worked on two songs this time. "Kein Alkohol (ist auch keine Lösung)!" ("No alcohol (isn't the answer either)!") and "Kanzler sein..." ("When you're Chancellor..."). Then I found another idea for some lyrics on my desk; there were a couple of lines by Rocko Schamoni, because once we'd had breakfast together about five years ago and we'd written a song together. We never got round to releasing it, but I used two lines from that song, and that's why Rocko has a writing credit on "Schlampe". There are fewer guests on this album than the last one though. ??? "Auswärtsspiel" will be premiered in the Philipshalle "home fixture" in February. Can you divulge what will be happening during that Carnival weekend in Düsseldorf? 
Campino: The best thing for out-of-towners will be the fact that there will
be hundreds of bars putting on theme nights (one service we didn't organise).
And correspondingly, there will be lots of good music happening. The night will
just be getting going after the Hosen concert, so there'll be no need to go home.
It will be great at the venue, because we will be playing a lot of the songs live
for the first time. It gives the evening an element of surprise. ??? On the cover of "Opel-Gang" in 1983 you could be seen lying under a car, whereas on the cover of your new album your silhouettes can be seen walking along a dyke in Cuba. Why did you chose this cover to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary? Campino: Because there weren't any Opels kicking about in Cuba... If one wanted to be "profound", one might say that it isn't possible to recognize us on either cover. That was going to be our idea originally, that we would never actually appear on our covers. Unfortunately, we only managed to stick to it until "Unter Falscher Flagge", our second album.
 ??? One of the Hosen's germ cells or nuclei, the "Ratinger Hof", is mentioned in a new book "Verschwende Deine Jugend" ("Waste your youth"). What is your view of this documentary novel and the things that the contemporary witnesses have to say?
Campino: The book is entertaining and manages to capture the feeling of the
time in its better passages. But I'd be wary of putting too much store in what's
written there, because a lot of people's memories have been subjected to minor
shifts of perception. The main problem with the book is that for some of the
protagonists, this was the pinnacle of their lives and so the book reads like a
chronicle of missed opportunities. It's OK, but a lot of it is a bit of a fairy
tale. And it's only musicians who have something to say, whereas I'm sure
that a lot of people in front of the stage would've had a more thoughtful
overview of what went on. ??? Do you think that music as counter-culture has a less significant role to play nowadays that it did 20 years ago? Campino: I'm not so sure that you can look at pop music and politics in isolation. You have to understand that the whole shape of society has changed. For example, leisure pursuits have grown ten-fold since those days. There used to be three TV channels, now there are thirty-five on average in an ordinary household. Then there are computer games. And there are lots of political campaigns you can get involved in. You simply don't have the same ability to make a mark as you might have before. You can't mobilize people with music any more, just as you aren't going to get twenty million viewers to watch a Francis Durbridge thriller on the tele anymore. Maybe people have had enough of political topics, perhaps people don't want them served up in the form of a political song, maybe they just want to be entertained, without having an issue foisted upon them. ??? Are you aware of any other developments?
Andi: I think there's a movement in a contrary direction, though. You only
have to look at the anti-globalisation protestors, and the way they are organised;
it's not in terms of a particular style of music. Everything is organised via
the Internet, so that they can be active world-wide and when the appointed day
arrives, they can be mobilized on the spot. You could only have done that kind of
thing with music festivals before. Music and protest were inter-connected much more
before. ??? Campino, looking back, you certified the band's "Lorry Driver" mentality during the first ten years of your history, that is to say "always flat out, full-tilt, top performance". But after ruptured vocal chords and circulatory collapse, you injected more discipline into affairs surrounding the concerts. Was the ligament damage you sustained a further decisive point? Campino: Not a decisive point in as much as I can't reproach myself this time for having sustained the injury by partying all night long. It was a routine kind of injury, that could've happen to anyone at anytime. I used to crack my ribs before, but knee ligaments are somewhat more complicated. There were other more decisive points, such as the death of our long-standing roadie Bollock, or the death of one girl who worked in our office, or Wölli's car crash. All of these things are like indicators, which remind you that your health and even your life itself aren't going to last forever. And that things can quickly and suddenly change for the worse. We've been incredibly lucky on our journey together, and when compared to others, we've had a lot less pain to bear. ??? But you haven't reached the end of your tether yet by any means? Andi: We're more cautious with certain things nowadays, but when we're on stage, we still give it all we've got. The desire to play and go on tour is perhaps greater now as it has ever been. We're really looking forward to the tour, because we're very keen to play live all the songs we've been working on for the past year, and also to check out how they come across. Click here to read Part 2 of the Interview.
Quotations:
Kuddel on the important role of John Caffery: "He knows each one of us really well, and knows exactly what he can get from us. And he can tell straight away if things are getting out of hand, then he introduces calm into the situation."
Vom on the first studio recordings in Barcelona: "I don't normally like the time in the studio. But this time it all worked out really well: The sun was shining, the food was great and there was a swimming pool!"
Campino on the subject of "20 years Toten Hosen" and the predictable question from journalists: "How long do you intend to continue?" is just about the most boring question anybody could ask, along with "Why are you called "The Toten Hosen".
Breiti on the biggest problem working in the studio in Stommeln: "We had a lot of songs suitable for the record this time. And so it was particularly difficult picking out the eighteen, which will appear on the album."
Andi on the training camp in Spain: "It was a good idea to go somewhere else to write the songs. You've got to take a step like that from time to break free from your normal routine."
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