Berita Harian - Hoping to Capture the World - 29/01/10

Picture credits to THSG Ainistacy and fizellematisch!

Translation:

HOPING TO CAPTURE THE WORLD

BY: SITI NUR IDA MOHD ALI

It is not easy for European bands to break through the international market but these four gentlemen from Germany have proven that they can compete on the same platform.

Bill and his twin, Tom Kaulitz, 21 years old, and their other band members, Georg Listing, 23 years old and Gustav Schafer, 22 years old, met and made music together ever since 2001 and had called themselves Devilish.

Now they have changed their name to Tokio Hotel and they are planning to conquer the world.

Recently, Bill has taken a break from all the hustle for their European Tour that will take place next February till April, to share their experiences with Ekstra.


Ekstra: What is Tokio Hotel’s uniqueness?

Bill: We can sing in both German and English. We translate our songs from German to English because we want to break through the international market.

Our new album Humanoid was released simultaneously and in both languages.

To do so, we were constantly making sure that the ‘feel’ of the English album and the lyrics are similar to the German version.

Ekstra: The influence of different genres of music is visible in this album. Does this reflect each member of Tokio Hotel?

Bill: We actually are fans of different types of music. I am a fan of Aerosmith’s songs while Tom likes hip-hop like Jay Z and Gustav is a fan of Metallica. But that is not a problem because we have agreed that the songs we play are rock songs with a pop influence.

Ekstra: What is the most memorable experience that you are unable to forget when you toured at other countries?

Tom: The most memorable experience that I cannot forget about is that when we were in France and we were doing a concert in front of 500 000 fans who memorized our songs and sang along with us.

This is a big achievement that I really like because we actually started out from a very small gig.

Ekstra: Do you have any private rituals that you do before any performances?

Tom: (Laughing) Georg has to go to the toilet to do big business and then after that, we gather together and get nervous.

Ekstra: Besides performing together, what are other activities that you do together at your free time?

Bill: We spend time together with our families and friends. We eat, watch DVD and so on and so forth together.

Original:

INGIN TAWAN DUNIA

BY: SITI NUR IDA MOHD ALI

BUKAN mudah bagi band Eropa menembusi pasaran antarabangsa, namun empat jejaka dari Jerman ini membuktikan bahawa mereka boleh bersaing di pelantar yang sama.

Bill dan saudara kembarnya, Tom Kaulitz, 21 tahun, bersama anggota yang lain iaitu Gerog Listing, 23 tahun, dan Gustav Schafer, 22 tahun, bertemu dan menghasilkan muzik bersama-sama di Magdeburg pada 2001 dan bergabung band bergelar Devilish.

Kini mereka telah menugbah nama kepada Tokio Hotel dan sedang merancang untuk menakluk dunia.

Baru-baru ini, Bill berehat sebentar daripada kesibukan band membuat persiapan Tour Eropah yang berlangsung bulan depan hingga April, untuk berkongsi isi hati mereka bersama Ekstra.

Ekstra: Apakah keunikan Tokio Hotel?

Bill: Kami boleh bernyanyi dalam bahasa Jerman dan Inggeris. Kami terjemahkan lagu kami daripada bahasa Jerman kepada bahasa Inggeris kerana kami inigin menembusi pasaran antarbangsa.

Album terbaru kami Humanoid, telah kami terbitkan dalam kedua-dua bahasa dan kami lancarkan secara serentak.

Untuk berbuat demekian, kami giat memastikan agar ‘feel’ album Inggeris dan liriknya sepadan dengan penampilan album Jerman

Ekstra: Pengaruh music yang berbeza-beza ketara dalam album ini. Adakah ia mencerminkan minat setiap anggota Tokio Hotel?

Bill: Kami sebenarnya mempunyai minat muzik yang berbeza. Saya meminati lagu-lagu Aerosmith.Tom pula sukakan hip hop seperti Jay Z, dan Gustav menggemari Metallica. Tetapi itu tidak menjadi masalah kerana kami sepakat bersetuju bahwa lagu yang kami mainkan adalah rok dan ia dipengaruhi oleh pop.

Ekstra: Apakah pengalaman manis yang sukar dilupakan dalam anda menjelajah ke Negara orang setakat ini?

Tom: Kenangan manis yang tidak boleh saya lupakan ialah apabila kami berada di Perancis dan membuat persembahan di depan 500 000 peminat yang menghafal lagu kami dan menyanyi bersama kami.
Ini merupakan satu percapaian yang amat saya senangi kerana kami bermula daripada gig kecil semata-mata.

Ekstra: Adakah anda mempunyai sebarang upcara peribadi yang anda lakukan sebelum memulkan persembahan?

Tom: (Ketawa sambil berkata) Georg harus ke tandas untuk membuang air besar dan selepas itu, kami akan berkumpul dan berasa gementar bersama-sama.

Ekstra: Selain daripada membuat persembahan bersama-sama, apakah yang sering anda lakukan bersama pada masa lapang?

Bill: kami akan meluangkan masa bersama keluarga dan sahabat-handai. Kami akan makan, menonton DVD dan sebagainya bersama.

Credits: Berita Harian, THSG Ainistacy for transcript and translation, and fizellematisch at the chatroll for the heads up!