This interview was published in Kerrang! magazine, issue 1540.
Original
BEING IN RAMMSTEIN JUST ISN’T ENOUGH FOR SOME PEOPLE. SO GUITARIST RICHARD KRUSPE FORMED EMIGRATE AND, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM LEMMY AND MARILYN MANSON, FINALLY FOUND HIS OWN VOICE…
Flames blast skywards. Hanging dolls sway creepily in the air. A giant penis showers foam on the audience in a glorious arc. A man is baked alive in a cooking pot. It’s a true spectacle, as song after song brings previously inconceivable wonders, amusements and horrors shaking industrially to life. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Rammstein show. The greatest rock show on Earth. And not only are this band free to push the limits of the imagination, they can play anywhere on the planet – from the UK’s Sonisphere to Slovenia and South Africa. They’re also mysterious, barely ever talking about how they operate. So when, during a rare interview with one of their ringleaders, guitarist Richard Kruspe, we ask what it’s like to live in this world of limitless possibility, to be “the only band that don’t need to have a record out to headline festivals”, it’s surprising that he likens it to incarceration. “In Rammstein, it was always a democracy environment that was really controlled by six people, and it was really close and unique. And after a while, I felt like I was in a prison,” he admits. “I was drowning, in a way.” So the axeman found a way to hack through the bars. A way to fill his lungs with fresh air. And this escape plan is fittingly named Emigrate.
Mining the twin soundscapes of goth and industrial, Richard originally formed Emigrate in New York in 2005 with French coconspirator/bassist Arnaud Giroux, and they released their self-titled debut two years later. Yet it’s only while making the forthcoming follow-up, Silent So Long, that the band – completed by German guitarist Olsen Involtini and new drummer Mikko Sirén (Apocalyptica) – have gained momentum. The biggest hindrance in the beginning was that Arnaud had to coach first-time lead vocalist Richard, a process he affectionately describes as “a baby learning to drive a Ferrari”, but now the Rammstein guitarist feels comfortable behind the wheel. “On the first album, I was concentrating on keeping the tone and remembering the lyrics,” Richard says. “On this record, I felt much more confident and secure. I felt like a grown-up in a Ferrari. I also had the satisfaction of finally writing songs using my voice, whereas with Rammstein I always had to imagine the voice; it wasn’t really there.” While Richard wanted Emigrate to be a collaborative project in contrast to the rigidity of Rammstein – “I’m just a big believer in polygamy!” he grins – his lack of vocal confidence initially prevented him from inviting others into their circle. With those worries now banished, album two sees a star turn from Jonathan Davis on the title track (“I needed him to sing high in the chorus, so I said, ‘Grab your balls, squeeze them and sing!’” laughs the frontman), and a throatshredding scream from Marilyn Manson on Hypothetical. Perhaps the most unlikely sound, though, is Lemmy’s iconic, gravelly voice chugging over the dark Rock City, like someone knocked down the dividing wall between a dive bar and a fetish club. “We asked him to guest on the song, but he was really sick and cancelling shows,” says Richard. “And I was like, ‘Fuck, he can’t fucking do it.’ Especially as we’d also had a little incident – once, he was watching a Rammstein show and I threw one of my guitars at his head, so I felt he wasn’t keen on doing a track for us, but he forgave us! I got an email from him with the song, and I was jumping on my bed like a child. It was like Christmas, birthdays and Easter all together!” “He’s the ultimate badass,” adds Arnaud. “Even sick, he’s going to have one Jack Daniel’s and Coke and just sing the song!” Richard is clearly in a good place. Aside from Emigrate, he’s moved back to Berlin, where he’s raising his daughter and building his own home (“the biggest challenge of my life”). Instead of mental imprisonment, the newly self-assured frontman is thriving on creative independence in any form. “In Emigrate, I have the freedom at the end of the day to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, which I don’t have in Rammstein,” he explains. “I have the final say – it’s made me a much better team player. It’s about music and artistic choice, whereas in Rammstein often we talk for six hours about something that isn’t even worth talking about. But I made my peace with that. I just realised I needed something to balance myself out. Otherwise I couldn’t have lived.” He also thinks his Rammstein bandmates – keyboardist Christian ‘Flake’ Lorenz, singer Till Lindemann, guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel and drummer Christoph Schneider – have benefitted from his time out. “I think they’re happy!” he exclaims. “In Rammstein, I was constantly writing and working, and it caused some competition. People felt like they had to do the same amount of work, but they couldn’t, and they were pissed. Right now, because of how I’ve split my creativity, I’m much cooler and calmer, and they’re really happy because they don’t have to do the whole thing!”
For all the excitement of Richard’s drive and Emigrate’s new music, it’s been five years since the last Rammstein studio record. That’s their longest-ever gap, and fans are hungrier than a wolf on a juice-only diet. Luckily, they’re planning to reconvene next year (see "Ich will return"). Until then, they’re keeping a healthy distance. “Flake’s writing a book, Till’s doing some kind of solo thing, but I haven’t heard anything...” muses Richard. “That’s the other problem. We’ve been through so many years together, we’ve lost contact in a way. At 18 or 20, it’s natural to have a gang around you. But in your 40s or 50s, it’s not normal to be around five guys the whole year. Because normally you’d start a family, have children. It’s like a marriage with six guys who are never having sex. People get frustrated! Emigrate saved my place in Rammstein.” While Rammstein must have ticked every burning ambition off their flame-singed wish lists, Richard still feels a desire to push into new territory. “In life, I think you’re always searching for meaning. As long as I can touch people with what I do, I’m fulfilling my destiny. Some Mexican guy told me he survived in the desert by listening to Rammstein. I thought, ‘Fuck, man, I might not change the world, but I saved this guy’s ass!’ That’s a great feeling.” And that prison? “If you feel like you’re in prison, and then you have the possibility to get out, then it doesn’t feel like prison anymore...” Get ready – Emigrate are coming. And this time, the possibilities really are boundless...
Ich will return
RICHARD SHEDS SOME LIGHT ON RAMMSTEIN’S FUTURE PLANS…
“The only thing I can say is that we’re going to meet next year, just to see how everyone’s doing. Everything is possible; there are just no plans at the moment. And
there are certain things in the pipeline. We still have the live DVD of Madison Square Garden we want to get out, and a documentary about Rammstein. A couple of months ago, we spent a week in a village in north Germany together as Till has a house there. Everyone was talking about what they wanna do,
and it was quite an open discussion. It was nice, because everyone except one person felt the same way! Till was cooking all the time. We had a lot of meat. It was really about sitting, eating and walking. We didn’t play any instruments – not even a drum beat, nothing. We were just talking. In Rammstein, we talk a lot. It’s the
biggest therapy that I’ve been through. I learned a lot about myself, but now it’s time to move on...”