In March 2001, the fansite Herzeleid.com had the chance to interview Richard. The interview was split into three parts and is archived here, here and here. Below we present you all three parts as one. Additionally Richard had a handwritten note to greet all Herzeleid.com visitors, which is, sadly, not available anymore.
Original
"Hello, my name is Richard!"
Very happy, self-confident and outgoing Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein, lead guitarist and co-composer in Rammstein, greets Herzeleid.com in the middle of the afternoon. Outside it's freezing but we meet at the Phoenix Hotel in Copenhagen - a four star hotel suitable for a rendezvous like this. That very hotel, by the way, was seized by the Germans during world war two and used as Gestapo (Hitler's feared secret police) headquarters in Denmark. Did anybody say fuel?
"I notice you are married," Richard says. "For how long? I've been married a year and a half now. Have you ever been to a marriage counsellor? I have."
It's impossible to tell whether he is joking or not. He smiles but seems serious too. Then he goes on…
"…I left her yesterday. Well, not for good. We live together in an apartment in New York and I left to talk to you guys today. Tomorrow I join the others in Berlin to prepare the German leg of the tour. Actually it feels good to leave her, because the apartment is so small, and I really enjoy finally having some space around me. It's a one-room apartment and bigger apartments are so expensive in New York."
The scepticism written all over my face when Richard strikes a note about money problems immediately makes him respond to the unasked question.
"Yeah, you would think so, wouldn't you? That I am rich. Well, I'm really not. I won't go further into this but I lost a lot of money in the stock market. A lot."
It doesn't seem to bother him, though. Money problems and being away from his wife ("the day after tomorrow I'll miss her like crazy. We're never apart more that five or six weeks in a row") appear to be effectively put away when the new album 'Mutter' and the upcoming tour enter the conversation. Very vividly he is eager to explain in details that only the people in this forum are able to cope with.
"Tomorrow I will join the others in Berlin, except for Ollie who is doing promotion in Iceland, can you believe it? We will start preparations for the new stage show. First step will be to talk things through with the stage designer. His name is Roy Bennett and he has been designing shows for Prince during the last ten years, Nine Inch Nails during the last eight years and Kiss too. He lives in New York."
Revealing the new live show is not the favourite dish of Rammstein at the moment, but Richard's mouth just keeps on going.
"Right now we're talking about it all the time. At this time all the new ideas are on the table, so to speak, and we just have to fit them together. I can assure you that several popular elements from the old show will still be there, but there will definitely be changes too. Obviously we want to incorporate the theme of Motherhood and Birth into the show, and we will try to bring the crowd and the band and the stage as close together as possible. Hopefully we will be one. One of our highest wishes is to use video projection throughout important parts of the show. We think it would add yet another dimension to the shows."
In the days after the successful shows at Wuhlheide, Rammstein talked about using water and neon, but that idea seems to be abandoned.
"We really wanted to," Richard explains. "Personally I was very much into the idea. Water is a wonderful media. Just wonderful. Did I mention that I was born under a water sign? Well, after all we came to the conclusion that water was much too hazardous to use. The danger of being electrocuted was just too real. Some people might think that we have already crossed the line and gone too far with the fire thing, but water is another story. You see, with fire you always have a way out. You can run like hell in the opposite direction if something goes wrong. If something goes wrong with water you haven't got a chance.
People have called us irresponsible when it comes to the stage show. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are probably the most responsible band out there. Should something happen to the band members, well that's ok, but we would never jeopardize our fans.
We have all been burned occasionally, but always little injuries. I've been burned in the face several times. Little things."
Little things will definitely not affect Richard. He actually proved his point earlier in the day when he arrived in Copenhagen from New York and discovered that he had lost his baggage with clothes for the next six weeks. That fact, and the clear view to a couple of days with jet lag de luxe, has changed neither his professionalism nor his mood.
He moves on to the battle between 'Sonne' and 'Links 234'. Why two singles at all? And which one is the hardest?
"I believe 'Links' is," he answers after thinking for a while, tasting the songs. "As you may know, we chose 'Sonne' for Europe and 'Links 234' for release in the US, but things are not working out the way they are supposed to. We thought that 'Links' would be the best choice for the US because of the hardness of the song. That song is a statement from us. An attempt to end all the misunderstandings about Rammstein, and we have added the military elements by purpose to prevent the message from being too obvious. But now something strange has happened.
MTV in the States has put the video for 'Sonne' in rotation, and that is very strange behaviour because the single is not for sale there. It makes no sense. Maybe they are just screaming for some Rammstein and couldn't wait for the 'Links' video. I don't know. Now we really don't know what to do, and to put it over the top the Australians also want to release 'Sonne'. They were also set for 'Links'."
It's complicated and Richard does not hide the fact that he's relieved to leave such decisions to other people. Still he explains…
"Actually I understand why 'Sonne' is more popular. It's an obvious choice for a first single, isn't it? It's got the whole Rammstein feel to it. It's got the hardness, it's got the melody, it's got the epic feel to it - it's got all the ingredients for a good, hard pop song. It is certainly our favourite choice for a first single, and the whole 'Links 234'-thing was an all American preference. They chose to continue down the safe road with the song that reminded the most about 'Du Hast', and that's what they've got. Not an admirably courageous picking, but an understandable one," Richard says, and quickly adds:
"I would like to emphasize that the band has total confidence in the people at Def Jam Island (Rammstein's record company in the US). We have told them that and we support every move they make. Personally I believe that they could have chosen any song from 'Mutter' and made it a single. The album consists of 11 singles. It's very, very strong.
Maybe things change very soon and fall into place. The video for 'Links 234' was finished yesterday, and I haven't even seen it yet. It is an animated video with lots of ants watching Rammstein perform in a movie theatre. As I understand it, it's almost only Till appearing on live footage in the video. It will be released in the US in a couple of weeks."
Talking about videos, why not leave the subject with an explanation to solve the mystery of the discarded video for 'Das Modell' and a word on the legendary David Lynch, who showed interest in Rammstein when nobody else did?
"Well, about David Lynch. That was just a working relationship that never happened," Richard explains. "The thing with movie directors like him is, that they always need so much time to complete their work. They're professionals. Unfortunately we no longer have that kind of time. But I can tell you that I still would really love to do a video with David Lynch, or a movie even. I have found peace with the fact that this wish will probably stay in the back of my head.
I would like to add that the person I would love to work with the most is filmmaker Luc Besson. I'm fascinated by his work.
The video for 'Das Modell' we have given up on. We didn't get involved in the making of the video, and that was a crucial mistake. That experience has taught us to always be alert and take control of the artistic processes. The video was bad."
Staying in the pre-Mutter period, Richard answers the one question that webmaster Jobarr himself managed to squeeze through to the final round. Who is Jürgen Engler and what does he have to do with the song 'Tier'.
"Jürgen Engler is, or rather was, the singer of the German group Die Krupps," Richard says through a mixture of a smile and a facial expression telling a story about not so warm feelings.
"Somehow Jürgen Engler had heard 'Tier' before the release and he immediately claimed that we had stolen a specific riff from him. I said to him: 'Listen up! I will play it out loud.' It was nothing like their riff, but he insisted. Finally I told him that if he felt that Rammstein had taken anything away from him, he was invited to steal something back from us - and I even promised to mention him in the booklet to 'Sehnsucht'. That's the story. Die Krupps don't exist any more. They have broken up."
Back to 'Mutter', but still clinging to the good old Jürgen Engler way of seeing things. Rammstein has been attacked, also on Herzeleid.com for ripping off Metallica's 'Unforgiven' in the process of making the song 'Mutter'. A subject that brings a frown or two to Richard's forehead. Quite a relief that the guy just ate a couple of sandwiches before this session…
"…No, I don't think so. You never grow up without inspiration; you don't live in a vacuum. You will inevitably get your inspiration from somewhere.
About 'Mutter' resembling anything else: It's just so important to me that you hear something original when you listen to Rammstein. When I heard that song played for the first time, I was so pleased with it that I simply couldn't come up with anything I could have done differently. It does not sound like Metallica. But I know that many people think so.
It much more obvious that 'Mein Herz Brennt' is inspired by Led Zeppelin, but no-one seems to care about that. Of course you can't help being inspired by all kinds of music, but the thing that really matters is, that you are able to make something uniquely yours out of that inspiration.
Accusations about stealing or copying others will always be around, and that's just something we have to come to terms with."
Well, let's try and aim for the target this time. It would be pretty wrong to accuse Rammstein of lack of communication with the audiences at live shows, but it's never verbal. With the appearance of 'Ich Will' from the new album it seems like there's a change on the way. Is that an invitation?
"It is true. We have no verbal communication with our audiences. We communicate in so many other ways, but not by words. It's all about the way our stage show is put together - it just doesn't seem right. Another important factor is that Till is a rather shy person, and it all adds up to the conclusion that talking to the crowd is not suitable.
The song 'Ich Will' is actually not meant to be a sing-along crowd pleaser. We don't mind if it turns out that way, but we'd like to explain what's really behind it.
It's a song about the spreading 'Verdummung' of people in Europe especially. Apparently they accept - and even adopt - everything that is served to them. This goes for many aspects of the cultural world. Right now in Germany the television shows are getting stupider by the minute. A show like Big Brother is pure trash, but people seem to like it very much. Why? Because it is exposed to them, not because it's good! It's the same when it comes to music. If it is advertised effectively enough, people will buy it. Most of it is horrible, but that doesn't seem to matter. Do not follow the masses, they are not necessarily right. We say: 'Ich verstehe euch nicht!' - I don't understand you."
Is it really necessary to get this message across to Rammstein fans? Are Rammstein fans like that?
"Mmmm…No! I don't think so, really. I think many Rammstein fans are willing to broaden their horizons and seek new experiences. I believe our fans are better equipped for that. Generally rock fans or heavy metal fans are much more faithful to the music and their favourite bands than pop fans. In pop music the flavour changes by the week and the masses just move along. It's not really a fair question because Rammstein fans are so different depending on where they're from. The fans in America are much younger than the German or European fans. I can't afford to make a statement about Rammstein fans in general."
Rammstein has officially admitted that problems in their love lives lead directly to the title of their first album, and that 'Sehnsucht' also was a product of emotions and feelings within the band. Why 'Mutter' now, then?
"Well, it sometimes happens that you do things without thinking. You know, you can suddenly get a feeling that something is missing in your life even though you have never thought about it before. You start doing things differently without knowing it.
'Mutter', of course, is a song from the new album - one of my favourite songs even. It strikes a theme that I still to this day can use. My own mother, in her own way, has had a great influence on my life - just by being a woman. I didn't realize it at the time, but she really laid the tracks for my life in many ways, and I didn't even feel that I knew her.
The theme of motherhood is a theme that I really want to learn something about. I use it as kind of therapy. It helps me get away from all the problems of this issue - a little bit.
Motherhood is also a theme with many faces. It's not only about freeing yourself from your maternal influences; it's also about the whole concept of conception, birth and origin - a lot of themes, actually.
The tradition in Rammstein about picking a theme for an album and implementing it, the way we did it with 'Herzeleid' in the beginning, then 'Sehnsucht' and now 'Mutter', has in some funny way become one. The three themes seem to interact with one another. For example the agony of our love lives in the 'Herzeleid'-period was, subconsciously, very much a maternally related problem."
Richard talks about the subject in a very lively way. It's obvious that he's extremely interested in the philosophical side of Rammstein, but at the same time, as he's warming himself up, he looks like he's afraid that he's contagious. He slowly closes the subject and leans forward again.
Do you have one wish for the future?
"Since I moved to New York I have finally discovered how happy I really am with what I'm doing. I'm the kind of person, you see, who has a very restless spirit. I need challenges all the time, and luckily New York is a constant challenge, I think.
When I lived in Germany I had a tendency to feel satisfied and comfortable, but when I moved it all changed. My eyes opened up once again and I remembered how hard it is to make it in any aspect of life - to be successful. That's what living in New York does to me, and that gives me back the motivation and makes me remember why I'm here, so to speak.
My wish is that I always cherish that feeling and that I will never make music just because I feel I have to."
Do you also have one wish for the past, too?
"that's a good question," is his immediate response. He leans forward again, putting his index finger to his lower lip while he's searching for a revelation on the ceiling of the hotel suite. 15 seconds go by in silence - and that's a long time"
"the past"..Yes, I wish I had a different childhood, I think."
Speculations are running high when it comes to the long awaited American tour. Will it be with Tool? What about the Ozzfest? Another German band, maybe? And when?
"There's a really simple answer to all the speculation," Richard smiles. "There definitely will be an American tour, and that's all we know right now. Patience, please."
Patience will be rewarded, and finally the ultimate question is no longer avoidable. The mother of all questions when it comes to Rammstein. Forget about musicianship and small things like touring, stage shows, more records, philosophy and artwork. Does Richard Kruspe know about the existence of Herzeleid.com?
"I'm sorry! Herzeleid dot what?"
Well, that about answers it. For all the masochists of this forum, here's the rest:
"A couple of weeks ago I spent a few hours surfing for Rammstein websites. My God, there are so many out there. 'My favourite Rammstein heaven', you name it. But Herzeleid.com I don't know."