If you are a European citizen, odds are you’ve heard of them… a lot! American? Give them a few weeks and you’ll see what the huge deal is about. Tokio Hotel are twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz, respectively singing and on guitar, bass player Georg Listing, and drummer Gustav Schäfer.

What’s so special about them? After two albums, ‘Schrei’, and more recently ‘Zimmer 483’, they already are the most successful band the German market has seen for many decades. Just as the albums did, their DVD sold much more than anyone ever expected, and not only in Germany, but all around the globe.

Did we mention they achieved all this and they’re not even 20 yet?

Not only did Tokio Hotel reach the top of the German charts; they also found themselves rocking the charts of France and Austria. Knowing no such thing as a language barrier, they toured all of Europe with great success. Now that their songs have been translated and recorded in English, they decided it was time to broaden their horizons even more.

The Tokio Hotel storm has now reached America, selling out venues in a few hours time… and this is only the beginning!

They squeezed in their tight schedule an email interview with us, and here is what they had to say.

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ow would you describe your music to someone who has never heard of you?

Tom: In general it’s German Rock. It’s very guitar and drum driven….really energetic. We always tried to create our own sound, one that’s unique to Tokio Hotel. It’s hard to describe, but you’ll hear in the beginning of all our songs that it’s recognizably Tokio Hotel.

Can you tell us a bit more about the band’s plans for the US and Canada?

Tom: We are very excited that people from the US and Canada are interested in us and our music. I mean, we are a German band and now we’ve had the opportunity to go overseas. That’s incredible and unusual for German bands.

Bill: We don’t really have a master plan or any goals set. We just want to play LIVE as much as we’re able to, meet our fans, take a chance and try to enjoy it all.

What are you looking forward to seeing in North America?

Bill:We were in New York and L.A. last year…absolutely loved it. We are real fans of big cities and they were both what we expected. We’ve already played two shows - one in Montreal and one in Toronto. The fans were incredible. We didn’t expected anyone to know us and then we got this big cheering welcome – it was fantastic.

Tom (smiles): And I have to say, from what I’ve seen so far, the girls have been really pretty – definitely an option for getting some action.

You already have a very widespread fanbase in Europe. Do you think American fans will differ from a European audience? How?

Bill: It’s hard to tell the difference between each country since each single fan shows his own personality in unique ways. I like to call our fans very energetic. They are very engaged and close to us – they live this life with us and travel with us. Wherever we go, they are always there. As far as we’ve noticed from Internet, the American fans seem to share that, which is wicked. We are so exited and coming over here feels like doing it all for the very first time. We can’t wait to meet them.

Tom (laughing): Yeah, and there are lots of beautiful girls all over the world too.

On a darker note, you have been accused of being “made to sell” because of working with writers and composers. How do you feel about this? What are your views on the matter?

Bill: We actually don’t care about that too much.

Tom: It’s the way things work in the music biz. As soon as you are successful, especially if it happens within a short time as it did with us, (we’ve been around for only 2.5 years) people think: stop, that must be made.

Bill (laughing): Yes, but all we can say is our band has been together for seven years. I started writing when I was about seven, back then Tom and I stared writing music as well. After that we met Georg and Gustav and became a band. What you see and hear today, is what we’ve worked for over the last seven years.

In terms of your career, what are you the most proud of?

Tom: I wouldn’t call it proud but it’s what we are happy about. I remember when we started out, we played in clubs where only five people showed up – and they weren’t interested in us, they just wanted to have a beer. But now we are playing shows in Canada and the States and we’re getting ready for our third European tour – it’s mind blowing! It’s all we ever wanted: to travel and play live as much as possible. People are connecting to us! We hope to do that as long as possible…ideally for the rest of our lives.

You all have very different styles, how important is the image of the band to you?

Bill: We always were different. If you look at old pictures of the band you can tell how each of us has developed and we each started to create our own style from early on. When we got our record deal, the most important thing for us was that we could be ourselves and dress the way we wanted. We didn’t want to have a stylist to tell us what to wear. That’s not us. I think our music and personality go together. We never wanted to wear masks and pretend to be something we are not. So what you see is who we are and that’s what you get.

What is the funniest or strangest rumour you have heard about yourself?

Bill: I don’t even know where to start. There have been so many going around. Once we found one that said I killed myself in my hotel room. Another said on my 18th birthday I got drunk and came out of the closet on an Internet forum – that was hilarious.

Tom (laughing): No, the funniest was the announcement that the other three aren’t virgins anymore!

What are you currently listening to?

Tom: We all listen to very different music. I only listen to German HipHop.

Bill: I listen to a variety of stuff like Nena, Green Day, Coldplay, Keen, Placebo…it depends on my mood.

Gustav: I love Metallica and Foo Fighters.

Georg: I still like Oasis and Fall Out Boy.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Tom: Well, you need to ask the others – they are learning about me every day.

All: Ohhhhhh!

Bill: Did you know that Georg’s full name is Georg Moritz Hagen?

Thank you very much for doing this interview! We wish you all the best for the future. Any last words for your American fans?

Bill: We want to thank all our fans for supporting us - for making it possible to come over here and play LIVE. We are so excited about the feedback we’re getting from you all and we can’t wait to see you! Thanks so much!

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