The Beatsteaks will celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2020. Drummer Thomas Götz talks about the band's highs and lows.
The Beatsteaks have been rocking the stages in Germany since 1995. This year the band celebrates its 25th anniversary. Songs like "I Don't Care as Long as You Sing" (2004), "Hand in Hand" (2004), "Cut off the Top" (2007) and "Milk & Honey" (2011) were too late Hits. Drummer Thomas Götz looks back on the Beatsteaks career "with one crying and one laughing eye". "It's a shame that the time goes by so quickly and it's great that we were and are there," he says in an interview with the news agency spot on news.
In the 25 years it is "quite possible that we have made many wrong decisions, but that is part of it". Because even more important than right or wrong decisions is "that we have had a good time together so far and hopefully also have something ahead of us". He mentions the "many beautiful concerts that we have played" as highlights. "Sometimes we missed the relaxed atmosphere of the live concerts when we were recording. Still, no reason to mourn, the good experiences outweigh the others."
However, Thomas Götz also remembers a harrowing experience during a concert. "The accident of a guest at a concert in a basketball arena in Barcelona was tragic. During stage diving, the visitor fell on the back of his head and remained motionless. The next day the all-clear came from the hospital. It wasn't a nice hour until then," said the drummer.
The Beatsteaks have this wish of politics in the Corona crisis
Because of the Corona crisis, it has not been possible for the band to celebrate the 25th anniversary properly. The Beatsteaks are planning a tour "as soon as it is possible again in the framework that we know and love". In the past few months, the punk rockers have also been supporters of the cultural appeal "Red Alert", which aims to draw attention to the fact that the event industry needs help.
"Don't let people down," is Thomas Götz's wish to politicians. "The Doctors, Die Toten Hosen, the Elbphilharmonie or even the Beatsteaks will survive the crisis economically, but for many sound engineers, lighting technicians, instrument attendants, stage workers, stage hands, caterers, bus drivers, billboarders, small bands and small clubs, it's all about the real thing Existence. You need the help of politics. "
He also quotes Beatsteaks bassist Torsten Scholz: "Everyone who earns their money with events of any kind is in a difficult situation, especially since the urgently needed help is still a long way off. Of course, it is also difficult to keep your feet still. Worst of all However, I feel the overall situation in this country. What is now surfacing and articulating itself very loudly is sometimes more than disgusting. To take the pandemic as a pretext for all sorts of populist shit and open your eyes to right-wing, anti-Semitic, racist and whatever knows I still go to inhumane corners, that scares me. "
New EP "In The Presence Of" with songs by famous female singers
The Beatsteaks themselves took a short break after their last tour and the concerts, as Götz explains. "After we got together again at the end of 2019 to plan our 25th anniversary and concerts, we couldn't have foreseen that this break, at least as far as concerts were concerned, involuntarily became longer and longer for known reasons." The band used the time "after initial paralysis and contact restrictions" to produce a new EP. "The time seemed too short to work on your own music, but it was enough to record six songs in a wonderful week in the Hansa Studio at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, all of which had something in common."
On Friday (December 11th) the Beatsteaks released their EP "In The Presence Of", on which they cover songs by well-known singers. "We like it very much when female artists cover songs by male performers, which often gives songs another facet," explains Thomas Götz. "Not that we think we can do it, but we thought it was appropriate to choose songs that were originally sung by women to bow to the respective interpreters."
The Beatsteaks associate personal stories with all songs. "You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore (1946-2015) is one of the band's favorite songs. "With 'Glory Box' I just don't have the words," says Götz. "A song that still leaves the listener speechless after all these years. From the Isaac Hayes loop to Beth Gibbons' singing, everything is fantastic!" The song "Monotonie" by Ideal, sung by Annette Humpe (70), also made it onto the EP. Does Humpe like the Beatsteaks version? "I think she was quite satisfied, at least she didn't hold it against us that 'Campari in Haiti' became 'Campari with Haiyti'," says Götz.