Tokio Hotel
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2007) |
Tokio Hotel |
|---|
Tokio Hotel [ˈtoːkio hoˈtɛl] is a German band founded in Magdeburg, Germany in 2001 by guitarist Tom Kaulitz and singer Bill Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The quartet has scored four number one singles and has released two number one albums in their native Germany, selling nearly 3 million CDs and DVDs there.[3]
After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG terminated, the band released their first German-language album, Schrei, as Tokio Hotel on Island Records in 2005. Schrei sold more than half a million copies worldwide [4] and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album Zimmer 483 and their first English album Scream which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV European Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, Zimmer 483, spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, Scream, spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. Their first live album, Zimmer 483 - Live In Europe, was released near the end of 2007. However, while still struggling for success in most English-speaking countries, the band has released an English language version of Ready, Set, Go! in the UK, and are currently enjoying exposure in Canada and the United States.[5].
History
Founding
Tokio Hotel, were founded by guitarist Tom Kaulitz and singer Bill Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in Magdeburg club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Tom and Bill Kaulitz played on the stage. [6][7]Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. [3]After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German language spelling of the city Tokyo, Japan and "Hotel", due to their constant touring and living in hotels [6]. Soon after Sony BMG took them under contract. Hoffmann hired David Jost and Pat Benzner into the team of creators and authors, and had them give the teens instruction on songwriting and instrument playing. However, shortly before release of their first album, Sony terminated their contract. In 2005, Universal Music Group took Tokio Hotel under contract and developed a marketing plan. The band has now become the biggest act from Germany.
Schrei
Their first single, "Durch den Monsun" ("Through the Monsoon"), quickly rose in the charts, appearing on the German official Media Control single charts at #15 on 20 August 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on 26 August 2005; it reached #1 on the Austrian music charts as well. Their second single, "Schrei" ("Scream"), climbed to the #5 position in the German charts. Their debut album, Schrei, was released on 19 September 2005; the album later received a platinum certification [8]. These two songs were written by singer Bill Kaulitz together with their group of producers Peter Hoffmann, David Jost, Pat Benzer and Dave Roth. In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette Mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der Letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der Letzte Tag" also contained a B-side called "Wir Schließen Uns Ein", which was accompanied by a music video as well.
Zimmer 483
The first single off their second album Zimmer 483 (Room 483), called "Übers Ende der Welt", which was later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!", was released on 26 January 2007 and quickly reached #1. Zimmer 483 was released on 28 February 2007, with a deluxe edition of the album, containing a DVD, also becoming available. Their second single from the album, "Spring Nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on 7 April 2007. The tour accompanying the release of the album, the Zimmer 483 tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a new stage. A third single from the album "An Deiner Seite (Ich Bin Da)" ("By Your Side") was released on the 16th of November. The single also contains a B-side, called "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans") which was also accompanied by a music video.
Scream
While their German CDs never received official releases outside the German-speaking world, Tokio Hotel's first English album Scream was released on the 4 June 2007 in all of Europe. In Germany, the album was released as Room 483 in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album Zimmer 483. The album contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums Schrei and Zimmer 483. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single, "By Your Side" (the translation of "An Deiner Seite") as the third and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring Nicht") as the fourth. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to iTunes in early March 2008.
Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on 27 August 2007. The song reached #77 in the Singles Chart.
Tokio Hotel won an EMA for Best InterAct on 1 November 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They also performed "Monsoon" at the event.
Tokio Hotel released their first U.S. single, simply entitled "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contained tracks previously released elsewhere in the world, "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on 11 December 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York. After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the Much On Demand Daily 10, a countdown of videos as chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 on April 8, 2007. On March 25th, 2008, Scream was released in Canada and the US version of Scream was released on May 6, 2008.
1000 Hotels Tour
The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on 3 March 2008 in Brussels and was scheduled to continue to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia with an expected finish on the 9 April 2008.
On March 14th, during the concert in Marseille, France, Bill started to experience vocal problems. He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick.
On March 16th the band canceled a gig in Lisbon, Portugal, minutes before the concert was supposed to commence. The rest of the 1000 Hotels Tour and the North American Tour were cancelled not long after following an announcement by the band's manager in Bild that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.
Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Oceans tour without vacation. He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30th to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords. The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated. Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for ten days, and took 3 weeks to heal completely. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. Tokio Hotel started performing again in May, 2008. [citation needed]
Band members
- Bill Kaulitz - lead vocals (b. 1 September 1989)
Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989, in Leipzig, GDR. He was born to Simone Kaulitz, a freelance tailor, and Jörg Kaulitz. When he and his brother were seven, their parents divorced. Their mother remarried Gordon Trümper, a guitarist from the German rock band Fatun. Their stepfather inspired the twins to begin their music careers.[9] Although he can't play any instrument, he began writing song lyrics when he was seven[10] and soon began writing songs with his brother when they were nine years old. [6]. He has stated that his biggest musical influence is Nena. [9] His official hometown is considered to be Loitsche.
- Tom Kaulitz - lead guitar, backing vocals (b. 1 September 1989)
Tom Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989 in Leipzig. He is ten minutes older than his twin brother, Bill Kaulitz. He has had his dreadlocks since he was 8 years old. Tom currently uses Gibson guitars.[11] He has stated his musical influences to be Aerosmith[9] and German hip-hop[6] such as Samy Deluxe.
- Georg Listing (pronounced /ɡɪrg/)- bass guitar (b. 31 March 1987)
Georg Listing was born on March 31, 1987. He began playing bass when he was twelve [6] and he currently uses a Sandberg bass [11]He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.[12] His musical influences also include die Ärzte and Oasis[6]. His hometown is Magdeburg.
- Gustav Schäfer - drums (b. 8 September 1988)
Gustav Schäfer was born on September 8, 1988 in his hometown of Magdeburg. Gustav has been playing the drums since he was six.[6] He has one older sister. His musical incluences include Metallica[10], Joe Cocker, Tina Turner and Rod Stewart[9].
Awards
- 2005
- Comet: Best Newcomer 2005, Supercomet
- Bambi-Verleihung: Pop-National
- 1live-Krone: Best Newcomer
- 2006
- Echo: Best Newcomer
- Goldener Pinguin: Best Newcomer
- Radio Regenbogen Awards: Pop-National
- Steiger Award: Newcomer
- World Music Award: Best Selling German Artist
- 2007
- Jan 2007: European Border Breakers Award (for the album "Schrei")
- Jan 2007: BZ-Kulturpreis: (Rock)
- Mar 2007: Echo: Best Music Video
- Apr 2007: Bravo - Goldener Otto: Superrockband
- May 2007: Viva Comet: Supercomet, Best Band, Best Music Video
- Jul 2007: Jabra Music: Die Beste Band In Die Welt )(The Best Band In The World)
- Sep 2007: Festivalbar Premio Digital
- Sep 2007: Goldene Stimmgabel: Best Rock International
- Oct 2007: Belgian TMF awards: Best Video, Best Album, Best Pop, Best New Artist
- Nov 2007: MTV Europe Music Awards (Munich): Inter Act
- Nov 2007: Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards (Milão) - Best Band
- 2008
- Jan 2008: NRJ Music Awards 2008 - Best International Band
- Jan 2008: Rockbjören Awards 2008 - Best International Band
- Feb 2008: Goldene Kamera 2008 - Musik National
- Feb 2008: Echo - Best Music Video
- May 2008: Silver Otto
- May 2008: MTV TRL (Italy) - Best Number 1 Single of the Year, Best Band
- May 2008: Comet 2008 - Best Band, Best Live Act, Best Video, Supercomet
Discography
Studio and live albums
- September 19, 2005: Schrei
- March 24, 2006: Schrei - so laut du kannst (re-recording of Schrei)
- February 23, 2007: Zimmer 483
- November 30, 2007: Zimmer 483 - Live In Europe
- June 4, 2007: Scream / Room 483
Singles
| Year | Date | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | August 15 | Durch Den Monsun | Schrei |
| November 25 | Schrei | ||
| 2006 | March 10 | Rette Mich | |
| August 28 | Der Letzte Tag / Wir Schliessen Uns Ein | ||
| 2007 | January 26 | Übers Ende der Welt | Zimmer 483 |
| April 7 | Spring Nicht | ||
| May 18 | Monsoon | Scream | |
| August 27 | Ready, Set, Go! | ||
| November 16 | An Deiner Seite / By Your Side / 1000 Meere | Zimmer 483 / Scream | |
| December 11 | Scream | Scream | |
| 2008 | April 4 | Don't Jump | |
| April 28 | Heilig | Zimmer 483 |
DVDs
| Year | Date | DVD |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | December 2 | Leb' die Sekunde - Behind The Scenes |
| 2006 | April 10 | Schrei Live |
| 2007 | April 10 | Spring Nicht DVD Single |
| November 30 | Zimmer 483 - Live In Europe |
References
- ^ Interview Vidéo de Tokio Hotel : Ich bin ein Glam-Rocker
- ^ MTV.it Tokio Hotel
- ^ a b Biography at tokiohotel-us.com
- ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2007". ifpi.org. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ Tokio Hotel @ MuchMusic
- ^ a b c d e f g "Tokio Hotel Interview". popculturemadness.com. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
- ^ "Billboard.com - Tokio Hotel - Biography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ musikindustrie.de: "Certification"
- ^ a b c d Oei, Roland, "Tokio Hotel", pg. 20 & 21, PowerPlay, Issue 91, September, 2007
- ^ a b "Sound Generator - INTERVIEW - Tokio Hotel". Sound Generator. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
- ^ a b Keijzers, Rawathe, "Touren Met Tokio Hotel", pg. 9, Hitkrant, Issue 38, 22 September, 2007
- ^ Tokio Hotel US » Georg Listing
External links
Record label
Official sites
Articles and reviews
- Interview from MuchMusic (May 2008)
- Interview from MuchMusic (February 2008)
- Interview from CosmoGIRL! (February/March 2008)
- Interview from Sound Generator (August 2007)
Other