Bill and Tom Kaulitz: We would never wear fur!
Last year, Bill and Tom Kaulitz went on tour with their band Tokio Hotel. During the "Welcome to Humanoid City" tour, the band visited Paris, Barcelona, Rome and many other places. Also Bill and Tom do some modeling along with handling their music business. Tom is the cover face for Reebok, Bill made an appearance on the Milan Fashion Week, and along with that they've graced the covers of Vogue, GQ - all established fashion magazines. Even the heavy-on-words designer Karl Lagerfeld spoke with love about Bill.
As a complete contrast to your stage outfits, on fashion shooting we can see you in classical italian suits. What do you say about that?
Bill: It's definitely not something I'd wear every day, but I like to, from time to time. You can make combinations, per example, at home I have a few coats I wear with jeans and such. I do not like to mask myself. Anything that would make me feel like I'm not in my own skin is out of the question. Suits and coats are a bit too much for the stage, too elegant, I like wearing leather jackets and stuff I can move around in as my stage clothes. Maybe I could wear that during a song or two... but not more.
You guys know that fashion trends change quickly. So you both probably have different ways to develop your fashion senses.
Bill: I think there will always be outfits we'll like forever, and outfits we'll like for a while and then never again. This happens to me regularly now, too. I'm usually not ashamed for wearing something from my past, but there are things I look at and think: "Oh God, what was I wearing?" It's a normal part of growing up and finding your path. There are always those moments when we urge for a change and to try out something new and fresh.
Everyone has one's role model. Who do rock stars look up to?
Bill: I've never had a real role model, but I like the appearance of David Bowie and Steven Tyler. But I've never had a fashion icon of my own.
A great sign of Bill's fashion sense are words of the great fashion mogul Karl Lagerfeld, who had been personally interested in Tokio Hotel. You did a fashion editorial with him for Vogue.
Bill: That was a great honor. I've become interested in fashion quite early in my age. I used to do my own clothes when I was a kid, so working with Karl Lagerfeld was like a dream for me. It was an amazing moment. I was very pleased he had noticed my effort and that he liked what I do.
How do you establish a personal style that is actually appreciated by the fashion world? How did you even come up with your style, and where do you get your inspiration from?
Bill: I think that inspiration comes from different places. It's sort of mixed in my situation. It all started with hair coloring and make up. When I was a kid, I enjoyed vampire movies, and one year I went to a Halloween party dressed as a vampire and I liked it a lot, so I continued dressing that was in my private life.
So that makes you very trendy now. But is there anything you would never wear?
Bill: Oh well I'd never wear clothes that Tom wears, and fur, also, out of the question.
Of course, since you two are vegetarians. Your personal style is very different than your brother's.
Bill: Well, as time goes by I've started liking Tom's clothes more and more. I can cope with it, but I don't think we'll ever be exchanging clothes. Until we were about 6 years old, we wore the same clothes and even had pullovers with "Bill" and "Tom" on them so people could tell us apart. Then came the time when we started wearing what we wanted and mom didn't prepare our clothes every day. Then we automatically went in different fashion directions. Tom's style always depended on his music taste, he listens only to Hip-Hop and nothing else, although he's in a rock band. He's always going to be this way, he's Tom.
But you guys still have plenty of stuff in common.
Tom: Bill and I are like one person, but we show different aspects of that one person, and we make a perfect combination when together. We might have different tastes, but we're always on the same wave-length. I know exactly what Bill's thinking, he knows what I'm thinking, so we don't need to talk to understand each other.
You guys have a new album out, Best Of. Do you have any expectation about it and what's it like to have an album with your best songs in your hands?
Bill: It feels kind of weird to have a Best Of album this quickly in our career, but on the other hand we're very proud to have a huge collection of hits, enough for a Best Of. There are 2 new songs, one of them is from back in 2002, it's called „Mädchen aus dem All“.
Tom: Yeah and Bill's voice was much different back then, he still hadn't started changing.
Bill: Yes, and there's another song, Hurricanes and Suns, from 2009.
You guys have moved to Los Angeles. Is it because you guys have have more privacy there or to write and compose without a bunch of people bothering you?
Tom: It's true, we feel great living in LA, as far as our private life is concerned. We also wrote most of our songs from Humanoid album in LA, too.
You did a campaign for PETA, tell us something about that.
Tom: Oh the pictures were amazing!
Bill: We love animals, very much. We have four beautiful dongs and all four come from animal shelter.
Tom: Yes, and we've been vegetarians for two years now.
Bill: PETA asked us to be in a campaign and support those poor animals who are kept in circuses and go through a lot of stress and torture, and of course we said yes immediately. We can really identify with those animals.
Tokio Hotel is also making donations for a school. How does it feel to be able to help others and give them what you have?
Bill: It makes us very happy to be able to help and give others, we come from a music family ourselves, so it's important for us. We've always had a possibility of making music, because we had access to it, so helping others who don't have the equipment is a great joy for us.
scans: Sakib @ TH_Bosnia and Herzegovina
translation: Goga @ TokioHotelSerbia
