Interviewer: Simi Kühn

 

 

Class: Helllooooo Dresden, this is Class, and this is Simi and we’ll be throwing “Question-balls”, like fiery question balls at each other. Simi, you may start!

 

Simi: Ok, I’ll start then. Today we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Letzte Instanz”-band. Here you are, besides Zeraphine, the support act. How did that come and what does this mean to you? 

Class: Well, how did that come? I think, as we had a really nice tour together, which was also  a kind of “starting point” besides Mono Inc. and Eisbrecher, we share quite a bit of “history” together…well.. or maybe they just don’t have any other friends? Nonsense, they probably just thought, Lord of the Lost would fit in, checked that out, we happened to have time, and so we decided to do a show in Dresden in the context of their anniversary, which is also nice.  

 

Simi: Definitely! Considering birthdays: are you the kind of person who celebrates a huge party with family and friends or do you prefer it small, nice, intimate?

Class: I usually don’t celebrate birthdays, or very rarely …we’re talking about MY birthday? Well, it’s pretty nice, when you get all the attention, but I think, when you get along really well with the people around you every day…that’s nice enough already, you don’t need a birthday for that. So, me oersonally I am not really into celebrating birthdays. I don’t see that as an important “event” in a day.  

 

Simi: not even when you were a child?

Class: Of course, getting gifts is always nice, but …I think I’ve grown out of that. Btw…am I supposed to ask you something, too? 

 

Simi: Is this an “Eye to Eye” or…?

Class: No, actually it’s not. It’s a FanTerview… so… keep the questions coming!

 

Simi: Speaking of anniversaries… it’s also a little anniversary for me today, because on Oct. 14th 2011 I saw you live for the first time, right here in Schlachthof Dresden…seven years ago already. Next year you’ll have a big anniversary yourself… 

Class: True that!

 

Simi: …and I wanted to ask you, what has changed in your life in these past 10 years, both positive as well as negative? 

Class: Hmm, that’s quite a long time actually. It is a constant change, my band has constantly become more successful, I’ve become more successful in my job, got to know various people, so many things actually.

 

Simi: On a negative note? Are there things that you’d say, “this sadly happens over that time”?

Class: Well, within 10 years you see people die, some of which I will keep missing badly, but there was nothing that has hit me so badly that it still hurts a lot. But of course, sometimes you have to face setbacks, but there was nothing really bad. I’m healthy, we’re exercising quite a bit, just today we did. Every day you should think: “What can I do better/more often today than I did yesterday of the things that are good for me?”

 

Simi: …as you never know, when …

Class: Right! Always keep moving! 

 

Simi: Back to the positive things: You were pretty successful in the past few years, only recently 6th place in the German charts, how do you manage to stay down to earth and not to develop bad star attitudes? 

Class: Well, we also lead just normal lives, on social media like Facebook or Instagram we don’t show you the boring everyday life that we also have. I do a lot of things, where I am just one out of many, among friends, I do jobs, where I am just a service provider, right now I am working a lot for other bands, there I help them with things like building up the drum sets and the amplifiers, there I am basically just a “nobody”, not meant in any way negative, who works there; That’s perfectly fine with me. Also we have to consider, that the band has constantly grown over the years, so chances were low that we’d go totally crazy over our success. I think, I have never been the man to consider himself “the coolest”, and I think I will never be like that. I’m rather a humble person. 

 

Simi: You are currently doing the “Thornstar”-tour. The first 5 shows are done already, many are yet to come -which shows and which countries are you looking forward to the most? 

Class: I’m looking forward to it all, to go to England again for example, but actually I’m mostly looking forward to going to China, because I love to go to places that I’ve never been before, so far I have only been to Hong Kong, which I wouldn’t really call “China”, as it is somehow something completely different. Going to China, saying, “Hey, I’m here!” – and to see how it is there, can we all have fun together, have a cool show there. And the food … I once ate jellyfish salad in Hong Kong -  I doubt I  will eat something that bad there again, but who knows? I love to try out things, and so this is a big adventure for me. Right now I can’t imagine a bigger adventure than going to China and to have fun there. You’ll get to see it then… at TV of the Lost. 

 

Simi: Some fans go to several shows in a row (including myself), …how does it feel to see the same faces in the first row over and over again, the same people showing up for autographs and photos after the show… is it rather, “Hey, cool, it’s you again!” or rather like “It’s you again… didn’t you just take a photo with me last Saturday?”

Class: That depends a lot on the person. There are people with whom you feel an immediate connection and you’re happy every time you see them – and then there’s people with whom you just can’t get in balance somehow, so it just doesn’t work out right. But the number of times you see someone doesn’t matter here. If people are having fun, enjoying the show, come to see us after the show, and if they know what they want, everything’s fine. You can come to see us any time, over and over again! 

 

Simi: To get back to China once more: how did you get to play there in the first place and what do you expect from the Chinese audience? Are you somehow nervous?

Class: Yes…no…I don’t know. That’s a difficult question. I’m not nervous, I’m in euphoric anticipation, like “Cool, that’s something completely different, which we’ve never had yet before, let’s do it” …and what we expect the audience to be… we already learned from our friends in Mono Inc. … usually the Chinese are a different kind of humans, very well-behaved, reserved maybe, but we’ve heard they are also very extreme… sort of like when it’s  “now you’re allowed to party” – they will let the wild animal out. I’m curious -surprise me! I’m really looking forward to meeting the Chinese. I also find it very important to get to know all kinds of people on this planet. The more different people you get to meet, the more open you are, the less you have fears from strangers… unjustified fears, I mean. There you learn, that you are also just one out of so so many. Travelling educates. I often think, that people, who judge about others should better travel and get to know people there. 

 

Simi: You also like to explore the cities that you visit while you’re on tour, in the sense of sightseeing. Which cities/places are you planning to explore while you’re in China? 

Class: No, not really planned. If I get the chance to go see a temple, all natural if possible, that would be nice. But so far I did not even have time yet, to check out where we’re exactly going, to which cities and what these places have to offer. And if we even have time to go visit places there. I’d love to, but no idea yet. But if I have time, I will definitely go to see the sights. I want to see things in the whole world – I want to see as much as I can…explore the world. 

 

Simi: in February/March you have an exhausting tour planned. 12 shows in 6 countries, only one day off in between. I imagine that is very exhausting, as already such a show is kind of like a workout. I have just been showed the nightliner from the inside. There you all live in a confined space. How do you manage to get enough sleep, that you can still keep some privacy?

Class: I have my own bed, where I can just close the curtains, there I am alone and have my privacy. The people I am on tour with are people that I get along with really well. We always pay attention to that, when we recruit new people as crew or band members – that we get along well with each other. If you have differences, it’s important to settle them, as arguing doesn’t help at all; what also helps is a hug here and there. For the biggest part we share the same interests, play games in the bus in the evenings, have a drink etc. Actually I prefer to be on tour for a longer time in a row than being on tour for just 3 days, then home for 3 days, then 3 days on tour again – there you always have to “start over again” . So constantly switching from “home-mode” to “tour-mode” and back is more difficult. To be on tour for a longer time is easier, both for the team as well as for the workflow. Also sometimes I just get out to sit in the sun (when it shines, that is), take some time for myself -all’s fine. I’m on tour with fantastic people … it could be hell, if we didn’t like each other… but with us it is “First there has to be sympathy, then we can go to do something together”.

 

Simi: Yes, even we the outsiders can feel that. 

Class: Of course there may be differences from time to time, but we are really fast in settling them, so nothing bad will happen. 

 

Simi: How do you sleep in such a small bed? Does it take some time to get used to it? Or do you just get in your bed and start sleeping, from the very first tour night on?

Class: Well, the very first night is a bit difficult, because you have to get used to the rocking of the bus again. I more or less put myself in a stable lateral position or I sleep on my back; I have no problem with small spaces, actually I find it quite nice and comfy to have my own little “cave”. How well you sleep also depends a lot on the quality of the streets. Like today, as we were going to Dresden, everything seemed to vibrate some more, but… I’m generally someone who can easily sleep well. I’m not that tall, so I can change sleeping positions, I don’t mind if I sleep in a top bunk or below, on the left side or on the right side… so, I like it. I can sleep anywhere. If I laid down right here, I’d be asleep in less than 5 minutes. That’s really a blessing. Thanks for that… to whoever (looks upwards)..or to me. 

 

Simi: If you have holidays, what kind of tourist are you then? Will you lay on the beach the whole day, would you have parties or do sightseeing and get to know the country and the people? 

Class: I prefer to go to the South, not that I’d not also love to go to Norway or something, but I’d go to the South, where there’s water, but I wouldn’t stay on the beach for long. But a day at the beach, mainly snorkelling, is cool. The next day I’d go sightseeing, visit cities and places. So, I’m a beach vacationer who loves to explore everything that’s there to explore. An active beach vacationer. In my last holidays I was on many beaches. Preferably a different beach on each new day. 

 

Simi: What do you miss the most while being on tour? 

Class: To be honest, I miss almost nothing while being on tour. It’s a different situation. If I were on tour for more than a month, I might start to miss my family or some people that are close to me but besides that… I just like it so much, I’m so grateful that I can be on tour with my friends. If I do miss something, I know, that I’ll be home soon, and then it’s even better, when I’m back. At home you might not have enough time for your friends etc, because you go to work … while here I spend the whole time with my friends. Of course it is also work somehow, but you can also do sports with your friends, like I did today with Pi, we played Badminton, we went to the river Elbe for a little while, now we’re doing an interview, soon we’ll get food, then the show, then we might drink a beer…  it’s just perfect! It’s a different kind of life, but I love to have both …because of this my life feels complete. I don’t have just one job, where I have to do the same thing over and over again each day, but different jobs, some of which come as a complete surprise, like, “oh, now you’ll be going to China!” or, “now you go to the Elbphilharmonie (concert hall in Hamburg) to work with a band there – all this makes my life complete, that I can do a lot of different things that are totally different from one another at times. 

Simi: That’s definitely interesting. 

 

Simi: Now for my last question: What does a day off look like for Class? 

Class: Depends. If I have been very busy before, then I prefer to do nothing at all, stay on the balcony; sometimes I like to go out… indeed, what the day off looks like depends a lot on what has been happening before. Sometimes I go to see my family, sometimes I do sport, go to sauna, very “normal” things. If it’s sunny, I might lie on my balcony, when there’s bad weather  I might do a Netflix marathon … I don’t have a “recipe” for my days off … Variety, it’s always variety! You need to stay entertained, you need to keep things interesting, then your brain will stay fit, you will stay fit physically, your heart and soul will stay fit… just keep moving, doing something! 

 

Class: That was it already! Many thanks, have fun at the show tonight! I hope you go to see the show of “Letzte Instanz”, supported by Lord of the fucking Lost, yo bitches! Linus, you can cut here! 1-2-3-CUT! Bye! 

 

 

Translation: Margit Güttersberger