Proud like Oscar! Stefan Ude (Bass), Dennis Poschwatta (Drums), Henning Ruemenapp (Guitar), and Sandra Nasic (Vocals), who was described in Bravo (German teeny magazine) as the "German Gwen Stefani" (Frontwoman from No Doubt) are the Guano Apes. Meanwhile, if you ask a complete stranger somewhere and somehow about the Guanos, theyÕll start singing. Hmmm? Have those nice kids from Goettingen somehow landed a hit? Yeah, a real Hit: ÔOpen your eyes, open your mind, proud like...Õ. The debut album released in October '97, ÔProud Like A GodÕ, is now bouncing around the Top 30 of the official charts and continues to sell like hotcakes. The readership of Visions Magazine have voted the band ÔNewcomer of the YearÕ. TheyÕve also shot a video and anybody watching MTV or Viva for more than an hour will definitely see it. The band is meanwhile so much in demand that theyÕre playing the main stages this year at the Bizarre Festival in Cologne and at Rock am Ring. Those are just some of the reasons why we, three unassuming Caput employees, have driven to the rehearsal studio of the crossover-specialists in Goettingen. Actually we only wanted to meet Sandra so we can brag to our friends, but we still asked the band about their success. And, oh well, Sandra only showed up after the interview was long over. Nevertheless, over the course of several pleasant glasses of sparkling wine, a conversation as tingling as champagne develops that we donÕt want to keep from you, beloved readers, any longer. Caput: In Yemen they heat with shit. Where and how is Guano used then? Dennis: Yeah well, but they heat more with the gases...... You use Guano as dung for flowers. Stefan: Guanos are also the little screws on trailer-trucks. They go in, through, and out through the front again so the trailers can be unloaded. Caput: Really???? Stefan: Nah! Caput: Yeah, O.K. In any case, you guys are successful, and thatÕs the most important thing. Are you already in the Top 50? Henning: Clearly. (Feb. 26, No. 18 in the Album Charts: EditorÔs note.) Caput: So, now IÕd like to know: How can you tell that youÕre successful? Dennis: I think you can tell that from how many people come to the concerts. Caput: And, how many come then? Dennis: It varies. Between 200 and 1000, and thatÕs a good average. Because we actually figured on 30 to 70 people, and then all at once it took off, and then so many people were coming. Aside from that, you can also tell the level of success from the record sales figures. Caput: Did you ever have the following situation: Somebody comes and asks you for an autograph please, but on the backside? Dennis: No, up to now it was always only the front, but IÕm always happy to do that. Henning: For example, there was a nice story in Duisburg. We arrived sometime in the afternoon, so at a time when you actually donÕt go to a concert yet. We get out of the bus, and right away weÕre hijacked by someone with a notebook and torn out magazine articles, and we had to sign everything, eight times altogether. That was funny, because she just got us in an unguarded moment. I mean, it was just 4:00 oÕclock in the afternoon. We wouldÕve walked right by her because she was just standing around, and then she said, ÔHey, could you maybe sign hereÕ. Sick. Caput: Yeah, pretty much. Is there actually a scene, Hardcore, Hip-Hop, something along those lines, like it was before? Stefan: Yeah, my Granny is pretty heavy. Caput: Are you a pop band? Are there people who accuse you of selling out the scene? Stefan: No, but if there were it wouldnÕt make much difference to us. No one has done it yet. Dennis: Basically we are poppers. Stefan: A little bit of everything! Dennis: As far as that goes itÕs also hard to say that we belong to one scene or another. At the moment weÕre being pigeon-holed more in the Snowboard corner. But what kind of music do Snowboarders listen to? Caput: No idea! Dennis: They listen to everything from Techno to chart music to Hardcore and everything in between. Henning: But I think the bands themselves are really the last ones to align themselves with a particular scene. ItÕs just the people; they think weÕre making music especially for Snowboarders. ItÕs just always a generalization. Caput: YouÕre definitely open then to different styles and directions? Henning: If the issue is our personal stylistic direction, then I really would define our music as Crossover , although the term is completely used up meanwhile. But its basic definition most closely describes our music: Crossover, made up of all possible styles! ThatÕs probably because we donÕt all just listen to one musical direction, and we try to be open to everything. ThatÕs where the CROSSOVER comes from. Caput: What are your influences then? Dennis: From Jazz to Heavy Metal. Caput: What kind of people buy your record? Who goes to your concerts? Henning: IÕd like to know that too myself. Dennis: That varies a lot! Henning: No! (big commotion, to-ing and fro-ing, tumultuous circumstances) Dennis: Uhmm,... that just varies a lot! (Laughter) Nah, itÕs really like that. Sometimes you have, like, 40-year old mothers and like, little kiddies too, but who makes up the majority is hard to figure. Henning: ItÕs even happened sometimes at gigs that the promoter has said, ÔPlease donÕt start too late... you probably have a young audience and they want to get back home early!Õ. Generally though, the Teenies donÕt stand in the first row and throw their underwear onto the stage. Caput: Is it true too that youÕve been pelted with stuffed animals? Dennis: They were bought! Caput: Really? (Stupid laugh) You donÕt have a special Ôtarget groupÕ then that you tailor your music for? Henning: We just make the music thatÕs fun for us. Caput: Thanks. We just wanted to hear that. Henning: Those are trick questions... Caput: How important to you is your image? Dennis: The people also project the image onto you. If youÕre associated with a particular scene, then the people automatically subscribe a particular image to you. For example, in Bravo it said that weÕre the new Snowboarder cult band. Caput: You were in Bravo?! (Astonished silence...) Dennis: What, you mean you didnÕt read Bravo as a kid? Caput: Uh, yeah... Dennis: And were you ever a bad person? Caput: Worse than today... Henning: First a fundamental question. What is ÔImageÕ anyway? Dennis: What kind of image do we have? Caput: I just mean the kind of thing that could put you in danger of being pushed into a certain category. Henning: ThatÕs actually not important for us. We also donÕt say to ourselves, `weÕre making this record to reach this or that audience, rather we do - especially live too - as always, whatÕs fun for us and what we can bring over. Caput: ThatÕs naturally O.K. What is it like then to slip, virtually overnight, into this whole record company machine, with things like marketing and such? Dennis: ThatÕs when the work starts. Then you work up a concept with the people from the record company, when itÕs going to be released, etc. Then promotion starts and you can see what the first sales figures are like. It was pretty heavy with us. Right from the start we had 11,000 records out, and thatÕs quite a lot for a Newcomer band. I was scared shitless that we wouldnÕt get rid of them. Up until now everythingÕs gone fairly ÔeasyÕ. But when you sign a record contract, then of course you have to get competent help, a manager and lawyer and so on. Especially because a lot of record companies were after us, and as a musician you have no idea about things like that. And in the end we found our dream company in Supersonic, too. Caput: Can you hype yourself too without all the machinery? Dennis: On your own in Germany you can play until your fingers bleed, and then maybe too the right person is at the right place at the right time and you get the odd article here and there. But thatÕs already something completely different now with Rock Hard, Hammer, Visions & Co. (German music mags). TheyÕre all starting now to write bigger reports just because weÕre successful. If you refuse every interview and just avoid all of that, youÕll never make it. Henning: You have to be clear right from the start about what it is you want to acheive. If you say to yourself from the beginning, `weÕll do it all ourselves, purely as a hobby, then you donÕt need all that stuff. But if you have the chance like us not just to have fun but also to earn money doing this, then at some point having that stuff becomes a priority because you simply just canÕt do it all by yourself anymore. Then you have so much to do just to take care of your business that you hardly have any time to make music. Also, you donÕt have the experience or the connections that someone has who does it professionally. That means that you would have to struggle for years. Dennis: Then youÕre old and you can retire. Caput: Are you already making money? Stefan: The record company is too greedy. Caput: But thatÕs your dream company... Dennis: Yeah, for this reason. We didnÕt want to earn any money doing this. So, we got an advance against the record sales, and you can survive on that for a while, but itÕs hard. But now the gig fees have gotten pretty high, which is of course a nice side effect, and I think weÕll get through the summer without starving. Caput: YouÕve also already shot two videos. Uh,... how was it? Dennis: Stressful, nervy, hard work ... and all that drinking in between... Caput: Where did you shoot the video for ÔRainÕ (Scheduled 2nd single, editorÕs note)? Dennis: In Spain, in the Sierra Nevadas. Unfortunately without vacation. We were supposed to get that actually, but it fell out because we had to shoot so much. Henning: Shoot for two minutes, wait on the sun for fifteen minutes, shoot for three minutes, wait for the sun for twenty minutes... Dennis: Shooting the first video (ÔOpen Your EyesÕ, almighty editorÕs note) was pretty funny, because there was alcohol on the set. With ÔRainÕ there was an alcohol ban, and I didnÕt like that so much... You always imagine that itÕs very interesting, and at the beginning it is still interesting, but what you do the most is wait. Stefan: Really? Dennis: Yeah, you always just jerked-off! Caput: How long do you shoot a video like that? Dennis: ÔOpen Your EyesÕ took two days. And ÔRainÕ took four and a half days - just filming. Then itÕs edited and so on. Caput: So, a clever question: WhatÕs coming in the future? Dennis: Yeah, weÕre going to tour a lot, at some point thereÕll be a second record, and maybe sometime weÕll get a couple of groupies too, that would be really nice. Henning: Sandra has 'em. Dennis: Yeah. Not us. (Both sound very depressed...) Caput: How does it look for the summer festivals? Dennis: Weeellll, the two Ômost importantÕ festivals will definitely be Bizarre and Rock Am Ring. Caput: How was it actually at ÔVivasionÕ with Stefan Raab (popular talkmaster in a music TV)? Dennis: Shitty. I actually just wanted to get away from there. My girlfriendÕs birthday was on the same day, and the guy got on my nerves a little bit. Finally, frontwoman Sandra also shows up with a big hello and everything that goes with it. A continuation of our chat however proves to be impossible as a result of the admirably high alcohol level of the Apes ... One more delightful Ape-shit joke to close: Dennis: What says ÔNooNooÕ? A cuckoo with a harelip... (Hihihi, very amused editorÕs note) from: CAPUT February 98 Writer: Markus Balk, Simon Balk, Marcel Merling, Tim Rittmann, Stephan Schwingeler