Rammstein

Just how far should a band go to win over a crowd? Rammstein go further. Some musicians breathe flames, Till Lindemann sings while engulfed in them. And that’s just to open the show. With only a handful of American dates under their belts, the buzz surrounding German industrial metal giants Rammstein is spreading like wildfire, propelling their Sehnsucht debut to gold status only six months after its release, and earning them the second headliner’s position on Korn’s Family Values tour. That may seem a bit ironic for a band whose lyrics hammer from brazen metal imagery to treading a fine line between sweetly erotic and disturbing sexual extremes. Then again, when the song titles in question are smash single and MTV Buzz Clip “Du Hast”-which translates to English, “You Hate”-and the more provocatively penned “Küss Mich,” “Tier” and “Spiel Mit Mir”-“Kiss Me,” “Beast” and “Play With Me,” respectively-the risk of being too risqué is lost. Rammstein are from Germany, sing entirely in German, and according to guitarist Richard Kruspe, who joined me on the phone from his homeland with a translator, they write their music in German, as well. Whether listening to their pair of tracks on David Lynch’s Lost Highway soundtrack-edits of ``Rammstein” and ``Hierate Mich,” their American unveilings-or any of the tracks on Sehnsucht, they slam with all the eerie forboding of a militant strike, twisting American metal and industrial with their foreign flair for results that crash between hollow hauntings and throbbing mayhem. Then there’s the performance. Live, the six imports from the other side of the crumbled Iron Curtain detonate more explosions than an air raid, and spew enough sexual imagery to dement even the sickest set of Family Values. Behold, America, the wrath of Rammstein is upon us…

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Kraftwerk

The history of Kraftwerk begins in 1970 when Florian Schneider-Esleben and Ralf Hütter, the founding members of the band, formed a group called Organisation. The Oranisation’s only album, Tone Float, was a mixture of tape loops, electronic feedback, and clanking rhythms. It was decidedly experimental compared to what the rest of the musical world was doing, and while a German record contract was landed, the LP did very little in the way of sales. By the end of that same year, however, the group had morphed into Kraftwerk.

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Jann Klose

Jann Klose was born in Germany, and raised in Kenya and South Africa, and then returned to Germany as a teenager. Then he went to Cleveland, Ohio as an exchange student (where he first learned to play piano and guitar). He has been cast in the touring company of Broadway’s Jekyll and Hyde, the European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Tommy (where he played “The Pinball Wizard” in the NJPAC production). Jann has worked alongside artists like Les Paul, Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Rosanne Cash, and Marty Stuart.

His musical stylings have led critics to compare him to Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Seal, Sting, and Kurt Weill to name a few. His most recent work Reverie has been said to be made largely with fan support. His latest digital EP Sacrifice is available for download now.  He also had a music video, “Doing Time,” which was made with fans and students at the New York Film Academy. 

Jann Klose will be performing in Chicago on Nov. 16 and 17 at the Uncommon Ground for the Jeff Buckley Tribute, and then in Winnetka on the 18th for the Valslist.com Living Room Session.

Maximum Ink: What was it like to grow up in Kenya and South Africa?
Jann Klose: I got to see a lot of Eastern and Southern Africa as a child. My parents loved to travel and took us with them, everywhere. It was a very good life.

MI: Was it very different in Germany?
JK: My parents got divorced in South Africa and my brother and I stayed with my Dad. My grandparents ended up moving to Johannesburg to help out since my dad worked full time. When we moved back to Germany my brother and I lived with our grandparents for a few years. A lot changed, not just culturally, but personally in our lives after leaving Africa.

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Michael Schenker

On tour now to celebrate the thirtieth(!) anniversary of his self-named group, German guitar wizard Michael Schenker has been shredding since first joining his older brother, Rudolf’s band, The Scorpions, in 1970. In the middle of that decade, British band UFO snapped him up and they went on to record a new wave of British Heavy Metal classics like “Lights Out” and “Too Hot To Handle”. With his signature Flying V guitar, Teutonic presence, and unique playing style, he took the band to the next level of popularity around the world despite the language gap between him and his English-speaking bandmates. After leaving the band, he struck out on his own to form MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP (better known as MSG and Schenker is known for being no stranger to “preservatives” himself) in 1980 and released hard rock anthems like “Armed and Ready” and “Gimme Your Love”. Throughout the 90’s and Aughts, Schenker reunited with UFO and continued MSG in various forms, revolving the door to bring musicians in. Currently, this tour brings him back together with original MSG vocalist Gary Barden as well as the guy who literally wrote the book on rock drumming (1972’s Realistic Rock Drum Method), Carmen Appice, who’s played with everyone from Ozzy to Rod Stewart, Vanilla Fudge to Jeff Beck.

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