Kraftklub singer Felix Kummer explains why death shouldn’t be taboo, what changed Mexico’s “Día de los muertos” and questionable developments from once progressive artists.
Kraftklub released a new record at the end of November 2025. Reason enough to ask Felix Kummer five quick questions. A conversation about the taboo topic of death, intoxication and excess and questionable developments by once progressive artists.
What’s worse: DIE IN KARL-MARX-STADT or live in Chemnitz?
Jesus Christ! Things are starting well here.
You’re all in your mid-thirties now. Is that old enough to be so intensely concerned with death?
Well, we would have liked to have dealt with him much later. But that’s the thing with death: even if you pretend it doesn’t exist, it still appears.
Why now?
Many of the lyrics had been lying around for a while, but I didn’t know whether they could be turned into songs. You also notice from your question before: Death is somehow a taboo topic. We all deal with it at some point, some distant day in the future. If any. Actually, no one wants to talk about it, let alone sing about it. And we felt the same way. That’s just how we’re socialized here. Then two years ago we were invited to Mexico City by Panteon Roccoco to play a few concerts with them. At the same time, they celebrated “Día de los Muertos” there. Which is a completely different way of dealing with death. And somehow we were probably a little bit inspired by that. We started the first demos in Mexico City.
In addition to death, celebration is the second major theme, exemplified in “When I’m dead, I’ll start again.” Are intoxication and excess the only way out of the current crisis?
Where we come from, the way we grew up, celebrating is political. It was always about finding places where people can be who they are. Alternative places where people don’t get bullied because they’re different. The night as a great promise to feel connected. It feels like intoxication and excess are just the companions, it works without it, but sometimes it’s fun.
“But there’s nothing you can do about it, eventually you’ll turn right,” you sing. When will that happen to you?
Well, that’s the question. It’s always just the others. But what if in twenty years people also regret their strength club tattoos because we started telling some crude theories on podcasts? I found it spectacular how some progressive artists and personalities that I admired developed. But we also observed this among our friends. Noticeably often from the early fifties onwards. Then again, we still have a few more years, it remains exciting.