How much back and forth was there during the course of the pandemic when booking, canceling, postponing, rescheduling your concerts – and how do you cope with it?
Everything has become hypothetical. A life in the maybe. Nothing is binding. You lose substance. Self-confidence has to do with being able to implement what you intend to do. When the world is random, you lose yourself. In addition, the mere occupation with the modelling, the consideration and calculation of every possible eventuality eats up all the energy and attention. They used to be invested in creativity. You become meaningless.
What keeps you going, how do you motivate yourself despite everything?
I’m stubborn and can’t give up. Also, as a writer of my music, I make some money when we’re not playing, so I can afford to be stubborn. But it’s already nagging at the stomach. I’m grumpier than I used to be, laugh less. Joy is rare.
How badly are you affected by the financial losses?
That’s clear, but it’s not yet existential, since I also earn money through the Gema, publishing rights, royalties or commissioned compositions. But for many others it is. After the collapse of the traditional record industry, the live business has become the main source of income for musicians. The wages have to come from somewhere. If not through record sales, then not through streaming, then at least through playing. That’s gone now too. A whole generation of musicians is condemned to amateurism.
It used to be a cardinal sin to cancel a concert, you almost had to have open-heart surgery to allow yourself that. Today canceling concerts has become like swiping on Tinder
How is your crew doing during this time?
Not good. No work, and if so, unsafe conditions, smaller budgets, lower wages. It used to be a cardinal sin to cancel a concert, you almost had to have open-heart surgery to allow yourself that. Today canceling concerts has become like swiping on Tinder. I hate it, it goes against everything we believe in.
How good or bad, bureaucratic or unbureaucratic was the state bridging aid?
In Switzerland there was a lot of government help, but I didn’t apply for it, I tell myself, as long as I’m still earning enough money with the royalties, it’s not for me.
What must and can politicians do and do better? Are there specific demands that you would like to defend?
Music is making an awful lot of money even during the pandemic, and the streaming services have record new registrations. That means the income, the money is there, it just doesn’t end up with those who produce the music. Politicians would have the room for maneuver to stop this. It would be helpful to legislate that the authors and performers of the music receive the bulk of the profits made. A European law is needed for this. Whoever creates the content and finances its production should get at least 50% of the revenue. Then the financing of the modern music industry would be solved and there would be no need for alms from the state. We’d just get what’s ours. As far as the live industry is concerned, there has to be a vaccination requirement so that the pandemic can end and we can play again to roaring audiences.
How did you experience the fans in 2021 – at your concert at ROLLING STONE Beach the atmosphere was very euphoric… Was it like that everywhere? Or were there also reserved reactions because people still felt uncomfortable in the crowd?
Rolling Stone Beach was at a time when there was just a window of sorts to freedom. People were euphoric, but also aware that it would soon be over. It was a kind of collective bachelorette party. In the winter it was much more uncomfortable. You go out and think, actually, that’s wrong.
How solidary do you experience the music scene, how do you exchange ideas with each other – if you do it?
There are beautiful collaborations. During lockdown this spring I worked with Bonaparte and LCD Soundsystem bassist Tyler Pope as we filmed a lockdown show together for Arte at Holzmarkt. This resulted in an EP that has just been released. This would not have happened without the pandemic.
The reactions are very aggressive and primitive. As do some anti-vaccinationists
You are also committed to compulsory vaccination on Twitter etc. (#vaccinationobligationnow) – what reactions did you get to this? What do you say to those who think this would take away their freedom?
The reactions are very aggressive and primitive. As do some anti-vaccinationists. I don’t understand why we leave our society out in the cold just to avoid hurting the feelings of a few narcissists. I also think they are given too much space. Yes, there are a few of them in Switzerland too, but that also has something to do with our past, in some areas we have anti-democratic mentalities that go back to the old Swiss Confederation before it was cultivated by Napoleon. Especially in rural areas, the state is described as a kind of threat, foreign rule. Populist parties like the SVP feed this narrative in order to catch votes there. But in the end, those very areas are totally dependent on the state and the democratic community that protects and sustains them.
Can you look forward to this year’s concerts without reservation – or are you afraid that things will continue like 2020 and 2021?
There is legitimate hope that Omicron will herald an endemic phase. Until then, two things have to work: as many as possible have to be vaccinated and no new, more sophisticated mutations can arise. I am very optimistic for the summer. We have already received a number of invitations, including for the new festival at the Tempelhof in Berlin. But the next three months will be tough, many people will die before their time, although it could have been prevented. Thanks to everyone who is helping to get out of here. This is rock’n’roll!