Team Scheisse in an interview: “Nobody can afford not to take part”

Loud against the AfD: On Saturday, January 11th, Team Scheisse played live on the stage organized by the “Kein Bock auf Nazis” initiative at the large demonstration against the AfD party conference in Riesa. So they encouraged the demonstrators taking a stand against right-wing agitation.

And shortly afterwards they took each other Bassist Thomas Tegethoff and drummer Simon Barth Time for us to talk about the energy at the anti-AfD demo, but also about the general fight against rights, about the impact of Helene Fischer and what you can learn from Team Scheisse.

The setting: The two Team-Schisse members are sitting in their shared kitchen in Bremen, the daylight is shining in on them, a pot of tea is being made and… a cat appears purring in the video conversation. Here we go…

Would you like to take a quick look – how did you perceive January 11th in Riesa?

Simon Barth: I had the feeling there were two modes at the start. On the one hand, there was the big event right in front of the building where the Nazis met and where we also played. It was deliberately set up like a kind of small music festival, with acts and speakers. On the other hand, there were the activists who caused action all over the city. People glued or chained themselves to the streets in the most creative ways to block Nazis. And all of this in the most terrible temperatures and at truly unchristian hours, because some people had already driven there the night before to simply completely block this entire small town.

There are said to have been around 15,000 demonstrators on site. Did you notice that?

Simon: If you ask me, there could have been more people. The city seemed really crowded. It was super impressive and nice to see how many people from all over Germany drove to this remote place to take part.

In retrospect, there was also a lot of discussion about alleged police violence. What did you see?

Simon: Let’s start with the way in which the peaceful road blockades were cleared… There was clubbing and pepper spray used. Some people were even prevented from even going to the demo – the registered demo! Of course that’s not okay at all. Unfortunately, there was very little media coverage of this. Every now and then you would like to see media coverage in this direction so that it becomes clear how much effort people actually put into organizing actions like this.

Do you see it as your duty as a musician to take a clear political position?

Thomas Tegethoff: Already. I generally find it very difficult to be apolitical. Nobody can afford not to take part anymore.

Simon: Art reflects life and politics is part of life. Nobody has to make art that is political, but I like making politically related art, it can be very powerful. Especially when people stand on a stage with such broad social support behind them and talk about remigration. From this point on, every person is asked to take a political position. Regardless of whether you are an artist or not. There is no longer any room not to speak out when politicians talk about deporting people who are citizens. I can’t get it into my head anymore that you don’t take a position after something like that. It’s no longer a surprise for us that we think the AfD is shit. I would also like support from people who don’t make political art. If Helene Fischer, for example, had played there in Riesa, it would have had a completely different impact than us, who (hopefully) embody that to a certain extent anyway. I just wish that more artists would have the courage and not just let society slide into the abyss.

In your opinion, can resistance be strengthened through creativity?

Simon: In any case. But I wouldn’t immediately classify everyone who has a strong political opinion as resistance. I wouldn’t call Team Shit a resistance either. Having an opinion is the minimum, but that is not resistance. When it comes to resistance, you have to talk to the people who actually stick to the streets and who drive out at night to block Nazi cars. Sure, we can call for things and we can support and participate, but there are people who deal with it much more and more aggressively and are committed to it.

Are there any previous events that inspired you to express your attitude in music?

Simon: Yes, yes. I don’t want to call us a punk band so much – we come from a corner, but we’re somewhere completely different now. The scene that we come from and that we helped shape here in Bremen is clearly a political one, which is explicitly about building commercial places and having concerts take place there. Where it’s not all about the money, but where it’s about the content. Political issues were and are always at the core. Germany is also partly quite interesting because we have a subculture here, especially when it comes to punk, that many people don’t even notice, but which exists in many cities and actively creates spaces for political music or other political art. Of course, that really influenced us.

Would you say there is a big punk scene in Bremen?

Simon: There are many places here that are occupied or perhaps were once occupied and are now simply tolerated. There’s usually a lot going on there. From cooking together to making music to political events and concert events. Anyone who comes to the plenum can simply get on stage with their little punk band and get started. This all certainly suffered a bit during Corona, but it still exists and I think that’s very nice.

You are currently working on a new album. Would you say that the current social situation influences the realization of the song?

Simon: I don’t think we’re the most explicit band when it comes to this sort of thing, we’re rather silly. We often talk about social issues, but we usually think outside the box. Our album will certainly not be a complete treatise of the current political situation, but rather our personal examination of the current situation. Especially Timos [Warkus, Sänger und Songschreiber der Band; Anm. d. Red.] Dealing with the reality of life that he currently has – politically, but also personally. It’s sometimes difficult to separate that.

What are your goals with the band?

Thomas: Just keep doing it as long as it’s fun – that’s the goal. And we will continue to stand up for things that we think are right.

Simon: We don’t have a master plan for the political rescue of Germany, but if there’s one thing you can take away from Team Scheisse, it’s that as a band you can have a little more courage to express your opinion without it ruining anything. People are also very afraid of it. Artists are afraid of not feeding the social media algorithm properly, afraid to take breaks, afraid to say certain things they might want to say. And maybe you can learn from Team Scheisse that you can simply process something in a song or make a small statement without completely stressing yourself out. If you lose a few fans, you might gain some again on another site. I hope that we can encourage a few smaller artists to not be so stressed about things like this and to just be more relaxed.