derwahnsinn

[derwahnsinn]

Oliver Riedel dancing

Oliver Riedel focuses on the stick man dance in Dresden, 15.05.2024.

(x)

[derwahnsinn]

The bus driver had cleaned up the bus, and had accidentally thrown away Richard's credit card, as it had just been lying around. Unfortunately for Richard, someone had thrown a lot of building rubble into the container just afterwards, so he had to dig around for half an hour before he finally found it.

On the 12th of June 1996, Rammstein played a concert in Herford, Germany. It was part of the spring leg of their Herzeleid tour, which span from August 1995 until December 1996.

There was a lottery where you could win tickets for this concert (the article already hinted: "Rammstein could be on the verge of a breakthrough"):

and here's a slightly snarky review from a concert-goer (his final sentence: "I can definitely recommend it, just don't stand right at the front.... And leave your girlfriend at home"). Apart from that, it seems to have been a normal gig.

Except I found this photo here today (original source: Ezzy on Facebook), which is dated exactly on this day - Richard in construction worker mode 👷🏽‍♂️:

And I simply can't figure out the context 😄 What could that have been? Voluntary work? Last-minute renovations at the club? I'm clueless (for now) 🔍

[derwahnsinn]

This guitar wants to be attacked harder

Interview Richard Kruspe 'Gitarist' magazine, edition june 2025, text by Kevin Pasman, translation by Google&me

Richard Z. Kruspe is very satisfied with his signature guitar. There are a number of interesting design choices, many of which are the result of his own experiments. We spoke to Kruspe about the LTD RZK-III, about his relationship with ESP, about the switch to Kemper he recently made and about the Fender Stratocaster that he had smuggled to East Berlin in the eighties.

"I had this guitar designed from a standing position," says Kruspe. "I normally always pick my guitars from a sitting position. I first played this one live, standing up, and the shape is designed to play comfortably when you're standing.

The differences are interesting. It has a kill switch, but because I always played while sitting down, I used to have it in a different place. Much further down. When I started playing it live, I discovered that it is not comfortable to be placed there at all when you are standing. We adjusted that at the last minute."

"I feel like this guitar has a certain live feel to it. You somehow want to attack it harder than other guitars. It has a kind of 'bring it on' mentality. It wants to be played hard. It's not a jazz guitar; it wants to be riffed. It has an attitude. At least that's how I experience it."

Bend

A notable feature of the RZK-III is the recessed tune-o-matic bridge.

"Before this, I played with Floyd Rose bridges for years," Kruspe explains. "I chose that because they have a certain attack, but I didn't use the tremolo system at all. That's why I wanted to try something different this time, focusing purely on sound. This tailpiece was ultimately the best option in terms of sound of the three variants that I tried."

"There was just one problem: normally there is a crazy bend in the neck when you use a tailpiece like this. We had to find a solution for that, because it just didn't feel comfortable to me. With a Floyd Rose everything is a lot flatter and if you play it for years, you naturally get used to it."

"To imitate the light playing feel of a Floyd Rose, we came up with the idea of ​​sinking the bridge into the body. I did that here in Berlin with a good friend of mine. We figured out exactly how deep we could go into the body without affecting the sound and playing feel."

"It was a matter of trial and error. We sent the guitar that we were happy with to Japan and it was recreated there. This idea started when I was working on a video for my solo project Emigrate in 2021 and it ultimately took about four years before everything was finally in such a way that it could actually be produced."

Illegal

Kruspes signature humbuckers from Fishman can also be found in the RZK-III. For the need for humbuckers, Kruspe talks about his second guitar ever: "A Fender. That was still in East Germany, so it was completely illegal at the time. I had met someone in a cafe who brought books from the West to the East. I gave him my money - 12,000 Ostmark which I exchanged for 1200 Westmark - and I asked him if he could buy me a Stratocaster and take it with him. After that I didn't hear from him for three months. So I thought: okay, that money is gone. But then, just before Christmas, there was a suitcase on my doorstep with that Stratocaster."

"Because I had only played with humbuckers before and didn't know at all what single coils and humbuckers were at the time, I was a bit disappointed by the sound when I first played it. Nowadays at home I often play on single coils, on a Fender, because it's just fun to play Hendrix-like riffs and things like that. But the riffa that I write for Rammstein and Emigrate: those are humbucker riffs."

Tiger

Kruspe's relationship with ESP goes back to the early days of Rammstein in the mid-1990s: "It started when I was at the Frankfurter Musikmesse for the first time and saw a guitar at the ESP stand that I completely fell in love with," says Kruspe. "That was an ESP 901, which I jumped on like a tiger on its prey, haha! I've probably had that guitar in my hands ten times. It was the first guitar where I felt love at first sight."

"Because I started playing that guitar, I came into contact with Stefan Kühn, who arranged sales and distribution here in Germany. That's how the contact came about. ESP was of course already an address for hard music, or a hard way of playing, in the eighties. They were always good at improving existing designs."

Stability

Despite Rammstein's modern sounds, Kruspe has long stuck to playing with amplifiers. A few years ago he switched to Kemper.

“My equipment had become so complicated that our front-of-house friends were starting to get more and more annoyed with it,” he laughs. "No one wanted to work with me anymore, haha! I had to simplify that somehow."

"I profile all my amplifiers myself. After a lot of work and searching for the right profiles in my studio, I noticed that it works better for the people we work with because we now have the same sound every day. That is also one of the reasons why I switched to Fishman. With EMGs I had the feeling that the differences were too big. The Fishman pickups all sound exactly the same. That stability is very important to me.

"Nowadays you can actually switch from extremely clean to extremely heavy. You cannot do that with an amplifier. The advantages of a Kemper are ultimately greater than the small difference in sound that only I hear and that is becoming increasingly smaller. Taking analog equipment with you on tour became so complicated at a certain point that it was no longer in proportion,"

"When you travel with 110 trucks, it doesn't really matter whether you take analog equipment or not. But for the front-of-house engineer and the monitor engineer it's just much easier. And a lot of things happen automatically. I work with MIDI, so I no longer have to switch between sounds myself. This allows me to concentrate more on the playing itself."

"Moreover, it is of course true that you always need an amplifier to create a profile. The hardware always has to be there. But you no longer have to take it with you on tour. The advantages are gradually far more numerous than the disadvantages."

"I do still have two cabinets to create a certain sound pressure from the back. But that is more a kind of monitor system for the band itself."

Synergy

It also helps that Kruspe and his fellow guitarist Paul Landers have had a clear idea of ​​how Rammstein's guitar sound works for years. On the studio albums this is still determined by a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Tech21 SansAmp.

"When you hear Rammstein's sound, you just know: that is a Rectifier sound, which gets a certain presence from the SansAmp," Kruspe summarizes.

"That hasn't changed much over the years. It's not like Paul only played SansAmp and I only played Rectifier: we both work on both systems."

"We found a good synergy between these two amplifier sounds. It would sound extremely different if we were to completely separate left and right. But because it is a combined form that sounds exactly the same left and right, it comes out as one sound."

"It's not like Malcolm and Angus Young, who always play different things. Then it makes sense to play with different sounds. But if we have the same stereo image on the left and right, it works great."

--

The magazine also has a review of the LTD RZK-III by Steven Faber; some (less technical) quotes that i particularly liked:

"The neck is made of three parts of maple and continues into the body, which is further made of alder. On the rosewood fingerboard we see the well-known position marking in the shape of the Rammstein symbol and the twenty-two stainless steel extra jumblf frets are perfectly finished."

"On the back we see the RZK symbol with Richard giving us the middle finger. On the Japanese ESP version it is on the front with 'Fuck' underneath, but that had to be adjusted on this model to make it suitable for American retail chains. On the back we also find a compartment for the battery of the Fluence elements and on the headstock Kruspe's signature."

"The RZK-III is designed to be played standing up and its contoured body makes it ideal for that. If you want to sit, that's fine, but - and this applies to most asymmetrical models - there are guitars that are more ergonomic. The neck has a translucent satin finish on the back that feels very pleasant while playing. And speaking of playability: I'm a fan of Kruspe's idea to integrate the tune-o-matic into the body. It somehow gives you a feeling of control, especially when you play muted parts."

"Besides the fact that the kill switch works excellently, it is especially funny that you can reverse the working of it so that you only have sound when you press it. That sounds different and immediately gives ideas for using it creatively in combination with effects such as delay."

"With the appearance of his third signature, Richard Kruspe will appeal to a wider audience, because this guitar can just as easily be imagined in the picture of a blues band as with Rammstein on stage. It is stylish, plays well and sounds excellent. The two voicings give you a wide palette of sounds and we did not miss the tone control. A class instrument!"

--

[derwahnsinn]

😍

paul, oliver & schneider | gelsenkirchen 1 (2024) | credit: iinchicore

[derwahnsinn]

An interesting thing about this photo, is that the guy on the left is not Schneider, but a fan.

[derwahnsinn]

Keine Lust at the Europe Drum Show

Christoph Schneider playing Keine Lust at the Europe Drum Show. From Schneider's Instagram.

(x)

[derwahnsinn]

Flake in Knorkator's "Das Unheil" Video

Flake Lorenz is starring in Knorkator's music video for their new song "Das Unheil". I think he did a great job with his character, and I laughed through the video. It may not be for everyone, so watch at own risk!

[derwahnsinn]

Richard interview with Guitar World

Another interview with Richard Kruspe, this time with Guitar World. Some answers are very much the same as others in this batch, although there are a few very nice tidbits here.

A few snippets:

You’ve written a lot of thunderous riffs over the years. Which one are you most proud of?

“I honestly don’t know. But I do remember the first time I played the Rammstein riff. It was actually when I was in a band called Orgasm Death Gimmick. It’s a very simple idea that still gives me goosebumps every time I play it. It’s one of my oldest riffs but a very specific idea that created the concept of Rammstein.

“Our riffs are quite simple. These days I see so many people widdling away and shredding. But in general, I think a guitar player should focus more on rhythm than soloing. All the players I loved were great rhythm players, even if some of them could solo too. The picking hand is the most important thing to me.”

What are the trademarks of a classic Rammstein riff?

“To create a Rammstein riff, you have to think simple but also think huge. There needs to be a lot of space. And finally... you need a lot of luck!"

(...)

You and Paul Landers are one of the most dynamic forces in metal. How do you make each other sound better?

“It works best when he leaves the sound to me! No, I love Paul, but we are very different, like day and night. The polite thing to say is we let each other play to our strengths, in whatever positions that might be. We are not like Malcolm and Angus. We like different things – Paul is a SansAmp guy; I’m more into analog.

“I used to drive people crazy with my live rig in the early days. I wanted the same sound I had in the studio, so I bought all the preamps, mics, tents, iso-cabs. There was a whole truck just for my guitar equipment! After a while, I thought, ‘Fuck it, let’s try that Kemper thing!’ and life became so much easier.”

Like you say, it helps when two sounds come together as one.

“Exactly. We create one big sound together. That way we don’t have to argue over who is playing what. One goes left, the other goes right, and it’s the same information with our own unique tones. Very occasionally we’ll play different parts or in different octaves, but mostly we’re doing the same thing together.

“It can be a struggle, to be honest. It’s not easy having another guitarist with their own opinion about music. It takes a lot of communication and listening. Sometimes you need to put your ego to one side and let the other person lead. It’s a compromise – but sometimes those compromises will lead to good things.”

Photo: Paul Harries

[derwahnsinn]

alles gute, christoph 🤍

[derwahnsinn]

Flakekator!

Teaser for Das Unheil by Knorkator from Knorkator's Instagram story - it could appear as if Flake is starring as a Knorkator fanboy? Release date 16 May!

[derwahnsinn]

Flake and Knorkator

It seems like Flake Lorenz is going to be in Knorkator's music video for the upcoming single Das Unheil!

(x)

[derwahnsinn]

Schneider at OMR 2025

From Christoph Schneider’s Instagram stories.

[derwahnsinn]

Schneider - Thomann's Drum Bash

Lovely interview with Christoph Schneider, done at the Europe Drum Show by Thomann's Drum Bash. A small snippet:

«We got back to this "guh-guh-guh" straight thing, and it had so much impact which everybody liked, and then it was my role to play these kind of rhythms, and I felt like really stupid in the beginning, because no other drummer was playing like that, mostly - but became kind of my style, and ja - and then over the years, ja, people liked it, and we're getting better and better with that, and then you're also kind of adding other things to it.» (...) «Preparing starts early, ja, also, I'm doing since a couple of years, many years, a lot of sports. At least two times a week, kind of personal training, where I try to stay in shape. You need a little basic shape for drumming, you know it. This helps, but in terms of playing drums, the best fitness you get is from shows. From concerts. Ja, you can rehearse a lot before and yeah, but everything is cool also with the band in the rehearsal room playing through the whole set and so on, but the show becomes really good after like five to ten times playing it, then it's rolling. And when you're coming off a tour, then you have that mood - maybe for another four weeks, and it's fading away slowly. Ja.»

[derwahnsinn]

Rammstein shoe sizes

Since I thought I saw a post somewhere with someone wondering about Rammstein's shoe sizes, I figured I'd make a post about the two that I know about. I guess some might find it interesting.

Till Lindemann: Size 46

This is 100% certain, as a friend of mine asked him personally. Photo: Karli Saul.

Paul Landers: 45-47

This has a margin of error, because the source (someone checking an actual pair of shoes) said 12. I believe that was US 12, but there is of course a chance it could have been UK 12. While conversion charts sometimes show different values, US 12 seems to normally be between 45 and 46, while UK 12 is around 47. Photo: Jens Koch

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the shoe size of the other band members.

[derwahnsinn]

Whenever I see this, I think of Flake as the evil doctor commanding his Oliver-bot to terminate his enemies with his gaze of death.

"Down there! Attack!"

ZZZAPPP!

"All done, Master. That one over there next?"

"Yes! Mwahahahaha!"

©

[derwahnsinn]

Backstage in Dresden 15.05.2024

By request from @notafraidofredyellowandblue, I am posting some absolutely potato quality photos that I took of Richard Kruspe, Paul Landers, and Leo Raddatz backstage at Rammstein's show in Dresden 15.05.2024. The three of them were having a chat before the band went to the B-stage.

All photos by me.

[derwahnsinn]

Flake in Austria (with short hair!)

Flake Lorenz did a reading in Austria, and Marcel Jöbstl shared a photo and a video of the Rammstein keyboardist who has cut his hair short!

As short hair is my favourite Flake hairdo, I will have to start with a screenshot from the video of him signing a photo. The short, grey hair looks really good on him.

Also adding the full video clip, and the photo posted by Marcel.

(x)