[Internet] cafebabel.com 28.03.08

En anglais mais assez intéressant point de vue.

source : cafebabel.com ICI

Young,
extremely successful - and extremely annoying for some. Why are teen
bands like Estonia's 'The Bedwetters' and Denmark's 'Dúné' storming the
charts across Europe?



Killerpilze in concert (Photo: © Universal Music Group)


Band
members are getting younger, and their fans even more so. It is not at
all easy being ickle and being part of a chart-topping band. Fabi, the
drummer of the German punk band 'Killerpilze' ('Killer Mushrooms') is
the tender age of just fourteen. In 2006 the band, named after
oversized mushrooms on a pizza, released their debut album Die Invasion
der Killerpilze ('The Invasion of the Killer Mushrooms'). Their second
album Mit Pauken und Raketen ('Cramming and Trumpets') followed in 2007
- and they were already tipped to be the next 'Tokio Hotel'.



Tokio
Hotel of course are the four-piece band that have managed not only to
get teenagers in the whole of Europe, as well as in their native
Germany. For English fans, singer Bill Kaultiz sings in English. For
his French aficionados, the shock-headed singer always has the phrase
je m’appelle Bill ('My name is Bill!') at the ready. Recently, it was
the turn for thrilled US teenagers who caught the Magdeburg-hailing
band at a sell-out concert in New York.

Bill, his twin brother
Georg, Tom and Gustav have just picked up a German music industry award
'Echo' for 'best national msuic video'. The prejudices and resentments
which until now seem to have been sealed in concrete, seemed to have
vanished. In the French collège André Cotte in Saint Vallier sur Rhône,
south of Lyon, pupils are staying longer on a Friday afternoon. 'The
pupils have asked me whether I could sing Tokio Hotel songs with them.
And when they’re so inspired by something, you have to do it,' says
German teacher Muriel Kemence.

Ever since 14 July 2007, when
French president Nicolas Sarkozy booked them to play under the Eiffel
Tower on France’s national holiday, Tokio Hotel’s popularity in France
has risen. Since then, young French people have favoured German again,
a language which was banished for a long time. The Goethe Institutes in
the whole of France talked of a 'wave of registrations' for German
courses. But what’s so fascinating about Tokio Hotel? According to
Sarah, 'they’re young and handsome, especially Bill.' Fourteen-year-old
Florian adds 'they have got good voices' and fellow classmate
Pierre-Louis says that 'Tokio Hotel are special because you don’t
normally hear songs with German lyrics in France.'

Nappies for Europe’s rock scene

But
Tokio Hotel are not the only band which are having success in other
countries. In France baby rockers like 'Naast', 'Plastiscines' or 'BB
Brunes' are booming. In December, 'The Bedwetters' from Estonia, whose
members are aged between 17 and 20, won the MTV Music Award in the
category 'sound of Europe'. The names of the bands, which are obviously
targeted towards younger people, make for good, purposeful marketing
and a 'Tokio Hotel wave' which is rippling right through Europe.


From
the Baltics we go to Denmark, where 'Dúné' were nominated as band of
the year at the 2008 Danish Music Awards. The seven lads, with an
average age of 20, cleared up with the 'P3 gold award', the most
important music award in Denmark. Other than that, they have recently
won the European border breaker award (EBBA), which is given out every
year by the European commission at the Cannes music exhibition. The
purpose of it is to help new, young bands become known beyond the
borders of their own country.



Dúné pictured right after a concert (Photo: Gregers Tycho/ myspace Dúné


Soundtrack to growing up

So,
what’s behind the success that makes European school children go crazy?
On the homepage of Killerpilze, the band boast that their fans can
identify with their music and lyrics. 'It’s close to the themes of
living and growing up. That creates a lot of authenticity.' The three
Killerpilze members from Dillingen in Germany weren’t put together by
an agent, but met when they went to the same school. They’ve been
playing music for five years, getting involved with initiatives like
Kein Bock auf Nazis! ('Nazis – not my thing!') and through their own
initiative Punk macht Schule ('punk makes school'), resulting in a
school which was built in Ethiopia.

Tokio Hotel on the other
hand get their tailored-to-suit hits from professional songwriters
about topics ranging from love, suicide and divorce, and which attract
young ears. Painted fingernails, manga style haircuts and black make-up
around the eyes do the rest, ensuring they they stand out in the line
up of young bands.

Orban would be thrilled

The massive
following these bands manage to get is, not least, thanks to their
multi-language homepages. The Killerpilze site offers three languages,
whilst Dúné’s homepage have just come up with nine different little
flag icons on their site. On top of that there are also special sites
for Canadian and American fans.

In an interview with Deutschland
Online Magazin, Patrik Majer, a music producer from Berlin, explains a
possible and more down beat reason for the success of German bands
abroad. 'They are unique in their style, with their music which in some
ways sounds very German, even though they are orientated towards
American rock music. That means that German artists with a certain
special touch can be successful abroad.'

More probable reasons
for success, however, are the lyrics, which share the inner thoughts of
the young people and the sophisticated marketing. Titles range from
Killerpilze's Ich glaube du stehst auf Blümchensex ('I think you fancy
gentle sex') and Tokio Hotel's Schrei, bis du du selbt bist ('scream
until you are yourself'). Are these the results of a well engineered PR
machine or talent and hard work? What is sure is that the music
industry has found a cow to milk, so to speak, after the slump in CD
sales as a result of download services and music file sharing programs.
It’s clear why the target group has to be so young.


Photos:
homepage scream! (© Markus Merz/ Flickr), Killerpilze in concert and
Tokio Hotel album cover (© Universal Music Group), The Bedwetters album
cover - the 5-piece have been together since 2004 (© copyright 2008
Bebo), Dúné pictured right after a concert (Photo: Gregers Tycho/
myspace Dúné), Brood over Bill of Tokio Hotel (© Jens Boldt/ Universal
Music Group)

Source Vampire G pour http://tokiohotel-belgium.zikforum.com

Pas le courage nan plus,
mais mercii =D

et la beull' photo de Bill
[bon bon je me la ferme --']