• Six years after “Sturm & Stille”, the new album of the Sportfreunde Stiller will be released on November 11 with “Jeder nur ein X”.
• After almost five years of band break, the three musicians have found together again. In an interview with our editorial team, drummer Florian “Flo” Weber and bassist Rüdiger “Rüde” Linhof talk about their new album and the difficult state of the world.
• Sportfreunde Stiller also have a clear opinion on social media and the soccer World Cup in Qatar.

Sportfreunde Stiller performed at Rock im Park for the first time in 1997. So this summer was their 25th anniversary. How have concerts and festivals changed during this time?

Florian “Flo“ Weavers: A lot has changed, especially for us. Our first concert at “Rock im Park” was at the New Talent Forum, at a time when the doors weren’t even open yet. We were totally happy to be there at all. But there was no one there at all. By the third song, the doors were unlocked and three or four people stumbled in, wanting to crash. And from there we got big gigs, co-headlining or headlining on the alterna stage. This development is of course insane. And now, after our five-year break, to be allowed to play again without knowing how we will be received and then to be carried by a euphoric wave – that’s the reason why you want to be a musician. You can draw on that for all these years. But what has changed fundamentally? Probably at “Rock am Ring” and “Rock im Park” 25 years ago, no band would have played after us doing hip hop with autotune vocals. Back then, they would have been fired from the stage with canned beer and mud balls. [laughs).

Rüdiger “Male dog“ Linhof: Ticket purchasing has also changed. Now you have to provide data that makes me totally uncomfortable. Everything is personalized, over-personalized from my point of view. But otherwise: rock’n’roll has remained rock’n’roll.

Artists are now looking into thousands of smartphones. How does that feel?

FW: This is a familiar sight for us. But, of course, this is totally bizarre. Why can’t people just enjoy the moment they’re experiencing for themselves, which in the best case they love very much and have paid for? We also once tried to tell people to please leave their cell phones plugged in so that we could celebrate the moment together. Now we haven’t said anything for a long time. Because it’s just part of normality. Zack, screen up and let anyone share. Actually, it sucks, but that’s just the way of the times.

The dangers of social media

The songs of the Sportfreunde are very popular on TikTok, many videos are underlaid with them…

FW: We’re glad to hear that, of course! But the question is probably, what do we think of TikTok?

Or of social media in general?

RL: Not to sound conservative, but I think social media is brutally dangerous. Society is being disrupted, all communication is being torn apart. Disinformation flushes the minds, we have not yet found any way to deal with that in our democratic system. We question professional press work, which is put on a par with social media opinions that are in no way professionally researched. The concept of truth is being blurred. On the one hand, it’s an art medium; on the other hand, social media is a medium that has extreme social influence. We have to realize that there is something system-blasting about it, especially when a country like Russia can slip into our social discourse via Trojan horses.

FW: You say that quite right, male. TikTok is still an art medium after all, presenting short films and music. We are aware that the consumption of music is going in a completely different direction. Eight years ago I was still upset about streaming, but now it’s quite normal to record and enjoy music in this way. I would like to point out that artists are still not fairly compensated. But we’re already familiar with a term like algorithm. [laughs). We know that if you want to be there, you have to fight for it. Of course, you can also say: We don’t do Instagram, TikTok or anything else. But then, of course, you have to live with having fewer platforms.

RL: For young artists, it’s also a huge opportunity at the same time. We come from the time of linear music television stations and we were in the luxury situation of getting on the playlists. Others didn’t get any attention at all. Nowadays, young artists can make a name for themselves just by communicating passionately. Again, that’s the positive thing about it.

Were the Sportfreunde on the brink of extinction?

The Sportfreunde took a break for five years. Was there no contact at all between the band members during this time?

FW: We met three times in three years. Those were meetings that our manager set up. It felt awkward, we didn’t know what to talk about.

How great was the danger that the Sportfreunde would no longer exist?

FW: It’s actually unimaginable, but it was possible. Now we get along as well as we did in the early days and feel euphoric. Now it’s easy to say that the break is responsible for that. But the ice was thin, wasn’t it, Rüde?

RL: Absolutely. When I saw them again, I thought, Wow, I’m a sports fan! That was so far away that I had almost forgotten the feeling. Our sound, our songs, this groove, I can only experience that with Peter and Flo. That is something very special.

In autumn the new album will be released “Each only one X“. How would you describe it musically?

FW: We broke new ground with our producer Tobias Kuhn. Our demo versions were actually typical Sportfreunde, Tobi then fiddled around with them again and gave us completely different ideas sound-wise. Now there are songs like “Ibrahimovic”, for example, which almost come across as dance-like. Something like that might not have existed six years ago. But it was exciting to go on an experimental journey with him. It was a mutual inspiration and cheering each other on. I think it’s a little less crashing, but still has energy and comes across as more elaborate. There’s a bit more depth in the lyrics, but the typical Sportfreunde vibe is there.

Do the sound and lyrics change automatically as you get older?

RL: The sound comes out of us. It’s quite important to have your own sound as a band. I think it’s not a decision how you sound. Otherwise you would be a project band. Like the Beastie Boys over 30 years ago, or The Notwist, who also made a break like that once. We’re always trying things out. But luckily we have our sound. Because it’s a cool sound, I really like it.

Singer and guitarist Peter Brugger will be 50 years old in November. What does that do to you?

RL: It’s kind of a crass thing to see that number coming at you. At the same time, there’s this feeling of, Wow, what a crass life this has been? What a fun life? A life full of stories, full of feelings, joy, celebrations and people. If someone had told me in the past that I, Peter or someday Flo would be able to look back on such a life at 50, I would have said: gladly. And then the day comes at some point, as the day comes to everything. As musicians, it has long been a question of how it is to get older on stage. But we just do what we do and feel what we feel. And time passes. And we still keep going because we love it. Everything that’s happened gives it a lot more justification at our current stage. And when we can’t do anything with it anymore, we just take a break again.

FW: As long as you don’t feel embarrassed about it yourself yet, it’s perfectly legitimate. And why should you feel embarrassed when you’re 50? Mick Jagger is still really having fun and being really good at 80. As long as I can walk and think, I want to be curious.

What influences the music of Sporfreunde Stiller?

“I look at our world and I almost tick off”. That’s how the song “Hand in Hand” begins. How much is the new album influenced by the current difficult situation in the world?

FW: Very. A song like “Zombie,” which is on the bonus record, is our individual take on the pandemic times that we found ourselves in, but that of course affected us. “I don’t give a shit about bad times” is our very clear stance on the fact that we know exactly what these bad times do to us, but that we have to accept them. That we also individually have bad times and lose people around us and still have to take a breath to get through those times. That’s why this sentence. Guardians” is also a very individual song.

Sportfreunde Stiller.

© Universal Music

What is it about?

FW: We overheard that a musician friend of ours was suffering from depression and we didn’t realize it at our meetings. That’s why we dedicated the song to him. The song “Ibrahimovic” is about the subject of fear. I had a terrible fear of flying myself and I know what a bad fear can do to you. Or now the fear of war. In “Hand in Hand” it also says, “I prefer to make plans. And together with you.” We don’t want to lose that view, even though the world seems to be exploding left and right right now. We should recognize that we are still doing well so far. We’d rather be part of a solution than a problem. But yes, the issues are getting murkier.

RL: I have to say something about that. I hear so much resignation and despair in the face of this time. But when I think about my childhood in the Cold War, there were a couple of atomic bomb tests in the atmosphere every year. There was the nuclear accident at Sellafield, there was the Vietnam War and terrorist organizations of various kinds from ETA to RAF. There was forest dieback and the hole in the ozone layer. These problems have been solved because a problem has been recognized and mastered. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, we have been doing quite well and now we are a bit out of the mode of being able to deal with big problems. We need strategies and then we have to implement them. That’s what we did during the Cold War and then somehow we were able to solve the problems. Now to stand around and say that this is the worst time in world history, I don’t want to accept that.

FW: We don’t do that either, do we?

RL: No. It’s just important to me to bang out that it’s super important to recognize what incredible things humanity has already accomplished. But you can only do that if you have a picture of what you want to achieve. And then you get a picture of how to get there. But the way we’re chickening out, of course, you can’t get anything done. This is simply an appeal to be united once again and look at what we have already achieved. Instead of just talking and burying our heads in the sand.

Sportfreunde Stiller had the greatest reach with the song “54, 74, 90, 2006“ during the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. You probably wouldn’t write a song for the World Cup in Qatar in the fall?

FW: That one would be called “LMAAFifa.” “Kiss My Ass, Fifa!”[laughs]. We are in the shitty situation of considering whether or not to boycott the World Cup in Qatar. I’ve decided for myself that I’m not going to do it. I love soccer and I want to continue to attend and support the game. As consumers, we can be attentive. Especially we as musicians have a platform to express ourselves. But no one needs to be told how shitty Fifa is.

What needs to happen instead?

FW: Who would have to stand up now is Oliver Bierhoff, for example. A concept would have to be found, for example with inscriptions on the jerseys, to say that the team stands for human rights and against the machinations of Fifa. How can a World Cup be awarded to Qatar? Where people have to build stadiums and die under such conditions. The boycotts must come from the athletes. And if they are not boycotts, then at least clear protests. So that there is a rethinking at Fifa. I love soccer and I look forward to the sporting games in winter. I just hope that the really important people will revolt accordingly.

RL: Sport has always been political. The greatest athletes have always had a clear opinion. And the World Cup in Qatar is a good occasion to clearly express the opinion.

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