Q: Congratulations on the new album, if I counted correctly, it is
album number 24 from THE BUSTERS.
What makes the new album special?
Joe: Thank you very much.
This time it is a very emotional and intimate album.
We sing about themes such as friendship, toxic
relationships, depression, death, but also the right-wing shift is still
a topic.
That sounds quite heavy at first, but we have managed to package these
themes into catchy and exhilarating songs. You can celebrate to it just as
well as with our previous albums. At the same time, these
themes, which many people know from their own lives, might hit the heart even
more directly than on some of our earlier records.
Q: I find your album radiates a remarkable lightness.
It smiles or almost grins at you. How did you achieve that?
Joe: I think we completely freed ourselves from our self-imposed
rules this time and let our creativity run free during the composition process.
We didn't try to forcefully write “Busters songs.” If a song touched us emotionally, we worked on it, no matter
which stylistic direction it took. However, as soon as the whole band plays the
song, the typical Busters sound automatically emerges.
Additionally, we were just extremely in a good mood during the recordings.
We worked for two weeks together with producers Philipp “Philsen”
Hoppen and Oliver Zülch in a small village in Brandenburg in the middle of the
forest. This atmosphere was very relaxed and focused at the same time,
and I believe that can be heard on the album.
Rob: It was great to just focus on playing the instrument
and to have the decision about, for example, a take in
other hands. We used to do everything ourselves. This time, after several recordings, a break was also called to play more takes afterwards. Until the
outsiders judged that it was great.
In the process, the pieces mature incredibly and become looser and extremely to the
point. A great experience.
Q: You recorded the instruments in one studio and the
vocals in another. What was the reason for this split?
Joe: We wanted to bring our strength as a live band as authentically as possible to the album
and therefore recorded all the pieces together live as nine. For that, Philsen's studio was perfectly suited, and there the complete focus was on the instrumental recordings.
Vocal recordings are a whole different ball game. You need absolute concentration to really convey the attitude and the emotions one hundred percent.
That's why it was planned from the beginning to record the vocals separately.
Since Oliver Zülch's studio in Waltrop is also much closer to me than Brandenburg, we did the vocal recordings there in another week.
Q: How would you describe the style of the new album “Calling“?
Joe: Ska is still our basis, but we have always enjoyed incorporating
other styles. This time there is a lot of punk and rock again, but also other excursions: for example, surf music in “Danger
Paradise” or jazzier harmonies in “Bon Voyage.” Additionally, there is
also classic reggae with “Your Name.”
In the end, it is a colorful mix of different influences that still has a common sound.
Rob: Yes, the question about style…
I think the classification into taste or marketing tools does not help to recognize the true essence of art or composition.
In my opinion, the music world is more open and colorful when it is not classified into styles. So I try not to do it at all.
That makes it easier to be creatively free.
Q: With the song “One more Time,” you describe aging and
the longing for the nights as they once were. Do you
feel that the younger generation is still as wild as you
were back then?
Joe: Being as wild as THE BUSTERS were back in the day – even before my time – is,
I think, not so easy. The youth today seems a bit more tame to me at times. But as long as the kids are happy, that’s perfectly fine.
However, on this tour, I have noticed that there are really many young people in the audience every night. That definitely gives hope that the concert and club scene will continue to thrive in the future.
Rob: Yes, we did a lot of nonsense and certainly did not always
behave in a very accommodating way for the organizers. May they forgive us, we were young and wild. But far from what one has read and heard about big
rock stars.
Although, a hotel room or a backstage had to suffer at times…
Ultimately, we have developed into serious musicians who
can perform professionally and are aware of their responsibility as
stage people and role models.
Q: The world seems to be going crazy at the moment. More and more wars, the
climate change is becoming more and more apparent, right-wing conservative and
national socialist ideas seem to be spreading more and more.
How do you deal with it and how do you manage not to
despair?
Joe: It is not always easy to be politically informed and stay mentally
healthy. What gives us strength are our concerts. There we see every evening the most diverse people: young and old, diverse, with different skin colors and backgrounds, and everyone sings and
dances together.
Connecting people just feels good, and music is one of the best means for that.
That gives hope.
Rob: A bit of nausea is always there because these worldviews are so
unappetizing, and I can’t imagine how the fans of these ideas can endure it in the long run. Anyone who has ever hated knows how exhausting hate is. You go out on the street and have to radiate negative vibes. Exhausting.
Not wanting to preserve the world is just meaningless.
Q: I have the feeling that the ska scene in Germany has branched out a lot into small sub-scenes. How do you see that?
Joe: I can't say that exactly. In the circles I move in, it has always been quite mixed. I come more from the punk scene, and it was quite normal for ska to play at punk rock parties and vice versa.
At punk concerts, skinheads are in the audience, and vice versa.
It's similar at our concerts. People from different scenes meet there.
Q: In the coming days, there are elections (editor's note: elections have since taken place) in Baden-Württemberg. It seems to be heading towards black-green with strong gains for the AfD.
How do you see the situation in your area?
What do you hope or expect from the next government?
Joe: I expect above all that the CDU stops chasing after the AfD and
adopting their language on some issues. Much more important would be to work hard to win back the people who have drifted to the AfD.
People need to be made clear where the real problems lie and that banning rainbow flags, conducting gender debates, or constantly talking about deportations does not fill the pockets of citizens.
Rob: The Greens have made significant gains, it will likely be close and exciting.
By now, AfD voters are no longer protest voters according to polls, but are convinced that this party can really improve their world. Reading the election program, I see anything but improvements.
For me, it is unimaginable how one can wish for that. Looking at America, one can see very well what happens when you follow supporters of these ideologies and put such people in positions of power.
Q: THE BUSTERS were founded in 1987. Next year you will turn forty.
Do you already have plans for what you will do for your birthday next year?
Joe: We are currently in the middle of the tour and are discussing ideas here and there. But once the tour is over, we will sit down together calmly and plan something nice for the anniversary.
Rob: We will definitely open a bottle or two of champagne.
