Q: When you founded TERRORGRUPPE, you had played in English-speaking bands before (Note from the editor: Happy Hour / Hostages of Ayatollah). Why did you decide to form a German-speaking band?
A: Because we had played in an English-speaking band before.
J: It should be noted that with Hostages of Ayatollah only the last record was in English.
Q: What has been the most beautiful event of TERRORGRUPPE in retrospect?
J: There are really many.
A: It’s difficult to pick just one.
J: It was nice when we had a record label and enough money to record our album. That was a very nice moment.
A: The absolute best moment in the story was when I received the advance in my account and it was there for two days. Of course, it had to go right back out because we had to pay for the studio and the drums for Hermann von Hinten.
He didn’t have a good drum set. The money was in my account for two days, I think it was around 15,000 DM. I thought that was pretty cool.
J: Just because of that, you probably got a higher overdraft limit immediately due to the statistics of the incoming money.
A: I still don’t have an overdraft. I’m a freelance artist. They don’t give me credit, but I did get a debit card back then. I hadn’t had anything like that before.
Q: Were there any special concerts?
A: Sure! The first Bizarre Festival. That was our first big festival. We played at 2:00 PM, a completely unusual time for us, but it was relatively full. The audience participated. During the set, Hermann von Hinten, in his completely absent state, started criticizing me. In front of everyone. There were about 20,000 people there. He didn’t understand why I had skipped a song. He started discussing with me on stage through his microphone. On the side of the stage, the people from our record label were standing. They were rolling on the floor laughing while I tried to save us from the situation, which was hardly successful.
J: Also very nice was the tour in Brazil, especially the festival in Recife. It was also nice when we played in Austria. We played on the main stage at a festival and only realized during the performance how big it actually was. After our gig, we were informed that we had just played in front of 45,000 people.
A: Next door in the tent, Seeed had done their soundcheck. They had to play in the tent in front of 2,500 people. The headliner that day was, as far as I remember, Metallica.
J: No, they were the headliner the next day. But they arrived the night before with a huge number of trucks.
A: When we were on our way to the festival, a bus was following us the whole time. Johnny Bottrop’s girlfriend was sitting in the back of the tour bus lounge. You could see well out the back. We eventually stopped. The other bus did too. Johnny's girlfriend stayed sitting in the back and kept looking out. The people from the other bus got out, and she suddenly yelled, “That guy looks like a child molester,” pointing at a guy who was getting out of the other bus. That turned out to be the singer of Blumfeld! They had played before us at the festival! I thought Blumfeld was really cool back then. To warm up, I was next to the stage during their performance. I watched them and warmed up. Musically, they were a hit. Everything sounded a bit like old English punk rock. It was easy to sing along. I made the effort to completely drown out the original vocals and sing a bit over it myself. I thought it was cool, “You can do something with that.” It had potential.
J: Another time at the Bizarre Festival when we played there, my girlfriend broke up with me half an hour before our performance. That was not a tactically smart moment.
A: Such situations happen to you as a musician more often.
J: It was also really great when we recorded in Spain at the “Casa Pepe - Studio” and reported new damages to our rental car to the rental company every day. Eventually, they could only try to smile with sad eyes.
Q: Is the “Casa Pepe” studio by Uwe Hoffmann still around?
J: I don’t think it exists anymore.
A: I think he has downsized it and only does it as a hobby now. I believe he has stopped. He has no desire anymore. Uwe Hoffmann has accomplished a lot in his life as a producer, so he can take it easy now and do something else.
Q: When did you decide to make the DVD and why did it take so long?
A: The DVD was never planned as a DVD. Initially, it was not supposed to be a documentary. Until the end, it was set up on the hard drive as a project “Terrorgruppe Video.” At the time we planned it, which was in the late '90s, it was common for every band to have a visual release at some point. Not a documentary. They were more like small self-contained documentaries about the band, but not in the form of the film that ultimately emerged. But it was clear that after the band’s break, it would become a documentary. So, a film from the beginning of the band to the end of the band.
Q: How did you come up with the title “Sündige Säuglinge hinter Klostermauern - zur Lust verdammt”?
J: The idea actually comes from the '80s, when TERRORGRUPPE didn’t even exist yet. I participated in the “Tribal Area” video fanzine back then.
A: In the video fanzine, there was a section called “Reader Letters”...
J: …in a video fanzine! But the section wasn’t called “Reader Letters,” it was called “Viewer Letters.” Arthur took care of that section. Arthur has unfortunately passed away. Arthur was an absolute punk rock luminary. He was always on the move between the Ruhr area and Cologne. He was a heavy drinker. He often got into fights at concerts. This Arthur could be recruited from “Tribal Area” at the time to read the viewer letters. In one issue, he read a letter where someone wrote, “...you should buy ‘Sündige Säuglinge hinter Klostermauern - zur Lust verdammt’ soon...” We thought that title was really great back then.
Q: Did you have to cut a lot from the “Video Terrorgruppe” project? Or is that all the documents you have in visual form?
J: Everything we have in visual documents is a huge pile and lies in my basement. It’s a giant box of just VHS tapes, a box of Mini-DV and Beta tapes, and a large box just with data carriers, meaning DVDs and CD-Rs.
A: Assume about 500 hours of material.
Q: Are you satisfied with the overall result?
A: I am satisfied. I am even very satisfied. We completely left out one thing, namely all the private stories. We have done that in the past, and we have consistently continued that with the DVD. The narrative style is very relaxed and breezy, which I like.
I had removed myself from the project back in the early '00s because I couldn’t stand to see myself anymore. I just let them do it. I saw the whole thing for the first time last year. I was very surprised while watching that everything came across so fresh and not as beer-soaked as I remembered.
J: I had much more trouble with it. I couldn’t stand to see my face either. Everything from back then that I had seen multiple times, I eventually couldn’t watch anymore. But I was busy with the project the whole time. Until September 2012, I struggled a lot with the material. I kept asking myself questions like: Is it all coherent? Does it do justice to the band? Is the timing right?
Only when I saw the rough cut for the first time in September, not in the editing studio or where it was work-related, but really nice and privately on the couch at Slash Vicious (Note from the editor: bassist of TERRORGRUPPE). We had pizza, drank some beers, and watched the film. That was the first time I had fun with it. I saw that the film would actually turn out well.
Q: I also think the result is very good. Of course, from my perspective, a few things are still missing, like your world record attempt to play the most gigs in 24 hours, but somewhere you have to draw the line.
A: You can’t include everything. The film is already very long anyway.
J: The story about the world record attempt is documented on the bonus tracks of the first edition of “Nonstop Aggropop 1977 - 1997.” So it’s not so bad that it’s not included on the DVD.
Q: I remember that your vinyl single “Allein gegen Alle” was delayed because customs held it back. How was that back then?
J: On the single, TERRORGRUPPE was spelled with three “P’s.” That’s the only thing I can remember about it.
A: I know what happened. It was shipped together with a pressing of an almost right-wing radical band or an obvious Nazi band. The two records were on the same truck, and that’s why it was held back. That was a problem for us. As far as I know, they somehow got our records out of customs or… maybe the record was pressed again. I don’t remember exactly. But it wasn’t due to our recording.
J: But there was something else. The artwork of the cover of our bass drum with the cut-off penis. We also had that printed on “1 World 0 Future.” A pressing plant refused to press the record.
There was also another story where a pressing plant refused to press something from us, but I can’t remember that anymore.
A: You have to imagine that pressing plants usually have craftsmen working, and they can still be shocked by such things. Sometimes they receive materials for production that they can’t live with and refuse to do it. Some are also afraid that if a record gets indexed, it will fall back on the pressing plant.
Q: On the CD of the Sündigen Säuglingen, I find it very interesting that on songs like “Methanol,” the demo version had German lyrics, and the released version of the song had Spanish lyrics. Why do you first record a German text and then later decide to put a Spanish text on the song?
A: We always worked in such a way that we first made demos. That was the pre-production. We then gave those to the producer and continued to work on the songs ourselves in parallel. Sometimes you come to the conclusion that some songs, as they were recorded as demos, are not really good yet.
Back then with “1 World 0 Future,” we had a European record label with Epitaph. The distribution was Europe-wide. We then decided to make a European record, meaning to record songs in several languages. It fit well into the concept that there were English songs, a Spanish song, and a French verse. This concept fell victim to “Methanol,” although the lyrics weren’t that clever either.
J: Back then, we didn’t really like the lyrics.
A: If we had released the lyrics in Finland, we might have had a hit because we would have reached a broader audience.
J: Or in Ukraine. Or India. The song would have probably gone over well in India.
A: There were usually content-related reasons why we changed lyrics. Sometimes also because some lyrics didn’t dramaturgically fit with the music. With “Marylin,” we experimented a lot; there was also a time when the lyrics from “Fischertechnik” were included.
“Allein gegen Alle” also had different music at the beginning. The demo song is also included on the CD.
Q: I find the version of “Allein gegen Alle” relatively cool. The version doesn’t fit TERRORGRUPPE, but the lyrics have a completely different effect with calmer music.
A: I think all our decisions to change the songs to how they are now on our releases were right. I like “Allein gegen Alle” better now than back then. The song fits as it is on “1 World 0 Future.”
Q: Are there songs that you completely discarded and now regret because they turned out to be good?
J: On the CD of “Sündige Säuglinge hinter Klostermauern…zur Lust verdammt,” all the songs we didn’t take are included.
A: During songwriting in the rehearsal room, there were often attempts where we had parts of a song or a song almost finished and then didn’t take it.
J: All the recorded songs are on the “Nachtisch” CD.
A: All the demos are really utilized on the CD. There’s nothing left, except for one song. There’s still one song!
J: Which one?
A: Well….
J: “General Schwachkopfs neue Weltordnung,” there are no recordings of it.
The song was a fixed part of the setlist of the first concerts of TERRORGRUPPE.
Q: How was it when the DVD + CD was released? Was that a final stroke for the band? Or had that moment already been reached earlier?
A: We always had the project in the back of our minds, and when it was finally released, Johnny Bottrop and I were glad that it was finally out. That is definitely a final stroke for us.
Q: How was it when you met for the recordings of “Das letzte Lied”?
J: We never met.
A: I did the song completely alone. I sent Johnny Bottrop a rough demo. He then changed a few lines, I believe.
J: I added a few ideas to the lyrics, although they weren’t fully phrased. They weren’t really proper rhymes.
A: That’s right, I was missing lyrics in the middle part. When I had the ideas, I rewrote the lyrics. I recorded everything alone. The drum part comes in parts from a production I did for Bitume.
Q: Make sure you don’t have to pay Gema for that.
A: I’m in good contact with Bitume.
Q: What are your five favorite songs by TERRORGRUPPE?
J: Let’s do it from the back to the front.
From “Fundamental,” it’s “Marylin.”
From “Blechdose,” it’s clearly “Ernst August.”
From “1 World 0 Future,” it’s “1 World 0 Future” and “Das war ihr Leben.”
From “Keiner hilf euch,” it’s clearly “Surf Kreuzberg.”
From “Nonstop Aggropop,” it’s simply “Wir müssen raus.”
From “Melodien für Milliarden,” it’s “Opa.”
With “Musik für Arschlöcher,” it’s hard. Actually, there are many good songs on all TERRORGRUPPE albums. I can’t decide with “Musik für Arschlöcher.”
A: It’s really difficult for me to pick individual songs. That changes constantly.
Q: As an active musician, you have completely withdrawn. What was the reason?
A: The reason was that at some point I completely lost my drive. You also have to understand how a band works. It’s really a lot of work. I don’t think I’ll go back to that. And I don’t want to make music on the side.
Additionally, I lost the urge to present myself on stage.
Q: But you’re still involved with music, right?
A: I’m active behind the scenes, and I also produce. I do a lot with music. I deal with about 30 - 50 songs a year. Mostly for others and sometimes only partially, but I’m involved.
However, I have just been gentrified out of my studio. I had the studio with two other people. It was very conveniently located, just two houses away from my apartment. So I’m currently considering how to proceed. I can do a lot from home as well, like mixing.
Q: Johnny, you play in The Bottrops. Are you doing any other projects?
J: Right now, I’m working on a project with a poet. It’s pretty cool. He has a completely different way of dealing with language, words, and phrasings. But it’s not set up on a large scale. We meet at home from time to time. Then we do something with guitar and vocals. Sometimes also really loud in the rehearsal room.
Q: Do you sing as well, or do you just accompany him on guitar?
J: I let him sing alone at first. We will decide later whether I accompany him alone or with someone else. The problem is, I can’t really sing, but I can scream pretty well. It’s a lot of fun right now. It will definitely be performed live at some point, but whether there will be a fixed lineup or even a permanent band is still unclear. We also want to record.
Just imagine the whole thing with a high trash factor. The Bottrops, on the other hand, are high fidelity.
Q: Do you follow the activities of German-speaking punk bands? Are there any current bands you like?
J: I’m quite taken with a German-speaking band that has really great success, and rightly so, that is Kraftklub. They are young, fresh, and unspoiled. They come from the provinces and tell the big city, “Fuck You.” I think they’re cool.
A: I also think Kraftklub is good. Otherwise, not much impresses me at the moment.
Q: Do you think the bands or the scene have stagnated?
A: Not stagnated, but everything is developing more in the direction of the '90s. That’s the wrong way. Everything is degenerating further at the moment.
Q: As a final question, do you regret anything from the TERRORGRUPPE era? Would you do everything the same way again?
J: Well, we made fools of ourselves almost every day. That was our job!
A: That was part of the concept!
From today’s perspective, I would say that I would have preferred to do some things a bit more thoughtfully. However, I unfortunately don’t know if that would have really been better. It would certainly have been better for all our health.
Q: So better not to pull the condom through your nose.
J: That was harmless.
A: No one gets hurt from that. It was even a help for me. I suffer from allergies and hay fever. That spermicide coating on the condoms made my mucous membranes so out of control that my nose was completely clear afterward. I don’t regret such things at all. I don’t regret the removal either. Those are naturally things where people think, “That must have been pretty embarrassing for him.” It’s more the things around it.
I mean, we weren’t just like that on stage, but also unfortunately from 10:00 AM until 4:00 AM. That was very exhausting and cost a lot of energy.
When I look back on the years when we played around 100 gigs, about a third of the gigs were not really good due to our lifestyle.
I always went on stage and was on 370. Sometimes a stupid remark comes out, which is meant to be provocative and ironic, but doesn’t come across that way at all. Especially when you’re a bit drunk.
I remember a concert in Ulm where I was so drunk that I went to the sound engineer before the show and said, “I can’t play properly today. You, make a long delay every time I say ‘Ulm.’” It went so far that people from the audience wanted to beat me up.
J: At the concert, a great tradition was born, which is continued today when The Bottrops play in Ulm. Whenever we play there, we first greet the Eselsberg neighborhood. That’s where the club is located. Then we tell them that we visited the German Bread Museum in the afternoon to check it out.
A: There was also the carpet house Eierstock. But it hasn’t existed for years.
Q: Where you held one of your secret concerts.
A: I must say that this tradition is not only continued by The Bottrops; K.I.Z. also did that.
J: At the very end of our gigs, we mourn the end of the carpet house Eierstock. It’s really a shame that it no longer exists in Ulm.
This tradition completely originated at the concert mentioned by Archi with the psychedelic “Uuulm.”
Q: Which was probably totally worth seeing for those present afterward.
A: There were really three or four people who couldn’t handle it at all. One of them I still knew from Günzburg from the days with Inferno. He was an old punk. He was so furious that he really threatened to beat me up.
J: Another one, who still organizes events today, came to me after the gig and shook my hand. He thought it was pretty punk rock okay.
A: Exactly that’s the point, to return to your question. Those are the things where I say: “Yes, it could have been done the same way, but with more control.”.
All that’s left for me to say is: Buy the DVD + CD and tell your children and grandchildren about TERRORGRUPPE! A band that has shaped German-speaking punk rock for years and will remain unforgettable in German punk history!
The review of “Sündige Säuglinge hinter Klostermauern - zur Lust verdammt” can be read at ramtatta.de under the following link:
