Image: Wolfgang Seehofer
Interview: Philipp Blanke
Many people will probably have heard your 2015 hit “Bussi” straight away. For the Musikexpress, Wanda is “perhaps the last important rock'n'roll band of our generation”. We met two of the five Viennese boys – frontman Michael Marco Fitzthum and guitarist Manuel Christoph Poppe – in a Berlin restaurant. With roast pork, pretzels, lots of cigarettes and a round of chatting.
You rose from small clubs in Austria and now perform at festivals in front of over 250,000 spectators, together with bands like the Foo Fighters. Does that make you nervous?
F: We play so much and so regularly, it's so inherent in our lives - there are no nerves anymore. But there is joy in it, of course. And the more people the better. When the number of spectators exceeds 20,000, you begin to perceive the audience as a living organism from the stage.
And what was it like before in a smaller circle?
P: When you start playing in these small clubs, you're competing to put everyone else out of work. This is the only way to create urgency and a great show. You put yourself out there and want to be better than everyone else.
Do you have a special memory of a concert?
F: What particularly moved me was Mannheim. There was an electric shock and the show was canceled. And the people applauded and just accepted it, walked out of the hall and continued singing the songs outside in the street. The repeat date was fantastic. The most appreciative audience is the one where we appeal to people's collective moment of longing.
P: It's always great when they write messages afterwards and thank us.
Q: But what people might not know, and it's kind of a shame, is how grateful we are to them. They carry us through this. You probably think of it as us being supremely confident Highlander rock star types. But in reality we are only that way because of them. They made us this way.
Did your path to success seem long?
Q: It was three years that felt like 100 years. It was exhausting. (sings) We had fun, we had sun, we had seasons with the gun... But the journey began at the latest when we were born.
Like that?
Q: Through my mom's voice. I was also played Mozart's Requiem while I was still in my stomach.
Are there any new themes or a different approach to the things that move you or that you sing about on your new album “Niente”?
P: You have to imagine it like a story being told. An album tells life from one perspective, an album from another. What I would like is for a story to be fully told at the end of our careers, which can only come about through the death of all of us. The story of, or rather a life. That would be the goal, that would be nice. If people can see themselves in it in some way or can relate to it, then we've done everything right.
How freely and privately can you move around in Germany and Austria?
P: Sometimes we are recognized, but often not. In Austria people are very respectful when you see a celebrity or someone you know on the street or in a bar.
Q: We're not a teenage thing. I don't think we're adored. We belong to Austrian culture like coffee. We are simply there. I never feel like it's bad or that I'm special.
Critics and the press have described you as a “new Viennese school” or a “continuation of the Austro-pop wave that began with Wolfgang Ambros or Reinhard Fendrich”. How do you see yourself?
Q: Above all, I notice that the lyricists and musicians in all of these groups see themselves more as writers. This is also something that has not been noted much in the press so far. But all of this is more of a literary movement than a musical one. We're certainly not reinventing rock'n'roll. In the long term, I think the lyrics will be perceived as something special. Writing texts is definitely the basis. This is then enveloped in lust for life and rock'n'roll. And that's what makes every great rock band anyway. If the lyrics aren't right, the melody that has that feeling or power can't develop.
Do you ever think back to our school or university days?
P: Absolutely. Because I did the same thing that I can do again now. Just caring about what I enjoy. have joy in life. Do nice things. Few constraints. Nobody tells me what to do.
Q: I like it too. I studied language arts and we were a small group of completely disturbed people who just produced literature. I miss that sometimes, especially the people. I learned everything I had to learn and even tried teaching.
How did that come about?
Q: I gave a seminar on the Doors' lyrics at university. In front of seven people (laughs). When I started talking, two left. When I said rock 'n' roll was a courtship ritual, four more left. Shortly afterwards the last one was gone. The director of studies really liked it, he thought it was cool. There was even talk of doing a course of study like that. To be honest: if it had been more well received, I would have enjoyed it.
How do you switch off from the stress of touring and what is the best way to relax?
Q: I always go into the forest.
P: Me lying down. Lying in my bed is the greatest thing. And look at my cats.
Do you ever get bored or does it never happen?
Q: Well, I don't know boredom in that sense. Because when I'm bored, I fall into such a deep hole that it's completely exciting again.
P: For me, I would say around 12 or 13. There was a phase in early puberty where you weren't fish, you weren't meat and I didn't know what to do with myself. Then I started playing the guitar and smoking weed and since then: It's a blast. (both laugh)
Many people will probably have heard your 2015 hit “Bussi” straight away. For the Musikexpress, Wanda is “perhaps the last important rock'n'roll band of our generation”.
