Kissin' Dynamite
Looking Good Dead

08.06.2015

This time my interview subjects are not an ordinary band, but a true oxymoron. They have been together for ten years, yet none of them is older than 25. They play hair metal of the 80s though they were born in the 90s. Actually, that’s quite what their band name suggests. A highly explosive softness. Kisses with a TNT taste. Kissin’ Dynamite. Last year the Germans released their fourth studio album, once again staying true to their contradictious spirit, which this time manifested itself in the injection of modern dance sound into hard rock music. These guys have been growing more and more popular in Europe though in Russia their fanbase could be much bigger than it is today. Let’s do something to fix it now. Meet Hannes Braun, singer, songwriter and an overall nice guy who doesn’t believe that lying in a casket brings you bad luck.

How are you, Hannes? What are you busy with now?

Well, right now I’m not on tour ‘cause the second part of our European tour started on last Thursday, but we’re having a little break ‘cause of Easter and all this family stuff. Next week on Thursday the tour starts again. These days I just spent time at home, worked a little on some other projects. Yeah, that’s my plan right now.

Do you have only Germany on your list?

For the second part of the tour - yes. But for the first part which took place in the fall last year and was the main part of the tour, there were eight countries, mostly in Europe.

It’s been a while since your latest album “Megalomania” has been released. What do you think of it now? Did your opinion change somehow?

No, we absolutely didn’t change our mind. When it comes to “Megalomania”, we’re still absolutely convinced that it was a right decision. I mean, it was the most successful album that we have released so far. But also there was a hard thing for us, we wanted to find our own stamp that Kissin’ Dynamite stands for. One part of this is absolutely our influences that we have from the 80s hair metal. But this is not the only influence that we have ’cause we are a modern band living in 2015, and that’s why we also wanted to involve modern dance sound into our music, which we did, and of course it’s a brave thing to do because the heavy metal or hard rock scene is a very conservative one and it can be the end of a career if you do something really brave. But we wanted to do it because it’s a thing that we had to do. It was our idea, we did it and we are so happy in the end. When it comes to our live results we have the impression that it was absolutely the right decision because we do have much more people at our shows that we did before.

In fact, did the fans’ attitude towards the band change anyhow? Weren’t you afraid that people would consider your music pop-rock now and all this stuff?

Yes, we were thinking about that and we just talked to each other before we started to put this plan into action. But the thing is you will always get some criticism about your latest album. You cannot do exactly 100% the same record as your previous album, and some people will say, “Oh, they changed, they turned to commerce, whatever”. It’s just a fact that you can never satisfy everybody. So we just did what we wanted to do. I think it’s always the best thing you can do, because that comes really from your heart, and I think fans will recognize that.

Also, you put two ballads to the album. Isn’t it too many?

I don’t think so. We were always a band that tended to be more commercial than some other heavy metal bands and we never had a problem with that. We don’t need to prove that we are a true act. We’ve been working with this band for more than 10 years now, and I think this is sufficient proof. And we do have a lot of female fans, of course, and this is just a logical decision to put one or two ballads on a record. Which we always do, this is nothing new, actually.

Why did you start to play this glam metal in the first place? As far as I know Germany is more into death metal or something…

That’s true. Well, it was our parents of course who listened to this glam, hair metal and hard rock bands like Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Motley Crue and of course AC/DC, all those bands. We were just listening to these records as well when we were kids because they were played in the cars, at home and so on. We liked it and we wanted to get more of this kind of music, we asked our parents to take us with them to concerts and stuff, and all this developed like that. My first AC/DC concert work was when I was 7 years old.

I suppose you liked it…

I loved it! That was my key experience that made me decide that I want to be a musician for the rest of my life.

Why do you think all this hair metal thing of eighties is coming back now?

Probably because people just want to have fun and to have a good time. Because the world right now is sad enough and there are a lot of complaining, a lot of sad stories, a lot of wars and stuff. People just wanna have fun from time to time and not to hear about that shit. So I guess it’s at least one reason why this kind of music is still popular or gets more popular right now.

Recently I saw Tobias Sammet of Edguy talking about your band on Youtube. How did you get in touch with him?

Ah, he is a nice guy and, you know, the metal scene is really big but also is really small. And from time to time you meet famous artists and that was how I met Tobias. I met him and talked to him for a few minutes and said, “I have a band as well”, and he said, “I know” and “Let’s get together, let’s play a support show”. And a few weeks after this he would call me and offer me to play with my band before Edguy, and so we did, the fans liked it, and our contact stayed on. Then we had this TV show, Jim (Müller, guitar) and me, and we searched for a great artist… For a funny artist as well because it was a comedy show. And I asked Tobias Sammet if he would like to do an interview with us and so he did, and afterwards we asked him to say a few sentences about Kissin’ Dynamite which he really likes and that’s a cool thing. It’s not just a lie that he says that Kissin’ Dynamite is one of the best acts in modern times and they will have a bright future. I think he is telling it in German, right?

Yeah, but there are subtitles in English, too.

Oh, ok. So I don’t need to tell you that. (laughs)

You’ve also played already with a lot of great bands like Steel Panther, Motley Crue, etc. Which of those bands impressed you most?

Huh, it’s a difficult question. Well, we also played with Scorpions but this was when we were really young. It was just an unplugged show of Scorpions and this is actually a thing that I’ll never forget because Klaus Meine would take me on stage and ask me if I wanted to become a singer as well. I said, “Yeah”. (laughs) That actually changed my life a little bit because from then on I had this impression that somebody is watching me and I have to do it. And that’s a great thing.
 
I suppose you have this feeling of having been watched since your childhood, because I saw videos on Youtube where you are, like, 12 years old…

Oh, yes. And it has always been my big dream to become a famous artist or a famous rock singer, and so I tried, and tried, and tried again. You know, I was on this stupid casting show when I was 11 years old, but I sang my rock song, that’s a good thing about that. I always took chances, I was never sitting on a couch just dreaming and not doing anything. That’s not my nature.

Did this early start help you somehow? Maybe you have more experience and you know more about this business or something?

Absolutely. I mean doing this for more than 10 years now is definitely an advantage because I’m really into the business. We got to know the ugly sides of this business as well and that makes us… how is it called? More adult when it comes to our career and our personalities. I mean, you can always do mistakes but we will not do stupid mistakes anymore and this is not common for young bands like we are. I mean, most of young bands will get mistreated by record companies or anything and we won’t. (laughs)

Cool! Unfortunately I have never been to any of your shows, but I saw some of them on Youtube and I was impressed by this pyramid you do in the end of the show. Where does it come from?

Well, actually it’s a thing that we tried after a rehearsal. We were always fooling around and one day we were thinking about doing something cool on stage. Later then we found out that Scorpions actually did this back in the eighties and we didn’t have a clue about that. So we were really surprised, “Oh, ok, somebody did this before”. But we still kept on doing this because it was also kind of our original… position on stage.

You have to be in good shape to do this.

Yes, we know. And we are never ever drunk on stage. We don’t drink any beer before the shows because we really want to give the fans a high energy show and a good musical show and not a crap on stage like it can happen to other bands. We always drink a lot after the shows. (everybody laughs)

How long does it take you to put on all this make up, do your hair and everything?

Well, we don’t do this hair thing anymore. At least not that intensive, right? Ok, later in the days, like, two year ago, during our last tour - Money, Sex and Power tour – we did this hair things and that was maybe an hour of making up and styling the hair and stuff. But since we have grown up in our look as well it doesn’t take that long anymore for sure. Let’s say half an hour to get in our dresses and to prepare ourselves optically for the show.

Why did you decide to change the style?

Because it’s also a thing that comes along with our musical development. I mean we’ve grown up in these 10 years in music business and once it was just kids fooling around, playing rock music, but now it’s a real hard rock band which is established in the rock and metal scene, we get a lot of respect by fans and musicians and we take ourselves more serious than ever before and our music as well. We wanted to underline that also with our look.

Tell me please about your tattoos. What’s written on your chest?

It says “Looking good dead” and it’s actually just a joke because the day that I die I will be lying in some hall to get my last… Uhm, last procedure, let’s call it that way. And the guy that will give me my last procedure, he will look at my chest and it says, “Looking good dead”, and I’m sure he will laugh. (everybody laughs) So, it’s just a joke. I’m not afraid to die and I don’t wanna get really old. I mean, a hundred years old. I’d rather die younger, looking still good. (laughs)

“Club 27”, kind of?

Right. Well, if that’s the thing I only have five years left to live.

Too sad.

Yeah, let’s live longer.

So, we were talking about your tattoos. When did you start making them?

At fifteen. And it was my dad whom I asked to allow me to have my first tattoo. He is a cool guy, he’s a biker, I mean not a criminal one, just a normal biker, you know. He has tattoos himself and I asked him if it’s ok and he totally allowed me.

Great! So what else do you have on your body?

Actually there are only three tattoos; the one on my chest, the one on my right and the one on my left arm. The first one is on my right arm, which is TNT or dynamite with fire on it and roses around it. Of course it symbolizes our band named Kissin’ Dynamite. On the left arm I have a tattoo which is actually… It’s a card… I don’t know the word. It’s a usual poker card, the lady. It says, “Love me, hate me, I don’t care”, which refers to our song “Love Me Hate Me”. And again, a rose sticks into the card. I like roses and all that stuff, yeah.

Do you prefer red roses?

No. Well, I don’t have fresh flowers in my flat, that would be kind of… Well, not so rock and roll, but I like the picture and the symbol, the power of a rose.

Are you superstitious? I’m asking because in one of your videos you were lying in a coffin…

Well, I’ve never heard of that thing – to lie in a casket – to be something that brings you bad luck. But sometimes I am. I mean, I don’t walk under construction things or I only walk through them if there is really no way around. This is something that I don’t do, I can’t tell you really why, but I’m not really superstitious. I mean, I think that everybody has his own fortune and if your time is over it’s over.

So what does the world look like from the casket?

Pretty dark. (everybody laughs) This is the only thing I can say.

Your videos are often very tongue-in-chick. Who is writing stories for them? Do you do it yourself?

In many cases yes. I mean, “DNA” and “Six Feet Under” were my stories actually.

Watching your videos and listening to your songs one can get an impression that you are kind of bad boys. Sex, drugs and rock and roll, all this stuff. Is it true? Are you like this in the normal life?

You got the impression that I’m a really nice guy, right? (everybody laughs) So that’s the way that we are. We are not arrogant rock stars, we are just nice persons and we love playing music, we love being musicians and we love to keep contact with our fans. We always get offstage and 15 minutes after that we go the merch shop and talk to fans and sign autographs and take pictures… This is a thing that is really important for us because the fans make us that big now that we are.   

You are getting more and more successful. Are you afraid that it can change your relations within the band?

No, actually not. Because after each tour when everything’s over we always sit together and we talk just about funny things and not about the business anymore. This is always an important thing to do because this is the way that you don’t lose your friendship. I mean, to make clear that these are your best friends on Earth and not just your bandmates for making music and getting the best results on tour and stuff. It’s just like a band of brothers and basically they are the first and the best friends that I got in my life and I think we all feel like that. So I’m not afraid. We are going on stage to have fun and not pretending to be having fun. In my opinion a band is not a band if they don’t like each other. Really, if you buy your colleagues… You know, if your drummer quits and you buy yourself another one and a guitarist as well, and then you change also the keyboard player... I don’t like the idea of that. That’s not a band.

So your plan is to stay together for your entire career?

Absolutely. Just like AC/DC or, well, maybe it’s not an example because of their last change. But they had to do it because Malcolm (Young, guitar) was really sick… But you can take The Rolling Stones or Motley Crue. Well, they split up in the 90s but formed the band together with the same line-up and I like that. To be still in the game after 20 or 30 years.

As far as I know you are from Swabia. Here in Russia we don’t know much about German regions, so can you tell me a little bit about Swabia?

It’s a very beautiful land with small mountains, they are more like big hills, and a lot of seas and… A really beautiful region of Germany. It’s in the South and it’s got our biggest sea in Germany which is called Bodensee. In English it’s called the Lake of Constance… Well, you should definitely visit it to get the impression of it. It’s a really beautiful place.

Do you have any hobbies apart from music?

Hm, I don’t think so. I’m a really full time musician, I live by music and I live making music, I’m a passionate musician. Actually I’m so glad that my biggest hobby is also my profession and therefore I wouldn’t say that I have a hobby. Of course I go for a swim sometimes, but that’s not a hobby.

What are you plans for the rest of the year? Do you have any festivals on your list?

Yes, we do. We’ll play a few really, really big ones like the “Rockavaria” festival based in Munich and also “Summer Breeze”, that you might know as it is basically the second biggest festival in Germany after “Wacken Open Air” when it comes to metal. And the tour still continues, after the festivals season we will also play a few shows and of course we will think about a new album this year. I mean, not to release it this year, but to plan a new album.

Is there any chance we can see you here in Russia?

I hope so. If you and your fellows do a lot of promotion… (everybody laughs) I would like to play in Moscow or St. Petersburg and maybe somewhere else.

Ok, I have run out of questions. Do you have any last word for the fans?

Yes, I want to greet every single fan that we have in Russia. I hope you are doing well. If you don’t know Kissin’ Dynamite, get to know it. Listen to our music, buy our latest record “Megalomania” and vote us for Russia! I mean, talk to you promoters, talk to the venue guys, tell them you want to see Kissin’ Dynamite and probably the time comes that we come!

Kissin' Dynamite on the Internet: http://www.kissin-dynamite.de

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova for arranging this interview

Ekaterina Akopova
April 1, 2015
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