INTERVIEW WITH THE BASEBALLS (HIT PARADE)

Interview by Swiss website Hit Parade

Translation by TBB BRASIL FANPAGE

With a Rock ‘n’ Roll version of Rihanna's hit "Umbrella", The Baseballs are new in the charts. Sam, Digger and Basti gave us an interview.

Hitparade.ch: Have you ever played baseball and really know your rules?

Sam: I tried it once. There were these Sports’ weeks at the school. I signed up to play baseball. It was a good experience but I was not that good. I have to be honest.

Basti: I've seen on television a two-week competition in San Francisco. I really did not understand much.

Sam: I still have the ball, glove and bat. The glove is really cool.

Hitparade.ch: Where does the name "The Baseballs" come from?

Digger: We’ve chose the name just because we wanted to have something that was popular in the fifties. We wanted to find something that also represented the lifestyle of that period. So, we have less to do with the sport and more with this feeling of togetherness and fun.

Hitparade.ch: Did you have any other ideas for the name?

Basti: We had a list with several names. It all started, of course, by the typical rock'n'roll names ... The Shakers or something. So, we were putting those names on drawer because we did not want something like that for us.

Hitparade.ch: Your first album, “Strike”, with only 2 weeks in stores has already reached the Top 10 in Germany and Switzerland! Did you expect so much success and so fast?

Basti: You can not say that. We were hoping to hit the Top 30, but it was not a certainty. It's amazing to get to the top in the first week. If we think Eminem and Green Day are at the top is ... totally surreal!

Digger: It's nice that people have no trouble in accepting the rock n 'roll. They have fun as before, you can feel the desire that comes from nostalgia. We are pleased that we have reached so many young people as the elders. You can see by the number of downloads. I presume that now is the time of the youth that most downloads.

Basti: In shows, we see young and septuagenarian side by side.

Hitparade.ch: The new hits are great to be adapted in the Rockabilly style! How do you come up with this idea?

Digger: Rockabilly is a part of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In the beginning we gigs together and also played classics like "Blue Suede Shoes", "Jailhouse Rock", among others. So we thought about how we could use it to reach a broad audience. And then came the simple idea of ​​adapting the latest hits parade. It was important that the youth who know just a little about Rock ‘n’ Roll, could begin to enjoy with our songs.

Basti: It was also important the liking of older people. Music should also work on its own, even if the listener does not know the original version. Then you can inspire the elders.

Hitparade.ch: It is obviously that it helps their voices be suitable for this particular style.

Digger: Yes! No matter what Sam sings, he sounds like Elvis. Even if he sings a rap of Eminem. Everyone would think so: Elvis is trying something new ...

Basti: When we first met, we realized that we have different voices. Sam sounds like Elvis, Digger like rocker and I have that pop voice. The combination works great.

Sam: We do not cheat ourselves. We started to sing and everyone immediately knew which part to take.           

Hitparade.ch: How did you really meet and become a band?

Basti: It was fate! I come from Berlin; Digger comes from Cologne and Sam from Stuttgart. We were testing in a rehearsal room in Berlin, where there were different bands. I had played with a gala band and Digger in his brother-in-law's band...

Sam: I went from Reutlingen to Berlin thinking that I wanted to sing in another band. So,I was really happy to have found these two guys. Because I just saw heavy metal bands.

Hitparade.ch: What are your biggest influences?

Sam: Mine is clearly Elvis Presley! We found all the great fifties bands. Elvis was the King. Elvis is the King. Even artists like Eddie Cochran made great songs.

Basti: Many travelled together: Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis, among others. Currently, their music still has that energy today.

Digger: Jerry Lee Lewis was, in fact, the reason why I started playing the piano, Great Balls of Fire. We have many CDs of Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam, CDs of Elvis...

Basti: Yes, also DVDs and action figures.

Digger: That's right! Figures of action. Sam collects Elvis’ figure actions.

Hitparade.ch: At that time you had to have a good voice to be successful. Today, you can hide a bad voice behind the technologies.

Basti: But the old way of recording songs is back. Elvis stood in front of the microphone, the band played and recorded. One had to master his instruments. You couldn't edit or mix parts of a song.

Hitparade.ch: ... or stop in the middle!

Basti: Exactly! The musician must continue. However, the coolest thing is the sound of those old recordings!

Digger: We have a great band consisting of four musicians. We have a lot of fun together, even if we are recording.

Hitparade.ch: You are a success at home, Germany, and Switzerland. Where are you next step?

Basti: The objective is to do a tour. We're working together the label. Especially in the fall of this year. Play Live! Germany, Austria and Switzerland will be the first countries.

Digger: The feedback from overseas is great, too!

Basti: We really get an insane amount of feedback. We saw on You Tube many likes from Polish. Also French, Spanish, Scandinavian.

Digger: Also, US radio get many orders. This is a great honour. With the Internet, the music spreads incredibly fast. We want Rock 'n' Roll to be mass music again, if possible. In addition, we want to include our own compositions.

Hitparade.ch: So in time you're going to record an album of original songs.

Basti: We will certainly continue to make covers. But, we are also striving to records our own songs. We've been writing songs for a while now. They will be a mix of cover and original song.

Hitparade.ch: Let's back to the charts.  Milow - Ayo Technology

Digger: We think Milow is good, because it is synonymous with this electronic trend. Chilling Version!

Daniel Schumacher - Anything But Love

Digger: He has a good voice. It is well placed on the charts.

Basti: I know a little bit. Kelly Rowland, for example.

Hitparade.ch: Thanks for the interview!