The Baseballs Brasil Fanpage

"We felt very cheated!"

Interview by Artur Schulz of German website Laut.de. Posted on Dezember 15, 2009

Translated by TBB Brasil Fanpage

They are one of the surprises of 2009. Practically out of nowhere The Baseballs was celebrating the success of their Rockabilly-style album. And in a short time, due to the upcoming shows, we scheduled a meeting with The Baseballs. When I got to the concert hall Großer Freiheit 36 in Hamburg, the band was only available for video interviews and in their short free time had improvised a presentation to Capella.

Then the assessor arranged my meeting with Sam, Digger, and Basti. Far from the excitement that surrounds them a relaxed Digger, very correct and very cordial welcomes me with "Ah, Mr. Laut.de! Be cordially welcome! "-" So, you're apparently talking good things about us ... "-" Well, your album review was very good for us! "The three of them start laughing and we could go to a little place, far and quiet, to begin our conversation.

You are still young - why do you like "old" songs?

Sam: It was like that with all of us, who were very young when we got in touch with this song, our first records were actually all from Elvis Presley and other [style] artists, well, in my case it was a cassette tape. The love of Rock and Roll has hit us in many different ways, not just The King but in general the music of this era.

Digger: At that time we watched the old Elvis movies on TV on Sunday afternoon while we were having an afternoon snack with Mom and Dad. You watched and enjoyed more and more, with each scene. Especially, of course, the music.

How old were you then?

Sam: Wow ... I was then seven, eight years old. Afterwards, my father recorded a video that I put on repeatedly and I danced during the songs. My father also had a vídeo camera, and he recorded it himself! This song must have struck me early, because I did not control myself when I heard it.

Your album was almost unreleased, the success came almost from scratch. How did you feel about that?

Sam: Well, the CD has been around half a year on the charts and it's still there! We were very happy, but we did not expect that. For those who are starting it's something to stop and think, "So, now let's go to the Top Ten", we are well on the way, but not quite. We feel very cheated. And we're enjoying it a lot too! But not so that we accommodated, because we see it as an opportunity. People know us a little bit now, they know what we're doing, but now it's up to us to prove that we are not a one-hit band, to continue entertaining audiences. It's mostly an incentive, and that's why there's no reason to settle.

What does it mean for a young man to become a star?

Digger: Oh, stars. That's not quite it, and we're not. For us, and that's what I really mean, it's a great honor that there are people who share our passion. It's not like we said, let's make music now and convince people, otherwise it was totally on the contrary. Especially the younger ones through us have a first contact with Rock 'n' Roll and we see this in many things, not only in our concerts. We get e-mails where they ask us for movie tips from that time or how to make a fuss and stuff, precisely because for many young people it's something completely new and they see us as competent partners in the field.

Digger: It's something very special when we hear: Hey, you make good music, which conveys a special feeling that is related to the fifties, how and what else can I learn? And it is not only superficial, which is particularly important for us: it involves a true, genuine and real passion.

"We are talking about several generations"

Have you turned young Hip Hop fans into "old" rockers?

Basti: Stop, stop! We do not see ourselves as missionaries! But during the festivals we played in the summer, we found that Baggypants who were in front of the stage and then, in the fourth or fifth song, began to move. Hey, you as a human being can not just be defined by just one aspect, just by moving you can already be well involved with Rock 'n' Roll and just simply accept.

Well, apart from the younger crowd, do older rock 'n' roll fans also believe in you?

Sam: Yesterday, there was a woman in Berlin who came to us and told us that she had an original autograph of Elvis. And showed us!

Be careful who has it! Because it can provoke jealousy ...

Basti: It's kind of crazy in concerts. We have spoken for several generations. You can see that every night when we play anywhere: we have in the first row younger people, even girls in [50's] skirts, but if we look back, you can see people with no age limit, who goes from 13 or 14 years upwards.

Digger: It was yesterday that I saw three generations together: there was a 14-year-old girl who was sitting with her mother and grandmother. And they had fun all the time!

Why do you call yourself "The Baseballs" and not "Dion & The Belmonts" or "Joey Dee & Starliters," as was common in the late fifties and early sixties?

Sam: Exactly, exactly! It was important for us not to have a name consisting only by     the name of the leader plus the name of the band, but to put it in common - like The Tempations, to just find a band name that simply expresses, "This is a group." We wanted this, but we also did not want to look like any other Neo Rock And Roll band ...

... like "The Shakers".

Sam: ... or "The Hot Rods," which was what we did not want. But we did not want people, somehow, to be unprepared. What can I use as a name, which has a strong relationship with the 1950s, but still not automatically linked to rock 'n' roll? Baseball was a fever in the United States, the great national sport in the fifties.

Digger: The good news for us is that everyone in Europe knows the term, but nobody really has any idea how the sport works. Thus, we hope: that the term "Baseball" in the coming years will be used for people to remember us and not the sport, so ... then we will have done it! (Laughs)

"This is such a sweet voice!"

Will there be on the next record the first own compositions of The Baseballs? It can be very simple to repeat the recipe of the successful debut album - adapt current songs ...

Digger: For the track list of the debut album we thought a lot to choose the songs! We wanted to get people closer to rock 'n' roll, especially our generation, because it is no longer so popular. That's why we did it with the songs they already know. But this is only the first step. We are now composing our own songs and three of them are already included in our live set list. The beauty of this is that we realize that we are really coming. People are already starting to sing with us in the second chorus, which is very important, of course. What we really do is compose as pop songs and then we adapt them to rock 'n' roll. This is the trick ....

Basti: It's beautiful when we see fans singing our own songs with us. When they are covers, it is known that they are already known, but with the new songs ... this is something very special.

I like your album especially the track "Don't cha" with this sweet female voice. Who sings?

Digger: She's an old friend of Basti!

"Old"?

Digger: She was formerly the lead singer in a gala band, which played music from the sixties and seventies. We knew them well, and Sam and I thought after all, "This is such a sweet voice!", we have to have it on the album! She too, somehow, has a great voice from the fifties that fits well into our atmosphere. Then Basti contacted them and she was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and willingly participated.

All you have to do is show up and the women already have an attack. Outside, in front of Freiheit,
there are some waiting, three hours before opening the doors!

Sam: These are our faithful squires - even when we travel! (Laughter)

Time flies and, before the boys disappear, I ask them to take some pictures quickly. The atmosphere is simple, The Baseballs are in a good mood. They insist on taking a picture of me as well, which is called in the newsroom 'Fanboyfotos'. On leaving, there is now a significantly large crowd of fans out there almost invariably from female teenagers. That remain the heart of Rock 'n' Roll. It does not matter what year it is.