His songs can make you smile. A conversation with Max Raabe about heating this winter, the phenomenon of being in a bad mood and the question of what helps in such situations.
Max Raabe comes to the interview in a dark blue suit. There is a cup of tea on the table. The 59-year-old will release his new album “Who’s in a bad mood here” on Friday (October 14). Autumn is coming outside.
Question: Mr. Raabe, on your new album you sing about summer so beautifully. Are you longing again?
Answer: Waiting for summer is really keeping me awake. I really like living in Berlin, but the winter months here… You really should talk to the Senate and try to skip at least two months.
Question: Good idea. Have you turned on the heating yet?
Answer: No. In the years before that I was always stubborn and only started it in December.
Question: Oh, that’s really late.
Answer. Yes, now I’m gone a lot too. But still: I used to put on a cardigan or something before I started heating in November.
Question: There are many lyrics on the album that seem quite comforting in times of crisis. Some say we live in a permanent crisis. How do you experience that?
Answer: First of all, I have to say that my lyrics never have anything to do with what’s going on in the news or world politics. It’s always just a mess of human relationships. And when I sing “Who’s in a bad mood?”, it means more: There are sprouts, the children come in, sit at the table and look accordingly.
Question: Are you more interested in that than in politics?
Answer: I’m very interested in politics, but I’ve never been pretentious enough to make sly comments about world politics in my songs. Especially since I also think in the long term. That should still be the case in ten years. That’s why I never wrote anything with Corona. Even seasons hardly happen with me. You can never really tell where something is happening. You shouldn’t notice that in the songs, so that it stays free; so that everyone brings it into the reality that affects them.
Question: One line of text says: “It will be fine, even if it doesn’t look like it”. Do you think so?
Answer: It is my hope.
Question: Would you like to expand on that?
Answer: No.
(Raabe thinks for a moment and then follows up. He says that he is concerned with situations in which you are not feeling well, in which you struggle with stress or illness and in which you need confidence. If, with some of his lines of text, despite all melancholy just had to grin, he had reached his goal.)
Question: In one song you sing that sometimes you look like a bad-tempered amphibian. What do you do when you’re in a bad mood?
Answer: piece of cake and coffee.
Question: Do you actually have a jogging suit to take home?
Answer: Since I don’t jog, I don’t wear anything like that.
Question: What does a cuddle day look like for you?
Answer: I treat myself to my own slacks, but I haven’t had to resort to elasticated pants yet.
Question: Do you agree with Karl Lagerfeld? He didn’t seem to have much use for sweatpants.
Answer: No, not at all. To be honest, wearing a tuxedo and tails on stage is also a kind of laziness, because I don’t have to worry: What am I going to wear today? What was I wearing on this stage last year? I’m already out of there. And you immediately have a certain attitude. This helps. Otherwise I’m pretty open – also when it comes to the question of how people get to the concert. I’m always happy when they dress up a bit and enjoy it, when they celebrate the evening. But I don’t judge people by their clothes. I have an instant impression when I meet someone, but it’s not because of what they’re wearing.
Question: But on what?
Answer: by sight. At the attitude. And I’m wrong too and then throw my judgment overboard after ten minutes. In a positive as well as in a negative sense.
Question: Do you actually listen to music privately?
Answer: To be honest, very rarely. It’s a bit like a butcher who doesn’t eat sausages at home when he’s spent the whole day with sausages. I think it’s nice to just listen to a cello or something by Bach. I rarely listen to music at home though.
Question: Do you have any fantasies of what your life would have been like without music?
Answer: I have no idea. I’m really happy and grateful that it worked out with the music. Actually, I was always suspicious. When it started, I thought, “Who knows how long this will go well.” Then in the 90s we played 200 concerts a year because we thought it would be over at some point. Then we realized, “Okay, we probably don’t have to worry anymore. We’ve won over an audience that’s loyal to us, that’s coming back.” And have significantly reduced and still played 80, 90 concerts a year. That’s a pretty good measure.
Question: Do you have a certain ritual before you go on stage?
Answer: I put on my tuxedo. And then I’m in the role. Otherwise I’m in my dressing room for the last half hour or go for a walk again. So I’m retiring, but it’s no drama. Anyone can come to me anytime. I’m not sitting in my dressing room with my scarf blowing: “Leave me alone!” I don’t need such simple clichés.
Question: By the way, you pronounce the word “orchestra” so beautifully, with a soft ch. Where does it come from?
Answer (laughs): I am Westphalian. And to everyone who always makes fun of me and jokes about it, I always tell them: “It comes from the Greek.”
Information on the new album Max Raabe & the Palast Orchester Video on the new song for Babylon Berlin Max Raabe and Orchestra on YouTube Video on “Who’s in a bad mood here”