"We are not friends, rather siblings"

Of course things would be different if sex played a role. That we do not misunderstand here: sex is important for Rosenstolz. Lust and erotic were always the fuel for their songs, in the past more, today a little less. Only between the two members of the band was clear from the beginning: Peter Plate and AnNa R. will never land in bed. Peter was always too gay for that. Or AnNa too little man, however one wants to see it. So sex could never unfold its destructive power between them. And that may be the reason why the two are today the most successful pair of German pop music are - and will remain so in the medium term.

2008 is the 18th year in the history of Rosenstolz. For almost half of their lives, Peter Plate, 41, and AnNa R., 38 (their real name is a secret, at least to the public), have a highly successful professional relationship. And much more than that. They reflect a musical symbiosis, they are on stage and in the studio like dizygotic twins, And outside the music? Friends, AnNa once said that they are not. Rather siblings.



"I think this sibling picture is wonderful," says Peter Plate, "when we're on vacation, we never talk on the phone, never, but the very first text message on my birthday came from AnNa, and I was so excited about it may be different. " He grins and looks at AnNa who is sitting next to him, very upright, his cross pushed through, with attitude. "There is a basic love that can not be shaken by anything," says Peter, "of course we annoy each other, but we have a sense of togetherness that has grown in the first few years and just can not get away."

In 1991, Plate came to Berlin, the most exciting city in Europe at the time. I had come from Braunschweig when Provinzei came in. Wende, East Berlin, I did not have any money, but the furniture was on the street - and then there was AnNa too, "he says. He had already advertised in singersheets in Braunschweig for singers, without success. In Berlin it was fast - Through a neighbor, he met a girl who not only had a classically trained voice, but was also quite obviously a star.



"What did I enjoy about AnNa? Looked great, could sing great and just wanted me to not use drums and we did chanson," says Peter. For one and a half hours they sat in Anna's kitchen in Friedrichshain, the gay boy from West Germany, the bulky girl from East Berlin, politics did not matter, east-west barriers were not an issue. Why? It was about two people who wanted the same thing: making music. They drank tea, chatted and sang, then it was clear that something would happen here. "Actually, I wanted to do something like Erasure or Pet Shop Boys," says Plate, "and then I was very grateful that AnNa did not want that, she had her own style - and helped me find mine." - "Yes," says AnNa, "I was a bit exalted as a young lady, I did not want to be different - I was different, and I wanted to underline that in the beginning of the 90s they all made pop and had drums that always sounded the same. It was clear: I did not want that, I wanted to do chanson, that was fancier and also suited my personality better. "

At the beginning there were kitchen concerts, the first club concert saw 30 spectators, of which 15 friends. But The Rosenstolz project had a charm that did not miss its effect, The first record appeared in 1992 and flopped, and at the first concert AnNa strained her partner's patience until she was done: she had set out to sing each song in a different dress, and retired every three minutes while Peter felt helpless and speechless the manageable pack stood.

But the fan base grew. Especially in the gay scene they were soon stars, with their glamorous appearance, the pathos and the slippery lyrics from the pride of the sluts and anonymous sex in the hotel ... In 1998, the heterosexual part of the republic fell to the Berliners: At the preliminary round of the Grand Prix, the two landed in second place with the ballad "Herzensschöner" - and suddenly multiplied their fanbase with this appearance , Since then it's only going up.

The next concert tour starts on November 7, with her new album in the luggage. It says: "The search continues". Plate has become 41 in the summer. You do not really see itMaybe the laugh lines around the eyes are a bit deeper than they were ten years ago. And also AnNa is ageless, maybe even timeless, like her music, her singing, And yet: aging is a topic at Rosenstolz. At least at Plate."We've gotten older," he says. "I think we can and must address this extra life experience."

And what does that mean in concrete terms? "I still celebrate my crises, but I know today: Everything passes," he says. "I am more balanced, and when I fall I do not fall as deeply as with 21. But I can still be as happy and euphoric as before, it has not changed - overall, things have gotten better." He takes a sip of water before devoting himself to the less positive aspects: "However, physical disintegration is causing me a hard time. - "Yes," says AnNa, "these are issues that should really make you laugh, and I like getting older because I feel better.



Problems are still problems, but I now know that it goes on after every drama. "The number 41 but already bother him, says Peter," I'm just gay - what gay man would not cause problems? "The His friend's mother died recently, his grandfather too, "that's when the family dies away, and it's just so normal that it happens at my age. That's silly."

The first finished piece for the new record was one about death, "One Morning in April" - a song for the dead mother of his friend. "And then something strange happened: we had lots of pieces in it, in which the word 'celebrate' appeared - because as never before did we realize how beautiful life really is, how much it is worth re-celebrating every day be, "says Plate. And yet, he says, the album sounds melancholy, "I almost say ..." - "... contemplative," says AnNa. And laughs: "We are already like an old couple: we can fight for hours for single words, but when we talk to others, one ends the sentences of the other." They are very different.

AnNa talks fast, sharp and precise, where Peter loses his mind. Anyway, she is pragmatic, often says: It does not help. She does not like to party. Plate already. He is the lively part of the duo, the drama queen, the little soul, AnNa R., who comes along on the stage so wicked-glamorous-diva, acts down-to-earth. "I'm not that complicated," she says. That's why her husband, director Nilo Neuenhofen, does not have such a hard time with her: "He supports me wherever he can, and others have not done that before him, which is good." She has been with him for seven years, childless with a dog, accompanies him to the job when she is free, but can also live with the distance that both work brings with it.

Plate is different. He has been with his friend Ulf for 18 years. And "together" should be taken literally in this case. "I need to completely share my life with my husband," he says. "I do not need distance." Therefore, his friend "is the great happiness of my life, because he works with me on Rosenstolz, we write songs together, he produces us and loves Rosenstolz at least as much as I. This sometimes burdens me, but every other man would bore me, because I would never have such a project with him as this one. " At Plate, something always has to happen, sitting still is not his thing. "I'm not normal, and I'm not proud of that," he says, "I always need action, it always has to be special, I'm not the type to hang on, I can only do that alone or anonymously with men, I do not know, I love that too, but that's another movie. "

The search continues. What? AnNa shrugs. "You can get old, you never stop looking," she says, "after the perfect day, the perfect song, the perfect luck - if you do not look anymore, you're dead." Even in love: "Although I do not need a new husband and Peter does not, we both have the feeling that we have arrived, but you are looking in every respect further for what you need it can always better, more beautiful to be better. "

Even between the two. But not much. There are no crises between Peter Plate and AnNa R., hardly ever friction - they just get on well. But even that was a process. "It takes years to get to know a person, that's something you do not know until you're 40," says Plate. And respect, one learns only with the years: "I know that AnNa hates when I get loud, I'm a choleric, I scream around quickly, but try to limit that as much as possible, if they are nearby Otherwise, she can actually get really mad at me. " Trinkets. They keep their distance, have different circles of friendsoften do not even travel to concerts together.

It used to be different when they first traveled the area by tour bus - a discarded bulli from the German railway for 4000 marks. He immediately got the nickname "the red shit", because he remained lying on the first day."That was an important time, but it cost a lot of nerves," says Peter, "it was harder with us." - "We have never done such a family thing," says AnNa, "there are many bands that wanted that and broke it." Well, it sounds as if the project is at least for Peter a family substitute, if he speaks of Ulf, the manager Roberto, the ex-boyfriend, who is responsible for the graphics at Rosenstolz. Maybe AnNa deliberately pulled a small fence. But at all distance: When the going gets tough, both are there for each other, "I already had crises where AnNa was immediately on the mat," says Peter, "luckily the relationship has been rather quiet lately, although: 'I'm such a mumblast, I always find something to suffer.'

Rosenstolz were never modern. They have become cult without submitting to any taste, at most their own. That's something special in the music business. But sometimes both take their breaks. And do something different: AnNa was on a small tribute tour with the East German band Silly, "it was exciting to see how other bands work that way. Peter wrote for Jimmy Sommerville and Patricia Kaas and 2raumwohnung, that was nice too, "but it's not like AnNa, it's never like AnNa".

AnNa R., 38, is actually different. But that should remain a secret, so fits the glamorous appearance of the native Berliner. Private, on the other hand, she is rather uncomplicated - much to the delight of film director Nilo Neuenhofen, with whom she has been married since 2002. In addition to Rosenstolz makes AnNa other projects. She is a singer with the horror pop band Missy and The Fits and toured with the East German band Silly.

Peter Plate, 41, was born in New Delhi - his grandfather was a diplomat there. He spent his youth in Goslar and Braunschweig, where he wrote a musical - but only in Berlin he had success with Rosenstolz as a musician. He married his longtime friend Ulf Sommer in 2002 in Berlin. Also professionally, they are a couple: Sommer is a composer, lyricist and producer at Rosenstolz.

WOULD YOU RATHER... QUESTIONS W/ SIBLINGS FT. (ZAEWAY, MAIYARISSA, & ALEXABADINI) (March 2024).



Peter Plate, Rosenstolz, Anna R., Plate, Germany, Berlin, Braunschweig, East Berlin, Europe, Furniture, Friedrichshain, West Germany, Interview Rosenstolz