We are Heroes
| We are Heroes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mark Tavassol, Jean-Michel Tourette, Pola Roy and Judith Holofernes (2005) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Pop-Rock , German Rock , Alternative Rock |
| founding | 2000 |
| Website | www.wirsindhelden.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Judith Holofernes | |
| Jean-Michel Tourette | |
| Pola Roy | |
| Mark Tavassol | |
Wir sind Helden is a German pop-rock - band around singer Judith Holofernes , which in 2000 in Hamburg was founded and most recently in Berlin was established. After twelve successful years, the group announced at the beginning of April 2012 that it would take an indefinite break.
history
The group's lead singer, Judith Holofernes, performed as a solo artist in Berlin clubs even before Wir sind Helden was founded and also released her own album, Kamikazefliege . In search of musicians who could accompany their singing, Holofernes met the drummer Pola Roy and Jean-Michel Tourette, who plays guitar and keyboard, at the pop course in Hamburg in 2000 .
At the beginning, the group appeared under the name of Judith Holofernes and published some tracks on the online music platform BeSonic. The bassist Mark Tavassol was only later suggested as a band member by Pola Roy and after a few weeks agreed to participate in the group that now appears under the name Helden . They later changed the name to Wir sind Helden , as the original name Helden was already used by another band and they wanted to avoid legal disputes with this band. The name was inspired by a performance by a local rock band called "The Heroes" that Holofernes saw as a young child in 1979 and should be reminiscent of David Bowie's single Heroes .
In 2002 the producer Patrik Majer became aware of the band at a newcomer evening. Together they recorded some titles and released the EP Guten Tag . It was published in an edition of 3,000 copies and initially only made the band known within Berlin, where the radio station radioeins played them regularly. With the self-made video for the song Guten Tag , Wir sind Helden entered the MTV rotation in 2002 without a major label . The band uses guerrilla marketing tactics . Self-painted T-shirts were sold and stickers were given away to fans who advertised the band. After Holofernes' appearance on the Harald Schmidt Show , Wir sind Helden became even more popular.
After the band was signed to labels, the first single Guten Tag was released in February 2003 , which reached number 53 in the German charts. In July 2003 the first album Die Reklamation was released . The album entered the German album charts at number 6 in the first week, reached number 2 as the highest position and was one of the best-selling albums of 2003 and 2004.
With the second album Von hier an blind , released in 2005 , they reached first place in the German and Austrian charts in the first week after their release. The first work Die Reklamation also entered the album charts again in 2005 and temporarily reached number 38. In total, over 1.2 million copies of the first two albums were sold in Germany.
As part of the worldwide Live 8 benefit concerts, Wir sind Helden performed on July 2, 2005 at the Live 8 concert in Berlin.
We are heroes tried to enter the music markets of other countries and have therefore arranged some of their songs in other languages. With Sā itte miyō ( Japaneseさ あ 行 っ て み よ う) the group recorded a Japanese version of Von hier an blind in 2005, followed in 2006 by a compilation of titles from The Complaint and Von hier an blind for the French market, the additional French versions of Von contains here on blind (French Le vide ), Guten Tag (French La réclamation ) and Aurélie (French Aurélie, c'est pas Paris ).
On May 25, 2007 their third album So-and-so was released , which rose to second place in the charts in Germany and Austria within a week. Finally a reason to panic was already available as a pre-release on April 27th. As the second single, the song was on July 6 Soundso versions Unplugged one along with some FM4 published -Konzerts. The version of the album for the French market also includes the bonus tracks Endlich ein Grund zur Panik ( Panique in French ), So-and-so ( T'es comme ça in French ) and Kaputt ( Ko in French ).
In 2008 the band's autobiography Wir sind Helden - Information about tours and other individual parts was published. A Wir sind Helden-Tagebuch , which was compiled on the basis of the online diaries of the band and edited by the Musikexpress authors Josef Winkler and Albert Koch .
After a break, the band went into the studio in 2010 and recorded their fourth album, which was released on August 27, 2010 under the title Bring me home and entered the German and Austrian charts at first place. The single Alles was released a week before the album . On November 5th, the second single with the title song Bring me home was released . The song is also the official song for Lars Kraume's film The Coming Days .
At the large demonstration against nuclear power "Fukushima warns: Switch off all nuclear power stations!" On March 26, 2011, the band played in front of 120,000 people in Berlin, one of the largest demonstrations against the use of nuclear power, in which more than 250,000 people across Germany took part.
A year after the release of the album Bring mich nach Heimat , a fourth single was released: The Ballade by Wolfgang and Brigitte . The song also appeared on the CD in a version in which Marianne Rosenberg took over the vocal part.
In early April 2012, the band announced on their website that they would be on hiatus indefinitely. The reasons given by the group were the physical distance due to the different places of residence of the band members, “various signs of wear and tear” and their own offspring. In addition, as long as possible, the band was kept as an “increasingly impossible undertaking”.
Band members
Judith Holofernes
Judith Holofernes (born November 12, 1976 in West Berlin ; actually Judith Holfelder-Roy ) sings, plays the guitar and writes lyrics for Wir sind Helden . Holofernes lives in Berlin-Kreuzberg , is married to the drummer Pola and has a son, who was born in December 2006, and a daughter, who was born in August 2009.
Before founding her band, Holofernes was not very successful as a solo artist ( songwriter ) in commercial terms. Her solo album Kamikazefliege was published in 1999 in a small edition of 500 pieces and only developed into a coveted collector's item after the breakthrough of Wir sind Helden . Some songs from the later repertoire of the band ( except for you , Aurélie , Popstar ) are already included on Kamikazefliege .
Since the break from Wir sind Helden , Holofernes has been active again as a solo artist and released the albums A Light Sword (2014) and Ich bin das Chaos (2017). Furthermore, her volume of poetry was published in 2015, Du bellst vor dem Fehler Baum .
Jean-Michel Tourette
Jean-Michel Tourette (born July 10, 1975 in Hanover ; actually Jens-Michael Eckhoff ) is the band's keyboardist . While Holofernes is mainly responsible for the lyrics, Tourette contributes a large part of the music. He is married, has one child and lives with his family in Hanover.
Tourette has been playing the piano since he was nine and has also played the guitar since he was 13. He was a member of the heavy metal band Shiftless, the pop band Picassos Parents and the electro pop band Filiale Lotus. He played with the latter for a year in Berlin, but met Holofernes and Roy in Hamburg in the spring of 2000, which led to the establishment of Wir sind Helden . In Wir sind Helden he initially only played guitar. Since he brought a synthesizer to a rehearsal, he's mainly been a keyboardist. On the album Von hier an blind he mainly played guitar again.
Right from the start, Tourette supervised the home studio recordings of Wir sind Helden as a producer. He now operates in Hanover, the studio Sun Studio . There, pre-productions for the group's songs were created, which served as the basis for finished pieces. He is also the producer of the bands The Amber Light (since 2006) and Tanner (from 2008). In 2005 he was awarded the Praetorius Prize.
In 2017 he produced the album The Light of This World by Gisbert zu Knyphausen and went on tour with it as part of his band.
Pola Roy
Pola Roy (born October 18, 1975 in Karlsruhe ; actually Sebastian Roy ) is the band's drummer. He has been married to Holofernes since 2006 and has a son and a daughter with her.
Roy is a Buddhist, got involved with the band for the Tibet Initiative and accompanied the Dalai Lama on his trip to Germany in 2008.
Roy, who grew up in the Karlsruhe district of Rüppurr , attended the music school in Ettlingen , where he originally wanted to learn bagpipes . However, after receiving a drum kit from his father , he switched to this instrument. After graduating from the Max-Planck-Gymnasium, he moved to Dinkelsbühl in order to complete an apprenticeship as a state-certified leader of popular music with an additional educational examination.
Before joining Wir sind Helden , Roy played in the bands Lunatics , The Purple Rose of Cairo , Flowers in Chains and Dew , which didn't leave a lasting impression. In November 2010 the first album of his band Per Anders was released.
Since We Are Heroes paused, Roy has mainly been working as a producer. Among other things, he produced songs for Ursina and Serafyn as well as Judith Holofernes ' second solo album Ich bin das Chaos (2017).
As part of the wedding with Holofernes and the birth of their son, there were numerous reports about the couple, especially because they took their son on their band's tour.
Mark Tavassol
Mark Tavassol (born February 18, 1974 in Bremen ) is the band's bass player , writes songs and is a producer. He currently lives in Hamburg . He was the last member to join Wir sind Helden and is the only musician in the band who has not adopted a stage name .
Tavassol spent his youth in Tehran , his father is Iranian . In the fall of 2001, he resigned his medicine - exams from. Tavassol came to Wir sind Helden through his friend Pola Roy, who persuaded him to become the group's bass player. Even after the group's great success, he continued to work part-time as a doctor .
Besides Wir sind Helden , Tavassol works as a musician and songwriter with artists like Olli Schulz , Jessica McIntyre ( Sam Ragga Band ) and Ingo Pohlmann . Together with the TV presenter Klaas Heufer-Umlauf , he founded the band Gloria . Tavassol is also politically active: He supports Benny Adrion's organization Viva con Agua , for which he traveled to Africa with Pohlmann, and published an essay on Europe's development opportunities in Stern .
Create
Texts
Holofernes' critical attitude towards consumption and media is evident in many texts. She criticizes the commercial ( good day ) to useless diligence ( Just have to want ), rigid rules ( Is that right? ), Or to the music industry ( pimps ). She also criticizes female singers who are more successful with visual stimuli than with their musical talent (get dressed ). The theme of love is addressed by Holofernes in many songs, sometimes in a humorous ( Aurélie ), sometimes in a serious form ( Besides you ). With the song Heldenzeit , she answers the frequently asked question why the group We are Heroes baptized itself , and in Anger enough she deals with the accusation that her reputation is too nice and too good.
Music genre
The debut album by Wir sind Helden , Die Reklamation , mainly contained elements of electro-pop and musically reminded of the Neue Deutsche Welle . Influences from the Hamburg school are also present, especially since the band's history began in the Hanseatic city. Some of the songs are from the time of Judith Holofernes' solo career. The second album from here on blind is arranged more guitar-heavy overall . All four musicians played a more equal role in its creation than in its predecessor.
meaning
We are heroes are seen as the pioneers of a movement that produced other young German music groups such as Silbermond and Juli in 2004 . The latter in particular is occasionally accused of having copied We are Heroes in view of a linguistically similar imagery . The groups are now often classified under the style of the New New German Wave .
The rock groups Astra Kid , Madsen , Olli Schulz and the dog Marie , Polarkreis 18 and the singer Clueso gained additional popularity with their appearances as supporting acts for Wir sind Helden .
Trivia
Before starting a new tour, the band performed under the name Wo sind Helmet in smaller clubs every now and then to test new pieces in front of a live audience.
Political commitment
In the past, the band often tried to use their musical fame to bring social issues closer to people. The members are involved in projects that try to counteract political disaffection among the population and have performed at various concerts as part of this. In addition, the front singer Judith Holofernes was a guest on the politics talk show Maybrit Illner in December 2010 when it came to the thesis “Does politics rule by the people?”.
Despite all political commitment, however, We Are Heroes refused to get involved with any party. In an interview, Pola Roy said on the question of campaigning for a specific party: “No, definitely not. Maybe we'll found our own party one day, then we will. ”In February 2011, an offer to take part in an advertising campaign for Bild was also clearly rejected. Holofernes said that the image was a “dangerous political instrument” and that the campaign was playing “with stupidity”. The request from the company responsible for the campaign, Jung von Matt, and Holofernes' response are published on the band's website. Jung von Matt also published the answer, albeit against the apparent will of Holofernes, as an advertisement in the taz . The legality of the publication was then publicly discussed.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
|||
| 2003 |
The Complaint Reclamation Records |
DE2  × 5
(94 weeks)DE |
AT3  (91 weeks)AT |
CH38 (18 weeks) CH |
First published: July 4th, 2003
Sales: + 530,000 |
| 2005 |
From here on blind reclamation records |
DE1 × 2
(59 weeks)DE |
AT1 × 2
(43 weeks)AT |
CH5 (21 weeks) CH |
First published: April 1, 2005
Sales: + 460,000 |
| 2007 |
So and so reclamation records |
DE2 (26 weeks)DE |
AT2 (18 weeks)AT |
CH11 (9 weeks) CH |
First published: May 25, 2007
Sales: + 110,000 |
| 2010 |
Take me home Columbia Records |
DE1 (13 weeks)DE |
AT1 (8 weeks) AT |
CH13 (4 weeks) CH |
First published: August 27, 2010
Sales: + 100,000 |
Awards
- 2003: Best Newcomer
- 2004: Best Live Act
- 2005: Best Album (From Here On Blind)
- 2004: Best national young radio generation
- 2004: Best Newcomer National
- 2004: Best German Newcomer Video
- 2006: Best National Rock / Pop Group
European Border Breakers Award
- 2005: The complaint
literature
- We are heroes: we are heroes. Information on tours and other items. Fischer Verlag, 2008, ISBN 3-596-17754-5 .
- We are heroes: does it have to be? Songbook with texts and sheet music (piano, guitar, drums and bass) Bosworth Edition, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86543-307-7 .
Web links
- Literature by and about We are heroes in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official website of the band
- We are heroes at MusicBrainz (English)
- We are heroes at Discogs (English)
- We are heroes at Allmusic (English)
- Interview with Mark Tavassol on Israeli radio ( Memento from June 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (MP3; 88.5 MB)
Individual evidence
- ^ Andi Kuhn: Limited impossibilities. Interview with Pola Roy and Judith Holofernes from Wir sind Helden. (No longer available online.) In: Neue Musikzeitung . December 2003, formerly in the original ; accessed on January 22, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Band homepage from 2001. Archived from the original on April 1, 2001 ; accessed on December 7, 2017 .
- ↑ Jochen Rausch (June 5, 2013): We were a waste of time - radio play with Campino and Judith Holofernes , [1] , quote: Süddeutsche Zeitung : “At the end of the 53 minutes, the we-are-heroes singer Judith Holofernes reveals a secret. 'That was my first rock band I saw, and Jojo was the first rock star I was a little bit in love with. And that's why in the end we called ourselves We are heroes . ' "
- ↑ Nadine Emmerich: band names . The Rheinpfalz 48/2006 from. November 2006, page "Rock & Pop"
- ↑ Eva Dorothée Schmid: You don't want your old life back. In: Berliner Zeitung . November 22, 2003, accessed September 2, 2015 .
- ↑ Harald Peters: If only we want. In: Berliner Zeitung . July 23, 2003, accessed September 2, 2015 .
- ↑ We are heroes - hello - single. In: Official German Charts. Retrieved September 2, 2015 .
- ^ Message on the official website of the band ( Memento from May 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Ricarda Landgrebe: We are heroes in an interview: “You mustn't pull your tail”. In: Netzeitung . February 28, 2008, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Publications of Wir sind Helden bei Sony Music ( Memento of September 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Coming Days - theme song from Wir Sind Helden. (No longer available online.) Trailerseite.de, September 13, 2010, archived from the original on March 17, 2013 ; Retrieved September 15, 2010 .
- ↑ Appearance at the large demonstration against nuclear power "Fukushima warns: Switch off all nuclear power stations!" On March 26, 2011 in Berlin.
- ↑ What does that mean: "We're out first"? wirsindhelden.de, April 4, 2012, accessed April 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Sebastian Leber: I think chaining is okay. In: Tagesspiegel . June 18, 2008, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Thilo Bock, Michael-Andre Werner: I can forget as many stanzas as I want! In: ätzettera, No. 28 October 1999, archived from the original on 19 October 2013 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ I hotspot, you foxtrot. Retrieved January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Review: Judith Holofernes - You bark in front of the wrong tree . In: Rolling Stone . ( rollingstone.de [accessed on January 24, 2018]).
- ↑ New songs are like babies , interview with Jean-Michel Tourette in Hamburger Abendblatt, June 10, 2006
- ↑ a b c Jean's diary of the break ( memento from November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on wirsindhelden.de
- ↑ Florian Grothe: tech talk: Wir Sind Helden, Interview with Jean-Michel Tourette ( Memento from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Amber Light - in the end everything is pop music anyway ( Memento from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on whiskey-soda.de
- ^ Tanner on Myspace
- ^ Gisbert zu Knyphausen | Discography. Retrieved November 7, 2017 .
- ↑ Barbara Vorsamer: We are heroes - and so is the Dalai Lama ( Memento from December 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Pola Roy in the rough ( memento from June 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on wirsindhelden.de
- ^ Pola Roy in individual parts ( Memento from June 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on wirsindhelden.de
- ↑ SERAFYN and URSINA «Wintrup. Retrieved January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ I hotspot, you foxtrot. Retrieved January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Bernd Philipp: Mother Popstar and her songs. In: The world . June 9, 2007, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ We are heroes long for rest ( Memento from September 8, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ a b Mark Tavassol: Eurovisionen: From the anatomy of Europe. (No longer available online.) In: Stern.de . August 25, 2006, archived from the original on January 16, 2015 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Barbara Hardinghaus: Bass and stethoscope are his instruments. In: Hamburger Abendblatt . March 26, 2004, archived from the original on July 5, 2009 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Review of Warten Auf den Boomerang on cdstarts.de
- ↑ My life in Neins ( Memento from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Interview on stephanbartels.de)
- ↑ Teaching materials for Hello. ( Memento from March 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) On: goethe.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ a b Dreaming can give you a lot of strength. On: plattentests.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Is that so? on lyricsbox.com. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Just don't get your hands dirty. In: taz. April 7, 2005, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Stefan Friedrich: No trace of nervousness. Why also? In: laut.de . April 2005, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Lukas Heinser: Campaign Journalism. In: coffeeandtv.de. February 27, 2011, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Stefan Woldach: We hope that we will be smarter this time. In: The world. July 19, 2010, accessed March 3, 2013 .
- ↑ Limited impossibilities ( Memento from May 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Besides you on songmeanings.net (English). Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Angry enough. In: Judith Holofernes Blog. Retrieved January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Stefan Friedrich: The perfect soundtrack for the urban summer. In: laut.de. July 2003, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Hamburger Schule or: How subversive is pop? On: gibschub.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ a b We are heroes on goethe.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Michael Pilz: We are heroes do not touch the organic drink. On: welt.de, January 29, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Thomas Schulz: Against the rest . In: Der Spiegel . No. 19 2007, ( Online - May 7, 2005 ).
- ↑ Philipp Gässlein: Rocking power chords accompany real schoolgirl literature. On: laut.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ^ Biography ( Memento from December 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on musicline.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Patrick T. Neumann: The future sings in German. In: Stern.de . December 17, 2004, accessed January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Carsten Roth: Interview with Astra Kid on eclat-mag.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ No more fun. On: gaesteliste.de, May 7, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Olii Schulz on laut.de. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Bands on a big tour for the climate On: laut.de, July 4, 2007. Accessed on March 3, 2013.
- ↑ Rebekah Drobbe: Clueso: "I find Herbert Grönemeyer cool". (No longer available online.) In: Stern.de. May 23, 2007, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Nikolaos Georgakis: "We are heroes" appear under a false name in Cologne. On: derwesten.de, August 5, 2010. Accessed March 3, 2013.
- ↑ a b RP Online: Why "We Are Heroes" appear in Berlin ( Memento from November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ zdf.de: Maybrit Illner: Bürgeraufstand 2010.
- ↑ The Inquiry - The Answer. (No longer available online.) In: We are Heroes. February 24, 2011, archived from the original on March 6, 2011 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ↑ taz-blog ( memento of October 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the publication of the BILD advertisement including an interview with Judith Holofernes.
- ↑ Josef Winkler: Judith Holofernes on the "Bild" campaign: "The 'Bild' is not a superpower". In: the daily newspaper . February 26, 2011, accessed on January 22, 2014 (taz interview with Judith Holofernes).
- ↑ taz prints the Holofernes letter as a paid advertisement for BILD. In: Blog Internet Law. February 28, 2011, accessed January 22, 2014 .
