RAMMSTEIN's RICHARD Z. KRUSPE: 'I Wouldn't Say Rock's Dead'

October 24, 2014

RAMMSTEIN guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe, who is currently promoting the sophomore album from his EMIGRATE project, is the latest musician to respond to KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' recent comment that "rock is dead."

Simmonstold Esquire magazine last month — in an interview conducted by his son Nick — that "rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won't because it's that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it."

Simmons went on to elaborate that as a result of file-sharing and other issues, record label support for rock music was not available like it was when KISS was coming up, concluding, "It's finally dead. Rock is finally dead."

Asked to weigh in on Gene's comments, Kruspe told Australia's Heavy magazine: "I dont think rock will ever be dead because it's a life statement for a lot of people. But what I do realize is that the quality of records is very poor. I understand why — there's no time, there's no money, [and] everything becomes a promotion tool.

"I said it a few years ago: people only fuck themselves by stealing music. But I think also there is another movement coming. Streaming will maybe save something.

"People are spending money on music at the moment, but it just has to go in the right direction.

"We need to go through that generation that wants to own music to the next generation that says, 'I dont care, I just want to have it.' Then, well, have another way of paying the artist, for people to get money again to invest in music.

"I wouldn't say rock's dead; it's just going through a really poor quality stage."

Kruspe's EMIGRATE project will release its sophomore album, "Silent So Long", on November 4 via Spinefarm. The CD, which was produced by the EMIGRATE bandmembers themselves and mixed in February/March by Ben Grosse (MARILYN MANSON, DISTURBED),features guest appearances by Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD),Jonathan Davis (KORN),Marilyn Manson, Canadian born Berlin-dweller Peaches, and Frank Dellé from chart-topping German collective SEEED.

Find more on Rammstein
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).