During the early days of Rammstein, the band members were clueless.
"We had no idea what was ahead of us," said keyboardist Flake (pronounced Flah-Keh) Lorenz through an interpreter during a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "We just wanted to play music for ourselves."The German-based Rammstein -- Lorenz, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph Schneider, vocalist Till Lindemann and guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers -- will play the Utah State Fairpark on Tuesday, June 15. The music will begin at 6 p.m. Soulfly and Mindless Self Indulgence are also scheduled to play that evening.
Tickets are available at all Graywhale CD outlets, Zumiez at University Mall and the Heavy Metal Shop in Sugarhouse.
Rammstein, now famous for its dazzling pyrotechnics and driving techno-metal, broke through to Utah audiences in 1997 when the band opened for KMFDM at Saltair.
More recently, Rammstein came through with Korn's Family Values Tour last year. And, surprisingly there was little difference in the set. (Although, Rammstein did tone down its erotic side for that show; instead of a performing a simulated sex act for shock effect, Lindemann ate an apple.)
"The pyrotechnics actually emerged during our second concert back in 1993," Lorenz confessed. "We had a small flash device that the kids really liked. And when we played the next show, we didn't have it. Everyone wondered where it was."
Lorenz said the flashpot was suppose to be a joke but became a staple in later shows. Now the band has rockets, fire-drenched chain-mail, spark-spewing shoes and exploding telephones. "Till had to go to school to get a certificate to handle the fireworks everyday. Otherwise we could only do the show on New Year's Eve."
The visuals aside, Rammstein's music was inspired by Prodigy, early Ministry and AC/DC, said Lorenz. "We have six members of the band. So we've actually got more than that. But those are our common bonds."
The band has plans to release a live album later this year and a new studio album in the year 2000.
"One of the rewards is that kids are actually buying our albums," said Lorenz. "And it's always good to know we have fans."
The day after this interview, Lorenz and Lindemann were arrested in Worcester, Mass., and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, because of a simulated sex act in their show. A court date is pending.
"While they strongly deny any criminal wrongdoing, they have retained local counsel and intend to respect the laws of the city in question by seeing this matter through to its logical conclusion," said the band in a new release to MTV News.
Soularium music, the locally-based concert promoter producing the Rammstein show, didn't return calls on the matter.