Ok lets start with an interview from Aachener Nachrichten with Matthias...enjoy

http://www.an-online.de/news/kultur-detail-an/807650?_jumps=0



Aachen.
With 75 million albums sold the Scorpions are the most successful German rock band of all times. In Berlin, they are honored on the 21st of February with the German music price Echo for their life's work. Hits like "Blackout", "Still Loving You" and "No One Like You" are classic.

In the interview tells guitarist Matthias Jabs, member of the Scorpions since 1978, how they got overrun 1989/90/91 by the success of "Wind of Change", and the band, who understood themselves actually as a Hard-rock-band, "lost the balance". And how does it come that they lost their inherent music genre temporarily.

In honor for a "life's work" you think actually more of older gentlemen, who
left already or nearly all behind themselves. Where would you classify yourself there?

Jabs: The beginning, older gentlemen who already left much behind themselves, is not so wrong. This is even true. Otherwise I know what you mean. For us it is the second Echo award. We got the first 1992
in Cologne. That time our friend and colleague Udo Lindenberg got the Echo for his life's work. Now after 17 years he´s nominated again. And we are right in the studio and receive a new album. So it doesn´t mean necessarily when you get the award for the life's work you also get a retire card.

What does the honor mean?

Jabs: It means a well-deserved recognition, and it is one of the three most important awards next to the Grammy and the Brit Award. Insofar it´s important, I´m happy about it.

How would you concretely describe your life's work?

Jabs: I would say that we spend our whole life energy and music to the band. I do this longer than the half of my life. We do not make solo projects at all. We as a band concentrate on our playing field, and that is the whole world.

You´re a member of the band since 1978 and you´re a part of the most successful lineup of the Scorpions. Who is the spirit of the band?

Jabs: The founder is for sure Rudolf Schenker; he has already begun 1965, more than 40 years before, with a student band, which was already named at that time Scorpions. He´s certain the driving spirit and engine until today. However we´ve built a strong team spirit. There is no hierarchy. It´s very democratically.

It is not self-evident for a German band that it works from the beginning with English texts. What was the motivation?

Jabs: We heard at the time, in which we began, only English and American rock music, that strongly influenced us. We wanted to do it too. That English was the only ticket to go and play all around the world was not so aware at all. Today we know that. If we had sung in German, we never would have played in South Korea or in Argentina. That the German language in the music got a conscience “Coolness factor” is to be owed Udo Lindenberg. In the beginning there was Peter Kraus and Schlager music. That was not very attractive for us.

In the German-speaking world, the Scorpions very easily are equated with "Wind of Change". How does that come?

Jabs: That´s because the song got captured over its musical quality with the same time happened fall of the Berlin wall and the opening gene East. All this wasn´t planed. The song was written 1989 because of the changes in Russia we´ve realized and it was created in Moscow. The song is about it. That time we played twice on the Moscow Peace Festival, we already were
very popular at that time. There we got the inspiration to this song. Then
suddenly the wall fell and whole Germany hugs itself with this song. So here it has another meaning than in other countries where it is simply only a beautiful piece of music. Plus the radio “landscape” is very soft and plays only music that the housewife does not disturb in the ironing.

However this song arranged for a big drive. Does such an event also change the claim of a band?

Jabs: In our case it was more a form of insecurity and confusion. Until there, we had made a consistent type of music. When this song, that was actually an exception song, became so incredibly successful worldwide, it brought us insofar out of the balance because suddenly the focus lay on a
single song, while we had received already the twelfth LP. And 140 songs stood on the other hand, which represented actually our musical career. Now in Germany people came to our concerts who never would come before.
We played first for two hours very loudly - they had to bear it first before
they got "Wind of Change" in the supplement. That was a not hundred percent situation.

This sounds if you are not really happy with the song.

Jabs: It is nice to be successful, so unhappily is not the right word here at all. But it is in such a way that it fitted proportionally not properly. It has provided for a certain imbalance.

You have played for Gorbachev what was for a feeling?

Jabs: That was actual a very unusual feeling. A few days before he retired as a president, we were in the Kremlin and talked with him round about 45 minutes. Then we played for him and his wife "Wind of Change" on acoustic guitars. We did it because we recorded the song also in Russian and we donated all income to child hospitals. That was a project of his wife so he was very interested in it.

Is it true that you are much more successful in Japan and in the USA than in
Germany?

Jabs: Currently you can say so. But there are countries in which we are more successfully.

For example?

Jabs: We made a very successful tour through South America now, in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. There we played in front of 35,000 to 40,000 people in baseball stadiums and bullfight arenas. We have a large Russia tour behind us and were the first who played in Vladivostok, far east of Moscow. We will repeat that this year in stadiums with opening acts like Alice Cooper, Nightwish and others. We would give this year also finally once
again concerts in Germany. The fans start complaining and for sure we do not want that.

For a while you experimented with different styles until you are returned with "Unbreakable" to your Hard-rock-roots. What was the reason?

Jabs: The reason why we made something different in between was the inquiry of the Berliner Philharmonics 1995. Plus there was in the middle of the 90 a wave of alternative music, than Grunge, and suddenly they said that music of the 80´ is total out. If you permanently hears this, you´re a mental a bit confused and says to yourself you must do something. We
showed with "Eye to Eye" at the end of the 90 a style mixture, with which we were not happy by ourselves. It reflects the just spoken confusion. Then
we thought we now do something different. So we granted ourselves a break with the Berliners Philharmonics and the "Acoustica" album of 2001. By the way this was successful in the whole world and we got the Diamond Award in Brazil for this album.

Thankyou so much Claudi for the translation. It is fantastic that Scorpions are getting the Echo Award.
Congratulations Scorpions, you deserve it.

You´re welcome Mara, it´s my pleasure
Next will be an interview with Klaus from "Der Westen"

http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/kultur/musik-und-konzerte/2009/2/14/news-110989668/detail.html


Interview Echo Klaus Meine

Klaus Meine: “The Tiger isn´t tamed yet”

The Scorpions receive an "Echo" for the life's work. Jürgen Overkott talked with singer Klaus Meine in the forefront of the gala on the 21st of February in Berlin about the carnivore Rock'n'Roll, the high feeling in the Madison Square Garden and rest intelligence.


WR: The Scorpions receive an "Echo" for the life's work. Does it make you a
little bit sad?

Klaus Meine: (Recess) No, not at all. That is first a cause for rejoicing. We take that to the occasion to not to see it just as a conclusion of a long career, but as an incentive to create something new. We prepare just a new album and look forward to many Rock'n'Roll-adventure in the wide world.

WR: So you belie Ian Anderson, who once entitled an album: "Too old for Rock'n'Roll – too young to die".

KM: You say it right. If I think of our first "Echo" 1992, that time Udo Lindenberg received an "Echo" for the life's work. Now he´s nominated again. That bolster, or?

WR: Do you think that there´ll be a Single hit on
the coming album?

KM: We come from a long tour phase. We have promoted the last album two years album with concerts all around the world, just 60 shows in the last year in 22 countries. That fades away and now we go into a new creative phase. We are straight at the ready. Therefore: To speak about Single hits, it´s a bit early.

WR: Is it attractive today to have a Single hit?

KM: It is always attractive when the music finds the way into the hearts of the listener. Therefore we do that. Naturally you would like to write songs that reaches the persons. That must not be unconditional in the form that it goes over the radio or another propagation way, we are a Rock band which plays live. And one of the reasons to write a song is to have stuff where the fans can rock.

WR: What grip the people most? Do they want to hear greatest hits– or have they open mind for new things?

KM: That is different. Basically counts: Fans appreciate titles, that can match up to the classics, and then the new stuff will get also sometime into the circle of that All-Time-Classics.

WR: Meanwhile the Scorpions make family-music. Is the wild carnivore Rock'n'Roll tamed?

KM: Not at all. In front of the stage we have fans who go along with us since a long time; we also have a very young rock generation in the audience. They see the Scorpions for the first time, and nevertheless the young people know the songs that were written before they were born. There´s energy between the band and the audience – that is incredible. No,
the tiger is not tamed by a long shot and the Scorpion has still its sting.

WR: But when I see that ballad such as "Wind of Change" got captured politically, I ask myself: Can you attract the sting anymore?

KM: You have to do. There are new challenges again and again, especially
after a long career. Our poles are moving between hard Rock'n'Roll like "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and ballads like "Still Loving You".

WR: Let's look back in your career. When did Rock'n'Roll hits you for the first
time?

KM: At the beginning of the 60's. Beatles, Stones, The Who – all these amazing bands from England I´ve listened to at that time. "Twist & Shout"
of Beatles has enthused me, the way Lennon/McCartney sang. A crazy energy came over. Switch got changed that time. And then I had friends who had the same dream I had, to make music.

WR: Today one can learn Rock'n'Roll in every school of music. At that time it was differently. How did you practice?

KM: We practice like it was the best: In the basement, between old carton and old amplifiers. At the beginning we played music we liked – from Led zeppelin to Deep Purple. Then one time we switched and started to play own music.

WR: For a long time German music got sneered in the English-speaking world as “Krautrock”. Does it irritate you?

KM: “Krautrock” irritated us in a way that we fell as a young band that that kind of label has a negative flavor. Today “Krautrock” is cult. For us this was a reason at that time to become part of the international pop-family.
Therefore we already went 1975 to England and played in clubs such as the "Marquee" in London. And so we worked with English texts to be able to exist also there. A few years later the international proof was named USA. As the beginning of the 80´we toured as Headliner through the countries and had Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi as an opening act.

WR: Is there a crucial experience for you where you
say, now I did it?

KM: Yes, there is one. When you stand in the sold out Madison Square
Garden as a Headliner on stage, than it´s a feeling like: You´re top of the world. I would not know who else, except us, were able to sell out the Garden.

WR: In this moment, you knew that Frank Sinatra was right: Who make it in New York, make it everywhere.

KM: I couldn´t said it better than in this wonderful song.

WR: You would like to thank Sinatra with a cover version of New York?

KM: (Laughs) yes, there are already so many covers versions of it. The world does not wait necessarily for ours.

WR: A longtime success in the show business is not predictable at all. Is there a secret recipe of the Scorpions?

KM: Oh not easy to say. If there´s a secret recipe we often depart from it and extended our antennae into different directions.

WR: Rock'n'Roll is a very strength-sapping business. Jimi Hendrix had to quit
before he correctly began. What did you made to survive?

KM: We never stopped, we never rest. We always played, always toured, 70 to 100 shows a year. We lived our dream, we live it still.

WR: Many artists were not able to resist the temptations of drug in the Rock'n'Roll business. Did you just have buttermilk and crispbread?

KM: No, not at all. I´ll say it with Mick Jagger´s words. I preserved myself in the course of the years a certain rest intelligence that told me: until here and not further.

thank you claudi ^^

Thankyou so much Claudi for the translation. I loved reading it very much.