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The legends The band members on their arrival at New Delhi airport

An inconspicuous beginning, innumerable breakaways, controversies, reaching the zenith, then a slump and finally the resurrection: the iconic band from Sarstedt, Germany, has been through every phase .

Their music too has shown glimpses of these different phases. They are considered the legends of rock, but the truth is that change is the only constant in their music.

“For us it has been a very emotional journey. The only thing that kept us going was our desire to make good music. We have absorbed different kinds of music into ours over these years. Yes, we had to adapt to changing times. After all, learning is something that never stops,” says Matthias Jabs, the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist.

The togetherness, however, has been fun. “It’s a dream come true. Me, Klaus Meine, Rudolf, James and Pawel are great friends. We spend so much time together, as we are on the road always. We are here today and there tomorrow. The world is getting smaller for us. You know, we haven’t taken a holiday with our respective families in four years now,” he reels out.

Now in India on a three-city trip as part of their ‘Humanity-Hour 1 World Tour’, organised by Hero Honda, Matthias gets talking about their latest album by the same name.

“It’s an alarming album. It talks about the world and the various issues it faces like global warming, war and poverty. It’s an effort on our part to make people aware that we cannot afford to destroy our planet this way. That’s the reason we are on this world tour.”

But he assures us it is not a case of mere preaching.

“We have been into charity for a long time. For example, I have been working for the cause of children in Africa for 30 years. As for the band, we recently performed in the Amazon rainforest to create awareness about the place for Green Peace. We have recorded a DVD on it, and all the proceedings from it will go to whoever needs it,” says the man who joined the band in the 1970s.

Are these responsible words coming from the same band that got into trouble for its vulgar album covers quite a few times in its early days? “We were much younger then, when it was all about having fun, girls and partying. We didn’t have to think about all this. But as you grow you become matureand conscious. We feel responsible now,” he explains.

As the topic changes to the current trip, the excitement is visible.

“I know when we play, we are good, but I don’t understand how people like us so much even without seeing us play live. I have been to Bangalore and Mumbai during our earlier trip in 2001. But Shillong is a new experience. People tell me in every house there, you will find at least one person who can either sing or play an instrument. That’s amazing!”

Though the packed schedule leaves them with little time to explore the country, they have had their share of discoveries. But this one was unexpected.

“In 1979, we spent two days discovering Delhi, as our plane to Japan had to halt here due to technical snags. We have some lovely photographs of the trip. I remember, we even had lots of Indian street food, though people warned us it’s unhygienic. We did feel something strange in our stomach afterwards,” sums up Matthias.

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