"Would love to be like Peter Frankenfeld"

You'd love to be a fly on the wall with the Schmitz-Röntgen family: When father Sasha sings himself at home or dances down the "show stairs" in his own home in Hamburg, when mother Julia has a brilliant idea and turns it into a children's book including a children's music album, or when son Otto, five, inspires his parents to write the same book with typical hole-in-the-belly questioning, but doesn't fancy the soundtrack at all and has to put cousin Milli in front of the microphone. Sasha spoke to ntv.de about books, beats and Beatles. Because: "Singing, laughing, dancing, making people happy, that was Babushka", sang Karel Gott, but not only Babushka can do all that: Sasha is also someone who simply makes people happy. That is his goal. His revue "It's my Life" had to be postponed for health reasons, but Sasha remains optimistic, even if he sometimes doubts himself.

ntv.de: I do believe that you are a jack-of-all-trades - please tell me how it might have come about ...

Sasha: (in a fairy-tale uncle voice) Well, it happened at a time when I was very young, when I was with my grandma (laughs). I spent a lot of time with my grandma; I was allowed to stay up late and I was always allowed to see all the shows. Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Peter Alexander, Harald Juhnke, Rudi Carrell and so on, all these guys who casually danced down the show steps, sang, tap-danced, were simply cool. Not forgetting, of course, the American role models, above all Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Rat Pack - they influenced me very early on. And even back then I thought: "I'd like to be able to do all that." And then it started for me. I also did drama at school, but decided on music. I've always taken music very seriously. Then at some point, when I was just 20 years old, I had the feeling: I'm ready for this.

And now the revue ...

That certainly has to do with age. When I was approaching 50, I went to Thomas Hermanns (editor's note: "Quatsch Comedy Club"), who I had already told about the idea 20 years ago. He said at the time: "You have to feel ready yourself." So I went back to him: "So Thomas, I'm ready. Can we get started?" (laughs) And he was immediately ready to go. Asked me, what do you want to do? And I said I wanted to do a revue. I'm about to publish my biography, so I might as well do a show about my life. If that's not too presumptuous (laughs), and then he sat down with me and we developed the concept.

What advice did he give you?

"There's only one thing you need to know: You have to expect at least three jackets."

So, does that work?

I think I have six costume changes per evening (laughs). And we have dancers, dancers, a show staircase, a big band, clips and a video screen, the whole program.

The theme of the revue is actually your life?

Yes, it's a journey through my life. Very chronological. It starts with when and where I was born, right up to the birth of my son. And it's about everything I've ever listened to: The first record I put on the record player, the first single I bought, it's all processed, hopefully in a very entertaining way. But it will also be serious! It's the first time that I've had a much higher proportion of speech at my shows. A bit of a "one man show": I talk about my life and back it up with music.

Do you feel like you have a straight path in life because you knew what you wanted so early on? I know that you've tried many things, taken many directions. But do you feel like you've gone straight?

When they got Otto in 2018, Julia knew that she wanted Sasha to sing her a lullaby.

Relatively. From the cover school band to the grunge crossover band. I had hair down to my butt and a completely different, new world view. Then I wrote do-gooder lyrics. And finally found my favorite: Pop music. I was already in my mid-20s when I realized I couldn't go on like this. Above all, I thought: "Now you're so old and you've never been in Bravo, maybe you need to think about something else." (laughs) And then, more or less by chance, I got another job. I sang backing vocals, and that's when my own career really took off.

Your revue is very personal. There's a song for your son on the album. Doesn't your wife cry every time she hears it?

(laughs) Yes, that's really the case! We played the show 30 times last year. And it was really nice when my wife was there and sitting in the audience. I really have to pull myself together for that song. To be honest, I didn't realize how personal my show really was until it started. But of course it's also very entertaining, like a rock concert, but with all the trimmings. The audience should go out afterwards and be happy and have forgotten what's going on out there for two and a half or three hours. And I don't want to burden them with my problems as well. It should be more of a motivation.

Your book is also intended as motivation?

Yes. Everyone should say to themselves "It's my time, it's my life". So now it's my turn, now I'm ready, now I'm ready for this show. But it's also about the fact that you have to believe in yourself a lot if you choose this path.

"If You Believe" - your breakthrough. You still love that song after 25 years, don't you?

Yes, yes, what do you want to do? (laughs) Looking back, I often think: "Oh, that's a great song." I wouldn't perform without it. There hasn't been a show in 25 years where it hasn't been played live.

Your fans probably love you a lot for that. And I always find it totally reassuring when artists still love their old songs.

I admit: there was a time when I couldn't listen to it anymore, when I didn't want to sing it anymore. I felt like I sang it 70,000 times. So even at promotional events, when I was touring America, sometimes on five radio stations in one day in three different states - and standing up there again and again and singing the same song - you do get a bit gaga.

Can you say that you love all genres of music? A bit of grunge, pop, rock, crooner, big band ...

When I look for things off the beaten track, I always do it as if I've never done or wanted to do anything else. So for me, there's a certain seriousness in everything I do. If something is not my comfort zone, then I have to build it, I have to be safe in it. If I realize I can't do it, despite many rehearsals, then I don't do it. Not just because I liked listening to it in my youth and would have liked to do it then. It has to fit NOW. The first time I sang with a big band, I messed up so badly that I thought I'd give up now. And then my vocal coach came and said 'Dude, that's actually you'. But I was so overwhelmed by this "blower" and everything (laughs) ... And then he said: You're going to take it easy now. You just get into it. And then it worked as if I'd never done anything else. That was nice. But there were also things that I nipped in the bud.

For example?

For example, writing a German album in a certain amount of time - I didn't manage that for a long time. I've done that before, but for me it always drifted into unnecessary comedy. I just couldn't stay serious with German lyrics. It was always a mixture of Die Ärzte and Die Doofen. I didn't want that at all. When I make a German album, I want to let my pants down a bit, and I managed to do that five years ago. That's when I realized, now I'm ready.

Your role models range from Elvis to Reinhard Mey and Julio Iglesias. That's a brave thing to admit.

(laughs) My first single was Howard Carpendale's "Nachts, wenn alles schläft". I grew up like that, my parents had a record cupboard - it was all in there. Stevie Wonder, Bert Kemfert, Glenn Miller, Elvis Presley, the Beatles - it was just a total hodgepodge that you could help yourself to. And as a child, you don't have any drawers. I've kept that somehow. I don't have many drawers, but when I open one, I put a lot of stuff in it, because for me it somehow belongs together. You just have to find out what suits you best. And what you think is just great in others but doesn't suit you.

Where do you see your voice?

I'm actually quite good as a crooner.

There aren't that many categories any more ...

But you could really give rocker parents one by telling them as a child that you'd like to go to Helene Fischer.

That would certainly be the ultimate punishment for many. Back to other role models: Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff and Peter Frankenfeld. I thought they were old even back then ...

And I would love to tackle this whole field of Saturday evening shows, of family entertainment, again. I'd be old enough for that by now (laughs). So, for young people, I could easily play Peter Frankenfeld: A TV character you can trust.

What constitutes modern entertainment for you? You want to give "something nice".

That's not modern at all, more old school, isn't it? Well, I think what's modern is that the shows are getting bigger and bigger, that you let yourself fall from the ceiling with ropes and cloths, like Helene Fischer or Pink or Beyoncé, with a huge show with robots on stage. I think that's fantastic. It's always a bit of magic mixed with really rustic, normal concerts, where music is simply made, where feelings are conveyed only through the music.

You have a show ...

Yes, even one with a show staircase, dancers, a big band and a huge LED backdrop. But I hope that it's all about me (laughs). And from what happens musically, in interaction with the band. I'm really looking forward to next year when "This Is My Time" starts again.

You reveal a lot about yourself, or so it seems: you're on Instagram, showing vacation photos. You've written a book and a children's book.

Together with my wife! She's the creative mind behind it. Julia is spontaneous, I can write lyrics for music. However, I really enjoy reading aloud.

The children's book is called "Toto and the Man in the Moon", was written during lockdown and answers the "why" questions in a childlike, playful way.

Yes, and like so many other things, I also have my wife to thank for this project (laughs). You know, this entertainer thing has developed since there have been shows like "The Voice of Germany" and so on. Musicians were finally allowed to be on TV without necessarily having to sing. They were also allowed to speak. That's what I wanted, everything really.

For me as a kitchen psychologist, it looks like this: Sasha has totally come into his own. You're so you, even if you're someone else, Dick Brave for example.

Why do the stars shine? How do I get out of a pyramid if I've lost my way, and why does it crack and flash during a thunderstorm? Little Toto has lots of questions. It's a good thing there's the man in the moon, because he knows almost all the answers.

I take that as a compliment, but I pass it on to my wife. She has such a relaxed attitude and honesty that is infectious. And as a couple, we always ask ourselves where our boundaries are, but the plan is to be honest and authentic. I think that's also a question of age. I think you get a bit cooler. Cooler when it comes to certain things and also when it comes to mistakes. I was afraid of making mistakes for a long time. Fear is demonstrably not a good advisor, and then you make mistakes all the more and you get so annoyed about them. I think I've got over that a bit: I'm not afraid of making mistakes, nor do I think I should be hugely ashamed of mistakes.

Back to the children's book: what questions did you have as a child before going to sleep?

Oh, there was a time when the first bullying started. But I was already a teenager then. In kindergarten, I remember always trying to be totally fair. I often jumped to the side of boys or girls when they had a problem. And then I asked my parents: Why did they laugh at that boy just because he said that sentence wrong? Or because he still rides his bike with training wheels. I thought it was incredibly mean and it really bothered me how people could be so mean. I thought you could show him how to do it properly. To be honest: These are the questions and thoughts that still bother me today.

Sabine Oelmann spoke with Sasha

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