The Hit Maker: Interview with Tokio Hotel Manager David Jost

David Jost (far right) with Tom Kaulitz, Bill Kaulitz and Georg Listing of Tokio Hotel, Sarara on Picassa

What does one of Germany’s most successful music producers like best? Well, if you’re David Jost, manager of a band like Tokio Hotel and a hit songwriter for the likes of Keri Hilson, you stay behind the scenes, according to a report in the Hamburger Morgen Post (MOPO).

A True Workaholic

Jost doesn’t speak to any cameras, and he rarely has time for interviews. Instead, the 37-year-old manager and producer of Germany’s most successful band, Tokio Hotel spends his time working. For the last seven years, Jost has been the man behind the band. He’s written numerous hits with TH frontman, Bill Kaulitz and has composed title songs for movies all while juggling a working life that teeters between Hamburg and Hollywood.

He says that when he first met the guys from Tokio Hotel seven years ago, he wasn’t necessarily prepared to devote himself exclusively to a band—that is until he saw them. He said,

But after my production partner and I heard and saw the band, I was completely paralyzed. The emotional potential of Bill—he was 13 at the time—was unbelievable. He was already an exception as a young boy…He has great melancholy, but also a great fighting spirit.

Taking Risks

Afterwards, they worked on Kaulitz’s song ideas in the studio. Still many people, according to MOPO, said it couldn’t work. And the band’s name—Tokio Hotel—was too weird. Jost said that he really took a risk with the band. If the band didn’t rise to number one, he would have looked pretty dumb.

However, the band had great star potential, according to the interview, and in terms of finding a frontman with the potential that Bill Kaulitz has, is an opportunity that only comes along once every couple of decades. He said additionally that the guys in the band are exceptionally smart and share all of the decisions where the band is concerned. He explained

In the last few years, they have gotten a complete education in the music business parallel to their careers on stage. Tom, above all, has worked on this. If ever a time comes when he doesn’t want to be on stage, he would be very successful behind the scenes.

In addition to Jost’s work with the band, he’s been busy in other arenas as well. He penned the song “I Like” for Til Schweiger’s film Zweiohrküken, which made it to number one, and became a hit for Keri Hilson. However, of the success of the song he said

That the thing would go directly to number one, I would have never thought!

The City of Plastic

Jost spends a good portion of his time in L.A. these days, which he admitted during the interview, that he didn’t like much.

At first glance, L.A. is a plastic city without culture. But you have to discover L.A. for yourself. We now have a studio between Venice and Santa Monica. You get another look at the world from here and you can really concentrate on work without the chaos.

However, Jost admitted that he’ll always keep an apartment in Hamburg. He finds it to be the most beautiful city in all of Germany.

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For more info about Tokio Hotel, click on the following links: 

Bill Kaulitz named one of the year’s five musicians who made music look good in 2009