Actually I first combined the name of the author with the word plane – which I used as a synonym for the music we play – to form a new word. The vowels in the middle of it represent the French word for water. We can say, that we have been pretty surprised, when we met this French guy after a concert in Paris, who told us, that he was restoring a plane in Toulouse. The plane "Auster", an old four seated reconnaissance plane. So, what I thought I did fabricate happened to be real. I found it very amazing and in some kind it reminded me of Paul Auster’s stories of chance. What first seemed disjointed started to make sense in a completely different way.

2. I think you're the only band who explicitly express their source of inspiration.

How did you come to share your interest in Auster's works ?

In fact inspiration occurs at variable levels and is fed by different sources. One of them is literature. It is the nature of books to tell stories as it should be the nature of music to tell stories, too. Many of the songs I’ve written are inspired by books I’ve read. The first book I read written by Auster was "Moon Palace". Since then I’ve read it over again and I’m waiting for every release of a new Paul Auster book like I’m waiting for every new Mercury Rev record e.g. to be released. There aren’t too many writers that touch me in a way Auster does. Bernard Malamud is another writer whose stories mean a lot to me. I wonder, if Auster knew him while he was alive, he’s from Brooklyn, too.

3. Let's talk about your songwriting.

How do Auster's novels strike your inspiration ?

You don't refer to a precise character or plot in particular; your lyrics describe feelings and situations taken from real life which are recollected in your mind and heart to be sung.

What kind of emotions do Auster's novels let you feel to be later turned into music ?

The books of Paul Auster had an impact on some of the songs I’ve written. Sometimes I only recognized it after a song was finished. Sometimes it is the character, sometimes it can be only a sequence or a conclusion that inspires me. I fell in love with words and I’m in search of words that express how I feel. I think this is the point with Auster’s books. I often can find myself there. It is like when you’re listening to a song with the thought it might have been written just for you, because it describes exactly the way you feel. Or you can find thoughts you have thought, too. For example the song "Like Arrival" is a song about flying in a biblical way of resurrection. But after recording the song there was this association to the character of Walter C. Rawley (from Mr. Vertigo). "Gravity don’t mean nothing to me" was to become the main line in the song. In "Mr. Vertigo" Auster writes about the difference between floating and flying. And – in the book - Walt pays a price for this ability. I don’t write songs, that can’t express what I feel. But there are other books, too, that have influence on my songwriting. Often it is not only about the story, but about the impression it leaves on you or about an atmosphere that can be expressed best in music. I think, the most important emotion on reading is that it brings you back to yourself. Together with the band we find a way to make the songs sound the way they should and to bring them to life.

4. You kindly gave us the possibility to prize our new competition winners with your first CD "How I lost my Fear of Flying". The latest CD is called "Flying Home".

What are planes for you ?

Do they have to do with man's wish for freedom ? Are planes metaphors for something new ( the discovery of another outer or inner dimension ) ? Do they represent man's capability of surviving life's ups and downs ?

We used to take a plane as a synonym for our music. We have been tired of those media-made terms our music doesn’t fit into. I think there are a couple of metaphors for planes. One surely is freedom. In our times we have to accept that planes can also be deadly weapons or can drop bombs. But away from that since the invention of flying human beings can be like birds. Sitting in a plane, leaving the struggle behind, changing time zones, floating through the air means to be able to let things go. In the air you are in between the place you’re leaving and the destination you’re flying to and sitting up there means that down there suddenly everything can change without the possibility of influencing control. The cover of our first CD made by a very fine artist from Hannover shows the original plane Auster modeled by himself.

5. Original music for original words: this are PlaneAusters. Some of your tracks are instrumental and I don't think they just serve as pauses between two lyrics.

Are they thought to carry special feelings to listeners ?

We love to play instrumentals, which we do very rarely at concerts. When we’re rehearsing sometimes we play an instrumental for 30 minutes or an hour without stopping. We just let go. There are so many different ways to play music. Music is expressing words and they don’t even have to be sung. The two instrumentals on our latest CD are there to carry on the atmosphere of what has been sung before.

6. Has Paul Auster ever got in touch with you ? If so, what was his message for you ?

I never met him. Two years ago I was in New York seeing a friend and had this idea to write him about the plane and our name. I think if I had been waiting another day, I wouldn’t have sent him that letter. But I did and some weeks after that I received a letter from his assistant, Mrs. Reifler. She wrote me a very kind letter, writing that Auster feels honored, that we used his name in our band’s name. I think Paul Auster might have listened already to the Planeausters.

7. Which is the song that better represents PlaneAusters and why ?

Oh, I think this is the most difficult question. It’s hard to pick just one. It is hard to judge your own work. Probably the song "heroine". Why? Could be because the song is psychedelic, mellow, sad, angry and hopeful all at the same time. When I think of the words to that song I think of paintings. But I could tell this about every song we have recorded. So it would be best to ask someone else.

8. Do you think our American writer to be a helpful example for the modern youth in any way ?

I don’t know. I don’t even know what a modern youth means. But if I got your question right, I would say it is good to know, that in times of superficial cynicism you have artists like Paul Auster.

9. Are your fans going to follow you touring through Europe ?

Some really do! We are planning a tour in France. But right now we’re working on a new album and spend a lot of time at the studio.

10. Last question - which is not a question.

Use the space below to say whatever you want to Auster's readers and PlaneAusters maniacs too.

Thanks again for taking part to the project !

"don’t follow leaders, watch the parkin’ meeeeeeters!"