Reporter Chelsea Boyle catches up with the stars of ‘Die Roten Punkte’ before their first performance in Carterton.
Through thick and thin, Otto and Astrid have stuck together since they were orphaned as children in a tragic accident which may have involved a lion or a train depending on who you ask.
“We were on the way from the zoo for my 12th birthday,” Astrid recalls.
“…. And the lion jumped from the train,” Otto said.
“That’s not true,” Astrid said.
“And he ate our parents,” Otto said.
“Why would the lion be on the train?”
Astrid’s disbelief is tangible, after all it was a passenger train.
“Yeah, he’s a nice lion, he didn’t know they were our parents,” Otto said.
“So, our parents were killed by a train,” Astrid concludes.
After the traumatic lion or train incident the duo ran away to Berlin and embraced their musical calling.
Showing a natural flair for art rock and Europop they became ‘Die Roten Punkte’.
“It’s my favourite thing to do,” Otto said.
Songwriting comes naturally as they draw inspiration from what is on their minds at the time.
For instance, the song ‘I want to go to Tokyo’ is about how much they would like to go to Tokyo.
“We wrote that hoping it would come true,” Astrid said.
But it’s not always easy to share the limelight.
“It’s pretty hard to be on tour with you Otto,” Astrid said.
“If I go out more than for a few hours Otto calls the police and says I’m missing.
“He’s on the public nuisance record in a few places for calling the police too often.”
Otto said Astrid disappears for days on end, and he needed to find out where she was so they could continue touring.
“She was in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.”
“I had a small holiday,” she said.
The pair have travelled around the world with their larger than life act, bringing laughter to Canada, the USA, the UK and Australia.
“We have this manager who books us into comedy festivals and arts festivals, so its kind of a bit strange,” Otto said.
“We didn’t expect to be playing in these kinds of places.
“I can hear people laughing when we play so it feels like… not what we expected.”
The musical duo was looking forward to their first ever performance in Carterton.
“It’s basically going to be a big party in your pants,” Astrid said.
You can see Otto and Astrid performing in the Carterton Events Centre on October 21.
Starting at 8pm the show will run for 75 minutes with no interval.
