Rammstein guitarist and Emigrate founder Richard Z. Kruspe recently took part in a Guitar world-hosted Q&A session with the fans. Following is an excerpt.

Q: Do you think Emigrate may absorb too many ideas that could be applied to Rammstein?

Kruspe: "I used to write for the two projects in different ways. After years, that kind of merged together. For example, a song like 'War' could have been a Rammstein song. On the other hand, when I play stuff for Till (Lindemann), he likes the things I never would have thought of as a potential Rammstein song. I’m constantly writing anyway. I always have a lot of material on hand. It might be a case of whenever it’s time to make a record with Emigrate or Rammstein, then I’ll have a bunch of songs that would be good to go anyway — and I wouldn’t worry over whether it was a song for one project or the other."

Q: If you were to compare the limitless freedom of Emigrate and the democracy of Rammstein, which one do you think works best with your own creativity?

Kruspe: "I would say Emigrate. Nothing is black and white — there’s always a lot of gray zones — but just for me as the person who creates a certain vision in Emigrate, I kind of work as a team leader. In Emigrate, I feel much more capable to work for the song, but in Rammstein we have to allow for everybody’s egos, which might not always serve the song best. I like to have a vision. I still need the ideas of people, but ultimately in Emigrate I have the last word and that actually gives me the freedom to step back, and in some ways perhaps be more of a team player than in Rammstein."

Q: Has becoming older and wiser made it harder or easier for you to be creative?

Kruspe: "Good question! I think you evolve as a songwriter. I think you kind of 'catch' a song from the universe, but the longer you’ve been writing songs, the better your skills are in showing you how to make that idea become something fully formed. A song seems to have its own life, and I’ve learned not to force the song too much but to let it take me where it wants to go. I would say it’s actually easier for me to write as I get older, as I have more experiences to draw on and more experience in how to make a song work — knowing when it’s time to stop adding things and let the song breathe. However, there’s a naivete at the beginning that you may lose as you get older. Maybe the hardest part as you become older and wiser is to not let yourself get stuck in your comfort zone and not become too predictable."

Read the complete Q&A here.

Rammstein have revealed the artwork and tracklisting for their upcoming self-title album, out on May 17 via UME/Spinefarm in Europe and Caroline Records in North America. Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

"Deutschland"
"Radio"
"Zeig Dich"
"Ausländer"
"Sex"
"Puppe"
"Was Ich Liebe"
"Diamant"
"Weit Weg"
"Tattoo"
"Hallomann"

Check out some brief audio teasers from the album below.

"Deutschland" video: