12. October 2025
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Spotlight - Flyctory.com Interviews

Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Sascha “Hoss Power” Vollmer of The BossHoss (August 2025)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

You simply cannot say that modern country music and country rock in Germany is a success story. However, there is one big exception: The BossHoss. The Berlin band is not only active since more than twenty years, they also storm the charts regularly. In Germany and Austria combined, they have a total of seven platinum records and eight golden ones so far. On 19th September 2025, they will release their new album, Back To The Boots. There will also be a tour through Germany (see dates below or in my Tour Date Overview)

I felt really gifted having the opportunity to chat with one of the key faces of the septet, Sascha Vollmer, aka as Hoss Power. We looked back to an outstanding band history, the new album, the tour – and how the band made it to release a song with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Enjoy this new episode of my Spotlight interviews.

 

Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Sascha Vollmer (The BossHoss)

FLYC: Sascha, The BossHoss had their twentieth band anniversary last year. What is the most incredible, the most memorable thing you have experienced in twenty years of band history?

Sascha: Wow, how much time do you have? I cannot boil these 20 years down to one sentence, obviously. So much happened, it feels like an ever-lasting success story, I would say. The most incredible as such is that long time. There are just a few bands who have such a long history. 20 years in the same line-up, traveling peacefully and successfully around the world. We are very proud of that and I feel that this is really incredible. In fact the band exists even a bit longer. We have signed our first record deal in 2004, on 15th December 2004. The band as such existed since 2003, the first attempts have been in 2002 already with the first small gigs.

It’s a really long time. Obviously, I still remember that as it was yesterday. For example, it was incredible to play at the Bassy Country Cowboy Club. It was an illegal club at that time, located somewhere in a backyard. It felt to almost burst, as it was that packed. Our – symbolic – fee was a create of beer. In fact we had free drinks, one crate wouldn’t have been enough. We just were able to play eight songs and had to play them thrice roughly, as the people wanted more, again and again. That has been an incredible moment.

Another huge milestone for us was, when we sold out the Columbiahalle in Berlin the first time. It was a badass experience. It is my favorite venue in Berlin. We have been guests at other bands in that amazing place that often. The capacity was about 3,500 – and we had some 4,000 people. That was so stark. We also had some amazing tours, like touring Australia or supporting Motörhead in England was incredible. Touring Canada, touring Texas, playing the Woodstock in Poland in front of 400,000 people… You see, I just cannot stop – there have simply been so many great peeks and memories in these 20 years. But I want to emphasize that I am incredibly proud and happy that we could go through these 20 years with the band. We all stayed healthy and placid and it became like a second family. This is an sensation as such. You can hardly beat that – unless it is just half time and we add other twenty years with the band.

 

FLYC: Let’s stay at this incredible success story. As you said, you released your first album in 2005, Internashville Urban Hymns. It just barely missed the German Top 10, but later became a triple golden record. How was it alike being on the top of the German music scene so quickly, just in the year after signing the first record deal?

Sascha: Yeah, that was insane. It was one of these radical experiences. Nobody has expected that. We by the way made it to the eleventh spot. It was a sensational success. We did not expect that this topic will strike that much. Universal, our record company at that time, did not expect that as well. They signed us, because they felt that there is something coming up, that it could become a quite nice success. Place 11 – it was also quasi a key moment to say we do another record. Initially, they were quite defensive, saying let’s do an album and we see how things are working out. It was not a record deal over two or three albums, but rather something like a test balloon. Right when we made it to the eleventh spot, we got the call and they stated, Guys, start working on the next record, the story continues.

The next album was very important for us as well. We already had half of the songs as originals on it. It was a very important step into the right direction. Covering songs was fun and great. But if you would have repeated that on the second or third album, we wouldn’t have made 20 years. Thus, it was so important to go for 50 per cent of own stock songs. The second album peaked, if I remember right, on the sixth place of the charts. So we made it to the Top Ten – and the rest is the story you know.

It was that important to stop focusing on covers. If you look at other acts like Dick Brave or The Baseballs you saw that they stayed with covers – and where are they today? Not where they used to be. Thus, it was so important that we said we go for own songs.

 

FLYC: That exactly leads me to the next point in my script. As you said, your records became incredibly successful. The worst chart placement thereafter was an eighth spot in Germany. Two albums topped the German charts, one of them the Austrian ones. I cannot count all the golden and platinum records. On the other hand, you have to say that country music does have a tough standing in Germany. What are you doing differently than the other bands? What is special about The BossHoss?

Sascha: Yeah, I agree. It has been a problem from the very beginning. We also had some initial struggle with Universal – they told us that the genre is absolutely dead in Germany. There was just traditional country like Gunther Gabriel, Tom Astor, Truck Stop. It had a very square image. Thus, at a mainstream record company like Universal, there was just limited hope. Also because there is no country music category in mainstream radio stations. Indeed, it was very difficult as many radio stations declined to play the song without listening to it. They said It’s country, we don’t play it. In general.

We even partially face that today. Of course, our band’s name is nowadays established. I feel that the secret behind it is that we never played pure country music. There was always a touch of rock, or also our cover songs. The songs we covered weren’t country songs, of course, but it somehow were hip hop, rock, pop tracks, which we put into a country music form. Naturally, this knee-slapping moment was there much more than if we had covered Jolene from at the very beginning. Of course, we did that later now.

This has been our formula for success initially. Later, we paired that with own songs and an own identity. From year to year, from album to album, we widened our range of songs, the way we played, the music which influenced us. We added more genres and musical elements. Sometimes, this was a bit more pop-alike, sometimes more rocking. Or we had an orchestra, played more ballad-esque tracks, added a duet. Then there came the presence in national TV. We started to be part of The Voice in 2010. Don’t Gimme That, one of our most successful tracks is not a country song at all. We simply have the hats on and the people associate that with the other tracks we do. Some sort of country band or country-influenced band. But I would say, it is not country, it’s rather pop. I feel that we managed very well to leverage between having a constant country music image around the band, and being perceived as an authentic and honest band. On the other hand, the genres of our songs are very mixed. We are no country band, but have country influences in our music as well as other genres like rockabilly, blues, rock, pop, and whatever.

 

FLYC: Of course, we have to get closer to the here and now as well. There are so many interesting stories. For example, you hosted songwriters’ rounds at the last two Country To Country festivals in Berlin. If you look back to that, are there acts which especially stayed in your mind?

Sascha: Yeah, there was such an incredible quality on stage. Alli Walker, for example. We played with her on one of the three days. She brought a bagpipe with her – that was absolutely impressing. An incredible voice, great songs – also independently from the genre. You feel the Irish roots there. Or the Scottish ones, whatever. With her bagpipe and a great mix of traditional country and a modern American Nashville sound. I felt that was really impressing.

 

FLYC: You just mentioned your tours through Texas and Canada. How was the feedback on your country-esque music with pop and rock influences over there?

Sascha: Yeah, that was absolutely awesome. In Canada we had TV, morning TV, radio and other promotion dates. It worked out really well. The same in Texas. We played in legendary clubs like The Continental Club in Austin, where all the big ones played before, like Buddy Holly. It’s like a Mecca for country music, you indeed reverently go on stage there. The level of musical quality is incredibly high, also in Nashville and Texas. I believe that’s the case for all Texas, where the country big ones play in any bar and honky-tonk.

There are musicians at an incredible level – you simply feel to have to bow down, kneel down in front of them. Even though we are not as good as any of them, the feedback was great. All of us together are not as good as one of them, solely playing with the guitar or so. The quality over there is simply impressing in general. But the feedback was great. We also radiate something, we are more than individual instrumentalists, we are simply a gang, a cool band with good characters and good songs. And, of course, one thing which helped as well was the sauerkraut bonus. Some Berlin cowboys came over and said howdy. Of course, the people are keen to now how we are doing music. How we interpret music. Like the German twang and all the other things we heard there. We were unique and people became curious. That definitely helped as well. The people who were there, absolutely loved it. I would definitely do it again any time.

 

FLYC: I definitely have to keep the wording sauerkraut bonus in mind. Focusing on here and now, the next big date for the band is 19th September 2025. You are releasing a new album, Back To The Boots. You already released a few singles. The first one has been a Willie Nelson cover, On The Road Again. What does Willie Nelson mean for you?

Sascha: He is one of the really, really, even still living legends. To me, he is one of the biggest country musician, I admire him and am a big fan. I really rather love old-school country music. I more and more get into modern country music, the Nashville sound, but Cash and Nelson and so on, that’s home to me. Before The BossHoss, I have been a lot into the rockabilly scene, that’s not that far from that genre. It’s my kind of music and thus, Willie Nelson means extremely much to me. This guy is an insane musician, a terrific songwriter. Apart from that, he is an incredible performer and a cool dude on top of that. That’s really wicked.

And this song, we obviously chose it a bit of symbolically, it is an absolute classic. We chose a couple of classics for the album this time. The album shall underline our twentieth band anniversary in line with Back To The Boots. Making music with my friends and on the road again – that’s simply the greatest thing for us. We can hardly wait to be back on the road and play live. That’s the reason why we do this whole thing, being on stage. Thus, that song had to pay and emphasize our history – we just wanted to tell with that song exactly what we thing.

 

FLYC: And then, there was the second single. I personally feel that I’ll Be Back is absolutely amazing. It is recorded together with Arnold Schwarzenegger. How did you make this collaboration happen? Has he been in the studio for that?

Sascha: Yes, we have been in the studio and recorded exclusively with him in Los Angeles. It all started three years ago, we have been playing at one of his charity auctions in Austria. He is driving a climate initiative and is very active in climate protection. He is auctioning items from his movies, like a Terminator leather jacked, books, a crown sword, a painting of him and much more. Typically, the revenue is a couple of million Euro. We were invited to play two or three songs in the middle of the auction to ease the atmosphere a bit. He really liked our set and invited us right there for the year thereafter. Thus, we thought we should do that in style and also auction something, a living room concert. The highest bidder gets an unplugged set at home. We went there again and it kicked off – and the concert was sold for 100,000 Euros.

Arnold especially liked that, certainly. He invited us to come to L.A. for his poker night in October. We should play in this garden over there. In the meantime, a quite good friendship has grown. We started thinking whether he does music and whether we should just try it. Thus, we already had a demo with us when we traveled to L.A. We presented it to him and asked him whether he could imagine to do this one with us. He liked it and agreed to do it. And then, things started with legal clearance and licence rights. Is it allowed to say I’ll be back and use that for a song? A lot of lawyers – but finally it worked out and we got the clearance. He was at that time in a studio in L.A. anyway to do overdubs for his Netflix series Fubar. Some of these lines, which did not work well at the set are recorded in the studio again to have a clearer sound. Thus, he called and said I’m here in the studio and do the synchronization work – then you just come over. And thus we did it.

It was really stunning seeing him sitting in front of the microphone and the screen, watching him dubbing himself. That was really interesting. At this opportunity and in this studio, he gave us a couple of versions of his I’ll be back line. Then, we went back to Germany, finalized the song and did some promo shots in L.A. in April. You know, we did some photos and videos. At that opportunity, we showed him the final song and asked him during breakfast, We are just shooting the video for it. Do you have time and fancy to act in it as well? He first said, No, I don’t wanna do the filming. Okay, you think he typically gets a million dollar something for one minute of a movie. But the atmosphere at the breakfast was very relaxed and at one point he said, Okay, let’s do it tomorrow. The next day, we went back there and recorded the shots you see in the video. Wow, that’s a long story.

 

FLYC: At the time we are having this chat, it is some six weeks until album release. Are you still nervous before release date or is there some sort of routine in it after all the 20 years?

Sascha: No, it is never getting some sort of routine. I mean, I work on it seven, eight months, day after day, night after night. When it is close to submission date, you almost do it around the clock. There is a lot of heart’s blood and passion in it – and of course, a huge lot of work. Thus, it cannot turn into routine. It is like a new child which is born. It is something amazing. And, of course, you’re thrilled to see how the world outside will perceive it and you are excited.

Naturally, that changed a bit over time. In earlier times, you did a tour to promote an album. Today, you do an album to promote the tour. The recording industry has declined quite much, it became relatively petty. That’s very, very unfortunate. You rarely reach a fan, who wants to listen to a full piece of art, an era of a band, by listening to 13, 14, 15 songs, which tell a story as an entire set. Today, your work is decomposed by Spotify, the people listen to playlists and your five most successful tracks, who are on top. Thus, a song #17 on a record, is honestly not listened to too frequently any more. That’s really sad that this kind of arts has been taken away from us. Not only from us, but from all music creators, I would say. Thus an album is not as relevant as it used to be ten years ago. As a band, you went on the road and sold the records physically. First of all, you made quite a bit more money. Secondly, you cared much more about the entire work as a whole.

Nowadays, you have Spotify compositions, where you skip the guitar solos and the intro and directly start with the chorus. Otherwise, the people don’t stay in your song and skip it. That’s indeed a bit of sad and also takes away a bit of the passion for that, I would say. Yes, we splashed out and we still do our album. It is also released as a vinyl. We said, we do 17 songs, it has to be something special. It is some sort of anniversary album. Thus, we wanted to do it in a way we always did it. Putting everything into it we currently have in that moment – or during the time of developing it. Don’t care about sales or any stats. I feel, we made that work out fantastically. And now, I am really flattered and excited how it will be perceived.

 

FLYC: You already mentioned tour life. Briefly after album release, at the end of September, you are going on tour. You know every major stage in Germany, any stadium. This time, however, it is a club tour with comparably small venues. Why did you decide for that this time?

Sascha: It comes from the idea of the album as such. Back To The Boots – back to the roots, back to the clubs. That’s exactly how we started. We dedicated our work to our first steps. The whole album became significantly more rocking. Compared to the last album, there is significantly more country music in it. Stylistically, we oriented it in line with our first five years, I would stay.

After we had this amazing album title, we naturally also wanted to have a whole fitting package. Thus we said, we tour in the place where we started, in the clubs. This will be an exclusive, unique club tour. It will be ten dates. I feel we are doing them within twelve days and thus have a complete. So to say, we are doing a promo club tour for the new album or due to the new album.

 

FLYC: You already said that the tour is relatively brief, all over Germany. You start in Hamburg and finish the tour in Munich. Are there any concerts you especially look forward to?

Sascha: There are a few places which did not exist when we started. The Astra in Berlin, for example. We did play there on some kind of radio event already. But at the beginning of The BossHoss, this place did not exist. Thus, I am looking forward to it. It is also something special as it is our home game, our hometown show. Berlin is always special, just because we all live here.

Apart from that, I am of course looking forward to the clubs we did in fact play in at that time. First of all, that’s the Große Freiheit [in Hamburg]. We had absolutely stunning shows there in the past, during our first steps and thus have great memories about that club and the Hamburg audience. I extremely look forward to that. We also played at the Munich Backstage. There are a few places, where we can melancholically remember our beginning on site. That will be rather good.

 

FLYC: Last, but not least: Irrespective of the genre, with which artist would you love or the band be on stage one day, especially after you have checked Arnold Schwarzenegger now already?

Sascha: Ah, that’s a difficult question. It is hard for me to foresee the future. Of course, there are some legends, like Dave Grohl, or – of course – Willie Nelson, where you can say, that would be fantastic on top of all. Most of the extreme favorites are unfortunately dead already. That won’t work out any more. However, we had a lot of cooperations. We had great stories with great people. I feel that one of the first ones was Plastic Bertrand at Ca Plane Pour Moi. We recorded that song with him from scratch. When was it again? Around 2006.

It is not like that we crave the future and discuss, who has to join us finally. In fact, we are quite happy with the songs and featurings we had so far. Apart from Arnold Schwarzenegger, we also got one of the last living great soul legends. Dianne Warwick joining as and we are very, very proud of that this worked out with this old lady. I feel she is touring again in September and will also be on the road in Europe, until next year. She is in her mid-80’s and wants to do it again. She personally has authorized the song we did with her. Thus, we are very happy to again have an amazing name beneath Arni on the record.

 

All pictures taken from my Country To Country 2025 Berlin coverage.

 

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The BossHoss – Back To The Boots Tour 2025

The BossHoss will present their new album on stage from late September 2025 onward. The first show will be in Hamburg on 26th September 2025.

Fr 26.09.2025 Hamburg (Germany) – Große Freiheit 36
Sa 27.09.2025 Berlin – Astra Kulturhaus
We 01.10.2025 Cologne – Live Music Hall
Th 02.10.2025 Münster – Skaters Palace
Fr 03.10.2025 Hanover – Capitol
Sa 04.10.2025 Stuttgart – Im Wizemann
Su 05.10.2025 Frankfurt – Batschkapp
Mo 06.10.2025 Leipzig – Täubchenthal
Tu 07.10.2025 Dresden – Alter Schlachthof
We 08.10.2025 Munich – Backstage Werk

 

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