Yello's music runs and runs and runs

WW: Yello is known worldwide for its music clips. But not yet for commercials. How did this commission come about?
Dieter Meier: Yello was asked to produce the music for the presentation of the new VW Golf 7. We met the Volkswagen board members a few times, especially the person responsible for communications. During these discussions, the idea for a film matured. I then suggested a concept entitled "The Key to Perfection". I have seen the car in the "high-security wing" at VW several times. And it really is a very perfect car. Above all, the value impression far exceeds the price. My idea was then approved. So I developed a storyboard for "The Key to Perfection". In the end, they thought Yello should make the movie themselves. So that the movie and the music come from a single source.

Did you also contribute to the script?
Not just the script. This movie is 100 percent mine. Of course, I had an executive production company with United Visions in Berlin. But I had absolute carte blanche. I didn't have to discuss my ideas with an advertising agency or with Volkswagen. They explicitly wanted this film to look the way I thought it should look.

What is the concept?
The concept revolves around a key. This high-tech structure opens the world to the VW Golf. But before our designer can get into the car as the protagonist, the key sets off on a journey around the world. The VW Golf is a global car, the most successful model in the entire VW range. Over 30 million cars have been sold to date. Therefore, the journey of this shining key symbolizes the worldwide presence of the light of this VW Golf. Finally, the key is picked up again by our designer and becomes the "Key to Perfection". She can get into the car.

Has Dieter Meier himself traveled around the world as a director?
A lot of the movie is based on computer animation. I was there in Berlin, at studio shoots and in the city of Berlin. Then time suddenly ran out and we were no longer able to travel all over the world. So we started a very intensive search for high-quality material. That was one of the more difficult things about this film, that the footage could be edited in such a way that everything looked as if it was one piece. But I'm more than satisfied with the footage.

Did the music already exist or was it composed for the picture afterwards?
Boris Blank had a blueprint for the music. We knew that it was all about this drive. This drive around the world. A modern, urban and global music. We cut the film to the music and added a few accents at the end.

You hear about a CD that is placed in the glove compartment of the Golf?
They are still thinking about that at Volkswagen. They would like to do it. But it's a bit unusual and therefore still needs to be discussed with the people at the top, whether they want to link a music project so clearly with their most important car. We'll find out in the next few days at the Paris Motor Show. But we have already produced a few thousand CDs, for example for the media people. There were over 700 media people at the premiere of the new Golf in Berlin. Yello performed at this event.

Will Yello continue to be used as an ambassador for VW Golf?
Other events are also planned. Boris also developed music for the presentation of other cars in Paris. They were so enthusiastic that they wanted us to provide all the music for over 20 new cars from the Volkswagen Group. This was not possible due to time constraints. A dance troupe was also unable to change its choreography at such short notice. But three other Group brands will now be accompanied musically by Yello at the presentation at the Paris Motor Show.

Does Yello already have a long-term relationship with VW?
We already produced music for the Audi A5 four years ago. So a sequel was born.

Did you also enjoy the detour into advertising?
I have absolutely no reservations about promoting sensible products with music or film. And this VW Golf is of course an extremely sensible product within the whole car business. It was also an excellent collaboration. After the concept was approved, both Boris and I were given artistic freedom, so you can say: This really is now a 100 percent Yello product without any bows, bows and restrictions, both in terms of image and sound. That's not always the case when you do advertising. Several advertising agencies interfering, the management giving their input. That often results in these compromises. But in this case, it was an absolutely ideal collaboration. And after the presentation in Berlin, the board members were completely enthusiastic and wrote to Boris and me under the title "Bull's eye".

Interview: Andreas Panzeri