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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:23:51 GMT -5
Accept: Rockin' All Over The World
(Hit Parader, June 1986, p. 8, Charlton Publishing) What does Accept have to do to become successful in America? Lord knows these German metal mavens have tried just about everything. They've toured the nation from stem to stern, bringing their gothically tinged opuses to every town, village and hamlet with enough room for their amps. They've recorded albums with the American market in mind- most notably, their recent live disc, Kaizoku-Ban. the six-song LP was recorded in japan, but released with the express goal of drumming up more Stateside interest in vocalist Udo dirkschneider, bassist Peter Baltes, drummer Stefan Kaufmann, and guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Jorg Fischer. So far, it looks like the strategy is working.
"America is a very important place for us to become successful," Fischer explained in lightly accented English. "When you come from Europe, you have no idea how enormous America really is. You can tour places like Germany or england in two weeks, and that's including two or three nights in the major cities. When you come to America, you're here for a long time. There are so many places with giant indoor arenas that sometimes you wonder how they can all be filled. But every night they are jammed with people who love rock and roll."
The Americanization of Accept has been a short and relatively easy process. Just a few years back, the band embarked on their first U.S. tour with a rudimentary, at best, understanding of English, and favoring the dark clothing and gravied food of their Teutonic homeland. By the tour's end, a scant four months later, the band could be seen sporting Disneyland T-shirts and chowing down on cheeseburgers and hot dogs. A change could also be heard in their music.
"We saw that, to become successful in America, we would have to place a bit more melody in our music," Hoffmann explained. "Before, we were primarily concerned with the power of our music. That's still a major concern of ours, but on the Metal Heart album and on our new studio album as well, we've begun to bring a number of more commercial elements into the music. We're not one of those bands who says they don't want to sell records. We do- lots of them. We will always be a very uncompromising heavy-metal band, but we want to be a successful one too."
With Kaizoku-Ban bringing more fans than ever to Accept's musical camp, it seems as if the quintet's aim of breaking big in the U.S.A. is well within reach. The band is quick to note that one reason for the live LP's acceptance is its release amid a number of other hard-rock albums- most notably, Twisted Sister's Come Out And Play and Dokken's Under Lock And Key - which helped the album gain access to radio and MTV.
"When we released Metal Heart, we were the only heavy-metal band doing an album at that time," Hoffmann said. "We were hoping that it would make people notice us more, but instead people singled us out as the heavy-metal band of the hour- the group to watch out for. So we didn't get any attention from radio or TV, and that hurt us very much. This time, bigger bands have opened the doors for us in some ways, so we don't have to lead the attack. We feel much more comfortable this way."
Of course, a six-song live album recorded in Japan isn't going to break Accept on the American market on its own. The band knows their next studio album and subsequent U.S. tour may be the most important in the band's career. it'll be gut check time for these Kraut Rockers. Either they'll live up to the high expectations of metal fans, or they'll be relegated to also-ran status for a long time to come. According to Hoffmann, the band is ready to face the challenge.
"We're working on some very good new material, and when people hear it, they will be a little surprised," he said. "It's still very much Accept-styled rock and roll, but it's harder and more commercial at the same time. We've learned our lessons well. we will take what we've done right over the years and make ourselves better than ever."
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:33:19 GMT -5
ACCEPT- A Victorious Return by Andy Secher
(Hit Parader April 1988, p.30, Charlton Publications, Inc.)
German Rockers Add New Vocalist And Roar Back Into Action.
Though Accept's music has been absent from the metal scene in recent months, their name has remained prominently featured in countless gossip columns and industry tip sheets. Stories- both true and false- have abounded recently, speculating that the band had parted ways with longtime vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, that they had lost their American recording contract, and that they were radically changing their musical direction. We decided it was time to track down this German metal machine and put all the rumors to rest, so we recently had a talk with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann in an attempt to seperate the fact from the fiction.
Hit Parader: What's been going on with Accept over the last few years? It's been two years since your last LP, Russian Roulette, came out.
Wolf Hoffmann: We've been making Accept a better band. I guess the place to start is back at the end of our last tour in Japan. That was in the fall of 1986, and when we completed that tour, we started writing material for our next album. We bagan to realize that we were ready to make some changes in the band. We wanted to try and write some different kinds of songs. The problem was that we knew Udo couldn't handle them, and he knew it too.
HP: So Udo was fired from the band at that point?
WH: He really wasn't fired. It's a very unusual situation, because we remain good friends and his manager is our manager. In fact, he's working on a record of his own now, and we wrote all the songs for that album- the real tough, hard songs that Udo likes to sing. He's a very special person; you either love Udo or you hate him. But the fact was his vocal range limited the kind of things that Accept was able to do. Let's face it, with Udo's voice and image, it was hard to do a love song.
HP: Who have you hired to replace Udo?
WH: The new guy is Rob Armitage, who used to be in an English band called Baby Tuckoo. He's got a great voice, and he fits right in with us. When we split with Udo, we must have auditioned 200 vocalists before we found Rob. There were some very big names who were anxious to work with us, but once we heard Rob's tape, we knew he was the guy for us. The funny part is that his girlfriend sent his tape to us, and he didn't even know she had done that until we called him up and set up a meeting.
HP: How has Rob's presence affected Accept's music?
WH: Because he has a great range and can handle ballads as well as hard rockers, it opens up a lot of doors for us. We've been wanting to write songs that are a little more commercial, a little more melodic, for a long time. But we were unable to do that because Udo couldn't- or at least didn't want to- sing that material. Rob has allowed us to fulfill our potential as a band.
HP: You say that Accept has gone in a more commercial direction. How do you think your longtime fans will react to that?
WH: Accept will always be a metal band. Our songs are still based around very heavy guitar melodies, and that will never change. To me, the term "heavy metal" doesn't mean poop. Music is an attitude, and Accept has always had a very rough, rugged musical attitude. We still have that, but we see the need to expand our style and bring in new elements as well. All I can say is that fans who liked Accept in past years will still find all the best ingredients there. We've simply added new things to our sound.
HP: Are there any particular songs we should keep an ear out for on the upcoming album?
WH: There are a number of tracks that I really like. One is called Prisoner Of Fame, another is Mistreated. They both have classic Accept melodies, but they're very different from anything we've ever done before. In fact, Mistreated is a ballad which is something we never tried on our earlier LPs. our biggest problem hasn't been deciding which of our new songs to put on the record. We have so many interesting songs ready to go. But that's a nice problem to have.
HP: There was a lot of speculation a few months back that Accept had lost their American record deal. What is the truth behind those rumors?
WH: I was as surprised as anyone when I heard those rumors. The truth is that we're on the same label we've always been on in America, and we never left. The confusion might have come from the fact that we shifted from the portrait division to the Epic devision- but it's still the same record label. In fact, the people at the label seem more excited than ever about working with us.
HP: When do you think you'll be getting this "new and improved" version of Accept on the road in America?
WH: Right now, it looks like we'll be on tour in America by May or June. We'll be touring Europe before that for two months, so by the time we get over to the States, we should be really hot! We are certainly looking forward to getting back on the road- it's been much too long since we've been on tour.
HP: Are you concerned about how fans will accept Rob on stage? After all, Udo had a very loyal following.
WH: Udo has a very strong following, and we know that. There may be a little resistance at first, but once the fans hear what we sound like now and how well Rob can sing and perform, I think they'll start enjoying the music. The changes we've made in Accept have been for the good of the band. We're sounding the best we've ever done, and we feel confident that as soon as people hear us- both on the new album and onstage- they'll agree.
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:40:54 GMT -5
Accept- A New Start
Metal Edge Vol. 33 No. 11, May 1989 pp. 76-77:
German metalmongers add an American singer and release Eat the Heat-- WOLF HOFFMANN gives Metal Edge the story.
by Gerri Miller
G: Accept has been away from the scene for a couple years now. Do you worry about regaining your momentum?
W: In Europe we still have a strong following, and over here it might be good that we've had a break between the Udo (Dirkschneider) era and now. The music is still in the Accept style, but I look at it as a completely new thing because we're doing things we've never done before. We didn't want this long break, it just happened. Singers don't grow on trees. We took our time songwriting and it paid off.
G: How did you find your new singer, David Lynn Reece?
W: By listening to piles and piles of tapes and auditioning many singers. We got tapes from Sweden, England, but forget it. America is the only real market for singers. They're so much more professional. By the time they're 25 they have 10 years behind them. After Udo, we wanted some improvement but we didn't want someone who was the complete opposite or in a totally different direction. We want to keep the base we've always had, the Accept style, but we wanted to go in some directions we never could go with Udo, because he had a very limited range. Udo's a great guy and I don't want to talk bad about him, but he's very limited and he knows it. David has a much wider range. It really opens up the band. We have fun together- he brings an American style of humor to the band. His voice and personality are really outstanding. He's born to be a rock 'n' roll star, and that's what we were looking for. It didn't hurt a bit that he's great looking.
G: Where is he from? Was he in a band before?
W: Denver, Colorado. He was in a local band called Gale Force. He never made an album before.
G: Does he speak German?
W: He can understand more easily than he can speak it. We have to force ourselves to talk in English.
G: Did he contribute to the album?
W: Yeah, on the lyrics. He has to present them so he might as well work on them.
G: How does Eat The Heat compare to Accept's previous records?
W: There's a lot more variety on the album. We took our time, wrote close to a hundred songs and took the best ones. Peter (Baltes) the bass player, Stefan (Kaufmann) the drummer and me, we're the backbone of the band. We make the most of the decisions and we do all of the songwriting and basic ideas for the lyrics.
G: You had a singer for a while named Rob Armitage. What happened to him?
W: We worked with him for about five months, and then we realized he didn't have the attitude, the character that we needed. He didn't have the experience. He's a farmer's boy from North England. He's a nice guy and he's got a great voice but he just didn't have it yet. So we started looking at tapes again. We found David and had him flown to Germany early last year. At that point the material was basically written, but we had to wait for our producer Dieter Dierks to finish with and rest after the Scorpions' album. We worked with him on Metal Heart and it was great to work with him again.
G: There has been another change in the lineup, the departure of guitarist Jorg Fischer.
W: He left shortly before the album. It didn't affect us because he never played on the albums except a few rhythm tracks here and there. I do 90% of the guitar work myself. Nobody knew, because we made an agreement when we first started that we were going to share all the credit for the songs. We thought it would be fairer if we split it. But Jorg was getting a ride.
G: Will you replace him?
W: For live, we'll get a guy to play the rythms.
G: Have you played live since David joined the band?
W: We did one gig when he first came, we didn't want to go in the studio before trying him out live. We did a secret gig in a small club, but word got out about it. It was great. It's been two years since we toured, and I'm looking forward to all the fun.
G: Do you enjoy touring more than recording?
W: Yes, definitely. I like traveling a lot, and meeting new people. Being a musician is one of the best jobs you can have.
G: When will you hit the road?
W: We're going to start in America early in the spring.
G: You're headliners in Europe but not in the states. Does this bother you?
W: Not really. There's less pressure- nobody's gonna blame you if the pyrotechnics aren't perfect. You just go out there and sweat. We're a good opening act. We're on time, we're easy to handle, and we put on a very good live show.
G: What attracted you to the guitar?
W: A friend of mine had a guitar and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was jealous. I forced my parents to buy me one. It was a cheap acoustic guitar and I taught myself to play Beatles songs, whatever. I was still very young, 17, when I joined Accept. It was my first band. We made our first record soon after that.
G: What do you want for the future?
W: All the success in the world. It's a whole new start for us, with a new frontman. I think we're going to appeal to a much wider audience. We'll tour our asses off, do anything to support this album. We'll see how it goes. I'm very positive- everyone has a positive attitude. The bad vibes are a thing of the past. We're all pulling together on the same thing.
Photo Captions:
"We were looking for somebody who was a great frontman, and his looks didn't hurt a bit," says Wolf, describing Accept's new singer David Lynn Reece as "an extrovert."
Accept worked on Eat The Heat at Dieter Dierk's studio in Germany. Recording digitally, they took advantage of the latest state-of-the-art technology, but didn't want too much poolish. "I believe it still sounds like playing live," says Wolf. "As long as you use technology, not let it use you, it's fine."
Wolf now lives in Vermont- he fell in love with it when the band wrote and rehearsed there in '84. While Stefan still lives in Germany, Peter, who married an American, lives in Philadelphia. "Eventually we will all move over here," Wolf predicts.
Fast Facts:
Birthdate: Dec. 10, 1959
Birthplace: Mainz, W. Germany
Grew up in: Wuppertal, near Solingen
Current home: Vermont
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Family: Wolf's parents are chemists and his sister's a doctor. "They weren't too proud of me in the beginning, but they approve somewhat more now."
Influences: Slade, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple
Other favorites: Classical music, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn
Other interests: Reading, museums, photography. "I take my camera gear on the road and shoot whatever I find interesting."
Guitar: 20 axes of various types. He tours with three main guitars: a Washburn, an old Strat, and a Gibson Flying V.
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:41:41 GMT -5
SCREAMER MAGAZINE
(Sceamer, 8/89, p.43, ) by Kathy Pellizzi
The last decade has witnessed an incredible resurgence of the entertainment industry. Rock n' roll has gone from being a fun pastime to a booming business and singers like David Reece are business men.
As the front man for Accept, he leads the type of band that has made music such a lucrative business.
The Colorado-born blonde is not only talented and sexy, but he's also intelligent, professional and dedicated- all the qualities needed to be successful at anything.
"We're like Epic's new baby!" He laughs with a little-boy smile that belies the fact that he's 28 and a 12-year veteran of the business.
To see him now, it's hard to believe that just 18 months ago this easy-going, confident man was pretty much down-and-out. He was living in parked cars and making five dollars an hour painting houses.
In fact, he'd taken nine months off and was on the verge of giving up a music career altogether. He wasn't completely ready to give it all up, though, and signed up with a Los Angeles musicians' placement agency.
Suddenly, Lady Luck paid him a visit. In February of 1988, Reece found himself in Germany auditioning for Accept. The band was looking for replacements for vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and guitarist Jorg Fischer, who had left Accept to pursue solo careers.
Scorpion's producer Dieter Dierks, who'd been working with the band, liked what he heard and gave Reece a shot.
"It was unbelievable," Reece says. "I had to audition 12 hours a day for four weeks. Then we tried it live in March, under a false name, and it worked. I was in."
But, the hard work was just beginning. After the dismal reception their last album, Russian Roulette, recieved, Accept went gone into the studio wanting to broaden their horizons.
"The split with Udo was very amicable," says Reece. "He even did some background vocals on the new album. But Udo never could've sang a ballad like Mistreated. After 10 years it was just time for a change."
Change indeed. Accept now had a new feel with new concepts.
"The old Accept had a lot of death and destruction concepts," explains Reece carefully. "The new music has a more blues and street edge to it The old songs are history."
He's quick to add, though, that they intend to maintain the old sound because that's the standard of Accept, yet they want to gear away from concept songs in general.
They did make a few exceptions in songs like Generation Clash and -Train, which talks about suicide.
"Suicide is a problem and it really bothers me," Reece's dancing light eyes suddenly narrow. "I can't understand all these well-achieving people blowing their brains out.
"It's scary because this society creates the image that you have to do this, and you must do it this way. I think there's a lot of people out there, especially kids, who want to be left alone and wind up really frustrated. Believe me, I would know. When I was a kid, I had to try everything."
Don't misunderstand him him, though. Accept is still a bunch of hard-core, fun loving, rock 'n' rollers. They smoke cigarettes and drink too much sometimes, but they are a very regimented band.
Reece tries to sleep 10 hours a night and also works out everyday. Founding member and lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann rehearses an hour and a half everyday. And the whole band believes strongly in serious musicianship.
"There's a million 15-year-olds out there with nothing better to do than sit in a garage and practice all day," says Reece.
That's not to say they're insecure, though. The new line-up including Reece, original bass player Peter Baltes, original drummer Stefan Kaufmann, and newcomer Jim Stacey on rythm guitar, feel their energy level is unbeatable.
They're ready to attack the U.S. on tour this summer with WASP and Metal Church. Their mainly underground following doesn't bother them in the least.
"We don't have to play in front of 15,000 people every night," Reece says, speaking in a serious tone for the second time. "We believe we're going to make it and the kids in those clubs that still bang their heads to Balls To The Wall are just as important as headlining, packed arena fans."
Accept will get their chance to headline during the European and Japanese legs of their tour and they say they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves as far as the live show goes.
"It's hard to be visual on a three-band ticket," Reece sighs. "There's just never enough room. Our goal this summer is to target the new music."
Joining Accept has done more than change Reece's financial status. It's also changed him personally.
"Living in Germany really changed the way I look at things," he explains. "people there are more serious. It made me both a better person and a better singer. In fact, I still keep a place there in Cologne."
Respect is apparently something else that's important to Reece. He mentions that the band gets along great because of it.
"Fifty percent of touring is having mutual respect for each other," he says emphatically. "Imagine spending so much time in a small place with a bunch of people you can't bear to be around? Of course, it's different these days on tour buses with twelve bunk beds, VCRs and all that..."
Accept, already playing small club dates in support of the new album, Eat The Heat, doesn't foresee any problems. The record company has been very supportive with all the changes and the band doesn't intend to let anyone down.
"Accept is back with a frigging vengeance and we're going all the way!"
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:43:51 GMT -5
HOBBY SHOP By ANDY SECHER (Hit Parader, Jan.1994, pp. 86-87, Hit Parader Publications, Inc)
Rock stars don't live by music alone. While it may seem that some of hard rock's more single minded performers have little ability to think of anything more than their next studio session or live performance, most rockers have a wide range of exciting outside interests. This month, we invite Accept's guitarist Wolf Hoffmann to discuss his love for photography in the Hobby Shop.
ACCEPT'S WOLF HOFFMANN
Hit Parader: How long have you had your interest in photography?
Wolf Hoffmann: I've had it for many years. It began as just something to do when we were on tour. It's a very nice diversion to be able to look out of a bus window and look at things with a photographer's eye. It makes the time go by much faster. In addition, it gave me a chance to chronicle some of the places we've been and the strange things we've done- and believe me, with Accept there have been some very strange things.
HP: Are you one of those people who always carries a camera with him in case something interesting happens?
WH: I do usually have a camera of some sort with me. (He proceeds to reach into a small sack and produce a little pocket camera.) In fact, I brought this along because I want to take your picture! I want to have evidence that this interview took place.
HP: Why? In case we end up in court?
WH: (Laughing) Exactly! Actually, I'm trying to keep a full record of everything that's going on around Accept this time from the making of the album, to the tours, to the interviews. It's fun!
HP: Did your photography become more of a focal point in your life during the last few years when Accept wasn't recording or touring?
WH: Absolutely. It really did. I believe that one day I will work full-time on my photography. I enjoy working in black and white, taking portraits of people. But I enjoy all kinds of photography. The photo on the cover of our newest album, Objection Overruled, is one of mine. I think it's very powerfull and makes a statement the moment you see it.
HP: Some people might say that a pair of hands that are tied is a rather unusual artistic statement to make. Did that reflect some of the frustration Accept has felt in recent years?
WH: That really wasn't what we were trying to convey at all. We actually have not felt tied down in the least. We've gotten back together strictly because we wanted to. It wasn't a money thing or some legal commitment that we had. We simply wanted to do it. The album cover was really just taken from a photo I had previously done. It wasn't made expressly for the cover. We just all felt that the title and the photo worked very well together.
HP: It has been a long time since we've heard from Accept- especially with your original lineup intact. How have the fans reacted to the band being back together?
WH: Their reaction has been incredible. They are the reason that we got back together in the first place. They kept sending in letters asking us to reform and make a new album. Since we've always been a band that wanted to please the fans, it gave us serious reason to consider doing it. We were all happy doing what we were- my photography, for example. But when we did all get back together, it was very special for us. We only hope that some of that special feeling comes across to the fans- they're the ones really responsible for this album.
HP: We know that the band's vocalist, Udo Dirkschneider, had gone off on his own for a few years. Did he make a smooth transition back into the band?
WH: In my mind, Udo has always been the singer for Accept. His voice is the voice of our music. We made one album a couple of years ago with an American singer, David Reece, but we realized that was a mistake. We had always stayed in touch with Udo, and in fact, we helped him write many of the songs he did on his solo albums. There were never any hard feelings, so his coming back into the band was very easy. It's the way it's supposed to be.
HP: Objection Overruled was released on a small independent label. Why did you do that? Did the major labels show no interest?
WH: There actually was quite a bit of interest from the big labels, but we've been through that already- both the good side and the bad. We felt like we wanted to have more control this time, and we wanted to work with people who placed our album at the top of their priority list. You sacrifice certain things working with a small label, but there are many other things you gain. We're very happy with the arrangement we have now.
HP: You recorded this album as a four piece. We always think of Accept's "classic" lineup as a five piece with two guitarists. You've stayed a four piece on the road. Why?
WH: Because we like the way the band sounds this way. We always recorded as a four piece, even in the earlier days. But we had another guitarist on stage to round out the sound. But with modern technology and better equipment, we really don't need that. We're stripped down and very focused as a four piece band- it's pure Accept with no frills. That's just the way it should be.
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:44:40 GMT -5
Heavy Metal Magazine 3-1996 interview This is an interview with Udo e-mailed to me by Sorin (4/25/00). He translated the article to the best of his ability. I don't have all the copywrite info. Many years passed since the singer Udo Dirkschneider and guitar player Michael Wagener based ACCEPT band in Solingen. Unfortunately after just few weeks, Michael left the band heading for Hamburg and then for Los Angeles, where, shortly became one of the most appreciated "sound engineer" of metal zone, his skills could be seen in the albums of Metallica, Dokken, White Lion, Skid Row etc. About ACCEPT it can be written tens of pages but, because we haven't enough space, we chosen an optimal variant and as a result of the interview which Udo gave exclusively to HMM, we selected the most important events from the of this famous band, initiator of "New Wave of German Heavy Metal". "If you want to tell you about the first period of the band, I have sensation that I got very, very old. Accept was formed about half of '70, and if I'm not wrong, in 1977. I and Michael Wagener we wanted a rock band who adopt a hard and without compromises manner. To my regret, Michael had chance to find a very good job and his dream to become sound engineer came true. I tried to persuade him to stay, but I didn't succeeded. So I started to look for new musicians and I found Wolf Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Jan Kommet and Frank Friedrich. In 1979, we released the first album, "Accept", the promotion being made in tens and tens of small clubs in Germany. Followed the second album "I'm a rebel" released in 1980. We started a new tour and we played more in Holland and Belgium. Shortly after tour's end Jan left the band and came Jorg Fisher instead. In 1981, we recorded and released "Breaker" which brought us fame in Europe, an important contribution having the open-tour for Judas Priest. Since then, all was great as albums and tours, though over the years we confronted with some changes of band members." Making a balance, which do you think is the best period of ACCEPT history ? "The best period...Yes. I think between 1981 and 1987." In 1987, after "Russian Roulette" album you left ACCEPT to make your own band UDO. What did make you to have that decision ? "I never left ACCEPT. It was just a temporary separation. I told them that for a period I'll go on my own and look for another singer. It was taken Rob Armitage from Baby Tuckoo but he didn't fit completely and in 1988 David Reece, with who it was recorded "Eat the Heat. What followed everybody knows." I didn't asked you this question unintentional. I remember how immediately after the release of "Staying a life", mass-media announced that double-live was released to celebrate a glorious period in history of the band and somehow meant about a broke-up of the band. "In mass media rumours appear all the time. Never existed the problem to break-up ACCEPT. "Staying a life" was an album that contains the best songs of ACCEPT, recorded live in a Japanese tour. It was a great tour and the Japanese's proposal to record it live was agreed by RCA and us. In the spring of 1992 I came back in the band so any comments are useless." Udo, every album of yours has a indisputable value. Though, which is in your opinion the most representative ? "Oh, God. Certainly there are more. For me, the best are "Breaker", "Balls to the wall", "Metal Heart" and not the last "Objection Overruled". Let's put the history aside and talk about what you do now. The last album is called "Predator", released recently and fast penetrated among those who listen hard and heavy. "What could I say. We recorded in America in the studious 16th Avenue Sound in Nashville (Tennessee) and Scream in Los Angeles and after many, many years I worked again with my friend Michael Wagener. He did recorders, production etc. On this album we appealed again to some formulas we used in '80 which made ACCEPT become world-wide popularly." You didn't tell me why there are only three members in the band ? "You're right. I can tell you that Stefan Kauffmann announced last year he doesn't want go on with. I can tell same thing about guitarist ( ?? - I don't know exactly what he meant ). Wolf Hoffmann took over also this responsibility and for recording drum parts we used Michael Cartellone, ex-d**n Yankees." Why Michael Cartellone ? "Wolf Hoffmann and Peter Baltes live for several years in America. They know him very well so they recommended him for this album." About lyrics on "Predator" what can you say ? "Generally they are for large interest. The subjects are available both in Germany and America and in all countries. We address specially the young and we try as much as possible to draw them attention about dangers which watch them everywhere: unemployment, violence etc. Also, we didn't forget our personal problems, which always been in ACCEPT compositions." How do you characterise this album ? "As a very good and present one. We mixed the sound of our glory period with the present one and thus "Predator" became o representative album for the 90's ACCEPT. I hope to be liked by those who became fond of us over the years and younger rockers."
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Post by killingjoke on Jun 17, 2009 18:45:37 GMT -5
Wolf Hoffmann (Interview Dinosaur Rock Guitar)
If you've been around Dinosaur Rock Guitar for any length of time, you know that Wolf Hoffmann and Accept are big favorites among our Forum members. Beyond that he's been a major guitar influence on me, and a personal favorite of mine for 20 years. It was both a pleasure and a thrill for me to finally get to discuss music with Wolf Hoffmann.
Interview conducted by Dinosaur David B. 3/2/02
Question: Lets start with your life now, and what you're up to these days?
Wolf: Well, I don't actually play anymore. I mean, I sometimes pull the guitar out but mostly I do photography. In the last four or five years I just gradually went from one to the other. To the point know where all I do is photography now on an everyday basis. It's all I do.
Question: Did the photography start as a hobby?
Wolf: Yeah, it did. A long time ago when (Accept) started touring, I started taking photos of the guys in the band. On the tour bus etc. In America, I went to all the national parks and all that stuff. It kind of went from there to a serious hobby. Way back when I did sort of fine art photography. I had some stuff in galleries — that sort of thing. Landscape stuff. Now I shoot mostly commercial — whatever — advertising — a little bit of music (band promo).
Question: It seems unusual that a heavy metal guitarist from Germany would end up settling down in Nashville, the home of country music? What drew you to that area of the US?
Wolf: Hell, yeah. Umm. We (Wolf and wife Gaby) lived in Vermont first. I don't know. Nashville seemed to be a good place at the time about seven years ago when we moved down here, and it still is. It's a good part of the country. The reason really is we were connected to the music industry and didn't like L.A. or New York. Nashville was sort of a boom-town then. Lots of people from L.A. were tired of L.A. and moved down here. We had friends who did it. Medium-sized town. We just ended up here. The climate is fairly good. Cost of living is low. My wife, Gaby, is into horses, so we bought a little farm — some acreage. I don't know. It's a cool place to live. But yeah, (laughs) sometimes I wonder: why the hell Nashville?
Question: The most common question I'm asked about you is: when is Wolf gonna return to music?
Wolf: Actually sometimes I feel the itch . . . . I don't know if it will ever . . . . I haven't really figured out what form, format, how I'm gonna come back or do something again. Uhh, but I'm thinking about it more and more. There's something missing in my life . . . . if I don't play anymore. But it's hard to figure out what to do. Just to make music isn't really enough for me. I kind of need to have a purpose. And that's kind of why I stopped. Because I was just playing and playing, and recording and recording. And it kind of disappeared into this huge drawer and it never saw the light of day again. It's kind of senseless after awhile, you know?
Question: You mean material you've recorded?
Wolf: Yeah. Half written songs, riffs, chorus ideas — all that kind of stuff. But I didn't know who I was writing it for, because I didn't really have a singer. And I didn't really want to start my own band either. So (this music) all ended up in a big pile, and that's where it still is. You know, I always enjoyed being in a band. Where you have certain set goals, and you know you have to make a record — cause you have a deal, and you need to release a new record. So you work toward that goal. Then you go on tour. Then you work toward the next goal. There always something ahead of you. But with that whole band thing gone, uh . . . it's pretty hard to motivate yourself. And you know, I haven't really figured out how all that's gonna work. I certainly don't want to be a band leader in that sense — start my own band.
Question: So do you see it as sort of an either - or thing with the photography? Do you think they could live together?
Wolf: Well they could live together fine. Yeah, man.
Question: So you'd consider keeping your life the way it is and just adding music?
Wolf: I could do that. I'm sort of a . . . that's another thing about me . . . whatever I do, I do pretty d**n seriously — 100%. So one would have to see how they could live together. I haven't really tried that.. Theoretically I guess I could do it. For me it's also very difficult to uh . . . people sometimes say to me: why don't you just play for fun in a little bar band. (But) having been where I've been, and done what I've done . . . I don't know. That kind of stuff would not be much fun for me.
Question: Are you passionate about the photography?
Wolf: Totally.
Question: That in itself is a creative outlet.
Wolf: Right! It sounds funny, but it's really not that different from making music.
Question: No, but there's nothing quite like the power of having a electric guitar in your hands and a few Marshall stacks behind you!
Wolf: Yeah, (playing) is definitely more electrifying. But still, (photography) is a creative field, and you have to be creative, so there are lots of similarities. But yeah, there's nothing like having a Marshall stack turned up and playing in front of a live crowd. It's way more electrifying, of course.
Question: Does music have any place in your life these days?
Wolf: Not a whole lot, no. I'm more of a consumer now more than anything.
Question: What do you listen to?
Wolf: I'm just your average guy in that sense. I turn on the radio and see what I like. I've never bought records. I was never a guy who had a huge record collection. Even growing up, I didn't. Most of the records I actually bought in my life were classical CDs. A little AC/DC early on, but I stopped doing that stuff.
Question: You didn't listen to other metal bands back in the day?
Wolf: No, I never did, actually. And I never . . . most people I know learned guitar by buying records and learning those tunes. I never did that either.
Question: If you were to resume a musical career, is there anyone in particular you'd like to work with?
Wolf: I can tell you what I love, I love John Hiatt (editors note: decidedly NOT Dinosaur Rock) which probably sounds pretty strange to you, and pretty boring, but I love his music. I don't need to listen to Iron Maiden and all these bands from the 80s that are still around. I don't listen to them anymore. Sometimes I hear something — (producer) Michael Wagener has a recording studio on my farm here. So I hear stuff all the time. Sort of by accident.
Question: Nothing that turns you on?
Wolf: Not really that much. The last thing that I really liked was Rob Halford's last album (Resurrection). That was brilliant.
Question: Yeah, well, you'd sound good with him!
Wolf: Yeah, possibly. I worked with Sebastian Bach on a tune or two. He was out here recording one of his solo records with Michael Wagener and I played with him. That was sort of fun.
Question: How recent was that?
Wolf: Maybe two years ago?
Question: Was it enough to get a little bit of the itch back?
Wolf: Yeah, it was cool. He's a fun guy. But it's also very chaotic, and the things that I see remind me of the old days, and why I stopped. (laughs)
Question: You sold a lot of gear off in the auctions. What gear did you keep? Which guitars are special to you?
Wolf: Well, I pretty much sold all the stuff that I either had duplicates of, stuff that was in my way — touring gear. I still have about ten guitars. There's probably two or three guitars that I will never ever . . . I'll take them to the grave with me. One is a beat up old Stratocaster which I've played on every record since day one. It's my favorite guitar. If I had to choose one guitar, it would be this one. I've never played it live much. And then there's obviously the white (Gibson) V. But I really don't know if I'd say it's one of my favorites. I don't really like that guitar that much. I mean it's really not that great of a guitar in my mind. It's just been on so many photos, it's just sort of an icon for me. It's cool to play once in a while, but I've never played it much on records. It's a live guitar, if anything. Then I've got a Hamer and an acoustic 6-string. A 12 string. Pretty much one of each. Once in a while I use 60s Fender Strat.
Question: Did you keep any amps?
Wolf: I kept two or three Marshall amps.
Question: Well that's good to hear!
Wolf: Oh yeah, totally. There still quite a bit of stuff I don't really need. Still might get rid of more in the future.
Question: You have a couple of Super Strats kicking around too, don't you?
Wolf: One of them was built in the US and called a Strings n' Things. I have that still. That was an early live guitar. And of course, I've had a gazillion Hamer guitars. I've still got four of those. Mostly the archtops — one with a Floyd Rose, one without. Cause they all sound quite a bit different. You put a Floyd Rose on and something happens, they sound different. So I kept those all. As I said, I kept about ten guitars.
Question: Lets talk a bit about your sound. How did you approach getting your guitar sound in the studio? Did you have a basic approach you found that worked that you stuck with, or did you vary it from album to album?
Wolf: Well to put it in a nutshell, I tried every possible combination known to mankind (laughs), and just kept comparing. That's one thing I did religiously over the years. Essentially, you always come back to the same few things that you like. But you always have to compare surroundings — you know, like if your comparing guitars, you've got to leave everything else the same, and just unplug this one, plug that one in. Back and forth, back and forth until you're really certain. And I did that for hours and hours and hours. I compared guitars, pickups, cables, preamps, speakers, microphones, cabinets, amps, everything you can possibly think of. I compared (each) to the thing I thought had been best, so far. If it wasn't any better, I went back to the old one. Though I always came back to some form of Marshall amp and Marshall cabinet. Very early on I built my own cabinets — in 82 or so — and those are the ones I still use. They have Celestion G12 H 30 watt speakers in them. I compared them to everything else that's out there and found these were better. You can see these cabs on the album cover of Restless and Wild. The have aluminum (edges) — they almost look like a flight case. (Building them like that) was a more economical thing in a way, cause it was so stupid to have a Marshall cabinet, and have to put that in a road case, so I just built those cabinets and put those aluminum things on there. I built them like a tank. They're about twice as heavy as a Marshall 4x12. I can't lift them myself. I always need someone to help me with those d**n things.
Question: So after all that experimentation, did you do that one time and come up with a system that worked, or did you do that for every album?
Wolf: Well, pretty much on every album, I thought I had a new recipe. And I would start recording with it, and then something wasn't quite right, and I kept comparing this to that, and in the end, I pretty much always ended up with the same old things that I had before.
Question: And what was that?
Wolf: A 4x12 cabinet, one microphone, one amp, the microphone was usually a Senheiser 412. But that changed a little bit over time cause some producer would think this or that sounded better.
Question: Did you close mic and room mic?
Wolf: Well, mostly just a close mic. Sometimes it was ridiculous — we'd have 10 or 12 mics all over the room, two here, three there. And then you'd get all these phasing problems and blah blah blah. I've always found it sounds most direct if you use one microphone. End of story. Sometimes Michael Wagener used to do two or three close mics on two or three different speakers or two or three different microphone types — do a mix of the three. I was never a big fan of that. To me it was always all in the (amp's) distortion. As long as the distortion is good, you can do just about anything with it.
Question: Your basic guitar sound on Accept albums is usually pretty uneffected (at least until Death Row). I hear a touch of reverb, but not much else. Is that an accurate assessment?
Wolf: Yeah I never recorded with any (signal processing) effects.
Question: Did the producer try to put any effects on after-the-fact?
Wolf: Well, they tried, but I usually stopped them. Um, poop, I don't even know what they put on there. Half the time they didn't even tell me. The one thing I always hated was the Eventide Harmonizer. Gosh, I hated that. And they always tried to sneak that d**n thing in.
Question: A lot of guys used it.
Wolf: It makes (the guitar sound) so indirect. I don't know. I never liked it!. But it was the rage then.
Question: But you always kept it off your stuff?
Wolf: I think I did. They probably had it on there when I wasn't watching. Mainly it was just a little reverb, and for the solos I'd use some kind of boost or preamp. But yeah, mostly uneffected.
Question: Did you run the amps really loud in the studio?
Wolf: It changed over the years. In the beginning we had regular non-master volume Marshalls, and those were frigging brutally loud. You couldn't be in the same building with them. And they never gave us the warm, fuzzy distortion we were looking for. So we ended up using those MXR Distortion Pluses.
Question: That's funny because my very next question was: the old Marshall plexi you used on the early albums (Breaker, Restless and Wild, Balls to the Wall) created a sound that was a lot more "heavy metal" than say the typical "hard rock" plexi sound of AC/DC or Jimmy Page. How did you achieve that more metal sound?
Wolf: Right. That again was born out of necessity. If you cranked the Marshall all the way to 10 or to 7 or 8, you could use the Distortion Plus' Output control to regulate the Marshall's volume so that you could bring it down to a volume you could actually play with. In essence you have a master volume effect — the amp is still sweating, but you can control the volume. The Distortion control was set not all the way up, but almost all the way up. You can still do it today. The only bad part is you get a lot of noise. We always had to turn down the volume immediately if there was a break. I say "we" — whoever the other guitarist was at the time would use the same set up. We always kind of did that as a team. That trained me real well, and I still do it to this day, but with the advent of hush units you don't need all that stuff.
Question: On the albums where you shared the guitar duties, how did you determine who played what?
Wolf: Well, (thinks) How the hell did we do it? I ended up playing most of it, if not all. I'm trying to remember why. I guess the other guy — it was Jorg Fischer for a long time — he was always kind of late, and lazy, and not really that interested. A lot of times I was more interested, and had the part already worked out. It was never like a written rule. Officially, we were equal partners, but it kind of never worked out that way. I was always more . . . ambitious, if you want.
Question: Were you running a stereo rig before you had the modded Marshall built?
Wolf: No, I never did. (Running stereo) actually started when we switched to one guitar player. When we regrouped in the early 90s, we didn't take on a second guitar player. But it made sense to have guitar on both sides of the stage. That way you could run to wherever you wanted to on stage and it sounds about the same everywhere. Earlier in the 80s, we were crazy enough — I had six amps, and Jorg had six. We both had six amps each!
Question: You were running them all at the same time?
Wolf: Oh yeah. And we had nine 4x12 cabinets each. you might have seen those pictures where they're stacked three-high and three wide. And there were bass cabs (too). So it was just a huge wall of cabinets.
Question: Kind of neat!
Wolf: Kind of neat, and they were all running — we were that stupid! (laughs) And it was really hard to change your sound. You had to change your sound on six amps — gosh.
Question: This was before you started having your amps tuned?
Wolf: Uhh, yeah. Those were stock amps.
Question: When you went to the stereo Marshall, what effects were you running on that rig to get the sound heard on The Final Chapter?
Wolf: Nothing, really.
Question: Isn't there a little chorus on there?
Wolf: That might have been added in the studio. No, I never ran . . . . I mean my basic guitar sound for the most part didn't have any effect on it.
Question: Well it definitely sounds different when you went to that stereo Marshall rig.
Wolf: Could have been that they added something in the studio.
Question: On both Death Row and The Final Chapter?
Wolf: Yeah, they probably did.
Question: So you didn't have an effects rack?
Wolf: No, not in those days. Of course I always had some sort of effect for when I played a lead — for those special effects. But I never ran any effects full-time. I had a Telefex — that's what I used for leads, mostly. It had reverb and delay. It was one of those multi-things you can program.
Question: What is the effect being used to create that raunchy sound used on the intro of Neon Nights?
Wolf: We always used to call that sound the vomiting cow. It's a Morley Wah, a Mu-tron Octave Divider, a flanger, and maybe an overdrive. Three or four pedals at the same time.
Question: There was a similar type of effect on Protectors of Terror?
Wolf: Probably, yeah. I used the same sound occasionally. I tried not to use it too many times. I was very characteristic. I used it on Classical too.
Question: Getting back to Accept: Their were early hints of Accept's trademark sound in songs like Breaker and Son of a bad girl, which remained in your live shows for a long time. But I've always felt that what became Accept's trademark sound didn't completely emerge until Restless and Wild. That's the first album where I feel you can say from the first song to the last: this is Accept's own unique sound and flavor. With Restless and Wild, the band found it's direction and stayed true to it after that. Can you point to why everything seemed to come together at that specific point in time? Was it something the band was consciously aware of at the time?
Wolf: Hell, no. And we're still not aware of it now. No, it's kind of amazing to me still. We weren't aware of it. And even afterward, it was hard for me to analyze what made this record different from all the others. Cause at the time when we made it, it wasn't this big, immediate success either. That's what people always forget. They say why don't you keep sounding like Restless and Wild blah, blah, blah. But hell, we made this record just like we'd made any other record before, and it was kind of an OK success at the time. We just kept on minding our business and working away, making another record. But it wasn't this big, immediate success — something that went boom, and made us realize we might have done something phenomenal — different from (previous albums). It was just another record.
Question: Well it just seemed that on that album, you actually found what you did best as a band.
Wolf: Right, but it was totally unconsciously. We weren't aware of it. It must have happened without us knowing. There was nothing about that record that was dramatically different from our other records. It wasn't this big "ah-ha" moment where we finally looked at each other and realized we had found what we were looking for. None of that.
Question: You didn't perceive that there was a slight change in the songwriting?
Wolf: Yeah, well it kind of felt a little better, and we were more mature. We weren't searching and fishing around quite as much. We just said: what the heck, let's do our thing and have fun with it. And later, we tried to go back and recreate how we felt way back then, but that all doesn't work. We just wanted to have fun and write songs that we liked.
Question: Let's talk a bit about your guitar playing. When you were a young man learning to play guitar, do you remember what kinds of techniques you specifically worked on and practiced? You said you never copied records. How did you learn to play?
Wolf: I took maybe a handful of lessons from the local guitar hero in my hometown. That helped me get started a little bit. But then I was really on my own — but always in a band. I was never a bedroom practicer. I never stayed home and practiced eight hours a day. I mean, I did practice a lot — I should say that, but it was always in the context of a band. I joined Accept when I was sixteen.
Question: What kind of a player were you at sixteen?
Wolf: Pretty bad, from what the other guys said. I didn't really have a clear sense of what all these keys — frets on the guitar — I kind of knew what worked where, but I didn't really know why. And I was never into theoretical music. I still don't know all this stuff about all these different keys. I know a little bit — what works — but I'm more intuitive. I can't really write or read music well. I read music like a seven year-old. I can sit and decipher it, but I never went to school for it. I'm not classically trained. Just sort of picked it up with gut feeling.
Question: Did someone show you scales?
Wolf: Yeah, a little bit. I picked up bits and pieces here and there. But very early on . . . my first lesson was in some public school. It was the most basic things — what the strings were called, the C chord the G chord. I had a handful of these very basic lessons. But really, I just learned from watching other people play. Playing with other guys, picking up a little riff here and there. Figuring it all out myself. I never had the patience to sit down and figure out all of Jimmy Page's stuff. I was influenced a lot by Ritchie Blackmore . . . and Uli Roth. He's a guy who really understands the fine nuances of playing. To bend the note the right way or give it the right kind of tone. That sort of thing I spent a lot of time on myself. And he's a master of it. That kind of stuff is really hard to come by.
Question: So you did put in your time practicing that stuff.
Wolf: Oh, yeah, of course I did. I (also) loved AC/DC — Angus Young was a big influence. Judas Priest a little later on. I was never a huge Judas Priest fan, but then when we went on tour with them . . . 1980 or so, (I got into them then) . . . you can definitely hear (a Priest influence) in some of our songs. I guess our biggest influences as a band were AC/DC and Judas Priest. And then way deep in there somewhere was also a love for those early Deep Purple records — that everybody in Europe loved.
Question: There's usually an adrenaline rush people get when playing live, and often a natural tendency to speed up the tempo. But Accept never seemed to rush through their songs. Was this something you or the band had to work on?
Wolf: We were terribly aware of how that always happens. And as German as we are, we always taped our shows and critiqued the shows afterward, on the tour bus or wherever. From very early on we were aware of the speeding-up thing.
Question: You personally always seemed so musically relaxed on stage. You never seem to rush in the groove, in fact I've always been impressed by your ability to lay back while soloing. Both live and in the studio.
Wolf: Thanks. Well, I didn't think I always succeeded, but I was always trying to.
Question: So the band deliberately worked on this?
Wolf: Totally, and that's why it came together pretty well. We were known as a tight live band, but we were constantly working on it. It was not by accident! It was because we were talking about it all the time after the shows. It was like: this part sucked, that parts great. We were always in touch with it. That's why we . . . we were in this more for the love of music and musicianship more than partying and all that poop. That's the big difference between a European band like us and a band like Motley Crue. We didn't have any idea that these guys were just in the music business to get laid and get high and all that kind of stuff. What did we know? We were just German kids who loved to play. And I think it showed.
Question: I've always loved the compositional nature of your guitar solos. They always had balls, melody, and attitude. They always went somewhere and meant something. How did you approach creating them? Did they come rather naturally, or did you have to really work at crafting them?
Wolf: I did (work at them). I always wanted — like you say — the solos to be another special part. It depended on the song. But for a lot of those early songs, I would sit down and try to come up with a different part for the solo. Sometimes I would write little melodies and stuff . . . I didn't always have an immediate use for them. Kind of put them on ice until the right song came along, then I pulled them out of my pocket somewhere and said: I'll stick this here. And that's why odd little sections sometimes come out of nowhere. And you know, if they work, they work. But sometimes they weren't specifically created for that song. It could have been lifted just as a little solo piece or snippet before the song (it ended up in) was ever written. So it was a big old puzzle sometime to put together pieces that worked. Or sometimes I would sit down and try come up with something that made sense in the context. Write a melody or something.
Question: Did it come easy?
Wolf: Not always. I usually had to sit down an squeeze my brain a little bit to come up with it. But I loved doing that — still do. It's my most favorite aspect of making music. It's that — writing music.
Question: You seemed to tap into an endless supply of great guitar riffs. Did you require inspiration — were they just coming to you all the time . . .
Wolf: Yeah, they still do. I can cough up guitar riffs like there's no tomorrow.
Question: That's amazing.
Wolf: I don't know, maybe that's a natural gift of mine if there is one. I can still pick up a guitar and spit out five riffs in an hour. I don't know how, but I can.
Question: So when it came time to do an album, did you have a lot of riffs ready, or did you just rely on your ability to come up with them on the spur of the moment?
Wolf: No, when it came time to do an album, we always sat and wrote for weeks and weeks and months. We'd get together, and I'd start jamming away . . . (we'd say) lets work with that riff — until we kind of liked it or threw it away and stated with something new. We wrote a lot of these songs as a group effort. One guy didn't come in with a whole song laid out. Maybe I would start playing a riff, somebody else would throw in a verse riff or something. Udo was never there when we did any of this. He came in afterwards. He can't play an instrument, and we always finished those songs without him. Peter was mostly our demo vocalist for that. We would make demos, and it would be either him or Stefan doing some sort of scratch vocals. We tried it out until we were happy with a full song. And when we had ten songs, or enough for a record, we would present them all to Mr. Udo, and he would do his version of the whole thing. We'd just teach him the songs and he'd step into a finished product.
Question: But your wife (a.k.a. Deaffy) was writing the words for him, right?
Wolf: Right. Yep. It was kind of an unusual approach, because a lot of people think Udo wrote all that stuff. He never did.
Question: So the arrangements were always pretty much complete when Udo came in?
Wolf: Yeah. Always.
Question: So the guitar riff usually came first?
Wolf: A lot of times, and on the later records, yeah, it did. It's usually what inspired the whole groove and vibe of the song.
Question: Were you ever inspired by the drum groove?
Wolf: Yeah, but I can't think of a good . . . I mean Fast as a Shark isn't really a guitar riff, it's more of a drum beat.
Question: You guys always knew the value of creating tension and releasing it in a song. You'd give the listener a quick tease with a songpart, take it away and return to it later. Dynamics — the value of leaving a enough space to let a song breath.
Wolf: We worked on that intentionally — in the last years especially. We brought it down for the verse, and then full force in the chorus. Yeah, that sort of thing. Even live we did that a lot. We loved doing that, too. I hated those bands that would thrash all the way on one level for an hour and a half. It's so tiring to the listener.
Question: So where did Accept learn to employ these compositional lessons?
Wolf: (You just learn) over the years, man. You try it out one time, come back to it. We taped our shows. We saw, and we felt it while we were playing — what parts the audience would love. Especially those sing-along parts, you know the audience participation parts — we loved those. And if one thing worked, you do it again. It's just a natural thing. And we tried to work on it. Sort of perfect it. A lot of it is that you cannot replace or forget the fact that we played together — Stefan, Peter, and me for so many years, that it became second nature. That's really hard to achieve unless you play together a lot. And that's one of those things I would immediately miss being in a new band. Once you've experienced that, it's pretty tough to not have it anymore. And I've played with some other players over the years, and as good as they ever were, it's still not the same.
Question: After the band's initial break, you guys came back with a vengeance on Objection Overruled and Death Row — and both of those albums totally kick ass. But it seemed to me that after that, with Predator, the band seemed to be on it's last legs.
Wolf: Oh, totally. I mean, I didn't even think Predator would see the light of day. The situation by that point had become ridiculous. We felt like we should at least put an effort forward and try, but, it was kind of hopeless by that point.
Question: Well I don't wanna dwell on this topic because I know you've been asked before, but why did Accept break up?
Wolf: I don't know that there's one . . . I haven't really thought about it in a while actually. I try not to think about those last couple of years. Well . . . it all started with . . . we were really having success with this reunion thing, and then Stefan pulled out of the band overnight because of his back problem — officially. And to this day it's sort of a mystery to me what really happened. And that was like the cornerstone of the band was suddenly gone. And then more and more we had sort of a split in the band; with one group being Udo, and the other being me and Peter — Stefan was no longer there. It became us two vs. Udo, and he didn't want to do what we wanted, and we didn't want what he wanted. In the end, we couldn't agree on anything. poop. Now that you ask me like that, I don't really have a good answer. But in those days, it was also getting tougher and tougher to stay on the road. And nobody was into that music anymore — that certainly didn't help. I mean, the mid 90s was kind of terrible for metal music. A lot of our audience just wasn't there anymore. And we were struggling to keep our identity. We could just keep doing the same poop again, and again. You need to kind of progress a little bit.
Question: Well Death Row sounded pretty different to me.
Wolf: It certainly did. We tried to go with the times a little bit. More raunchy, repetitive riffs. We'd grown tired of doing the same thing over and over again. You know, the big, massive backing vocals, the Teutonic German melodies. We were tired of that — at least Peter and I were. So we wanted to try and move along, but we didn't really find our way through it all. In retrospect, I still don't know what we could have done or should have done. I personally felt like I'd played every solo I could think of. I wasn't inspired, sort of running out of ideas maybe. It felt like we'd done it all already. I'd play a riff, and immediately I'd think: poop, I've done that a million times. And that was bad. So that's why we were trying to expand stylistically and try things we hadn't done, and we were very excited about it. But I guess the audience wasn't quite as excited about it.
Question: Well, it may not have hit people right away, but I'll tell you — when I listen to Death Row now — there's some great stuff on there.
Wolf: Well, we loved it when we did it.
Question: But when I first heard it — and I was a huge Accept fan at the time — I thought: wow, this is really quite different.
Wolf: Yeah, but what do you do when you're in a position like that? If it would have been exactly the same thing (as previous albums), people would have said: oh, it's the same old same old. Here they go again. It's a fine line that you walk. It's a curse almost, and not many bands pull it off. That's why I have a lot of respect for bands that do pull it off. Like U2, it's just incredible. They've never been my favorite band or anything, but, man. How do they stay on top of things for so long? But bands like AC/DC — they've had terrible records. Even they were running out of ideas on their records. They put some terrible songs on there, and you think: gosh, the fire is gone.
Question: Well, Mutt Lange was gone.
Wolf: Yeah, that too.
Question: How much was Dieter Dierks part of Accept? In terms of what he brought to the band.
Wolf: He was a huge influence when we first recorded with him on Metal Heart. He was also a guy who taught us a lot about how to play tight; how to play together well; to slow down. He was a huge influence for us, musically. He didn't always have the best sense of what was good for our audience. But (he was) certainly a musical mastermind — he was a genius in a way. A bit crazy at times. He kind of got carried away — certainly on that Eat the Heat record. He was totally out of control on that one.
Question: In what way?
Wolf: Well, we gave him way more influence just to see what would happen. And he just lost it, I think. There was stuff on (Eat the Heat) that started real nice, and in the end, turned out not so good. We got lost in the process. The recording took forever. It's very hard to make a good record if you lose touch with it. That's another whole conversation: how to make a good record. In my mind, it's gotta be in a timely manner. Anything that takes over a few months, you get so close to it that you start to lose (something) — it's very hard to make a good record when it takes so long.
Question: How long did it usually take to make an Accept album?
Wolf: Maybe two months. Six weeks, eight weeks.
Question: And that's going in with all the songs written and arranged ahead of time.
Wolf: Right. Well, mostly. I mean the early records certainly went faster. We did Breaker in like two weeks.
Question: Were the arrangements you brought into the studio the arrangements that got recorded, or was Dierks involved at that level?
Wolf: Dieter Dierks was a very musical producer. He would sit down at the very early stages with us, and arrange songs. And we had never really done that before. The other guys we had worked with, like Michael Wagener, he would just take the song like it was, and record it. Make it sound good and that was the end of it. Dieter took every song apart, turned it upside down, shook it, turned it, and whatnot, and in the end, it was a little better than it was before. Quite a lot better, actually, a lot of times. He was a very musical kind of guy.
Question: I think bands often need that.
Wolf: I think they do, but it's a very undefined role that a producer has. It's never quite clear: should he get involved, shouldn't he? A lot of times it's better if he doesn't. Dieter often had a tendency to get too involved. I mean, as a producer, if there is genius in front of you — and I'm not saying we were (geniuses), but if there was, like a Stevie Wonder in front of you, let him do his thing. Don't interfere with everything for the sake of interfering.
Question: No, but when guys are young especially, and green . . . whether it's Mutt Lange with AC/DC or Mutt Lange with Def Leppard . . .
Wolf: Oh yeah. Well Mutt Lange was Dieter's big idol. (Lange) is another one of those guys who gets terribly involved. Totally. To the point where it's mostly his record almost. To the point where Brian Adams sounds just like Def Leppard or anybody else. It's mostly a Mutt Lange record with just somebody else singing. Himself singing too, on a lot of those backing vocals.
Question: So which are your favorite Accept albums?
Wolf: I never listen back to them, actually. I mean my favorite album that I did — I know it sounds corny — is my Classical album. That's the one I can listen to and feel good about. To this day I can. Maybe because there's no vocals on it, I don't know. When it comes to the vocals, I still have a hard time. Because I know how the songs (started out) — it's weird — you only hear the finished product. But I always hear . . . I went though all the different drafts of the songs. And along the way I had some sort of idea how this song could turn out, or should turn out. And then Udo . . . his version is always different from what I thought it should be. I'm not saying that to criticize him, but it's just a natural thing with a vocalist. He always puts his own thing on there, and especially Udo does. Probably more than any other guy. So it's always hard for me to listen to those early songs and not think about what they should have been like.
Question: But you played them live for many many years — you must have enjoyed them on some level.
Wolf: Oh, I did enjoy them. I'm just saying that it's hard for me to listen to an early record — all these records actually — and not find lots of things that I would change now. You know what I mean? And on the last little Classical record I did — a lot of times I'm pleasantly surprised when I hear something on it.
Question: Speaking of Classical, one of my best friends is a guitar teacher in the local public school systems. He asked me to tell you: I use Wolf Hoffmann's Classical CD to teach these kids how to play and turn them on to guitar and to classical music at the same time.
Wolf: No kidding? That's amazing, man. That was a fun little record for me to make. Mostly because for the first time, I was able to do . . . well, I kind of did it backwards. That's probably why I liked it so much. All the stuff that was important to me — I did that first. All the guitars, the guitar arrangements, and then I added the drums then the bass. I started with the core — what I felt was the most important part. Did all my little guitar bits first — until I was happy with the arrangement, happy with the expression. All the leads were done first. That's what I meant earlier, actually. You know, with this stupid way of recording a lot of the time: first the drums, then the bass, then you get your stupid little snippet of song — and they throw it at you and say: here, play a solo on that! Then you sit down, while everything else is already recorded and it's too late (to do anything else). You sit down and try to make sense of it. They throw this meaningless piece of song at you, and you're supposed to make something great happen with that. But the only way that really works is if you can think about it first, you can maybe change that part to where you can play well over it.
Question: But weren't they your rhythm guitar parts you were playing over anyway?
Wolf: Yeah, it was, but if you don't think about what you're gonna play there . . . it's so much easier if you know what you're gonna play, because then you can model the part to make more sense with the lead.
Question: So you're saying you hadn't worked out the solos before you went into the studio?
Wolf: A lot of times I didn't. No. But the good ones, I did. Like the ones I'm really proud of, like Love Child, all those early songs that were so special — like you were saying. A lot of those songs had the solo worked out in the songwriting process. But a lot of times, when I didn't (work them out before), I regretted it afterwards. So then you sit there and sweat over it (in the studio.) It wasn't all worked out. We didn't have much time beforehand to come up with anything. So I had to do it in the studio, and by then it's too late (to change anything). So I'd sit there and wish there was an extra bar in there, or a different chord change or something. Can't do it. It's all recorded. So that's why I did my little Classical record backwards.
Question: Did you need a lot of takes?
Wolf: Yeah. I'm not a first take kind of guy. I always did it over and over again for hours. Recording it and recording it again until I was happy with it. I probably did a hundred takes of some things and just took the best parts of each. Listen to each bar, pick the best ones, edit them all together and then try to play it that way in one go. Being fully aware of every little bend and nuance that can make or break the thing. It's all in the details. The Devil's in the details. It's something you have to work on. You don't just wake up and have it. Like an actor or a golfer working at his craft, you have to be fully aware of what your doing. Get better, polish your craft.
Question: So did you initally play the songs on Classical to just a click track?
Wolf: Yeah, I did. I actually had a little 8-track ADAT, a Tascam thing, and I recorded everything to some sort of drum loop or click track. I did it until I was totally happy with the performance. And after that, I had the drummer play to it. But I did all the solos first. Then I added some (more) little touches after that. But bass and drums were done after-the-fact.
Question: On the last couple of Accept albums you had some instrumental music on them. Pomp and Circumstance, and some of these other things. And they were wonderful. It seemed like a natural that those would lead you to something like Classical.
Wolf: Maybe I'll do another one like that someday.
Question: Well it seems like a natural direction for you. I think you just need to find a way to do it on your own terms. Something that'll scratch your itch, but not give you a bunch of headaches.
Wolf: Exactly! Actually the Classical record was mostly that. I didn't think anything would really happen with it. It was just more a labor of love. That's why I really like that record, too. To get it out of my system and just do it for myself.
Question: Well, there's nothing that says you can't do it again.
Wolf: That's right! And I might.
Question: Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you.
Wolf: Same here.
We at Dinosaur Rock Guitar would like to thank Wolf Hoffmann for taking the time to answer our questions. Copyright ©2002 All rights reserved.
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