WVOX's Metal Mayhem Host (WVOX.com/1460 AM
New York) Matt O'Shaughnessy Talks With Accept's Legendary Guitarist Wolf
Hoffmann!
Accept’s guitarist, Wolf Hoffmann and bandmates Herman Frank, Stefan Schwarzmann, Peter Baltes
and Mark Tornillo are preparing to unload some serious teutonic
heavy metal wrath with fellow German headbangers, Kreator, in the form of a
23-date trek aptly dubbed the The North American Teutonic Terror Attack Tour
which kicks off in the US on September fifth in Washington, D.C. and runs until
October fourth in Charlotte, North Carolina. Accept is still enjoying the
acclaim of their latest release, Stalingrad, which proved to many diehard
fans that the band could indeed produce another album worthy of what many
called it’s comeback album, Blood Of The Nations; the first Accept album to
feature singer Mark Tornillo. Now, with Stalingrad breaking
down all speculation concerning whether Accept could forge onward again in a
major way; the answer is a definitive – Yes! Stalingrad debuted at
number 81 in the US Billboard Top 200 charts and I recently had the distinct
pleasure of chatting with legendary Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann
who shed new light on the group’s impending tour with Kreator,
working with producer Andy Sneap once again and more.
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Life is good these
days in the Accept camp.
Wolf Hoffmann: "We’re excited like never
before! It’s pretty awesome everything that is happening right now. We’re very
excited."
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Stalingrad once again
features famed producer Andy Sneap. Was it only natural to continue
working with Andy at the helm?
Wolf Hoffmann: “Yes, absolutely. We had such a
great time and much success with what we did on Blood Of The Nations. It was a
no-brainer to keep working with him. Why change it if it is not broken. It was
just too good to be true. Why take any risks and luckily he had the time to do
it and so it was just a natural decision.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: In 2010, Accept came
roaring back featuring new singer Mark Tornillo. By all accounts Mark and
Accept were and are a perfect fit. What are your thoughts on the last 2-3
years; they were pivotal years for Accept.
Wolf Hoffmann: “These last two or three years have
been an amazing story in itself. Here we were one day doing a little jam
session and by accident we meet Mark and we decided to re-launch Accept and get
it all going again. But nobody could have anticipated it that it went this
well. We were hoping for the best obviously, but we were also bracing for
anything that could happen because changing the lead singer is never an easy
task; so we are super excited that the fans really accepted us and have
embraced us as they have. I mean nobody could have hoped for anything more than
what had happened. Here we are two albums down the road and hundreds of shows
together. It’s just gone phenomenal!”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Stalingrad is a great
testimony of Accept’s old school approach to heavy metal. Is this what classic
heavy metal sounds like in 2012?
Wolf Hoffmann: “I would like to think so! We try to
give it that classic feel and a modern sound; we’re old school guys in a way.
It’s great to have Andy Sneap on board. He gives us that edgier, newer kind of
sound with the way that he produces things. It’s a perfect combination. I think
we sound better than we ever have.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: The North American
Teutonic Terror Attack Tour with fellow German metallers Kreator is a raging
and formidable bill. What are your thoughts on the tour?
Wolf Hoffman: “It’s going to be awesome! For the
first time ever we are going to be teaming up with Kreator who have been very
active and have had a long career in Germany and worldwide. For the
first time we are going to be hitting the road with them and I think it’s going
to be an awesome package for the fans to see; two strong German acts like that
together. I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like!”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Accept has one of the deepest
catalogues of music along with your new album, Stalingrad. Will
it be easy to comprise the set-list on this tour?
Wolf Hoffmann: “It’s never easy, of course. It gets
harder and harder. But it’s a good problem to have. We just sort of toss it
around. Sometimes we even change it up on the road. We have a fairly strong
idea what the fans want to hear; we have these songs which are sort of hundred
percent must play kind of songs and we do them. And then we sprinkle in the
occasional surprise. You can never please everyone. That’s just the way it is.
I think it’s a good problem to have.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Wolf, if you were to
give your fans a little look into the set-list, what songs is Accept featuring
on this tour with Kreator?
Wolf Hoffmann: “We have classics like Balls To the
Wall, Fast As A Shark, Princess Of The Dawn, Restless and Wild. Then we have a
little more obscure songs like Losers and Winners or Aiming High. But,
honestly, we want to feature the new album, Stalingrad. We are going to do
at least three or four songs from the new album. We are very proud of that
album and it pairs up really nicely with the old classics.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: You mentioned the old
school heavy metal approach that you feel Accept features. That kind of
music has never gone out of style. And never will.
Wolf Hoffmann: “Yeah, I think it is a great form of
music and genre. We were definitely at the forefront of this whole
thing or part of it. There was the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
back in the day. I guess we were the German division of that in a weird way. We
came up along the same time with all those bands from back then and we are
still here. It’s makes us very proud.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: In 1981, Accept’s legendary
Breaker album is unleashed. What are your thoughts on the bands early
days? Accept has certainly endured a lot of trends and fads in the
music business. And has always stuck to its guns.
Wolf Hoffmann: “Thank you very much. It is very
kind of you to say that. I mean back in those early days, we were all
struggling to make a name for ourselves. We went to neighboring countries
around Europe to sort of establish ourselves. I would say in the mid
1980’s – 1985 – we really sort of became a household name in the genre. It
feels great to look back at all those years and to have become part of the
scene and to be really respected by a lot of people.”
Matt O'Shaughnessy: Accept has
certainly influenced many bands over the years. That must make you feel very
proud.
Wolf Hoffmann: “That’s true. I’ve heard that many,
many times. Especially, our song Fast As A Shark from Restless And Wild; that
really influenced a lot of people. I’ve talked to a lot of other
musicians in the thrash genre who told me that really opened their eyes and it
made them become who they are still to this day. We are very proud to have
sparked the fire for these bands. Even though we never really considered ourselves thrash.”