Dirkschneider
We Can Play Everywhere In Russia

31.10.2016

To tell you the truth, I don’t think there is any need to introduce Udo Dirkschneider to anyone. Yes, that’s the guy whose voice is one of the most recognizable in heavy metal, the voice that made Accept one of the most famous German bands and then brought fame to U.D.O. This time around, he’s touring as Dirkschneider(well,  he’s made use of his first name in the past, why not use the last name now). You should not be confused, however, as you will still see the entire U.D.O. line-up on stage, they will just be performing Accept songs only. The band has already presented the show all over Europe, and Russia is next (the shows are due in Moscow. St. Petersburg and another 8 cities), to be followed by North America next year. We called Udo Dirkschneider to ask him why they changed the band name for this specific tour and what’s so special about it.

Thank you for finding the time to talk to us. Where are you now?

Hi. I’m in St. Petersburg at the moment.

Wow! Really? Isn’t it too early for the shows?

Yeah, the tour is coming up in November. But I have a girlfriend in St. Petersburg, and also an apartment. Sometimes I’m living here for a couple of weeks and then I go back to Ibiza, Spain.

Do you like St. Petersburg?

Yes, it’s a very nice town.

Great! So let’s talk about your tour. You have a really tough schedule this year. How do you cope with it?

I don’t know, I don’t have any problems with that. I mean, the summer time was a little bit relaxing for us. There were always festivals on weekends. And now you can say we have a break in September and October and then we have another three months touring until the beginning of next year. The whole January and the beginning of February we do America. As you can see I’m quite busy of course, but I don’t have any problems with this.

What’s you secret?

There are no secrets. Let’s say I try to stay healthy as much as possible. I mean, I don’t have parties every day or anything. I try to live healthy and it works. What can I say? Maybe I’m just lucky. I know a lot of musicians who cannot do it in this age, you know.

And what about your bandmates? Are they OK with not having parties?

Yeah. Well, of course we’re not living like monks, you know. If we have a day off, of course we have… not a real party going on all night like everybody thinks. No, but we have a good time sometimes, some good wine or beer, something like this. If you really wanna do this that much… I mean, we really play for two hours on stage and we have sometimes four or five shows in a row, then a day off and then another four or five shows… That means you cannot party every night, that’s not possible. So no, nobody has any problems with that.

Great. Ok, next year you are returning to the U.S. It’s always a little bit tricky for a European band to go there. What do you expect from this part of the tour?

I don’t know. So far everything has looked very well. The ticket sales are very good. Last time I was there in 2012, but that was under the name U.D.O. This time we are going under the name of Dirkschneider and we only play Accept songs. And yeah, I’m really looking forward to do the tour in America.

Doing this tour under the name of Dirkschneider do you feel any difference in how the fans welcome you?

It’s interesting to see… (laughs) How can I say this? The whole Dirkschneider thing, it wasn’t planned like this, you know? When we got this idea it was like, “Ok, come on, for the last time… Maybe we do 10 or 15 shows under the name of Dirkschneider and play only Accept songs”. And now it’s a world tour. (laughs) I didn’t expect this. Too many people wanted to see this. And it means for me… Ah, let’s be careful, I don’t want to put anything wrong, he-he. For me, I don’t have to say anything more. I see what the people really wanna see. They wanna see the real voice. And that’s it.

And what about you? Do you feel any different going on stage under this name?

No. For me it’s a lot of fun to play these songs. And also it’s for the last time. In a way for me it’s like closing a book. Next year we start working on the 16th album of U.D.O. and already a lot of people were asking why we still played Accept songs with the band Accept existing at the moment and having enough U.D.O. songs to do a show without any Accept song. That was when the idea came to me - OK, I do it one more time, like a couple of special shows. And let’s say, I was really surprised with the reaction. It was like, “Eh, what’s going on?” It’s good to see this but for me it’s… Let’s put it in this way, as long as Accept exists I won’t play any Accept song anymore. I can only say, “Ok, if you wanna listen to some Accept songs, like ‘Balls to the Wall’ or whatever, then go to an Accept show”. And when we do the next tour with U.D.O. there won’t be any Accept songs.

I suppose it was really difficult to choose songs for the set list…

Oh, yeah. (laughs)

It’s obvious that you chose the most popular ones but you also added some songs that you personally wanted to play…

Yeah. Let’s say, songs like “Neon Nights”. ”Wrong is Right”, “Flash Rockin' Man”, “Son of a Bitch” and stuff like that… It was important for me, these are songs that I really wanted to do. But you know, when we started thinking about all this Dirkschneider thing, we had, I don’t know, about 40 songs. (laughs) And we said, “OK, we have to come down to… definitely, 23 or 24”. And now we’re doing 24 songs. Also it was good to have such guitar players like Andrey (Smirnov) and Kasperi (Heikkinen). They are also great Accept fans, and they said, “Maybe we can play this song, and this song, and maybe people wanna hear this and this and this”. So in the end we had to make a decision. And with all the shows we have done so far, I think, we made the right one. Of course, there are still a lot of people coming and saying, “Ah, why you are not playing this song, and this song”. Of course I could do a completely different setlist and go on tour again with the whole thing. (laughs) But… I don’t know. At the moment it is like it is and in the beginning of February next year the whole Dirkschneider thing is in a way over and then we start working on a new U.D.O. album.

Why didn’t you add any song of the 90s when you came back to Accept?

Because I wanted to do only songs from the 80s. You know, till the “Russian Roulette” album (1986), and not the albums that I did after the reunion with Accept. That’s what I said before. If I sit down and put a new setlist together then there would definitely be some songs from these three albums. There are good songs on “Objection Overruled” (1993), “Death Row” (1994) and “Predator” (1996), but there are also enough songs left from the older albums. We had to make a decision and… you never know.

You also have many shows in Russia this year. Some of the cities are new for you, like Nalchik, for example. I don’t know any other band that can do it.

I don’t know. With U.D.O. we played nearly all over Russia. We did Vladivistok, Irkutsk, Magnitogorsk. I also know that many bands can only play in St. Petersburg, Moscow, maybe Krasnodar and maybe Rostov-on-Don. Normally that’s it. I don’t know, maybe we are lucky but I think if we want we can play nearly everywhere in Russia.

Do you expect the same welcoming that you have with U.D.O.?

I hope so. (laughs) But I think we’ll be very interesting for the people. I think they’ll really enjoy it.

You are doing Aria Fest in Moscow. Do you have any special plans with Aria?

Oh, I don’t know, we will see. Maybe we’ll decide it on the day when we meet.

Do you keep in touch with them?

Last time I saw them…. During our last U.D.O. tour in Russia. They played the same cities and we had a day off, they were playing and we went to the concert, and then we were sitting together in a hotel… Yeah, we see each other when we can.

Can you speak Russian?

Hmm, some words. (laughs)

You have just received "Maximum Metal“ award. Congratulations!

Thank you very much!

So how does it feel to be a Legend?

He-he, of course many people call me a legend. Yeah, it’s nice and it makes you proud that you did something in this business. But I don’t feel really like a legend, you know. I always try to do my best, I have fun entertaining people and I hope they have a lot of fun, they look like they’re having fun and I don’t think really about this. But of course it makes me proud. That’s what I said before. That means that you did something in this business.

Do you have a special room in your house where you keep all these rewards and disks?

Yeah. In my house in Ibiza on the first flour, everything is hanging there…

It must be quite a big room.

No, if you go up to the first flour, there is enough space. (laughs)

Maybe someday you’ll make a museum out of it.

Maybe, you never know. I have so much stuff.

Do you collect anything? Like guitars or microphones?

No, I’m collecting my stage cloths. As you know I’m always using camouflage, but in different ways, and sometimes I have different shirts on. I collect this. And also some special merchandising stuff.

You’re also getting ready to release a new live CD, “Live – Back To The Roots”…

Yes. I don’t know about Russia but in the rest of Europe it’s coming out on the 28th October.

Is it just a CD or a DVD also?

We had such plans, we recorded a DVD also, but then we looked through the material and we were not really satisfied with it. It is very important for us that we give the fans the best, especially with this Dirkschneider thing. And we were not happy with the result of the filming so we’ll definitely film a show again but I don’t know when yet. But there will definitely be a DVD from this tour.

And what about this CD, will there be any special editions?

I don’t know. The only thing I know is that they have plans to do vinyl also and that we have a really nice booklet.

When did you have time to produce this CD?

We have a producer who was taking care of this, he was mixing the recordings. I always can listen to it and say, “Uhm, I don’t like this” and he will do it a little bit different. There is always time for that, especially in the summer time when we had only festivals and they were always on the weekends, so during the weeks I had time to listen to this and to talk to our producer.

Nowadays releasing a live CD is considered quite risky because of low sales. What about you?

No, especially with this Dirkschneider thing. I mean, this is our history, it will never happen again. It’s not like another U.D.O. live album, this is a really special thing. I mean, there are only Accept songs and it will never happen again. This is a historical thing, you know.

You have also released the “Navy Metal Night” DVD (2015). Why do you think heavy metal and classical music are so well combined?

Uhh, in a way heavy metal music is coming from classics, you know. Also what we did with Accept was using the atmosphere of classics. It is like… How to put it? Creating something. But let’s say, I was not looking for a symphony orchestra. We’ve been thinking about working on a classical album for the last 15 years already. Then we tried with a symphony orchestra… But with this symphony orchestra you have to use all these ballads and slow songs. For all these reasons I was giving up already to make an album with a classical orchestra. But when we did the mixing for the “Steelhammer” album (2013) of U.D.O. our producer who is a percussion guy in a navy military band, he said. “Hey, we have a concert, if you wanna come…” I didn’t expect anything, it was like, “OK, why not”. And I was sitting there and they played songs from Michael Jackson but without any violin, there was just brass. I was like, “Yes, this is the sound I would like to do”. And that’s how the whole thing started. It took us one year to do all the arrangements, and then we did “Navy Metal Night”. And everybody were like, “Oh, another album of a heavy band with classics,” but after they listened to it they said, “Wow, this is something completely different”. Then we did another concert at the Wacken festival, and that was also very good. And you will see, this is not the end either. I don’t know when but there will definitely be some more shows coming up with the orchestra.

That’s good news! And what about the new album? Do you have any material for that already?

Let’s say, ideas. (laughs) They are very rough. At the moment we are collecting all the ideas from the guitar players, I’m singing to my mobile phones if I have some melodies, I’m thinking about lyrics and all this stuff but it’s too early to say anything.

And how does it work for the whole band? Do you compose music together?

At the moment I get all the stuff by e-mail, I can listen to it and say that I like this or I don’t like that or whatever. And if we have enough ideas we’ll start in March. We’ll meet each other in the studio for two weeks and then we’ll start doing pre-production as they call it. Then we’ll say, “Ok, we’ll work with this song, and this, and this”…

You are all living in different cities, even in different countries. Do you still feel like a real band?

Yeah, there are a lot of people asking how this works, but with all these modern technologies like Skype and everything, it’s so easy… I mean we see each other so often on tour (laughs), we only have a two months break at the moment and then we’ll see each other for three months again. So of course it’s a real band, it’s like Andrey is living in Moscow, Kasperi is living in Helsinki, my son is living in Germany, and the bass player, Fitty (Wienhold) and I are living in Spain and also sometimes I live in St. Petersburg… And you know, it’s good actually, because with this you get different ideas because of different mentalities coming together, and that is also making out something very interesting.

Do they give you any new ideas of the new generation?

Of course, they’re coming up with different stuff. In a way what I have now with two guitar players and my son who is 22, they belong to the young generation and they’re coming up with ideas… In a way it’s old classical metal but in a modern way. Very interesting. I like it. It’s a lot of fun to work with a band. I have never been a guy to say, “I’m a solo artist”, you know. For me it was always important to have a band around me, and to work as a band.

Do you have anything in common? Can you just sit together, have some beers and talk?

Oh, yeah, of course. We can talk about everything. Of course I could be a father for Andrey or Kasperi, but I also can give them some advice sometimes. For example about the business, what’s going on in the music business. They are learning from me and I’m also learning from them. They are young people and they're сoming aboard with a different way of thinking and yeah, it’s very interesting, and on the other hand it keeps you young.

And what about your son? What if he wants to go to a party? Does he ask for your permission?

He can do whatever he wants on tour. Of course he’s my son but he’s a member of the band. And if he wants to go and party or whatever he can do his own things, you know. But I’m sorry I have to do the next interview in one minute…

Ok, the last question. Are you still working on your book?

Yes. I’m still working on it but very slowly, I mean I don’t have that much time in between at the moment. I’m working on it but it’s gonna take some time.

Dirkschneider on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DIRKSCHNEIDEROfficial/

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova (AFM Records) for arranging this interview

Ekaterina Akopova
September 20, 2016
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