Silent Force
Citizen Of The World

02.04.2007

The music business is tricky, and even if you have a band of high-quality musicians, a fantastic singer and a bunch of good songs, it’s still no guarantee for a quick success. For German melodic power metallers Silent Force the road to the top seems quite rocky even though they are fronted by U.S. singer D.C. Cooper of the Royal Hunt fame and the fact that their second album “Infatuator” made quite a sensation on the European and Japanese markets. After a long period of turbulence Silent Force are now back with the fourth record called “Walk The Earth”, and we got very nice and talkative guitar player Alex Beyrodt on the phone to tell us everything about the band’s past and present…

The new CD “Walk The Earth” was in the making for quite a long time. You started recording it in late 2005, but the release date is only in February 2007. What made the recording process so long this time?

Actually it was not that long. In general, we only worked on the CD for about six weeks (laughs), but these six weeks were stretched over a long period of time. We started in October 2005, then I did guitars in January 2006… The thing is that we’re all very busy with our private lives and other projects, and sometimes you just have to wait until you find the right time. The main reason was that Dennis Ward, who engineered and produced the album, had to go to Brazil to work on the new Angra CD, and this was kind of an emergency call. He received the call like, “Oh please, you have to come over to Brazil, we have problems here, blah blah blah…” So he said, “Well, Alex, I am really sorry, but I have to go to Brazil to help Angra guys.” Since we are old friends and we were on tour with Angra a couple of years ago, we said, “Of course, just go! It’s no big deal, it’s no problem.” So a week here, a couple of weeks there, then a month, and at the end it’s almost two years. But I think it’s normal. If you look at other bands, it almost always takes 1.5 years to release a new album. For us this time it was one year and eight months, and I think it was not that long. The gap between “Infatuator” (2001) and “Worlds Apart” (2005) was really long, it was more than three years. (laughs)
 
You did very little touring after the release of “Worlds Apart”, there was only a brief Japanese tour with Kamelot and some other gigs. Are you planning to play more shows after “Walk The Earth”, or will Silent Force will basically continue as a studio band?

Well, we would love to tour. If you look on the tours we played in the past, for example, for the first album we went on tour with Stratovarius all over Europe, and for the second album we toured with Angra all over Europe and with UDO in Germany, we played a couple of festivals in America, so we were really active in the beginning. It was because we had the support from the record company. But then we had a big change, we switched over from Massacre Records to Sanctuary Records for the third album, and then all the problems began. We had no support whatsoever from Sanctuary, and actually four weeks after “Worlds Apart” was released, they decided that Noise, which was the part of Sanctuary where we were signed to, would be closed. Four weeks after releasing our album they dropped all their bands, which meant we had no support and nobody who was taking care of touring or investing in the band. It was a real nightmare. Anyway, “Worlds Apart” was a big success in Japan, and we got the offer to tour there, which we did, and which turned out very good. We love Japan, and we are really successful over there. Now we have the same situation – the album is number one in Japan’s Burrn Magazine, and we’re gonna tour there again in the summer. We would love to go on tour in Europe, but here comes this thing: if Silent Force goes on a tour, we don’t wanna play in small venues with some smaller bands. We wanna play with big bands like Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Edguy, Whitesnake, or Saxon, because I think anything else doesn’t make any sense to tour. If you go on tour, you pay the same costs for the lighting guy, for the sound guy, for the roadies and for the bus, and it doesn’t matter if you play in front of 200 people, 500 people or 2,000. You have the same costs every day, so we prefer to play in front of 2,000 people instead of playing in front of 200 people… Do you get my point?

Yeah, of course!

There are some things that most of the fans don’t know. The band has to pay when they go on tour, and they won’t get money – it costs you money, you don’t make money when you go on tour. That’s why I’m saying that if I go on tour, I wanna make sure it’s worth it.

“Walk The Earth” is your first CD on AFM Records. In what ways is AFM better than Noise or Massacre?

AFM is a company I was always checking. From the beginning, when we released “The Empire Of Future” (1999), I was always interested in working with AFM, but it didn’t happen. I think they have the right artist rooster – Doro, Rob Rock, Circle II Circle, UDO – this is the same kind of music that we do. I think Silent Force would not fit to a label like Nuclear Blast, because we are not heavy enough, but our music fits perfectly to AFM, and so far they’ve done a great job. It’s really fun working with them, everything works well, so I think this is the right choice.

The new album basically continues the line of “Worlds Apart”, but the sound is quite different. Is it your intention to change with every album, to come up with something totally new every time?

It’s not our intention, it’s something we do naturally. We just do what we think we wanna do, we don’t follow any other things. Actually the songwriting is in the same direction as “Worlds Apart”, in my opinion, just the production sounds a little bit different. This comes mainly because of the guitar sound. This time I was trying to create a new sound for my guitar, and therefore I started to make experiments with vintage equipment, old guitars, old amplifiers, similar to the ones my all-time favorite guitarist Ritchie Blackmore played when he was in Deep Purple. I started to use this kind of equipment, as I wanted to make a step back to my roots, where I’m coming from, and I come from bands like Rainbow and Deep Purple. Nowadays every guitar player plays the same amplifier, and the guitar sound on all the albums is almost the same. I just tried to do something different, and I’m actually really happy with the result. I hear from many people that this album sounds different, and this is great.

Most of the recordings were done in your own studio Guitars From Hell. What was the contribution of Dennis Ward this time? How much did he add to the recording process?

Dennis is like the sixth member of the band (laughs) after working with Silent Force for so many years. The thing is that he is not involved in the songwriting or creating melodies, he’s the guy who does engineering, who is responsible for the crystal clear sound and production. This is what he does the best, and in my opinion, he’s one of the best producers for this type of music. If you listen to his production, you really can hear every instrument. Just listen to other bands and try to hear the bass, it’s always very difficult to hear the bass in heavy metal music, but if you listen to a production of Dennis Ward, you always can hear the bass in every little detail. This is something I really like, this makes the production sound very expensive and very high-value.

In the beginning, on the first Silent Force album, you developed the concept and wrote the lyrics yourself. Why did you hand over these duties to D.C. Cooper after “The Empire Of Future”?

This is not 100 percent correct. For “The Empire Of Future” I wrote the story and concept, but D.C. already wrote the lyrics. I explained him the story, I wrote it down and handed it over to him, and then he made the lyrics round my story. You can actually find this story somewhere on the Silent Force homepage. But D.C. is a native English-speaking guy, and he is very focused on his lyrics. He takes them very serious, which is a great thing, because there are so many metal bands that sing about dragons or sing things like, “Hey baby, I want you down on your knees”, all this kind of bullshit. (everybody laughs). But D.C. always takes care of the lyrics a lot, he always wants to convey deep things, and I think it’s really nice, it’s kind of art. That’s why since “The Empire Of Future” he’s been responsible for the lyrics himself.

When D.C. writes the lyrics, is he free to write about whatever he wants to, or do you discuss the topics together and choose what songs should be about?

He’s absolutely free, he can do whatever he wants. To be honest, in the beginning I tried it once or twice, I said something like, “Hey D.C. do you think you can write something about this…” And he would reply, “Well, I could do it, but I don’t feel like. This song reminds me more of this and this, and it makes me think about this and this.” So I figured out, “OK, he really has a deep feeling when he listens to the music I write.” He’s a real artist, he can do whatever he wants.

The fact that D.C. lives in America – is this an advantage or a disadvantage for the band?

When it comes to touring, it’s definitely a disadvantage, because you cannot fly him in to play every weekend to play at a different festival somewhere in Europe. This would cost too much money and take too much time. But it’s definitely an advantage to have one of the best singers in the world! (laughs)

You played in the United States several times with Silent Force. How big is the difference between European fans and American fans?

There’s even a big difference among European fans. Germans are completely different from the French, and the French are completely different from Spaniards. (laughs) I think American fans are more into doing a party, they are more open than German fans. The German fans are always more cold, and you have to fight really hard to impress them. Americans just go to a concert and want to have a party, they are already in a good mood. This is the same, for example, in Spain and Italy.

It’s an interesting thing – your wife is Japanese, and your singer is American. Why is it so easy for you to find a common language, so to say, with people from absolutely different cultural backgrounds?

You know, I see myself as a cosmopolitan. I have traveled the world several times in my life, especially in the past seven years. I’ve been to countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, China, the Philippines… Of course, I’ve been to Japan around 15 times, I’ve been to almost every state in America. What I’m trying to say is that I have a different view of the world than somebody who only lives in his country and has never seen other places. Especially the fact that I traveled Asia had a big impact on my life and my view of the world, it changed my life completely and made me a better person.

Are there any peculiarities in working with people from different countries? For instance, when you work with D.C. or with Viktor Smolski, who is from Belarus, how much is the work style of those people different?

Victor is one of my best friends, I really like him, I enjoy hanging out with him, drinking and partying. (laughs) Working with Victor is very inspiring, because he’s such a good musician and has such a deep knowledge of music. As to working with Americans – they are completely different, they like to be more free-floating. For example, they start working on a song, they start with the first verse, and then they feel like, “I wanna work on the chorus of the next song.” They stop working on the first song, start working on the second one, and then go back to the last verse of the first one. It’s a very mixed-up thing. This is very American, it’s not peculiar only to D.C., because I’ve worked with other people and they were all like this. The German way of working is completely different, it’s like, “I start working at 10 o’clock in the morning and I work until the song is finished. I start at the top and I finish at the end.”  This is also the Japanese way. And when it comes to China, it is totally messed. (laughs)

The release of “Worlds Apart” was accompanied by an Internet single called “No One Lives Forever”. Are you satisfied with the results achieved by this single? And why didn’t you do anything like that again this time?

“No One Lives Forever” was a perfect song to be released as a single on the Internet. This was basically the only promotion Sanctuary did for us. (laughs) I was satisfied with the result of the Internet promotion, but I was definitely dissatisfied, or rather pissed, with the promotion they did for “Worlds Apart” in general. Just imagine – for “Worlds Apart” I only gave five interviews worldwide, while for “Infatuator” I gave 180 interviews. There is a BIG difference between 5 and 180, and it shows how BAD the promotion of Sanctuary was. It’s unbelievable because “Worlds Apart” has been the biggest success of the band so far and the best selling album without any promotion! (laughs)

Speaking about the Internet – your personal website (www.alexbeyrodt.com) is very good and informative, but it hasn’t been updated for a long time. What is the reason?

I’m not taking care of it myself, there’s somebody else who’s doing it, and this somebody is a little bit lazy. (everybody laughs) I’m not very satisfied with it myself, because it always takes very long to put news on the website, and this is something I really have to change. Or I will have to find somebody else who will take care of it. But I have a very cool Japanese website! (laughs)

But we guess it’s in the Japanese language, right?

Yep! (everybody cracks)

There were reports that you are planning a side project with Richard Andersson from Time Requiem…

Wow! Where did you hear that?

Mmm, not sure, somewhere on the Internet… Is it indeed the case?

This is actually gonna be my solo record, and Richard is going to play a couple of keyboard solos on it. It’s not that he’s involved in the songwriting or anything, he just will be a guest that plays a couple of solos. He has already recorded one solo and sent it to me. It’s funny that you ask me, because I’m gonna start recording drums for this album tomorrow. (laughs) Tomorrow morning I’m gonna drive down to Stuttgart in the south of Germany, and I’m gonna meet there in a very nice recording studio with a very famous drummer. His name is Mel Gaynor, he’s the drummer of Simple Minds, and he has also played with Elton John, Tina Turner, Gary Moore, Brian May, and he was in Samson, the band from England where Bruce Dickinson was the singer. He has sold 15 million records in his life! (laughs) What I’m trying to say is that he’s a very good drummer! (laughs) And he’s gonna play drums for my solo project Alex Beyrodt’s Voodoo Circle. And believe it or not, I’ve just received an e-mail from my friend Rudy Sarzo – do you remember Rudy?

Yes, he used to play in Quiet Riot and with Ozzy Osbourne!

He will play bass on my solo record! I just met him two weeks ago at Los Angeles, where I was at the NAMM show, a big music fair… I’ve got to tell you the whole story, this is kind of funny. When I was 15, I saw Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoads, Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and it was one of the live shows you never forget. This concert actually changed my life, because after the show I decided that I wanna be a professional musician. And now 20 years later I met Rudy Sarzo in Los Angeles! I just went up to him and said, “Hey Rudy, I’m Alex Beyrodt blah blah blah, and I would like to shake your hand, because you are one of the people who are responsible for me becoming a professional musician. I just wanna thank you!” He was very nice, he said, “Great, this is a nice story! I feel honored.” We talked a little bit, and then I just asked him, “Hey Rudy, I’m gonna make a solo record, are you interested in taking part?” And he said, “Yeah, definitely! Send me the files, and I’m gonna play on your record.” I really believe in destiny or karma, or whatever you call it, and I think this is another example of it.

What kind of music will you do on this solo record? How much will it be different from the stuff you play with Silent Force?

It will be the same guitar sound! (laughs) The songs will be a little more like Rainbow meets Yngwie Malmsteen. That’s my explanation, that’s how I feel about it. Actually I also have a singer. I was in contact with Joe Lynn Turner from Deep Purple and Rainbow, and he was interested in doing it, but then I had some problems with his management, and I decided not to work with him. Now the vocalist will be David Reedman from Pink Cream 69, he’s a hell of a singer and a very good friend of mine.

You mentioned karma – do you know that Joe Lynn Turner is playing in Moscow the day after tomorrow?

Ah! (cracks) Tell him I said “hello” and that he won’t sing on my record, because his manager never called me! I wrote to his management, I wrote him around seven e-mails, and his manager never got back to me. So in the last e-mail a couple of days ago I wrote, “Do you know what? It looks like you guys are not interested in working with me, so you’re out! I’m gonna work with a different singer.” This is actually kind of sad, because I’m a huge fan of Joe’s voice, and I would be so happy and proud to have him onboard. But I’m a professional, and if somebody doesn’t reply to my e-mails, I don’t deal with him.

One of your previous bands, Sinner, released a new album in January. Were you asked to rejoin this band for this CD? And would you be interested in a reunion of this kind?

I was contacted by Mat Sinner, he asked me if I would like to play a couple of solos on the record, and I said, “Yes, sure, why not?” But then I know that somebody in the band was not so happy with this idea. He didn’t want me to play, so it didn’t happen. (laughs) Actually I’m not interested in the reunion of Sinner, because I really enjoy playing with Silent Force, I really enjoy playing my own stuff, and I don’t wanna share the stage with another guitar player anymore. I really enjoy being the only guitar player onstage. It gives me more freedom, I can do what I want, and I can play what I want, it’s much more free-floating artistically.

You played with Sinner for 12 years. What were the best moments of your time with Sinner? Is there anything you would like to do differently if you had a chance to go back?

Well, there are a couple of things I would like to do differently, but I cannot talk about them (laughs), because they are business-related. The best moment I had… Well, I had lots of good moments, I had a very good time with those guys, especially in the beginning. When I joined the band, I was 24, I was a fan of the band, and suddenly I got a chance to join them. It was a hell of a party in the beginning. For example, the tour with Mr. Big all over Europe was a great experience, and when we went down to Los Angeles to work with Keith Olsen on the album “Judgment Day” (1997), it was a great experience, too. We played so many tours – with Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Accept and whatever, it was a great time. But after 12 years it was just enough, it was time for me to go on with my career and start something on my own.

And what are your memories of your time with The Sygnet? Do you still like that album (“Children Of The Future”, 1998), or do you think this band wasn’t a good idea?

I think it was a good idea, and Silent Force actually started because of The Sygnet. The songs I wrote for “The Empire Of Future” were originally written to become the second Sygnet album. But the fact is that singer Michael Bormann wasn’t very happy with the musical direction, so we decided not to work together anymore. The Sygnet album definitely has a very good reputation out there, there’s a kind of little cult about this album. People really like the songwriting, the songs, but Michael didn’t want to play this kind of music anymore, so we had to go our separate ways.

We know that you’re re-releasing the first two Silent Force albums on AFM. What about re-releasing The Sygnet? It’s not very easy to get this album nowadays…

This is actually a good idea. I never thought about it, I have to write this down, hold on a second. (pause) The album is all sold out… I have to go through the contract and see if this album is free, whether we can sell it to somebody to re-release it. Thank you very much for a great idea! (laughs)

When you parted ways with Michael Bormann, why didn’t you continue using the name The Sygnet? After all, Silent Force has two members of The Sygnet…

Yeah, it’s right, drummer Andre Hilgers played with me in The Sygnet, I actually found him and made him a professional musician. The bass player of The Sygnet, Michael Mueller, played bass on some of the recordings for the first Silent Force album. We recorded those songs with The Sygnet in mind. But then I started writing the story and searching for a new singer. When I found D.C., the music was already recorded. But Silent Force was, in fact, a joint venture between me and D.C., and D.C. was really famous at this time because of Royal Hunt and his solo career. We decided that this marriage between Alex and D.C. was something special, so we were going to start from scratch.

Andre Hilgers, your drummer, is involved in two other bands apart from Silent Force. Do you think this may cause problems for you, especially as Rage are touring quite a lot, or is Silent Force still his main priority?

First of all, I have to say that I’m really happy for Andre, I’m happy that he’s the drummer of Rage now. As I just said, I found him and made him a professional musician. (laughs) I’m kind of proud that he got a job with Rage. It’s definitely not so easy for him to find a right schedule and find time to work with me and the band, because he’s so busy now, but he deserves every minute of his success, because he’s a really talented drummer, and he worked really hard in the past to become such a good musician. We will find a way to work together. For example, we are invited to play another tour in Japan, and I talked to Andre and told him the dates. He said, “I can’t do it on this weekend, because we play some festivals with Rage, but on that weekend I can, because we have days-off.” You just need to talk and understand each other, and you will find the way.

Apart from Silent Force, you play a lot of guitar clinics. What material do you usually perform in such situations? Are these Silent Force songs or songs by other artists?

I actually play instrumental songs, it’s not only heavy metal, it’s all kinds of stuff. It’s always rock, it’s not country or jazz, because I can’t play it. (laughs) It’s very melodic, something like a mix between Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani.

You have been in the music business for a long time, and you’ve experienced all the aspects of it. Would you like your daughter to become a musician when she grows up?

Well… yeah! She’s one year old now, she had a birthday just two weeks ago. Believe it or not, every time she’s listening to music, she already starts to dance, she’s clapping her hands, and this is something I really like. I can see she has the talent for music, she’s interested in it. I will help her if she wants to be a musician, and I will help her if she wants to be an actress, or bank manager. I’m gonna support her in whatever she wants to do.

You are musician and you are a family man, but do you do anything else in life apart from that? Any hobbies maybe?

Yeah, I have a big hobby, but I don’t have time to do it anymore. I like to play golf. This is not very heavy metal style, but well, Alice Cooper plays it, and Iron Maiden also does. (everybody laughs) However I don’t find the time to do it anymore, every free minute I have I play with my daughter and I take care of my wife, or I’m in my studio writing songs. It’s a little bit sad, because I would really like to play more, but I just don’t have the time. Apart from that, I’m starting to work on my own effect pedals, I’m gonna release a couple of effect pedals, and this is also a kind of hobby.

Silent Force on the Internet: http://www.silent-force.rocks.de

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova (CD-Maximum) for arranging this interview

Roman “Maniac” Patrashov, Natalie “Snakeheart” Patrashova
February 8, 2007
© HeadBanger.ru