Axel Rudi Pell
I Already Have My Own Supergroup

22.02.2016

January 15 was a celebration day for fans of epic melodic heavy metal this year. This was the day when German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell released his new album “Game Of Sins”. Some may consider him a kind of weirdo who plays the same song over all of his albums, or ironically call him “the German Blackmore”, but there is no way that his melody making and songwriting talents can be denied. That’s why we decided to approach the Maestro with a few questions, even though email was the only available means of contact for us. Axel responded quickly, sharing a substantial amount of information on the new album, creative longevity, loyalty to his music style, changes in the lyrical content and car engine solos… Read on!

Let me start with congratulating you on the release of “Game Of Sins”, which I as a long-time fan enjoy a lot. Can you say a few words about the creation of the new album? What was the mood in the band when you approached its recording? How did the material come to life? In general, how do you come up with new material? Do you have any “typical way” of working on music that you follow more or less regularly?

Thanks, I´m glad that you like “Game Of Sins”. You know, I´m always writing songs. Sometimes a riff comes to my mind, when I´m just sitting there and playing the guitar a bit and sometimes a melody comes to my mind when I´m driving in my car…. So I´m always collecting little bits and pieces all over the years. When I have enough little  snippets together, I sit down and make the real songs out of it. That´s how I always work. The mood in the band was great when we went for the recording and everybody loved the new songs !

Many of your songs have dealt with fantasy realms and enchanted worlds, inviting the listener to take a deep dive in them. The two latest albums, however, have more “down-to-earth” lyrics (in a good way), describing the events around us. What is the reason for it?

Oh, I still love to write fantasy kind of lyrics, so there are still a few on the new album, like “Fire” or “Falling Star”, but I think it was about time for me to let the people know, that I also can write good lyrics without that fantasy approach. I don´t wanna be too political in my songs as I see us mostly as an entertaining band, but every now and then it´s ok to write about different things like the global warming in “Till The World Says Goodbye” or a person who is close to die and can see the “light” and will be released from his pain in “Forever Free”.   

The sound of your band changed with the addition of Bobby Rondinelli, it seems to have become more precise. Did Bobby bring his own magic with him, or did you come up with these changes on the two latest records independently, and Bobby just happened to arrive in time?

I´m very proud to have Bobby in my band. . He´s a brilliant drummer who understands and likes my music completely. The first time he came over for recording I didn´t knew exactly what to expect, but as soon as he started playing through the tracks I knew that he was the right guy. On top he is a really nice and friendly guy, what makes working with him even more relaxing.  Of course he is bringing his own “Bobby-style-magic” with him! (laughs)

You and your band have had quite a lot of anniversaries, and your fans are hoping for many more anniversaries to come. Fans’ response leaves no doubt that it’s worth it. But when you were only making your first steps in music, what motivated you to choose this particular path in life?

It´s all about passion. When I grew up I always wanted to do what I´m doing now…making music! When you have that wish deep in your mind, your soul and your heart, it will become true as long as you fight hard enough for it. I´m very glad that I can make a living from playing and creating music and as long as the fire is still burning inside me, I will continue.

This question is a kind of continuation of the previous one, and it’s sort of philosophical. For many centuries many of Earth’s inhabitants (in Russia, but also in many other countries) have not considered music and touring a real job. As an accomplished artist who has been in this for many decades, what can you say about the meaning of your work and its outcome for people?

As long as people like our music it´s cool for us. We will continue as long as we´re having fun and the health is ok.

Apart from your original songs, you have recorded many cover versions approaching them in your own unique way. The new CD also contains a cover version on the limited edition, this time it’s Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower”. I like your interpretation as much as the one by the great Jimi Hendrix. But why did you choose this particular track this time around?

I always liked that track when I first heard it in the 1970ies by Jimi Hendrix and from that point on I always wanted to cover the song. There are many different other cover versions, but I never liked the others too much, so I thought that it was about time to create a really cool version of that song. Although the song has only three chords, it was very hard to find the right arrangement for it. Every song we cover has to fit in the ARP style in a perfect way and I guess we did great on this one ! (smiles)

Do you check out present-day hard rock releases? If no, why? If yes, what do you prefer, “oldies but goldies” or talented newcomers? What trends do you notice on the present-day hard rock scene? Do you think it gets better or it gets worse?

Normally I only listen to music nowadays when I´m driving in my car and turn on the radio. It doesn´t matter for me, which kind of genre a good song comes from as long as the melody and the structure of that song is good. It could be a pop song or a blues song or a hard rock or metal song… Actually I always find good music by accident and I really don´t follow any new trends or anything. Sometimes I´m talking to my friends and they are telling me about new releases and sometimes I give it a try and listen to it, but in most occasions I don´t like it. The last release I really like a lot is the first CD from a new project called Nordic Union, which features Pretty Maids vocalist Ronnie Atkins. I think they did a great melodic rock album!     

Your anniversary show at the 2014 edition of the Bang Your Head festival, which was immortalized as the “Magic Moments” DVD, started with a reunion of Steeler. How did this reunion happen? Was it easy to track all the guys and re-establish connection, or were you in touch with them all this time? Did the magic come back easily during rehearsals, or did you have a difficult time re-learning the old songs?

I asked the guys in Steeler one year before the show and I immediately got a YES  from all of ém. With a few of the Steeler guys I still was in contact all over the years. We rehearsed 2 times before the show and it felt very natural… it was like we played the last show 2 or 3 years ago and not like 25 years ago.

Was this reunion a one-off event, or are there any chances of Steeler doing more shows in the future? And have you considered finally re-releasing the first two Steeler albums which are highly sought-after collector’s items these days?

It just was a one-off show and it was clear for everybody before. It´s very difficult when it comes to a re-release of the first two Steeler albums. The rights of the material for both albums have been split among a few people. So at first we have to get those people under one roof to talk about it and then it would come to the next step…  because nobody likes the sound of that old material and it definitely has to be remixed and that would cost money. In the end nobody will be sure if this whole thing would be worth the effort.    

My listening experience shows that artists/bands can be divided in two categories – some experiment a lot, and each of their records is a surprise for their fans, while others follow and develop their style, and their new music can be recognized after hearing just a few notes. What do you think of such tendency? In your case, was your leaning towards the second category a conscious choice or more like following your heart?

Of course I follow my heart all the time. The music, which I write comes straight from my heart and soul. We definitely found our own style and I will never change that, because then I would be untrue to my fans and untrue to myself too. There a lot of other famous bands who are also never changing their style, AC/DC, Motörhead (R.I.P. Lemmy), just to name a few and their success proves that they´re right.

Whenever you make an album with your band, you only have the current line-up playing. Apart from the anniversary DVD, there are never any “special guests”. Is this a matter of principle for you to do everything on your own? Or do you want to avoid any outside influences on your creative process?

The answer is very simple… we are a strong and stable band and I don´t see any reason for having guest musicians, because we still can play anything that we want by ourselves… Hahahaaa..

Speaking about special guests – your singer Johnny Gioeli is working on a solo record which he intends to release this year. Will you be involved in this album in any way? Have you heard any of his solo music?

No, I haven´t heard anything so far and I guess I will not be involved because I´m too expensive…. Muahahahaaa…

Your keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg also released a new solo album last year, for which he recorded the sound of your car’s engine. Can you share with us any details of that ”recording session”?

Ferdy was very fascinated by my car´s sound, because I have a special exhaust system done by the company “Capristo”… it is way louder than the regular system, so he decided to have that sound on his solo album. Unfortunately I couldn´t play a “solo” with it… Hahahahaaaa…..

As a very popular guitarist you must be receiving offers to join other bands from time to time. Were there any offers that sounded really interesting and tempting to you? And have you ever considered putting together your own supergroup of any kind (if yes, who would you like to have in it)?

There were no really interesting offers from any band which would have forced me to think about it. I never would give up my own band or solo thing for any other band or project. I don´t need to put up my own supergroup, because I already HAVE my own supergroup… hahahaaa….

There was a somewhat weird story a few years ago about your planned show in Moscow, which was to take place in a very unusual venue and which was cancelled due to some “terrorist threat”. Have you received any other proposals to come to Russia after that? In general, what are the chances of finally seeing you in my country for the first time after so many years?

The story was a bit different. A couple of years ago we were offered to play 1 or 2 shows in Moscow in a small club, so we made all arrangements, got our visas and remarks in our passports and the flights were booked. Five days before the shows, the Russian promoter cancelled our shows, because he thought that we need to play bigger venues and that the booked venues were too small for us and so we stayed home. On that day when our flight would have taken place, there was that terrorist bomb attempt at a Moscow airport at the same time and in the same building where we would have been if we had taken that flight. A lot of innocent people died unfortunately and we were shocked. We felt very sad for the victims and their families but that cancelled shows saved our lives. We just received another offer from a different Russian promoter to play a big festival in July 2016, but that turned out to be very weird and most likely to be a fake, because we never received any answers to our questions back from that promoter. We still hope to play in your country someday… let´s wait and see what the future will bring !   

Axel Rudi Pell on the Internet: http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de

Special thanks to Maxim Bylkin (Soyuz Music) for arranging this interview

DeeKay
February 10, 2016
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