Udo Dirkschneider of U.D.O

In These Pandemic Survival Days with Udo Dirkschneider of U.D.O.

Interview by Ken Morton Udo Dirkschneider live full page photo by Jack Lue While the year of 2020 saw a lot of pandemonium and hardly any live shows, in the midst of it all, the almighty U.D.O. would perform an absolutely epic concert at an opulent amphitheater in Bulgaria. The show has been documented on Live in Bulgaria 2020 – Pandemic Survival Show - now available on DVD and CD via AFM Records. Playing the very best of the U.D.O. songs along with a few Accept classics, this is an event that will be remembered long after the dark reign of Covid-19 concludes. Highwire Daze recently had the honor to interview the legendary Udo Dirkschneider to find out more about the one-off show in Bulgaria, a recent album U.D.O. did with the Music Corp Concert Band that resulted in the reunion of two other Accept members, a bit of news on an upcoming U.D.O. studio endeavor, and other raging topics... So, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, how does a live show in Bulgaria come about? We had this offer last year in July to the show in Bulgaria. Don’t ask me why they wound up asking us. I know we are quite popular in Bulgaria. So, we had the offer from the government and our promoter in Bulgaria. The thing last year from July on to September, everything was possible – there was not a big lockdown – there was no problem to fly – restaurants were open – bars were open – and you could go on holiday – everything was okay. Not the full thing but beginning stuff blah blah blah. So then why said “Yeah, why not? If everything is possible, then we can do that.” But then we said “Yeah? A show? Hmmm.” And then they came up with the contact and we said “Yeah, okay no problem.” So, they came up with a location – and then when we saw the location – this old Roman amphitheater – and we were like “Wow! Is this show really happening?” I mean, we want to record it and also do a DVD of it. So, we prepared of everything, but then we were thinking let’s see if it really happens. Everyday it was changing – lockdowns and they were closing restaurants, they cancelled flights and all that stuff. And then was it possible to get together as a band – we are not living together in one country – one guy was from Russia, one guy was from Romania, I live in Spain, and two people are living in Germany. So, then we said “Okay, we want to be prepared – so we meet each other in Germany to start rehearsing.” And also, we said okay, nobody knows when we can come together again, so we were already doing the photo session for the upcoming U.D.O. album this year. And yeah, we did the rehearsing – and then in the end it was happening that we were flying to Bulgaria. For us it was like Wow! The only show in 2020 – but we didn’t expect that much people were coming. And then when we came to Bulgaria, everyone was well prepared – the hotels, wearing masks and everything was fine. And then they said the only thing we cannot do – there will be no people

in front of the stage. They’re just sitting. And for us, we’re okay we will see how that feeling is. Then we went to the place, and we didn’t expect that 2,500 people were coming – it was like Wow!

It was quite an evening! It was a very emotional evening – a really, really different atmosphere than what we normally have in concert. The people were really excited to see a live show and for us it was the only show we could do this year – and of course you put everything in there. It was a fantastic evening. And I think that the whole atmosphere – and you could hear it on the CD but if you see the DVD, you’ll see the whole atmosphere when we were together with the people. I think this show will remain in our heads for a long, long time. I think it was something very special. And I noticed you had some Accept songs in the set… Oh yeah, especially for this concert, the promoter was asking us “Oh please, can you play some Accept songs? Some classic stuff?” And I said, “Yeah.” Normally I don’t play any Accept stuff with U.D.O. but I said “Come on, we’ll do that. It’s the only show. So, what.” And the reaction was fantastic! But compare U.D.O. with Accept – in a way the music is the same that I did with Accept. But of course, it’s not the same – my voice is on top – that’s what most of the people say anyway. I did Accept songs for a long time, and I did three years as Dirkschneider where I just played Accept songs. Of course, the people want to hear this and they want to hear the original voice. The Dirkschneider thing we did for three year and it was really successful, but it was also not planned to do it for three years. It was just planned for a couple of shows, but it really was exploding. For me, it was a lot of time to play those songs. But on the other hand, I have 16 albums out (as U.D.O.) and the 17th is coming out this year after the summer. I think for me, I have more albums out (with U.D.O.) than I did with Accept. It’s also when I have to make the setlist for touring, it’s like a nightmare. But in America, everything was already confirmed to do the tour in 2020, but with the pandemic we have to move it hopefully in 2022 but I think I think that works. But the promoter, coming back to the Accept songs, they said “We heard you don’t play any Accept songs, but in America you cannot do the show without Balls To Wall, you know?” And I said, “Yeah, I know.” But I said “If we do the tour, I don’t have a problem to play Balls To The Wall, Metal Heart, Princess, whatever.” Maybe three or four songs. It’s not the end of the world for me. In the end, it’s like give the people what they want. And they definitely want to hear those songs, so why not? Your son Sven has been in the band for a while now. What has it been like working with your son on these later U.D.O. albums and especially on this live one? Yeah, I mean with my son, what can I say? He’s now in the band for five years and I think he’s doing a great job, you know? He’s getting better and better and he’s really hard rehearsing and everything. And with the new album, he was involved with some writing. I do some vocal stuff with him – he’s come up with some melodies. We do the lyrics together. I’m really proud of him. He’s really into that and really pushing everything and that’s a good thing. In the beginning when he joined the band, the band members were like “the son of UDO is joining to the band. It can be different. We have to be careful what we are saying.” And I said “No, come on guys. He is a band member of the band. If I have to say something, then I just do it between him and me – and not in front of the band.” Now everything worked and I’m really proud of him. He’s doing a really, really good job.” Another album you released last year was We Are One with the Music Corps Concert Band. What was that experience like recording that particular album? Yes, I did already two shows with the orchestra, but we did some songs that already exist like Metal Heart and Princess and all that stuff and U.D.O. songs. And then the idea came up why are we not doing an album together and writing new songs for it. Then we said, yeah, okay we can try that. And then the whole thing took nearly one year to get all the ideas and then start working together with the orchestra. It was very interesting to see how they wanted to change things and they were like “Can we change things?” And I was like, “Yeah. Hello. We are working together.” And the result of this album – I’m really, really happy with it. It’s a shame that we couldn’t play the show in Wacken last year. But what can we do? Nothing! You also released a stand alone single with the orchestra called Where The Angels Fly. Tell me a little about that single and the inspiration behind it. Also, on the We Are One album, Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes were involved. Peter was really funny. I didn’t see Peter for nearly 15 years. And then I came into the studio with Stefan Kaufmann - he said you have to come to the studio and do some demo stuff for some

songs. I said yeah okay. And the I came to the studio and Peter Baltes was there. And I said, “Hello, what you are doing here?” He said, “Yeah, you know. I’m working some stuff. I have some projects going on in America. I do some songs together with Stefan…” Of course, you can imagine we were talking about a lot of thing. And then he said “Yeah, I was listening to some stuff for the orchestra. Very, very interesting. If you don’t mind, I have some ideas – if you like.” And I was like “Peter, go ahead. Every good idea is welcomed!” And that was the story of working withStefan Kaufmann and Peter again for this album. And the song Where The Angels Fly was left from the whole session. And this was something that was for people that was helping like doctors and hospital staff and so on and on and on. Then we did a video and we put out the single and the reaction was very good. So why not. I recently talked with one of your former U.D.O. bands mates Andy Susemihl who was on the album Mean Machine – who recently released a solo album called Alienation. Andy told me in the interview that one of the tours that you did was with Guns ‘N Roses back in the day. What was that experience like touring with Guns ‘N Roses when they were so young? Yeah, that was very interesting for us. We did the tour just when they were nearly to explode. Yeah, that was really like rock and roll, let’s say. Almost every night we were going out to a rock club and did some jam sessions together with Slash and the bass player. That was really like a good friendship. And that was really a nice tour – I remember that very well. And it was also interesting to do this with U.D.O. It’s really good remembering on that tour.

Now tell me a little bit about the new studio album coming up later on this year and can you reveal the title yet? Noooooooo, not really at the moment. (Much laughter) But let’s say there will be a lot of songs on this album. If you get the limited edition, there will be 16 songs on this album. I mean of course we have time enough to do a lot of stuff. Let’s say this album, there will be a lot of different things on there – also a little bit left with what we were learning from the orchestra album. There will be some interesting arrangements and stuff like that. Yeah, you will hear that – but I don’t want to talk too much about this.

Do you have any messages for your fans in the States who are reading this right now? Hopefully, we can make it next year – come to the States and doing a tour. There were already a lot of shows confirmed. So yeah, I’ll cross my fingers. In the meanwhile, stay heavy and stay healthy. www.udo-online.de

The Third Classic Album From One Of The World’s Great Blues/Rock Guitarists...

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To My Family, Friends & Fans thank you for all your support xxx

Peter (Hoff) & Pete (Nayls) thank you for realising my passion & dreams.

My Brothers from TASTE, Ken & Michael, could not have done this without you guys.

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4.46 4.46

Who Are You Who Are You

3.34 3.34

All By Myself All By Myself

5.49 5.49

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4.42 4.42

Tide Rolls In Tide Rolls In

7.03 7.03

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The Unbreakable Escape The Fate

Interview by Ken Morton Craig Mabbitt photo by Jack Lue Escape The Fate has been on the forefront of the post hardcore movement since their inception in 2004, presenting their very own brand of inspiring anthemic rock. Chemical Warfare is their seventh album to date, jam-packed with memorable tunes displaying the true sounds of perseverance. Selections such as Unbreakable, Not My Fault, and Lightning Strikes should be all over the worldwide radio airwaves and are destined to become ETF fan favorites. Highwire Daze recently interviewed lead vocalist Craig Mabbitt to discuss the making of Chemical Warfare during the pandemic, collaborations with Travis Barker and Lindsey Stirling, his new Twitch Channel, and a whole lot more!

Let’s talk about the new album Chemical Warfare. Is there any overall story or concept behind that album title? The overall arch of the entire album when we went into the studio was kind of like our “make it or break it” sort of album. Like we were all getting torn in different directions. We all had just been through so much and had gotten through it. We all found ourselves back with John Feldman working on another album, and it’s just one of those things where you can get in your own head and feel the negativity – but when you stop and sit down and think about it, you count your blessing instead of thinking about what you don’t have. And that’s kind of like what we started doing. We were like “Dude! We’re still here. We’re still able to tour – I mean not now because there’s Covid. We’re still able to get into the studio and make an album.” And it’s just like this sense of gratitude that overcame all of us. We all worked on some demos and sent some demos in – and when we all got into the studio on the first day, it was “Scratch all the demos and let’s start fresh.” And the very first song that we wrote that first day ended up being Invincible – which is the track that is currently going to radio – and we got Lindsey Stirling to feature on the song. It just kind of embodied how we were feeling – the lyrical content of that song. So, it really kicked it off in a positive direction. How did Lindsey Stirling become involved with that track? So, Robert is a big Lindsey Stirling fan and got us into her. And we had hit up her people during our I Am Human album to see if she wanted to get down on a track. She was into it, but the planets just weren’t getting aligned and there wasn’t enough time. She was on tour – we were on tour – and we just couldn’t make it happen. And then when we started to work on Chemical Warfare, we had the thought again. And like I said earlier, Covid happened, so nobody could go on the road – and we had to go back to the studio to wrap up the album after we finished the tour we were doing which was The Drug In Me Is Gold Tour. And that tour ended – our last show was March 4th on that tour – and that’s pretty much when the entire world started shutting down. So, we went back to finish the album and decided to reach out, and she was like “Yeah, I’m into it. I got nothing going on right now. Let’s get it!” And she came down to the studio and smashed on the track – so