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U: Yes, it’s obvious. It’s very good in Greece. There have passed two years from our previous show… so we’ll see what’s going on here in Greece again. Do you
think that Greece is the ideal place for UDO? U: It was always good here. We always have to try to see what’s going on for UDO here in Greece but so far we got very good reactions… and we are waiting for tonight’s show. Greece
will always be in your tour plans from now on? U: Well it’s not always up to us, you know. It depends on the promoters… if they wanna have us and there are always too many things that must go on right in order to say that we will come here again. The
audience here are thirsty for heavy music… are you gonna give it to
it? U: Yeah… I mean we are always ready for good heavy metal music. Is there
a chance to record a live show here in order to release it as a DVD in
the future? U: Maybe… you never know. At the moment we do not think about that. We will see about that when we will have new material from UDO… and I a two years period we will think about a new live album and we will see then what we are gonna do about it. Ok we
will wait then. Do you prefer to play in small clubs or in big
festivals? U: Well… in a way, I prefer the small clubs cause you are much closer to the fans. On the other hand it’s good to play in big festivals… many people are there and it’s like a party thing going on there. I prefer both of them. Do you
believe that the fans are interested in listening to classic heavy metal
music or they just prefer all the new stuff that radio and TV is playing
all the time… U: I don’t know… I mean the TV at the moment, especially in Germany is very bad. They are playing pop music all the time… and most of the people are buying pop music cause of the TV. On the other hand, we have a lot of young people now in concerts showing interesting. So, there is a new generation for this kind of music. So
don’t you consider Germany as the capital of heavy metal music in
Europe? U: Many new bands nowadays are coming from Germany so in a way you can say that Germany is the capital of heavy metal music in Europe. So, do
you think that heavy metal music will always be out of fashion? U: No, ever. I mean that I have been in this music so long that I have seen heavy metal music being popular, then it was down, then came up again and things like that. I think It depends on the periods. But as long as you have good songs this music, for me, will be staying on for the next 10-20 years. You also
have a new album out… Now that have passed two months of its release
what do you think of that? U: What can I say? The reactions for this album are very good and for me is one of the best albums that UDO have ever done. If I tell
you to rate your new album on a scale form 0 to 10? U: Well… definitely 10! Why the
earth is on fire in the artwork of your album? U: The whole world at the moment is a little bit dangerous... the world is one fire. The war that happened… hmm still happening in Iraq and the terrorism that’s going on… are really dangerous at the moment. This is in a way the meaning of the cover. Who had
the idea to write a Russian-like song? I mean “Trainride In
Russia”... U: That was definitely me. We start writing the lyrics at the beginning and the idea was to write something about ourselves and what it came out was a song that has a Russi-like atmosphere…. And certainly this is not a heavy metal song. We experiment and it was a risk to put this song in the album. So far it is doing it very well. Do you
think that the fans will like it? U:
Yes… we have played already many times, not only in Russia, but in
Germany as well and the people were singing along with us, and they like
it a lot. So, the
next step of UDO is to write a traditional Greek-like song? U: Yeah… (he laughs)… you never know (he laughs again). “Trainride In Russia” it’s nothing that we planned to do… it just came out as we were recording the album. And how
do you decide to put an atmospheric song in the album? (“Blind
Eyes”) It’s an excellent song in my opinion! U: It’s in a way a ballad… so ii the first time that we used a classic instrument a cell and the song has a very nice atmosphere… I like it a lot. “Animal
House” is still your classic album… Do you think that times have
changed since then a lot? U: Yeah many think of that. “Animal House” is a different album… like every UDO album is different from the other. It has a different atmosphere as every UDO album and I like it very much. Do you
think that times have changed a lot since late 80’s? U: Yes. In a way of change… a lot of things have changed since then. Too many bands are around (he laughs)… and also the whole business has changed. The record labels do not support new bands anymore like in the 80’s and the touring has completely changed. With UDO we know how the whole business is working. So, we are still successful, we still have fun as a band together…w e have the same line-up for almost five years and every is working out perfectly at the moment. Do you
think that “Thunderball” could have been easily the new Accept
album? U: You can say that. For me there’s no difference if you call it Accept or UDO. I mean the basic members of Accept are in UDO. Is there
a chance to see you again together? U: Accept new re-union? Yes… U: No. This is over. This was 8 years ago since we spit up and the whole spirit has gone. Peter is completely out of the music and the do no wanna do it anymore. We have a lot of offers to do a re-union for a lot of money but… money isn’t everything. I asked
you that cause many old bands are re-uniting in order to release a new
album and to give some live shows again… U: I don’t know how they do it… maybe for money… (he laughs). For me when I do music I do not think of money. Of course there is always the money thing…but let’s say we play again with Accept what will I do? I mean music was in a too different direction for me. So, this would be just for the money… you know. It’s easy to say let’s be together but we need to be a band again… and not a situation like… “Hello, how are you... let’s do an album again”... So. There
is no chance to see you again together? U: No definitely no. Ok
let’s change subject. How far do you think that you can go with UDO? U:
I do not know… I think we are already very far. We will see what’s
coming up in the future. Out next plans is to be on tour at 2006. For
the moment everything is working out very good so we will see how we
will continue doing this… for five more years, even ten… I do not
know. (he laughs). Which
songs do you consider as the hit songs of Accept and of UDO? U: Hit songs of Accept are absolutely “Balls To The Walls, “Princess Of The Dawn” and “Metal Heart”. And hit songs of UDO are surely “Animal House”, “Independence Day”, and “Man And Machine”.
Can
you tell us about your label? U:
At the moment I do nothing with my label. I’m so busy with UDO and I
cannot focus at the company at the same time. How
do you decided to start your own label? U: The idea of doing my own record company was due to I was really tired of record companies. So, the though was to do it just for UDO at the beginning. But then the idea of putting also other new bands was just good. I have to deal with that in the near future.
Some
weird Question to relax somehow…
Do you consider yourself as a rock star? U:
No… I try to be normal. I do not like rock stars behavior… I try to
be normal and that’s the best thing to do in this business. If
you were living in Middle Earth which character would you choose to be
and why? U:
The old guy… Gandlf? U:
Yeah… Gandlaf… (he laughs)… Imagine
that your wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy for
herself an expensive, ring. How would you react? U: Ahhh… that would be dangerous… (he laughs…). She would never do a thing like that…. Are you
sure? U: Yeah… (he laughs)… What
are the biggest life lessons you’ve learned over the course of your
career? U: If you wanna survive in this business, do not take drugs, do not do many parties and then you will survive. Just keep an eye on the music. I saw many people in the music industry after they became popular they started taking drugs, drinking a lot having parties all the time and after two or three years they fall apart. Which
album do you consider as the best that you have released and why? U:
This is always hard to say. Always they say the last one… it’s the
album that you have put everything in… but let’s say I still like
“Restless And Wild”, which I consider it as the best album of Accept
(interviewers note: Me too) and with UDO definitely the last one
“Thunderball”. Which
band do you believe that can take a leading part in the metal scene in
the future? U:
I do not. This is hard to say. So
there was an album that surprised you nicely? U:
I was surprised of the album of Jorn form Norway... the singer of
Masterplan… he is a very good singer. Which
are your three beloved Accept albums… U:
The first for me is “Restless and Wild”, the second is “Breaker”
and the third one is “Balls To The Walls”. If
you were forced to give one album that represents the whole metal
history to extraterrestrials... which album would it be and from which
band? U:
I would give them definitely “British Steel” from Judas Priest. I
like this album a lot. Ok…
I wish you the best for the live show and for your new album. The last
words of this interview belong to you. U: It’s so good to be back in Greece… I hope that the people will like the show (interviewers note: We absolutely did!!!) tonight... and hopefully we will back to Greece in two years. by Thanos Aggelakis |
Hi
UDO… Well that’s the second time that you play in Greece in a two
years period… Maybe you love Greek fans too much… huh?