Talking SENSE with ACCEPT
Pictured: (L) Too Mean To Die Album Cover, (R) Martin Motnik, Uwe Lulis , Wolf Hoffmann, Mark Tornillo, Herman Frank + Christopher Williams
5 Minutes Alone with WOLF HOFFMANN
Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media
Purveyors of balls-out, hard-hitting old school metal, Germany’s ACCEPT have been flying the flag for over four decades. When they started in the 70s, the term “heavy metal” didn’t even exist, but their style would go on to influence countless giants of the genre (including some band called METALLICA). On the eve of the release of album number sixteen, Too Mean to Die, axeman Wolf Hoffman spoke to SENSE from deep in the heart of Tennessee to talk influences, his upbringing, and … mosh pit breastfeeding?
Pictured: Herman Frank, Wolf Hoffmann, Mark Tornillo, Uwe Lulis, Christopher Williams + Martin Motnik - ACCEPT
Photo Courtesy of Nulcear Blast
42 years is a long time to be doing anything. Why do you think you have endured so long with this band? What is it about ACCEPT’s music that resonates with people?
Yeah, I don’t know man. I thought it was dead at some point. In the late 90s, I thought the journey was over, to be honest. I thought we had seen some good times, and it was time to move on – the good times were over, and nobody would want to hear this. But then, it came back in Europe, surprisingly strong, with all these festivals. Over there, it kind of never went away. Actually, worldwide, it seems to almost be picking up again, especially in places like South America … I’m pleasantly surprised by how much people still love this kind of stuff. Why that is, I don’t know … When you think about what other music is out there – hip-hop and techno – it’s all quite computer-driven stuff, or technical music. Heavy metal, by comparison, is quite solid and hand-made, and maybe that attracts a certain amount of people. I don’t know. It feels like real music.
What was it like transitioning from the 80s to the 90s? Did you have record label people trying to pressure you into changing your sound?
Sure. I mean, you felt it everywhere, because the traditional metal had sort of run its course. To a certain degree, I have to blame all the hair bands for that. It started in the 70s and 80s with real bands, like BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST, and all these bands took it to a certain level, but then came along the CINDERELLAs and the BON JOVIs of the world, and all of a sudden it was all about these pretty boys with ridiculous hair and all that kind of stuff, and it was all about MTV movies. Everybody looked prettier than life, and I think it lost a bit of that original realness. It was sort of fake. That’s maybe why a band like GUNS N’ ROSES all of a sudden were so successful, because they were real again – they had a certain street vibe to them, which certainly got lost there for a few years. If you think about all the mega-successful bands of the late 80s, they were all pretty hyped-up video bands.
I finally read The Dirt, the MÖTLEY CRÜE bio, and hearing stories about these really macho, heterosexual guys getting into street fights while wearing high heels and make up … I was born in 1985, so I can’t wrap my head around that! [Laughs]
Yeah, they were strange times, sure. [Laughs]
Was there much of that in Germany?
No, that was more of an L.A. scene, I think. I mean, we all had our spandex phase, and we all had our ridiculous outfits there for a while, but I think in general the really crazy stuff happened in the States. The Europeans were a little bit tame in comparison – a little more real, and leather, and manly, not quite so girly.
At this stage, after this many years, what, or who, influences your playing?
Nobody that much anymore, to be honest. Since I found my style, I know what I’m going for. I mean, you hear all these great guitar players, but they don’t necessarily make you change your style dramatically. I mean, I’ve always been a huge Uli Roth fan, and Richie Blackmore influenced my style early on quite a bit, but this was early in the 70s and 80s, in your formative years, so to say, and that kind of stays with you for the rest of your life. I would say, in the last twenty, thirty years, I haven’t even been listening to much mainstream [music], not even too much metal. I listen to a lot of classical stuff, because that’s what I like, but I don’t really listen to much other metal or rock music for inspiration. I don’t feel like I’m influenced much anymore by other people. The greatest guy lately who’s out there who I think is phenomenal is Joe Bonamassa – he’s a really amazing player, he’s phenomenal in my mind. Of course, he’s not a metal shredder who would really have much influence on what I do, but he’s certainly a genius.
We were talking before about the German scene in the 80s and whatnot. What do you think set German rock and metal apart from its American and British counterparts?
Well, when we got started, there weren’t really any heavy bands. Germany was full of what was called krautrock bands; KRAFTWERK … a bunch of [others] that weren’t even really well-known. It was progressive, pretty hippy rock … it certainly wasn’t straight-up rock ‘n’ roll. We were definitely, I think, one of the first heavy metal bands out of Germany. There was always the SCORPIONS – they were like the leader of the pack, because they were the first international band to come out of Germany, but they were more radio-friendly rock as opposed to metal. There was a bunch of bands that came later, and a very solid heavy metal scene was developing there in Germany, and it’s still out there – it’s still very strong – and I think it’s more characterised and more influenced by British rock than necessarily by American rock … All the bands that we listened to growing up were coming out of the U.K., like DEEP PURPLE first and foremost, bands like URIAH HEEP, SWEET and SLADE, STATUS QUO … There was a bunch of them, and they were mostly out of the U.K.
ACCEPT’s music went on to influence a lot of my musical upbringing. I’m a child of PANTERA and SLAYER, all of these bands who all name-check ACCEPT. Who was that for you?
There were several bands that influenced me and ACCEPT a lot. The three main ones are probably DEEP PURPLE, AC/DC and JUDAS PRIEST … As a teenager growing up, I listened to more varied stuff than you would think. I listened to a lot of JETHRO TULL, WISHBONE ASH, even bands like STEELY DAN or, of course, QUEEN … Even bands like YES and GENESIS – more prog rock – they were really quite big in those early years, and they didn’t really influence me that much, but I still listened to them … I enjoyed listening to that stuff. Generally, it was a time when people would listen to more variety, because it was a wider field of music out there, before things settled into their genres a bit more. Of course, there were bands on the other extreme like BLACK SABBATH and HUMBLE PIE and all that kind of stuff was out there.
After four decades of doing this kind of music, how can you still hear anything?
WHAT? [Laughs] I don’t know man. I think it’s genetics a lot, because … here’s my theory, and I know this because some of my fellow musicians who have been on the same stages with the same volume with me, [they] suffered the same shows, and their hearing was worse than mine, and we’ve been exposed to the same noise. An audiologist once told me that too – he said that a lot of it is genetics, and how fast the ears can recover from it. I have to say, it was brutal in the late 70s/early 80s. The volumes on stage were just disgustingly loud. Sooner or later, we got smarter about it and turned things down, and it’s just loud out front and not so loud onstage anymore. There are some bands out there who never changed anything. AC/DC are still brutally, brutally loud onstage. I don’t know what the point of it is, or why anyone would do that, but I think once you’re set in your ways, you don’t ever want to change. But we certainly changed.
I’ve heard stories of just how loud MOTÖRHEAD used to be…
There were a couple of bands who were just ridiculously loud onstage. I don’t know what the point is, to be honest, because it gets really hard to play, and it gets even harder to play well. When it’s so loud like that, you just drown yourself in your own noise. I don’t know how they do it. I find it much easier to control things when they are at a moderate level and an enjoyable level, because it’s easier for me to lock into the groove and get into it. Nowadays can you play with in-ear monitors and you can turn it up or down as much as you want – you can blast your ears off if you want, or you can play at a moderate level. I find it a lot better to play that way now – I think it makes for a better show, and it makes for a better performance.
Who were some of your favourite bands to play gigs with?
JUDAS PRIEST, for instance. Occasionally we play festival shows with them, and we did a tour very early on in our career, and they’ve always been a huge influence on us. I also enjoyed in the 80s, we played a lot with IRON MAIDEN, that was fun. We opened up for both of those. Nowadays we play mostly headlining shows when we do our own tours, and we have various bands opening up for us. We had GRAND MAGUS on tour with us a few years back – I really enjoyed those guys, they were great. We played with SABATON, they were nice, they were fun.
I feel like ACCEPT is one of those ubiquitous logos from battle vests at European festivals. What have been some of your most memorable encounters with ACCEPT fans?
[Laughs] You wouldn’t believe what some people do. I’ve seen tattoos … There are guys out there who have the Metal Heart tattooed on their arm. They have logos, and some people who have photos reproduced as tattoos on their bodies, like me and my guitar on their [full] chest and things like that. I’m like, “Woah, man, you’ve got to be pretty damn dedicated to do that sort of thing.” Whatever. You just take it with a grain of salt and think, like, “Alright man, if that’s your game, why not?” I’m honoured, but I wouldn’t do that! [Laughs] Oh, and a memorable moment was not too long ago, at one of the last shows, we saw a lady breastfeeding her baby right in front of the stage, in the pit … The baby had earphones on, and I think the mother did too, but I’ve never seen anybody breastfeeding during a heavy metal concert. That was a first! We got a good chuckle out of that.
Too Mean to Die is out January 29th on Nuclear Blast.
