WOLF HOFFMANN on Rock Overdose:”Fans should expect from ACCEPT what we also expect: ONLY THE BEST!”

Rock Overdose: Hello Mister Hoffmann and greetings to Accept and especially to you, from Greece and from all of us here at Rock Overdose.gr

 

First of all, I would like to congratulate the band and you, for your new release, “The Rise Of Chaos”. I hope that you enjoyed my review on your new album. Can you state any differences between the new and the previous three albums of the “new” gold Accept-era?

 

 

Wolf: Hi Savvas! Thank you for your review… loved it. To answer your question regarding the DIFFERENCES: every album has its own character and content. That guarantees a different vibe all together. We try to be current and relevant towards the times we live in, carried with looks at the past and into the future. And yet we try to always be better this time, compared to the last time, without changing much. We found our groove and we found our core and therefore we are in a place we want to be…

 

 

Rock Overdose: Is there a secret for still making so good and popular music, after all those years, or it is just for the fun of it?

 

 

Wolf: it is not a secret, as I said, it is that we found that we were looking for, where we are, what we are and where everything evolves naturally. We are just very lucky dudes to have fans around the globe, who love what we do as much as we do...

 

Rock Overdose: We were lucky to have watched on the Internet your recent performance in the last Wacken Open Air Festival, where you presented your new album and where for the first time in the band’s history, if I’m not mistaken, some songs were also performed alongside with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. What are your feelings in general about this performance in front of 85.000 people?

 

 

Wolf: Nervous, cared, mesmerized, overwhelmed, moved, amazed, slowly confident and then… very, very happy.

 

 

Rock Overdose: How satisfactory was this experience with the symphonic orchestra? Do you think that the orchestra was one with the band or you felt like that each of you played its part, without the two sides truly ever meet?

 

 

Wolf: Well… when you had the chance to see it, you saw that the Orchestra, the band and the audience have been melting into a sheer love fest. I was swept off my feet, when I recorded Headbangers Symphony with them in Prague and blown away in WACKEN. The CNS Orchestra is one of the most famous ones and Ennio Morricone’s beloved Orchestra and I know now why. We jelled from the get go. We worked for 1, 1/2 years on the Wacken Show and I have to say, this was the highlight of my life and I will never forget that Holger Huebner and Thomas Jensen, the GODS OF WACKEN, gave me this wonderful night to remember. We have had reactions from all over the world, like we never had and with about 60 musicians on stage, it was quite an adventure.

 

 

Rock Overdose: Are you thinking of repeating this “experiment” of an appearance with a symphony orchestra in the near future?

 

 

Wolf: Perhaps not the way we did it in WACKEN, but the reaction is very, very positive and many countries have invited me. I cannot really even grasp what happened and we are just beginning to promote and tour THE RISE OF CHAOS… Let’s talk about this after we finished our up coming world tour. It is very tempting, I have to admit that.

 

Rock Overdose: Are you aware if there was any particular reason for Herman Frank’s and Stefan Schwarzmann’ s departure from the band?

 

 

Wolf: When we got together in 2010, no one on this planet could foresee what would happen, if ACCEPT would be ACCEPTED again, if we would sell albums and tickets. The formula how ACCEPT is writing and performing has not changed since 40 years… no matter who is with us, that’s a given. And yet, not knowing how we would be received by the fans, it would have been very irresponsible to ask anybody to drop what they are doing and start an unknown future. We did not get together with a given success in mind at all, everybody was encouraged to go their own ways, continue their own career and play it by ear. Stefan Schwarzmann and Herman Frank have played in many, many bands all their lives. Herman is a great lead guitarist and needs to be his own man, and Stefan is a great drummer with his very own fans. When they got the chance to start their own band as PANZER, something they always died for doing, we encouraged them. That’s all that is to it!!! We wish them the best of luck and I am sure that Herman and Stefan are happy where they are now, as they should!

 

 

Rock Overdose: The new members Uwe Lulis and Christofer Williams seem to get along very well with the other members of the band and in the album and in the live performances of the band. What we the fans should expect from Accept in the near but also in the distant future?

 

 

Wolf: They should expect what we also expect: ONLY THE BEST! We just got started. A band is like a marriage, not everybody you marry is the right one for YOU. I am sure you can relate to this. If people do not really complement each other they do not need to be bad people… they just might have different dreams!!!!!! At this moment in time I believe we have found what we were looking for on stage, we are happy and full of energy and creativity! Live is a roller coaster ride: so far we start together as one and arrive together as one, no complains here! We have the best of times, the best ACCEPT, the best people working for us and I always believe, I have not written the best song of my life …yet!

 

 

Rock Overodse: Do you believe that through expressing social concerns and aspects in your song’s lyrics gives some interest to them and creates a kind of reflection to the listener or you simply use them by habit, like being a short of tradition for the band?

 

 

Wolf: Looking back to our very first experiment with expressing all kinds of aspect of human life - BALLS TO THE WALL was the opening for that. We tried to be lighter and heavier, brighter and darker with what we want to say, always in the here and now … including the past and the future. We get answers from our fans who reflect how important it is for them to get different perspectives and we are always moved when we hear, that some are with us most of their lives. It is very gratifying for us that we can make an impression on others, that we mean something, that we open doors or sooth their pain or enhance their happiness. THAT is the meaning of life for me.

 

 

Rock Overdose: Are you watching the metal scene in general or you just keep focusing on Accept’s music? Is really there any future for heavy metal music after almost 50 years of existence?

 

 

Wolf: I can not really say what the future of Old School Metal in general is. but what I can say with pride -for us it is a miracle, because we have the greatest success right here and NOW.

 

 

Rock Overdose: Should we wait Accept for a/some shows in Greece, or it is out of the question?

 

 

Wolf: Are you kiddin’ me? of course we come to GREECE. The European part is still in the making! it is always a routing problem, which country is seeing us when … But - rest assure - we will! And I am dreaming to have a concert right next to the ACROPOLIS one day with HEADBANGERS SYMPHONY...

 

 

Rock Overdose: I would like to thank you very much Mr. Hoffmann for this interview, hope to see you and speak with you soon. Is there anything more you would like to say to your Greek fans?

 

 

Wolf: Keep on Rocking and we need you! We cant wait to see you all again!

 

For Rock Overdose,
Savvas “Manilla Road” Savvaoglou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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