In the metal world, there are few individuals as long-lasting and hard-working as Udo Dirkschneider.  After fronting Accept for more than ten years, he began his solo career under the name U.D.O. and has continued it to this day, with only a minor interruption in the 90s for the Accept reunion.  The latest release is 2009’s Dominator, a colleciton of solid, heavy tunes that manage to fuse classic and modern metal quite nicely.

One of the key ingredients to U.D.O.’s success has been the additon of former Accept bandmate Stefan Kaufmann, who joined in 1996 on guitar and has taken on all the band’s production duties as well.  Since I chatted with Udo himself last time around (well, I guess it was back circa Holy, in 2000), I wanted to get Stefan’s take on things this time...

Starting with the new record, did you approach the writing and recording any differently for Dominator than previous albums?
Basically, there is no big difference. The digital recording process gives you more possibilities and more flexibility, but the basic songwriting and recording work has been very similar. The best album is always the newest album, because you hope, that you didn’t do the mistakes of the past. In the end, I’m proud of every album we’ve made. They represent the state of mind we were in at that time. Dominator to me has a greater variety of songs and a much more modern sound compared to previous albums. We tried to connect the classical heavy metal music with up to date arrangements – and I think it came out great!

Is there any specific song on the Dominator that really stands out for you, either lyrically or from a musical standpoint?
As all the songs on new albums are our “babies”, we love them all. At least so shortly after an album has been finished. Maybe in a year or so, after touring with the album, we might have some favourites. Right now I can listen to the album and say: “Yeah, they’re all great songs – well done!”

The video for “Black and White” is certainly one of the most original clips I’ve seen in a while.  How did you guys come up with that concept?
Actually we didn’t come up with the concept for the video. It was our management together with the art director of our video company. The song “Black And White” drew already a lot of attention by our business partners when it was still in the production phase. So it was clear, that this song will be the clip. Some different concepts were going back and forth, and in the end we all together choose the concept, that you’ve seen.

When I interviewed Udo back circa the Holy album, he was very emphatic about not spending money on videos at that point.  What has changed since then, is it just cheaper to actually shoot them nowadays?
It’s not only a question of money. True, to shoot a decent clip today is less cost intensive than it was some years ago. But what is much more important is, that today there are enough platforms around where music videos are played. In former times you only had the big TV stations like MTV or so, and those stations wouldn’t play heavy metal videos at all. Nowadays there are a lot of private music stations, internet stations and so on. So, for us it makes sense again to produce video clips, because they have a chance to be played.

What is the process like as far as writing and arranging songs for U.D.O.?
We always start with a brainstorming concerning titles, hooklines, lyrics and other text fragments. After this process we have about thirty to forty text frameworks we start to work with. The whole band is writing constantly, so when we go into production, there are a lot of ideas to choose from. This time for example we wrote about 25 songs, recorded about 20 of them and in the end, 13 or so made it on the album and the single.

You’ve been producing U.D.O. albums for almost 20 years now.  Is it ever difficult being both the producer and a member of the band, playing that dual-role?
Not really. I was always involved in the producing process even when I was still in Accept. Not officially, but I was always there when it came to recording the vocals, backing vocals or little other things. I have also been very interested in the technical aspects of recording in album, so over the years I had a lot of good teachers. The first album I did as a producer was the Faceless World album of U.D.O., and from that time on I did more and more productions. So, when Udo asked me to join U.D.O. in 1996, it was just natural that I produced the Solid album. Up to now, most of the people seem to be quite happy with my work, and to me there is no problem with playing guitar and producing the albums at the same time.

U.D.O. seems to have an incredible work ethic, as you guys seem to always be doing shows or releasing a new album.  What keeps you guys driven after all these years?
The fun in what we are doing. We love our music, love touring and love playing for our fans worldwide. It’s as easy as that.

Have you had a chance to do production for any other bands in recent years?
I produced some other bands in the past, but I don’t have so much time besides U.D.O.  I get quite a lot of requests, but very often I can not do it because of timing reasons. I just had to cancel a production for a Swedish band, because their deadline is the 15th of February 2010. But we are on tour in that period of time so it didn’t work out.

Going back a little in time, I never got the full story on the health issues that led to you giving up drums.  What exactly happened?  Was it difficult to make the switch from drums to guitar?
Back in 1992 – in the middle of the recording process of Accept’s Death Row album – my doctor told me, that I had a serious spinal disc problem. If I would have carried on playing the drums the danger of becoming paraplegic was a pretty dark prospect. So I bought some bottles of booze and told everybody in the band that I had to quit. So the demo tracks of my drums were the final tracks on the album. I kept on working on the album until it was finished and then I left the band. End of story. The switch from drums to guitar was pretty easy for me. Actually, the first instrument I learned was the accordion (at the age of about 3), the second the guitar (at the age of about 8) and only the third instrument was the drums (at the age of about 14). The reason for it was, that the local band I wanted to join was looking for a drummer – not a guitar player. So my parents bought a little drum kit for me (big mistake!!), and I joined a small local band as a drummer (two weeks later I had my first gig …). But I always wanted to be a guitar player. So, finally, with U.D.O., I found what I was always looking for!

Germany has remained a powerhouse of metal over the years.  What is your take on the current scene and are there any particular bands you like and/or are friends with?
I must admit that I am not very good informed about the German music scene in general. As you already realized, we are in a constant working process – producing albums and DVD’s, touring, playing festivals, etc. – and so we are always around somewhere. I’m quite sure that you are better informed about our music scene than I am ;-)

I’ve seen a few quotes from Udo about the current Accept reunion that is happening but I was wondering what your take on that is.
Wolf and Peter are very good musicians. So I think it’s great that they decided to make music again. I’m very sure that they will produce a good album with great songs. I’m looking forward for the release and I definitely will buy the CD.

How different is the writing and recording process with U.D.O. compared to the old days in Accept?
Well, there have been a lot of changes in the recording techniques and its possibilities. In former days you first had to write all the songs for an album, record the demos, then get together with the producer to do all the arrangements, record the arrangement versions of the songs and then do the final recording. Today it’s a constant workflow. Writing, composing, arranging and recording is one big process. There really are no separate phases like in the past anymore. That gives us much more possibilities, more flexibility, much more creativity and in the end a higher quality album.

U.D.O. has always done some cool, offbeat songs now and then, such as “Trainride in Russia” and “Devil’s Rendezvous” to name just a couple.  Is it important for you to incorporate some new elements like that into the band’s sound now and then?
Those kinds of songs always come naturally. We never sit down and say: “Hey, we need a song like this or that”. In most cases the lyrics dictate the kind of song. So, if there are lyrics like “Trainride In Russia”, “Cut Me Out” or “Devil’s Rendezvous”, the music grows nearly by its own. And yes, to me it’s important to record songs like this. They still match our style, but they are always outstanding.

Do you have any time outside of the band to pursue any hobbies other than music?
Of course. I couldn’t live without my hobbies. I have my six cats and I idolise them. I love to cook, I’m a heavy book reader, I’m shooting videos and photos and whenever there is time I’m building and flying my model airplanes. I never get bored!

What is next on the agenda for U.D.O. and is there any chance you might play in the USA on the upcoming tour?
We will start our European tour in early November 2009 and it will carry on until February 2010. Then there will be some touring in Russia, South America and the Far East. In the summer we will hit the festival season and then start working on the next album. I know that our booking agency is working on almost every country of the world, so hopefully we will have a chance to hit the U.S. in 2010.