Blowin’ Wind with Axel Rudi Pell: “In 1971 I saw Richie Blackmore smashing his guitar and I said, ‘I want to be like him someday.’”

For anyone that knows me and is a reader of this blog, they know that I am huge fan of German guitar god Axel Rudi Pell. While Axel Rudi Pell might not be a name that you are familiar with, he is someone you should get to know if you truly love classic guitar driven heavy metal. I recently had the opportunity to once again talk with Axel from his home in Germany. We talked about his 15th release Circle of the Oath which comes out this year. We also talked about everything from what made him want to be a musician to his experience sharing the stage with one of his heroes, Uli Jon Roth. It was really fun catching up with Axel and I hope you all enjoy this one as well.

Axel, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to me today.

Absolutely Don. It’s my pleasure to talk to you so thank you for taking your time.

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It’s great to talk to you again. It’s been a while. The last time we talked was when The Crest was about to be released.

Yes it sure has. That’s right.

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The Crest did really well and the ARP band had quite a nice run of festivals and what not in Europe.

Yes. We played all over Europe. It wasn’t a huge extensive tour but it was OK for our little band [laughs]. We did a lot of shows and they were all great fun.

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I did see a lot of footage from those shows and it made me jealous. I really wish you guys would play here!

[laughs] Oh I know. We would love to tour the states but like we talked about last time, it would cost us some big money to tour in the US and it just wouldn’t be worth it to go over there and play to 20 people or so.

Are there any plans to maybe release another live DVD or something?

We’re not sure at the moment. Maybe we’ll put one out for the next tour or the year after. I’m sure there will be another one sometime in the future though.

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Well I guess if I really want to see you guys live I’ll just come to you. Can I say at your place?

Yeah of course! I’ll give you part of my work room to stay in [laughs].

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Axel, let’s talk about the new album Circle of the Oath. I absolutely love that album. I feel like it picks up where The Crest left off and it has that formula that you’ve pretty much perfected. How do you feel that it compares to your previous works?

Thank you very much Don. It is definitely that same style. I feel like we really found that ARP style a few years ago. The difference is probably that some songs on this record are influenced by Led Zeppelin who are another group of heroes from my past. The title track is heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin. We’ve never had this kind of feeling on any of the other songs from the old records. The lyrical content is also a bit different on this one. The songs aren’t just about dragons, kings and castles and that’s a big difference [laughs].

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I can totally hear that Zeppelin influence especially in the title track with that acoustic intro. It’s a cool nod to Zeppelin.

Thank you. It probably happened because during the songwriting process I was listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin.

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One of the things I love about ARP albums is that the artwork is always amazing. Who does the artwork for your albums?

The last three albums (Circle of the Oath, The Ballads IV and The Crest) have featured the same artist. It’s a very famous guy from Great Britain named Martin McKenna who also writes horror novels.

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The artwork always seems to tie in with the album’s title and content. Who comes up with the art concept?

I come up with the ideas for the art myself. I always say what I want on the cover and Martin does exactly what I have in mind and that’s great. It’s really great to work with him. In the past I’ve had a couple of different artists who were all quite good doing the artwork for my albums and they’ve all done a great job.

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For Circle of the Oath, was any of the material written while touring for The Crest?

Oh no I can’t do that [laughs]. I cannot write on the road because I am so distracted while touring. There is no quietness on the road. I can’t pick up the guitar and think about creating a new song. Even when I’m at home I’m not sitting around trying to write a song. I collect little snippets of ideas while doing other things. While I’m at the grocery store I will record a melody on my cell phone or something and people will look at me like I’m crazy but I don’t give a shit [laughs]. I may pick up my guitar if I have a cool riff idea and record it on the cell phone. After a while of doing this I will just sit down and put all these little snippets together to create new songs.

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You mentioned the last time we talked that Johnny (Gioeli; singer) lives here in the States and when you guys are working on an album, he records his vocals here and sends them to you via Internet to use in the studio. How do you make such amazing chemistry happen when you guys aren’t even recording in the same room?

It’s really not a big problem. We communicate a lot via Skype on the Internet and we talk a lot about what each song needs to sound like. We’ve also been together for such a long time now. I know what he is able to sing and he knows how to sing my ideas so it’s just perfect. You don’t have to be in the same room to make that happen.

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The ARP Band is about to embark on a tour behind Circle of the Oath. With 15 albums under your belt, how the hell do you make a setlist for a tour? It must be nearly impossible.

[laughs] I’ll tell you. It gets harder and harder to do with each record. We have so many songs and the people always say “Why don’t you play more songs from the new record?” You can’t play the whole new record because if you do people will ask why you didn’t play all the classics laughs]. It’s a tough decision every time. I’ve actually been talking to Johnny a lot about creating a good setlist. We know we want to play four of five tracks from the new album but I don’t know if it’ll happen. We have so many ARP classics that we have to play. We could never do a show with doing “Casbah.” The people love to sing along with the chorus. Other songs like “Strong As A Rock” and “Fool Fool” have to be a part of the set otherwise people will say, “Oh you didn’t play those songs. I won’t see you the next time!” [laughs] You can’t make everyone 100% happy.

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Over the past few years it seems to be common for metal bands to perform a full album live. Have you ever thought of doing this?

To be honest I would never consider doing that. I think it’s too boring and the people would be missing the other tracks. I’m always trying to find the right combination of old and new songs to perform. I would never do an album in it’s entirety because I think it would be too boring for the audience and they would always be screaming, “They didn’t play this song or that song” and then they might not show up the next time. I wouldn’t do that.

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I definitely have my favorite ARP songs but someone like me who doesn’t get to see you guys live, what are the songs that the fans go absolutely nuts to hear you perform?

“Casbah” is definitely a big one. Sometimes we do it as part of medley but the people really love singing along to the chorus of that song. Sometimes the crowd will even start singing it before we play and then we know that we really have to play it [laughs].


Do you have a particular favorite song to play live?

I don’t have a particular favorite song but I’m very excited to play the title track from the new album live. I just don’t know how I’m going to do it because if features so many different guitars playing at the same time. I don’t know how I’m going to do it live yet. Maybe I can grow two more arms or something [laughs].

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I’ve seen clips of you performing to some pretty huge audiences. What feeling do you get right before you step onto a stage to perform?

I used to have big stage fright in the early days but that has gone now. I still get excited and a little bit nervous right before I go on. I need to rest before a show to be honest. Sometimes I rest for two or three hours before a show, then jump in the shower and then just hang out in the backstage area about 30 minutes before show time. I talk to other guys and we do some fun things like telling jokes and then we go on stage. Definitely the excitement is there.

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Do you like that nervousness and excitement that you get before going on stage?

Absolutely. If that nervousness and excitement is gone you will be boring on stage and then it just becomes like a 9 to 5 day job. Those feelings are there and I think it makes me play better. That nervousness goes away by the middle of the first song or after the first song when I see the reaction of the audience.

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Axel, I play guitar so if you want to fly me in for the tour I’d be more than happy to do the acoustic parts for you.

[laughs] Ok! That would be great. Unfortunately I can’t fit any other guitar player on the stage but myself so sorry [laughs]. Unless it’s with one of my heroes.

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Have you had the chance to share a stage with any of your heroes?

I did a show with Uli Jon Roth about a year and a half ago in Germany. He invited me to perform at a special Jimi Hendrix tribute show. He asked me if I would like to play with him and I said, “Uli, you’re the best Hendrix player. What should I do?” He said he wanted to do a couple of Deep Purple numbers so we did “Mistreated” and “Black Night”. We just jammed it. Those 2 songs took 40 minutes on stage [laughs]. It was a great experience for me.

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How did it feel to share a stage with one of your biggest heroes?

I was really excited. I didn’t play really loose because I wasn’t playing my own gig. When I play live if I want to stretch the solo, I can do that and I have fun doing that. It’s a strange atmosphere but a great atmosphere and I learned so many things in playing with Uli for 40 minutes. Things I would have never done before on that particular track that he’s doing.

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You’ve been the sole guitar player in ARP since it’s inception. Have you ever thought about working with a 2nd guitar player?

I’ve never thought about doing this with another guitar player. I used to play with another guitar player when I was in Steeler and it got a bit crazy. I’m a big fan of this classic hard rock line up like Deep Purple in the 70’s where you have one keyboard player and one guitar player and that’s enough for me. You don’t need two guitar players. I think it wouldn’t be enough if I was the only guitar player and no keyboard. That wouldn’t work for me.

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In 2011, we saw you release the fourth installment of The Ballads series with The Ballads IV. It had some really cool covers on it. It was really cool to see you cover some non-metal songs by artists like Phil Collins and U2. Are you a fan of these bands?

To be honest I’m not really a fan of those artists but I’m a fan of those particular songs. I’m more song oriented. When I hear a song that has a great melody, it might not be my style but I may feel that I can take it in a different hard rocking direction and cover it.

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What about listening to music in general? Do you like listening to any other music that isn’t hard rock or metal?

Of course. As long as the song is good. When I turn on the radio there’s a lot of shit going on there and I’ll say, “What a bunch of shit.” [laughs] Sometimes I may hear a song that is a really cool song that is by a band outside of the hard rock and metal world. As long as I like the song it’s great. I’m not really fixed on the genre of music that I play.

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Axel, let’s go back in time a bit. At what point did you know that you wanted to be a musician?

When I first watched Deep Purple perform on TV back in 1971. I saw Richie Blackmore smashing his guitar and I said, “I want to be like him someday.” That was the first thing that actually hit me and made me say, “Wow. This is cool.”

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Hopefully you haven’t smashed a lot of guitars since then?

Oh no. Just a couple but not any more. I’m getting too old to be acting like a kid on stage [laughs].

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What was the first band you were ever in?

Oh wow. I was in a band called The Silverstones and that was in 1974. It was a kind of Youth Club band. We rehearsed down in the basement of the youth club. That was my first band. I was 14 years old. We didn’t do any recordings or anything.

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If they were to make a movie about Axel Rudi Pell, who do you think would play you?

Ooo, that’s a good one. Probably Mickey Rourke [laughs].

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If you’re weren’t a musician what do you think you’d be doing?

Oh my. I don’t know. Probably a Formula 1 Race Car Driver but I think I’m a little too fat for that [laughs].

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In your opinion, what is the pinnacle hard rock/heavy metal album that everyone should own?

For a live album I would say Made In Japan by Deep Purple and for a studio album I would have to say Rainbow Rising by Rainbow.

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Do you enjoy reading and if so what books have you been reading lately?

I have so many books but I don’t have the time read them unfortunately. I have Life by Keith Richards. I will take it on the road with me and read it there. I also have the Rudolf Schenker’s (Scorpions guitarist) book. I am really into reading autobiographies. I’m not into reading fiction books or anything like that.

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That’s all I read myself. I have some read some really amazing ones. When are you gonna write yours?

[laughs] Probably when I’m close to the end and when I’m not actively doing music anymore. That way I can tell the truth about anyone. I would probably be shot afterwards so that book probably won’t see the light of day while I’m alive [laughs].

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So what is in store for ARP from here on out?

We will do the first leg of the Circle of the Oath tour in Europe in April and May and then we will do a few big summer festivals and then we will do a 2nd leg of the tour in the Fall. We will maybe even do a 3rd leg at the beginning of next year but I’m not sure about that yet.

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Axel, thank you so much. It sure has been great catching up with you again my friend and I wish you nothing but success with the new album and tour.

Thank you so much Don. It’s been my pleasure. Take care.

For more on Axel Rudi Pell, check out http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de

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