{"id":2614,"date":"2010-06-26T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2010-06-26T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=2614"},"modified":"2011-04-17T17:19:15","modified_gmt":"2011-04-17T21:19:15","slug":"blowin-wind-w-axel-rudi-pell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=2614","title":{"rendered":"Blowin’ Wind w\/ Axel Rudi Pell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Axel Rudi Pell<\/strong><\/a> is legendary Metal guitarist with a career as long as it is obscure. \u00a0 Obscure in the USA that is.\u00a0 While he may not be a household name here in the States, Axel Rudi Pell has released 4 albums with the legendary prog metal band Steeler and an astounding 13 albums under his own name.\u00a0 He has worked with Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force\/Journey) as his lead vocalist and since the late 90’s has been working with former Hardline vocalist Johnny Gioeli.\u00a0 I recently got turned onto Axel’s music and have been both moved and intrigued by this man’s catalog of amazing music.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to get to speak with Axel via telephone from Germany where we talked about the songwriting process, his relationship with the late great Ronnie James Dio and all in between.<\/p>\n

It was a real honor to get to speak with Axel.\u00a0 Not only is he a really funny guy, he is extremely gracious and modest which made it a really easy conversation to have with him.\u00a0 Axel and his band are currently supporting his latest album “The Crest” (PURCHASE IT HERE!<\/strong><\/a>) so it was really cool that he took the time to do this interview.\u00a0 I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will and I also hope you will check out the videos in this interview.\u00a0 If you like what you hear.\u00a0 Pick up some of his stuff as you will not be disappointed.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Axel, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me.\u00a0 It is a real honor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you. It\u2019s my pleasure.<\/p>\n

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Axel, I literally just heard your album \u201cThe Crest\u201d and it was the first time I had ever heard you.\u00a0 It was so exciting to hear something so fantastic and I was completely blown away.\u00a0 How does it feel to know that someone like me can discover you for the first time and find your material so exciting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s great because there a lot of potential outside followers.\u00a0 There are a lot of people all over the world who don\u2019t know my name or don\u2019t know my music so I think that it\u2019s great that someone would introduce my music to you and you like it so I think that\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n

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Johnny Gioeli has to be one of the greatest unsung Metal singers I\u2019ve heard in a long time.\u00a0 How did you team up with him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always was a big admirer of his voice from when the first Hardline record came out.\u00a0 I thought to myself if ever I need a new singer I have to contact Johnny.\u00a0 I felt that he would be the perfect singer for my kind of music.\u00a0 When Jeff Scott Soto left my band I was in search of a new singer and I tried to get a hold of Johnny but he wasn\u2019t so easy.\u00a0 Somebody had told me that he just quit music.\u00a0 I went to the internet forum of the Hardline fan page and somebody had posted to the forum that they bought some music stuff from Johnny and that he was a nice guy.\u00a0 I emailed this guy and said I would like to get in contact with Johnny because I am in search for a new singer.\u00a0 He told my email to Johnny and he replied and I said \u201cI need you for my project.”\u00a0 He said \u201cI just quit the music business\u201d and I think it took me some weeks or several months until he finally said yes I\u2019ll do it.\u00a0 He\u2019s been in my band since 1998!<\/p>\n

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In addition to Johnny, you have also worked with Jeff Scott Soto is yet another amazing vocalist.\u00a0 Are there any vocalists that you would like to collaborate with in the future that you haven’t yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Johnny is a very nice guy, very easy to work with and he is the perfect voice for my kind of music. I don\u2019t need any other singer. \u00a0 Once he said to me, \u201cAxel, I will work with you until we\u2019re old and gray\u201d and now I am very old and grey so. <laughs><\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Axel, you\u2019re best years are ahead of you my friend.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got a long way to go! Keep going!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<laughs> Hopefully yeah!<\/p>\n

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Who are some of your personal favorite vocalists metal or otherwise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Definitely Ronnie James Dio who recently passed away a few weeks ago.\u00a0 Paul Rogers.\u00a0 I love Bruce Dickinson, the singer of Iron Maiden.\u00a0 I love a lot of guys.\u00a0 John Lawton who used to be in Uriah Heep some 20 years ago or 30 years ago. \u00a0 Glen Hughes.\u00a0 Lot of other guys.<\/p>\n

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Speaking of Dio, how did his passing affect you and were you guys close?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I knew Ronnie for a long time and he was always a very nice and sweet guy. \u00a0 He made me feel like I was part of the family.\u00a0 When I heard of his passing I was quite shocked and I am still shocked because I heard some stories that he was getting better with his health.\u00a0 Heaven & Hell had booked shows for this summer so I thought that was cool then sadly he passed away.\u00a0 I was really shocked because he was a very good person and he was a friend of mine.<\/p>\n

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I think we were all just crushed with how quickly his health took a turn for the worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had a very good relationship.\u00a0 We were the special guests on last year\u2019s Heaven & Hell tour in Germany and we played with them together.\u00a0 We had a lot of conversations with Ronnie after the show and we drank beer together and it was very cool.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Crest\u201d has such a classic Heavy Metal sound and is a great album from start to finish.\u00a0 There are so many elements of great, classic Metal bands.\u00a0 Who would you say are your biggest influences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I grew up and I started listening to this kind of music it was definitely Deep Purple and later I discovered Richie Blackmore\u2019s band Rainbow when the first record came out.\u00a0 UFO with Michael Schenker.\u00a0 Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep.\u00a0 All those great classic 70\u2019s kind of bands.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to forget Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio.\u00a0 Their first album \u201cHeaven and Hell\u201d had such a huge impact on my writing.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t forget The Scorpions. <laughs><\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t forget your fellow homeboys!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<laughs>Yes, that\u2019s right! \u00a0 Once I told Klaus Meine the singer \u201cYou know what? If there hadn\u2019t been a Scorpions we would definitely sound different right now!\u201d and he said \u201cReally?\u201d and just laughed!<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

One of the things I love so much about “The Crest” is your modest and melodic approach.\u00a0 You really tear it up but you don’t jump out there and just dominate with lots of shredding.\u00a0 The song “Noblesse Oblige” is a good example of your subtle yet beautifully melodic approach.\u00a0 Do you have any plans to release an instrumental album in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think so. \u00a0 I can write some small pieces of music or even a bit longer pieces but I think if I put them all together on one record it could be too boring. \u00a0 I don\u2019t like instrumental albums at all.\u00a0 Every now and then I like an instrumental but a complete CD of instrumentals would just be too boring.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Artists such as yourself seem to have quite a following in Europe but go sadly overlooked here in the US.\u00a0 Why do you think that is the case?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am always talking to Johnny about it because Johnny lives in the USA and I asked him he thought of us doing a short tour in the us.\u00a0 He said to me \u201cAxel, it doesn\u2019t make sense because if we\u2019re lucky we would get 80 or 90 people to show playing in clubs and it wouldn\u2019t make sense to do it.\u201d Maybe at some point we would try to go on a tour maybe as a support band for a bigger band in the states.\u00a0 Maybe that would make more sense.<\/p>\n

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There seems to be a 2nd Coming of sorts of that classic Metal sound here in the US with bands such as White Wizard Holy Grail.\u00a0 Do you think the world will see the classic metal sound reign supreme once again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s really hard to say yes or no.\u00a0 Definitely more in Europe but I\u2019m not sure about the States.<\/p>\n

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Heavy Metal music has evolved and changed quite a bit from the Classic Metal days to the modern nu-metal of down tuned 7 string guitars.\u00a0 What is your opinion on the current state of Heavy Metal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, as long as the song has melody then its ok. A good melody and good structure.\u00a0 When I hear a song on the radio or in other places like the club or a pub and I hear a down tuned new band as long as the melody is ok, I\u2019m ok.\u00a0 I\u2019m fine with that.\u00a0 Most that stuff I hate to be honest.<laughs><\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

I know we were just talking about touring so what are your touring plans this summer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We just finished the first leg of \u201cThe Crest\u201d tour in Europe 5 or 6 weeks ago.\u00a0 The next plans are that we are doing two festival shows in the summer and we\u2019ll be doing the 2nd leg of \u201cThe Crest\u201d tour around October of this year.\u00a0 The plans for next year are to play most European festivals who would like to have us play.<laughs><\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

What artists are you listening to these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Um, recently I don\u2019t listen to anything to be honest.\u00a0 I\u2019m recently listening to old stuff. I just recently bought the expanded editions of all the first Black Sabbath albums with Ronnie James Dio as the vocalist.\u00a0 I got that and I have to listen to them but I didn\u2019t have the time for it unfortunately.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

If you could put a dream band together of any famous musicians (alive or dead), who would be in it and what would they play?\u00a0 You have to be in the band as well!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the singer would be Ronnie James Dio.\u00a0 I would be on the guitar and sometimes Richie Blackmore on the 2nd guitar.\u00a0 Maybe we can hide this guy behind the amplifiers. <laughs>\u00a0 On the drums, Deep Purple\u2019s Ian Paice.\u00a0 On the keyboards, Mr. Jon Lord (of Deep Purple) and on the bass Gary Thain the bass player for Uriah Heap.<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

That would be one hell of a band.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny because I recently interviewed the band Taddy Porter from Oklahoma and when I asked their singer this question he also said that his keyboard player would have to be Jon Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<laughs> This guy is right!<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

With Johnny in the states and you overseas, how does the songwriting process work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I write everything on my own.\u00a0 When a guitar or a vocal melody comes to mind I record it on a little tape machine. When I have enough ideas I sit down and work on the arrangements to make real songs out of it.\u00a0 I always write the melody lines by myself, the rhythm guitars and I do a little keyboard experimenting in my home studio and when the song is completely done I start to write the lyrics.\u00a0 Johnny sings everything over in the states.\u00a0 We talk to each other via Skype. \u00a0 I put everything up on the server and tell him to listen to it.\u00a0 When he\u2019s done with a song he sends me an MP3 of it on the server and the next day we get on Skype and we go over the song.\u00a0 This is how it works.<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

Technology is so amazing in how it\u2019s made things like this totally possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Definitely.\u00a0 I think some 15 years ago it was really impossible.\u00a0 We were using analog tapes and the band had to be in the studio so we could record everybody.\u00a0 The new technology really adds a lot.<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

This has to be very exciting to see technology really working for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely.<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

Axel, it’s been an honor to talk with you!\u00a0 Thanks so much for wasting your valuable time doing this.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My pleasure Don. Thank you!<\/p>\n

=============================================<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been great talking to you and I wish you nothing but great success.\u00a0 I hope that someday we can see you here in the States!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you very much Don!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Axel Rudi Pell is legendary Metal guitarist with a career as long as it is obscure. \u00a0 Obscure in the USA that is.\u00a0 While he may not be a household name here in the States, Axel Rudi Pell has released 4 albums with the legendary prog metal band Steeler and an astounding 13 albums under his own name.\u00a0 He has worked with Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force\/Journey) as his lead vocalist and since the late 90’s has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[479],"class_list":["post-2614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-axel-rudi-pell"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}