ACCEPT Guitarist Talks About Upcoming Tour With ULI JON ROTH, MICHAEL SCHENKER

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann recently spoke to www.metalzone.gr about his upcoming shows in Europe (and possibly America) as part of a G3-style tour with Uli Roth and Michael Schenker, his new solo project (classical music with metal guitars) and his memories of the recent ACCEPT reunion trek. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metalzone: Since you're all fired up [from the recent ACCEPT] tour, you've got many plans. Do you want to tell me about them?

Wolf Hoffmann: "Now I don't wanna stop anymore and all these things sort of come my way. One of my big passions in life has been classical music. And I always dreamed about it and have done it in the past, to combine classical music with metal guitar. I've done it on a few occasions on ACCEPT songs by using some samples. Maybe a little solo part, but a few years back, I made a full record with it, it's called 'Classical', just a solo project Wolf Hoffmann, 'Classical', and it's just a studio recording that I did in my own studio as a labor of love, without really having any plans. But now, that's what I want to bring on the road and the orchestration behind it. That's what I've been working on for the last few months and hopefully some time late next year early 2007 I will get it out there on the road. It's a long-term project."

Metalzone: How are you planning on performing this new project?

Wolf Hoffmann: "All I have at this point is some sort of a vision, there's going to be a lot of visuals, it's going to be a sort of a multimedia show. In a typical classical show you don't really have any light show you don't have a PA. This is what I want. I want the production values of regular metal show and I want the beauty of the classical show and combine the two in a metal."

Metalzone: A metal opera?

Wolf Hoffmann: "Yup, but only instrumental. There's not going to be any singing on it. So I don't know there's lots of things that need to be worked out and that's why it's going to take a little while for all the things to be worked out. This is what I am scheming on. This is my big project for next year and the year after. But there's other plans too."

Metalzone: Like?

Wolf Hoffmann: "Like, in the immediate future I am going to be a guest guitar player with Sebastian Bach, the guy from SKID ROW, [I'm] gonna play a show with him at the end of the month (November),here at the States and maybe do some more shows after that, if it all goes well, we'll see. Another plan we have for next year is that I am going to go on the road as part of a German G3 tour, it's not going to be called G3 but it's sort of the same thing."

Metalzone: It's not going to be recorded and released?

Wolf Hoffmann: "Not sure if they're going to record it. At this point we're only talking live shows, going to be with Michael Schenker and Uli Roth. That would be an absolute honor if I could be a part of that tour. And I hope the whole tour is coming together really nicely and the interest hopefully is going to go off the grounds. It all looks that way, that should be next spring around March, starting in March."

Metalzone: 2006?

Wolf Hoffmann: "Yes, pretty soon rehearsals will have to start for that and we're putting together a touring band. Part of the deal there is that we're all trying to share the same band and that's where it gets a little complicated."

Metalzone: 'Cause everybody has his own.

Wolf Hoffmann: "Yeah, of course, everybody wants their own people and I am just pleased to be with those guys."

Metalzone: It's their honor too having you on board.

Wolf Hoffmann: "Thank you so much, but Uli Roth, I was hugely influenced by him and Michael Schenker is also one of the best guitar players out there and it would be awesome if we could pull it off. I am really looking forward to it."

Metalzone: Where is the tour going to go?

Wolf Hoffmann: "All around Europe and hopefully America too. There's interest from everywhere. We're putting it together right now so I am not sure it's going to be just Germany."

Read the entire interview at www.metalzone.gr. Download an MP3 audio file containing the interview at this location.