UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER: WOLF HOFFMANN Can Continue ACCEPT With A New Singer

Marko Syrjälä of Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with ACCEPT/U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Metal-Rules.com: How about the ACCEPT tour? How it went overall in your opinion?

Udo: "ACCEPT, I mean this is a thing. I was on a way to Helsinki to Stockholm on a ferry when I got a phone call saying, 'We heard that you are not doing anything with U.D.O. on next year. Maybe there is a change to do some festivals as ACCEPT?' I said 'Maybe.' I wasn't too happy about that idea in the first place and I didn't want them to believe that I was screaming to do that. So I had to talk with record company, I had to talk to the U.D.O. and the guys in the band who were really nervous in the beginning because they think that I was going to leave U.D.O. and stuff like that. I think that most important thing for us to do after successful 'Thunderball' tour was to record a new U.D.O. album. So I talked to record company and the guys and said that we can use the whole ACCEPT thing for promoting next U.D.O. album. Personally it was difficult decision for me to do that whole ACCEPT thing and reason I said yes for the whole thing was that I wanted to find out if there was anything left. But I think, for me, I can just say it by me not by Wolf or Peter, but for me I can say that there is nothing left. It was lot of fun and I think it was also fun for the people to see ACCEPT again because we did very good shows. But there is no future and I'm not talking about personal level because now we are talking each other more than we did before."

Metal-Rules.com: Did you have any discussions about possible new recordings with ACCEPT while you were on tour?

Udo: "No, no at all. [laughs] Of course we had some drinks together and we were talking about the business and stuff but Wolf maybe find out, I think he find out that if I say we should do it again he would say yes but in the beginning he said, 'No, I don't wanna do it.' But I think that after doing all these shows he was really thinking about doing something more with ACCEPT. The thing is that if he really wanted do something like that, why he never came up during all the shows and say, 'Hey, Udo, I got some new songs, do you wanna hear them?' or something like that. There was nothing. Music-wise he was maybe thinking something and I was like, this is very hard to explain but I felt inside of me, 'Don't do it, don't do it!!' I think that this was a perfect way finish ACCEPT."

Metal-Rules.com: So you are saying that this was definitely the last time we saw ACCEPT on stage?

Udo: "Maybe not the last time because there might be a live DVD coming from that tour. [Laughs.] It will include the whole reunion thing and stuff but then that's it!"

Metal-Rules.com: Have you heard some of those statements what Wolf said about you during the tour?

Udo: "I don't know. I think he did lot of very boring interviews about the things we just discussed. When I read them I was wondering what was coming up from his mind. I mean when he started doing interviews he said, 'I have no problem to do ACCEPT but Udo doesn't want to do it. There will be no real reunion because of Udo.' Still it wasn't too long time ago when he said 'No, ACCEPT I don't wanna do it because I hate that business. I don't wanna be in music business anymore.'"

Metal-Rules.com: And now he's even did show with SEBASTIAN BACH and he has plans to tour in his own in next year?

Udo: "Yeah, I know about that. I think this is some kind fear of him, you know. I mean, he knew that I was working with U.D.O. and we had a new album coming out and he know what I was thinking all the time. From my side there wasn't any reunion at any point and he knew that right from the beginning and now he's changing the story."

Metal-Rules.com: So he's the one who decided to change his mind?

Udo: "Exactly, he changed his mind. If he wants to, he can still do ACCEPT but with a different singer. [Laughs.]"

Read the entire interview at Metal-Rules.com.