Staying The Course: An Interview with Stefan Kaufmann

Guitarist/Producer

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U.D.O. are a relentless band. Nearly every year they’ve been active – there was a hiatus between 1991 and 1996 – since singer Udo Dirkschneider left legendary German outfit Accept his band have either been recording and releasing a new album, or touring heavily behind the last one; sometimes both.

In the last ten years alone they’ve released six studio albums, three live albums, a 20th anniversary compilation and five EPs. Each new album was supported with a world tour and as many festival appearances as possible. Throughout the band’s lifetime the only near-constant besides Dirkschneider himself has been Stefan Kaufmann, previously Udo’s bandmate in Accept on drums. Kaufmann has produced or co-produced every U.D.O. album since 1990′s Faceless World, and since 1996, when the band reconvened following Udo’s second departure from the Accept fold, he has been the band’s guitarist, playing on all nine albums in that time.

The longevity they’ve achieved is not lost on Kaufmann, nor is its importance; “The music we’re doing is the music we all love! We’ve never really asked ourselves what we might have to do to keep going. We simply create this music from the heart, and maybe we are still very lucky to be able to do it? Of course, we try to record this music as well as possible, with all the newest technical possibilities available! I produce the band, so I’m always very aware of how we’re sounding from record to record. But I’m very sure that without us “older” bands this kind of heavy metal would be lost… so, we better stay around a little while longer!”

And when discussing the newest U.D.O. record Rev-Raptor, his ninth with the band, he’s equally frank; “We try to give our best, of course! It’s really important, and no bad idea too, to always try to make the best sounding and best-written album you can each time. But there’s no real plan on any record I don’t think. We’ve never really done what you would call a concept album or a specially planned procedure and this album was no different. We collect all the best ideas, give them the appearance that we think they deserve, and then put them together the best way we can. Rev-Raptor is a little more energetically ‘loaded’ than some and a little bit more complicated regarding the arrangements and performances, but it’s still a very honest record. It’s about the strongest set of songs at the end of the day. Udo and I spend a lot of time working on the material before everyone else gets involved – Rev Raptor has 13 songs this time because they all demanded their place on the record, but there’s no great plan. I really like how each song stands up this time. There’s no obvious fillers, and that’s very important too!”

“ without us “older” bands this kind of heavy metal would be lost ”
- Stefan Kaufmann

But U.D.O. have been around long enough to be able to say things like that. Dirkschneider and Kaufmann had already carved out a section of the metal market with Accept, and were cheerfully able to continue that with U.D.O., but young bands now are constantly under pressure to pull off the same trick, and re-invent heavy metal and keep away from the classic styles for fear of plagiarism accusations. Stefan thinks they should ignore such outside influences; “Every band should make its own mind up on its own music and not try to copy other bands or embrace particular styles. If music doesn’t come from the heart, it’s not really true… it’s fake! It’s the normal way of life: bands come and go and so does their music. There is no new album from say, Bill Haley, or Yes, or Sweet. They live on in what they created and in influencing lots of musicians all around the world, and I don’t think any band should feel the pressure to do anything! Being influenced by musicians is a good thing… trying to copy them is not!”

U.D.O. know who they are, and know that what they are is the reason their fans stay with them. They are very in touch with their fanbase and what their fans want from the band. Every time they tour they try to make sure they put together a setlist which will give the fans what they want; “I’m quite sure that our fans would be pretty disappointed if U.D.O. wouldn’t play Balls To The Wall, Metal Heart or Princess Of The Dawn. These songs are so closely connected with Udo’s voice, that it’s a must for us to play them! And we still enjoy playing them, too! I think, together with all the native U.D.O. songs, they make for a great set list. We play for our fans most importantly! That’s the key thing. And we play for the majority of them certainly. Before each tour, we have a questionnaire on our homepage. Which songs are the ‘most wanted’ for the live set? And, you know, the results are normally very close to the set list that we have in our minds already. On every tour, we try to put some little “surprises” in, and if the audience likes them, we keep them. If not, we throw them out again!”

The band remain frustrated by their ill-fated attempts to play shows in the UK though; “I still don’t understand that? We get so many emails and people writing in our ‘guest book’ asking if we can please come and play in the UK. But the British promoters seem to have their own opinion about that. The offers we get from there are simply not true! We would have to pay money to play there, and, simply, we cannot do that! It’s incredibly frustrating, because I know that there are enough fans in the UK, that would love to see an U.D.O. concert, but the offer has to be realistic! I know we’re hoping to come there again later this year, so, hopefully, this time, it can happen! Sadly, it’s normally a question of money. There are certain costs that have to be covered. And in countries like the US or the UK, this seems to be impossible, at least for us.”

But they, and many other bands, including those from the US, don’t seem to have that problem in Germany, where tours are often longer, and bands who can’t afford to cross the water to the UK still get booked for shows all year round. Germany seems to be the most receptive country in the World to heavy metal, while other countries only seem to be able to support the biggest bands. “It is accepted!” explains Stefan. “There is no more of the bad after-taste regarding heavy metal music. It’s established! And, over a wide variety of people as well. There are the classic fans that are maybe between forty and fifty years old and, as well, the young kids, to whom heavy metal is new. It’s great to see how many different generations attend an U.D.O. concert, for example. If somebody “normal” asked me twenty years ago, what kind of music I like, and my answer was “heavy metal”, I was somebody strange to them (to say the least). Nowadays, this answer is as normal as can be!”

Elsewhere in Europe many bands only get to visit if they are invited to be part of the bill of a major Summer festival, but in an entertainment industry where making money is paramount, many of the biggest events of the year focus almost exclusively on booking “cool”, trendy bands-of-the-moment, and U.D.O.’s reputation as a classic metal band might be precluding them from being invited to certain stages. But Stefan thinks that’s a good thing for them; “I’m proud of this reputation actually! We have more than enough festivals where we can play our genuine, classic heavy metal! We’re not trying to pretend. We are what we are, and those “cool” festivals simply try to be special by being different. Not good! I’m happy that we are not invited!”

On the other side of the commercial coin the digital music landscape continues to develop into an illegal downloads crisis seeing bands and labels struggling to producing proper versions of their products at affordable prices. Stefan thinks it’s the industry’s fault for being too slow to react; “I don’t think enough is being done! To the music industry in total, it has been harmful. But it’s their own fault. They woke up way too late. The technology is wonderful, but let’s face it, if more and more people get music for free illegally, there will be no more music sooner or later. It’s a question of education. Stealing music is the same as stealing something out of a shop or somebody’s home!”

“ We’re not trying to pretend. We are what we are ”
- Stefan Kaufmann

But counteracting the current trends, he doesn’t feel like it’s as much of a problem for metal as it is for more commercially successful genres like pop and R&B; “It’s not really a problem for the heavy metal scene … our sales go up year on year, but the pop music scene has suffered a lot. Now that the damage is done, they’re slowly waking up and putting up online services that satisfy the demand, but it’s way too slow!”

Part of this could be that the metal community is a very traditional fanbase who still like physical albums, artwork, collector’s items and even vinyl records. After the dance music genres, where budding DJs like to use vinyl records for mixing, metal fans are probably the biggest consumers of LP editions of albums. “it’s great to hold one of those “physical versions” in your hands. The whole, BIG thing; big artwork, lots of information, I love it. But of course there are not millions of them being sold today, and, as with every product, the less you produce, the more expensive it gets!”

U.D.O. are also one of the last remaining exponents of the EP, producing one as a precursor to every album, and their fans still go for it. “I think that market is still there! The EPs are mainly a decision of our record company, to be honest… They think that a little “appetizer” ahead of the main release of the album is important… It’s not really a question of sales and economics, but more a promotional thing. Udo always says that it’s very difficult to choose the track because sometimes you’re giving a song away that could go on the record, but if it’s done properly, it’s fine.”

2012 brings about U.D.O.’s 25th anniversary as a band, which could bring all kinds of collector’s releases for the fans, or some special shows, but for the time being the band are too focused on Rev-Raptor to have made any plans for that. “Right now, we are just getting over our South American tour which went through Argentina and Brazil, but after that we’re gonna play the summer festivals, and then, from September to December, tour Europe with the album. Only THEN will we think about some ‘anniversary specials’ for 2012, I think.”

Written by Andy Lye
More: Interviews, U.D.O.