Peter Baltes - Accept
Not to many metal bands can claim longevity like Accept nor can they say they have had three singers like Accept and survive. With the release of Blood Of The Nations they have done more than survive, they have conquered another metal generation and reclaimed old fans with hordes of new ones as well. During their stop in Santa Ana I had the chance to sit with Peter Baltes and discuss the new record as well as their amazing resurrection.
An interview with Peter Baltes of Accept.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You have come out with a new singer before with bad results. What made you think it would work this time?
Peter Baltes: We found Mark by accident at a jam session and it was the sound of his vocals that immediately drew us in. We felt that it would really work because it sounded like Udo but with his own style and sound.
Metal Exiles: David Reece was not exactly the Accept type, how did he get into the picture anyway?
Peter: At the time there was pressure from the record company to be more mainstream and we auditioned so many singer that at the end you do not know who is who and he did sound great on tape. We thought it was going to work out and it just did not.
Metal Exiles: I know your fans are diehard, especially the German ones so when you set out to tour for the first time with Mark, were you expecting a backlash or were you confident?
Peter: We were pretty confident with the singer we had and the fact that Blood Of The Nations was coming out. It was so good that we knew that we were going to win people over with it so we just jumped into cold water and it worked out well.
Metal Exiles: With Blood of the Nations being released you are touring around the world, selling out everywhere you go but the last 20 years has been on again/off again with Accept. How did Accept find its way back after so long with instability?
Peter: In 2005 we did this festival with Udo and it went very well but Udo said he wanted to do his own stuff which was fine so Wolf and I went home and had nothing to do with music business at that point until 2009 when we found Mark. It was beneficial for us because when we wrote Blood Of The Nations there was so much build up of creativity we had a lot come out. Once Wolf and I were back in a room together we knew that it just never goes away.
Metal Exiles: The sound of this album is a straight forward anger based tone. What brought this album out of you guys?
Peter: It is probably the sound that Andy Sneap gave us. He just finished the Megadeth record and then came to do us. It was a combo of his sound and our riffs and we had no pressure, nobody was telling us what to do because we had no label at the time. We were just doing what the fans would want and what we wanted to do so maybe that's why it sounded so angry.
Metal Exiles: How did this album get off the ground so easily without writing together for so long and with a new singer.
Peter: That was Andy's credit because before we started Andy sat us down and said “lets go back and listen to the old Accept albums one by one and let me, from a fan's point of view, point out the things that I think are important that make you stand out”. We did that and it was an ordeal to go through all of the songs but we understood what he was talking about and we scrapped the few things we scrapped and started from scratch focusing on our strengths.
Metal Exiles: What was one of the main things that he pointed out that you brought into the new album?
Peter: It was our background vocals, the choruses, the guitar melodies and the riffs. The combo of that with the pounding drums and bass and that accurate Accept sound.
Metal Exiles: Whenever I spin one of the old records I do notice the technically precise sound you guys have.
Peter: We try to be precise and now with us playing live again we try to take it to places that it has never been and we are jamming on stage. It is unusual for a metal band to actually jam on stage and the audience is really taking to it.
Metal Exiles: I know you had a heavy hand in the writing, where were you coming from with writing?
Peter: Wolf and I concentrated on the riffs and we worked on the lyrics with Mark but most of those were Mark's. We had the track Pandemic which we were thinking about how it would sound screamed out so we just leave it to Mark to make sense of it.
Metal Exiles: I interviewed Mark and he said Pandemic is a metal disease. Is that whats spreading for Accept right now?
Peter: That is what we are thinking and hoping that would happen. We wanted to bring back some of that 80's metal back to this decade which we think is missing. A know a lot of young kids are discovering Accept because we see the comments on the Teutonic Terror video, we read it everyday. Hopefully we can make a difference.
Metal Exiles: Some of the songs like Bucket Full Of Hate and Shades of Death sound so dark, where did they come from?
Peter: Shades Of Death is a street in Marks neighborhood. Many things happened on that street so Mark perused that and Bucket Full Of Hate came from me. Sometimes you are in a situation because you feel you have a bucket full of hate and you cannot release it because you have to be civilized so you carry it around with you until you can find a different way to release it.
Metal Exiles: Teutonic Terror is indeed breaking out and making new fans left and right. What is it about that track that makes it stand out from the rest of the album?
Peter: For one thing possibly the title and also in the chorus with the line “Give Em The Axe”. Its also the the rhythm of the song, the machine gun riff that does not stop which keeps your attention.
Metal Exiles: Kill The Pain changes the tone of the album and I think it is the slowest song you guys have created. How did this song make the album when everything else is so aggressive?
Peter: Because we liked the melody, which Wolf wrote. At the time we had written the aggressive stuff and we thought this would give the record some nice color. It was an instrumental but we asked Mark to sing some stuff on it and when he did we thought that it was even better.
Metal Exiles: I know Andy produced this album but I know Accept is still your baby so how much were you involved in how it sounded and of course arranging it?
Peter: Like I said, Wolf and I wrote the album and arranged it, did the vocal melodies with Mark but had great assistance from Andy, who is a guitar player with a different perspective as a producer. Mark was new with us but we challenged him and pushed him as well.
Metal Exiles: You are a phenomenal bass player with an amazing sound, what were you playing with to make this record sound so great.
Peter: My rig was simple, I played a 1959 P Bass and plugged it right into the board.
Metal Exiles: That's it? A Lot of players try to overdo it with a huge rig. With so many bands calling it quits what keeps Accept going?
Peter: For one we are not running out of ideas but there is also the fact that Wolf and I have been friends since High School, the friendship here is deep. As long as the fans come and want to see us and we can put out albums that can stand the test of time then it makes sense to keep on going. If one day we cannot do it anymore and we put out a record that nobody wants to listen to then we will pack it in.
Metal Exiles: Whats next after this American tour?
Peter: We are going to South America then Europe for some dates. We are doing Sweden Rock with Judas Priest and the fans are going crazy that we are playing with them on the same day. We are playing some other festivals during the summer then we go home and relax. We will start writing right away and Andy does have studio time already booked so hopefully we will get started and have an album done by early next year.
Metal Exiles: To look back on Your career you have done some stuff outside of Accept. Looking back what was the best thing that you have done and why?
Peter: It is hard to say but the Don Dokken Record (Up From The Ashes) was probably the best because it was such a good record. It was first class musicianship, we did a great tour but it was just a project and for some reason it just did not work out. There is a difference between a real band and a project band. I would take a real Dokken record over what we did anytime.
Metal Exiles: Any final words for the fans?
Peter: We are honestly thrilled to be back and that people are coming to see us play. We are getting praise left and right and are happy that we can deliver it.
Accept are truly back and for the right proof buy Blood Of The Nations and see them live.
OFFICIAL ACCEPT SITE
BUY BLOOD OF THE NATIONS!!
An interview with Peter Baltes of Accept.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You have come out with a new singer before with bad results. What made you think it would work this time?
Peter Baltes: We found Mark by accident at a jam session and it was the sound of his vocals that immediately drew us in. We felt that it would really work because it sounded like Udo but with his own style and sound.
Metal Exiles: David Reece was not exactly the Accept type, how did he get into the picture anyway?
Peter: At the time there was pressure from the record company to be more mainstream and we auditioned so many singer that at the end you do not know who is who and he did sound great on tape. We thought it was going to work out and it just did not.
Metal Exiles: I know your fans are diehard, especially the German ones so when you set out to tour for the first time with Mark, were you expecting a backlash or were you confident?
Peter: We were pretty confident with the singer we had and the fact that Blood Of The Nations was coming out. It was so good that we knew that we were going to win people over with it so we just jumped into cold water and it worked out well.
Metal Exiles: With Blood of the Nations being released you are touring around the world, selling out everywhere you go but the last 20 years has been on again/off again with Accept. How did Accept find its way back after so long with instability?
Peter: In 2005 we did this festival with Udo and it went very well but Udo said he wanted to do his own stuff which was fine so Wolf and I went home and had nothing to do with music business at that point until 2009 when we found Mark. It was beneficial for us because when we wrote Blood Of The Nations there was so much build up of creativity we had a lot come out. Once Wolf and I were back in a room together we knew that it just never goes away.
Metal Exiles: The sound of this album is a straight forward anger based tone. What brought this album out of you guys?
Peter: It is probably the sound that Andy Sneap gave us. He just finished the Megadeth record and then came to do us. It was a combo of his sound and our riffs and we had no pressure, nobody was telling us what to do because we had no label at the time. We were just doing what the fans would want and what we wanted to do so maybe that's why it sounded so angry.
Metal Exiles: How did this album get off the ground so easily without writing together for so long and with a new singer.
Peter: That was Andy's credit because before we started Andy sat us down and said “lets go back and listen to the old Accept albums one by one and let me, from a fan's point of view, point out the things that I think are important that make you stand out”. We did that and it was an ordeal to go through all of the songs but we understood what he was talking about and we scrapped the few things we scrapped and started from scratch focusing on our strengths.
Metal Exiles: What was one of the main things that he pointed out that you brought into the new album?
Peter: It was our background vocals, the choruses, the guitar melodies and the riffs. The combo of that with the pounding drums and bass and that accurate Accept sound.
Metal Exiles: Whenever I spin one of the old records I do notice the technically precise sound you guys have.
Peter: We try to be precise and now with us playing live again we try to take it to places that it has never been and we are jamming on stage. It is unusual for a metal band to actually jam on stage and the audience is really taking to it.
Metal Exiles: I know you had a heavy hand in the writing, where were you coming from with writing?
Peter: Wolf and I concentrated on the riffs and we worked on the lyrics with Mark but most of those were Mark's. We had the track Pandemic which we were thinking about how it would sound screamed out so we just leave it to Mark to make sense of it.
Metal Exiles: I interviewed Mark and he said Pandemic is a metal disease. Is that whats spreading for Accept right now?
Peter: That is what we are thinking and hoping that would happen. We wanted to bring back some of that 80's metal back to this decade which we think is missing. A know a lot of young kids are discovering Accept because we see the comments on the Teutonic Terror video, we read it everyday. Hopefully we can make a difference.
Metal Exiles: Some of the songs like Bucket Full Of Hate and Shades of Death sound so dark, where did they come from?
Peter: Shades Of Death is a street in Marks neighborhood. Many things happened on that street so Mark perused that and Bucket Full Of Hate came from me. Sometimes you are in a situation because you feel you have a bucket full of hate and you cannot release it because you have to be civilized so you carry it around with you until you can find a different way to release it.
Metal Exiles: Teutonic Terror is indeed breaking out and making new fans left and right. What is it about that track that makes it stand out from the rest of the album?
Peter: For one thing possibly the title and also in the chorus with the line “Give Em The Axe”. Its also the the rhythm of the song, the machine gun riff that does not stop which keeps your attention.
Metal Exiles: Kill The Pain changes the tone of the album and I think it is the slowest song you guys have created. How did this song make the album when everything else is so aggressive?
Peter: Because we liked the melody, which Wolf wrote. At the time we had written the aggressive stuff and we thought this would give the record some nice color. It was an instrumental but we asked Mark to sing some stuff on it and when he did we thought that it was even better.
Metal Exiles: I know Andy produced this album but I know Accept is still your baby so how much were you involved in how it sounded and of course arranging it?
Peter: Like I said, Wolf and I wrote the album and arranged it, did the vocal melodies with Mark but had great assistance from Andy, who is a guitar player with a different perspective as a producer. Mark was new with us but we challenged him and pushed him as well.
Metal Exiles: You are a phenomenal bass player with an amazing sound, what were you playing with to make this record sound so great.
Peter: My rig was simple, I played a 1959 P Bass and plugged it right into the board.
Metal Exiles: That's it? A Lot of players try to overdo it with a huge rig. With so many bands calling it quits what keeps Accept going?
Peter: For one we are not running out of ideas but there is also the fact that Wolf and I have been friends since High School, the friendship here is deep. As long as the fans come and want to see us and we can put out albums that can stand the test of time then it makes sense to keep on going. If one day we cannot do it anymore and we put out a record that nobody wants to listen to then we will pack it in.
Metal Exiles: Whats next after this American tour?
Peter: We are going to South America then Europe for some dates. We are doing Sweden Rock with Judas Priest and the fans are going crazy that we are playing with them on the same day. We are playing some other festivals during the summer then we go home and relax. We will start writing right away and Andy does have studio time already booked so hopefully we will get started and have an album done by early next year.
Metal Exiles: To look back on Your career you have done some stuff outside of Accept. Looking back what was the best thing that you have done and why?
Peter: It is hard to say but the Don Dokken Record (Up From The Ashes) was probably the best because it was such a good record. It was first class musicianship, we did a great tour but it was just a project and for some reason it just did not work out. There is a difference between a real band and a project band. I would take a real Dokken record over what we did anytime.
Metal Exiles: Any final words for the fans?
Peter: We are honestly thrilled to be back and that people are coming to see us play. We are getting praise left and right and are happy that we can deliver it.
Accept are truly back and for the right proof buy Blood Of The Nations and see them live.
OFFICIAL ACCEPT SITE
BUY BLOOD OF THE NATIONS!!
