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Purveyors of fine Power Metal throughout Europe will no doubt already be
aware of the immense impression created by one Alex Beyrodt, guitarist
with Sinner and Primal Fear (amongst others) and now the leader behind
the band Silent Force that has been ploughing a very strong and
lucrative furrow in the scene since the year 2000 and the impressive
debut "The Empire Of Future".
Silent Force recently signed to German
label AFM and the new album "Walk The Earth" has garnered some
impressive reviews not only in the heartland and backyard of the main
man, or in his favourite territory of Japan, where Beyrodt has been
described as "the last great guitar hero", but also here in the UK where
the guitar player is possibly better known for his work with his many
guitar clinics than he is for his studded career ... The Mayfair Mall Zine
went in search of the real Alex Beyrodt?
MM -
Congratulations on the new album Alex! For those not familiar with
Silent Force, what are the origins of this record?
Alex - Well, Silent Force has been in
existence since 1999. When I formed the band, I said to myself that this
will be the last band that I will play in and by that I meant that I was
then tired of going from line up to line up with no consistency. All my
focus, power and emotion goes into this band basically.
In the beginning, some people believed it to be a project because my
singer D.C. Cooper lives in the US and I live in Germany, but I believe
that there's no problem with this really. The records we've put out;
2001's "Infatuator" and 2004's "Worlds Apart" speak volumes for the
line up ...
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MM -
Could some of the other projects you've been involved with - The Sygnet
and a wonderful rock opera you worked on in 2002 ("Missa Mercuria") with
members of Pink Cream 69 / Vanden Plas, somewhat dilute the image of SF
as the main band though?
Alex
- Not really. In the end
we're all musicians and basically we have to play to feed ourselves
basically, ha! ha! I'm very lucky to have been gifted with the ability
to interpret many different ideas and it's a great honour to be asked to
play with other people, you know? So long as you don't hurt the main
band, I don't see a problem with this.
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Honestly, I was never a big fan of 'projects' that come out and
flood the market, but I think it's important to have some of them,
so long as they're done with the right intentions. |
MM -
The new album sees you once again using the production skills of Pink
Cream 69's Dennis Ward. Was he the obvious choice given the direction of
"Walk The Earth" and how you felt it would sound in the final mix?
Alex
- Yes, but you have to remember that much of this record was
already finished before Dennis got involved because we jam so much of
our albums out before hand ... We tried to work slightly differently
this time. I tried very hard to redefine my sound ... For most of the
last one and a half years, I really haven't been listening to the new
music. The 70-80 records that come out every month with really nothing
to say!
I miss the blood, the sweat, the passion. The skills, the guitar
solos, even the musicianship, you know? I've gone back to the Deep
Purple and Rainbow stuff that influenced me so heavily in the past and
I've tried, with modern equipment integrated into it, to take my sound
back but also up a notch. Listening to Deep Purple when you are 16 is
really missing a lot of the point I guess. It's not till now when I'm 35
or so with my experience of music and sound, that I can really hear how
good the band was, how interesting and forward thinking they were, and
I'm trying to capture that in a way?
I bought a lot of vintage equipment, I went back to reel-reel tape
recording which Blackmore used to swear by; I added treble boosters and
stuff and the reviews all came back very positive. I'm really proud of
this actually! It could have been a risk for sure, but people like
Dennis and friends really liked what they heard, so I guess it worked.
MM -
It appears to be the key ingredient to the new record certainly?
Alex
- Yes. I know everyone says it when they release a new record, but
in our case, it really is true because it seems to have given us a new
lease of life. The material sounds really strong and it works so
well ...
MM -
Now, some people will not know this, but you do a lot of work with
Crate, one of your main guitar sponsors and of course, they would want
you to demonstrate the new amps, the new equipment during your clinics?
How do they view you going back to the sound of the 70's like this?
Alex
- Well, you can do it really! It depends on what amplifier you use
but I don't think they (Crate) really worry too much about this because
all amplifiers nowadays are pretty much tube, and, of course, that is
what Blackmore used. The key factors are the smaller tools ...
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MM -
Going back to Dennis' input then?
Alex
- OK. What I really like about Dennis is his ability on the mixing
side of a record as well as on the production side. He is particularly
good with the whole dynamics of the mix. You really hear the bass, you
really hear every sound, every note and that is something of a unique
talent for me. This makes him the automatic choice for this band
every time!
To say he's an extra member as some bands have is probably a bit too
much! He's a perfectionist, he pushes very hard on that and he doesn't
compromise in quite the same way as an extra band member might do, but I
like this because when you go to the studio, you don't want
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compromise.
You want to be driven up to your best, motivated to do your best and
certainly with us, give of your best.
He's also really good with vocals - Dennis and D.C. work far better
together because they are both native English speakers ... this gives
this band a particular edge it needs ... |
MM -
Fair enough. Now, can you try and give us one or two highlights from the
album that will illustrate just how the record works, where the sound
really makes an impact?
Alex
- OK. I'd go for "Man & Machine", the opener and "Walk The Earth",
the title track because it has a progressive touch without being
'Progressive' ... "The Child Within" is a big moment for me. It was
the first track written for the record and it really dictated how the
album started to form in my head and on the desk of my studio, which is
where every single SF album begins life ... Then, there's "Save Me From
Myself" and "Blind Leading The Blind". Basically every SF record begins
in the same way. Jamming in my studio like the old bands (Led
Zeppelin, Deep Purple) used to do, just creating; then piecing the
record together using the key elements of bass, drums, vocals and the
mix. Those two really emphasised that.
MM -
We picked out "Goodbye My Ghost" as a particularly wonderful track here,
but do you have a guest vocalist there? That Pete Steele sounding vocal
is radically different, very haunting?
Alex
- No, that is actually D.C.! He has an incredible range. D.C. is a
wonderful singer. I can ask him to sing like this, incredibly low or he
can scream his balls out like Rob Halford, you know? This comes from
opera training when he was very young. To me, D.C. is in the same vein
as someone like Geoff Tate. He sounds different, of course, but he has
that tremendous skill that can project the voice so that you hear it in
a totally different way. That song was actually written for
someone else originally - an artist who had asked me to write something
for her a few years ago - but because it was never used I thought of
bringing it up in these sessions, tried it and although the guys thought
it radically different to our own at first, with a little work, it has
quickly become a band favourite.
MM -
D.C. was once approached to fill in for Rob Halford in Judas Priest, I
believe? Do you think he would have succeeded?
Alex
- Well, that's possibly a better question for him rather than me?
But, I believe he was in the top three right up until the final
decision; him, Ralf Scheepers from Primal Fear, and Ripper Owens, and we
all know what happened! I personally think D.C. is better suited to less
heavy music than Judas Priest, and is probably more into bands like
Symphony X and Dream Theatre, but he might have taken it on ...?
MM -
Let's get on to the touring side now. You've toured quite heavily with
some impressive names - you spend quite a lot of time in Japan
particularly - but what have been your highlights and what do you have
planned this year to promote "Walk The Earth"?
Alex
- Well, we are going back to Japan (in September). I have a very
close connection with Japan because I met my wife in Japan - but we're
also due to do a couple of festivals and such like around Europe so it's
an interesting time. Personally, my touring life has been quite
colourful. As part of Sinner, we toured with Mr. Big, Saxon, and bands
like that, but nowadays it's
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more a
combination of festivals, clinics and good tours when we can.
We've been out with Edguy, U.D.O. and Stratovarius - we don't need
much soundcheck, we just get up and play - we're fairly low
maintenance. We'll see. |
Japan holds a particularly important place in
my heart actually. It's difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't
witnessed it first hand, but the Japanese traditions of 'respect' and
'honour' make so much of a difference to anyone who does experience it
that it can change your life. Musicians are treated with
incredible respect there.
Do you know, even people like Marty Friedman have close relations with
Japan. Marty has a weekly TV show out there! You see, quality is very
important. They're very detailed about what you play, the whole idea
behind the instrument you use, stuff like that and I think that's why so
many people find their lives changed. Can you remember the last time you
read about Billy Sheehan, Steve Vai or Paul Gilbert in a metal magazine?
No. But in Japan, these guys are still really famous and not just
in Guitar Player or whatever!
MM -
OK. Let's move on. What kind of reactions are you getting to the album
now? Do you read your own press?
Alex
- To a certain extent. I get the reviews from the label and you
know, I'm really very happy so far. As I said earlier, the reaction to
the work I did on my guitar sound was very positive; 99% of the reviews
pick up on the right kind of things like D.C.'s vocal and the tremendous
song writing, but there's always the one - you know, the one written by
the 15 year old Black Metal fan who completely doesn't understand you !!
.... But hey, that's our life and we must live with it! As much as I
like the Internet, it has its faults. Everyone is a music journalist
these days. Everyone is a critic.
MM -
Expand!!
Alex
- Ha! Ha! Well, everyone can make their views public now and,
sorry, sometimes that simply isn't right. How can someone who has no
experience of music realistically criticise someone like me or Jon Lord,
or Tony Iommi? I don't know, maybe there should be an age limit on it or
something, ha! ha!?
MM -
Controversial?!! What's next then?
Alex - That's the Internet; what can I say? All I know is that I
personally cannot stop playing music. We're gonna tour, as I mentioned,
but I also want to start writing some new material soon because I've
always got ideas flowing through my veins. I'm currently trying to find
time to finish my first solo record - Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle -
which features Pink Cream 69's David Readman on vocals, Rudy Sarzo (ex
Whitesnake and Dio) on bass and Mel Gaynor from Simple Minds
(d).......... then another record for Silent Force...
MM -
Sorry, Mel Gaynor from Simple Minds?
Alex - Absolutely! And here's another thing people don't know! Mel
played in Samson when Bruce Dickinson was in the band; he's also played
with Gary Moore and Brian May. He lives over here in Germany and I'm
very proud to say he's become a great friend of mine ... We have a guy
also who looks like Jon Lord and plays like Jon Lord, and there's me. It's even more vintage than SF.
It's been too long and it needs to be done.
I really enjoy this style you know? To me,
there's no band nowadays that play in that style; Deep Purple, Rainbow,
the old masters of course still do, particularly Deep Purple, of course,
but I feel really proud to be able to put my own interpretation on it.
MM -
And long may it continue.
"The Empire Of Future" / "Infatuator" and "Walk The Earth" are all
available now through AFM.
Special
Guest Interviewer - Our Man In The Pub
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