| The
name Herman Frank may sound familiar to some of our readers out there
and so it should too, because he was one of the guitarists for German
metallers Accept, as well as the founding member of both Victory and
Moon Doc. As if that wasn't enough he is also now one of the most
sought after metal producers around. With the release of his first
solo album 'Loyal To None' we catch up with Herman to find out more
about this man and his music ...
MM
– Firstly thank you for taking time out to do the interview.
HF - You're
welcome!
MM – What
made you decide at this point in your career to do a solo album?
HF - I was tired
of waiting for any the band members in my other bands. I wanted to
release an album and tour an album. I’m tired of sitting around!
I should have done this twenty years ago.
I thought that this will be a band I want to put my name on.
I do everything, I’m responsible, so it's only right that I put my
name on it.
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MM
– How long did the album take to put together?
HF -
It's hard to tell, some of the songs I’ve had around for 10-15
years now. After the Accept tour in 2005 I finally got to
open my own studio, so then I finally had a place where I could
do some writing. And after five or six songs I thought hey
this could be a good album! So I started recording about a
year ago.
It took a little time to put the vocals from Jiotis on but it
turned out very good. So he put his vocals on my vocal
melodies and Stefan did the drums. |
| Then
I started looking for a record company and I signed with AOR
Heaven in the late summer. They told me they didn't want
to release it before Christmas so month after month went by
before the actual release. |
MM
- Will you still continue with Victory and Moon Doc?
HF - The three Moon Doc albums are kind of like solo albums too,
I wrote all the songs. OK I didn’t produce it but I was the
leader of the band, the leader of the pack. The Herman Frank thing will
be me for the next ten years or till I die. I've made this
decision and I’m gonna stick by it.
MM – You produced the album yourself, did you ever at any point
consider bringing in another producer for the album?
HF - You know I wanted to do this album in a rough and dirty way,
with lots of power and energy. I didn’t re-record it at
all, but if another producer was doing it I would have had to re-record
everything and things would have sounded too polished then.
That’s the last thing I wanted for this album. The album
wasn’t supposed to be released anyway, I just wanted to do an album
for me. But people persuaded me to sent it to record
companies. I never had anything like that in mind when I wrote it,
I just wanted to make music my way.
MM – When you started working on the album did you have a set agenda
for it?
HF- No.
No.
MM - It just came out raw?
HF - Thank god it
came out raw, I mean if you start thinking about that ... like I said
before, these song I didn’t mean to put out on an album, I just wanted
to record a couple of songs ... and then it just grew from there.
MM – There
are some great track on the album like ‘Hero’, ‘7 Stars’ and my
favourite ‘Bastard Legions'. Do you have any particular
favourite tracks?
HF- Hard to say
... '7 Stars' I like, 'Hero’s for sure and 'Kill The King', it has a
special kind of flavour. But I’m just a musician so l like to
let the people decide.
MM – How has the rock media in general responded to the band and the
album?
HF - Very, very
good. I really appreciate the interest. I never expected
this, I mean all over Europe, Japan, South America and all over the
world, it's all been so sudden. It’s nothing different to what
I’ve been doing the last twenty years.
MM - I thinks it’s a very good album.
HF – I like it
very much.
MM - I mean it’s a raw album but it has that METAL feel.
HF- Yeh.
MM - That true metal feel.
HF- I didn’t
want to look left then right I just wanted to go to play, just push the
button and go. I really like it like this. It will be a
great live show as well, I’m planning to do some Herman Frank stuff,
some Accept tunes my way and some songs from Victory, a real mixture of
everything.
MM
- Do you have any live dates line-up yet?
HF-
I’ve just signed to a booking agency so I will be doing shows
with different acts like me. I’m sure it will be
awesome. There might be a couple of festivals but the
album might have come out a little late for the festivals.
MM
– What do you enjoy most, being behind the desk or out in
front performing?
HF - I
just released the album because I enjoy the live side.
It's better that sitting around in the studio. It was the
main reason I formed this band, I just wanted a reason to get
back out there. My other bands members didn’t want that,
maybe they're getting too old?
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MM
- Your never to old to rock n' roll!
HF – If
you're too old you should die! (laughs) |
MM
- How do you feel about the internet and the effect it is having on
bands and independent music, especially downloading?
HF - It’s a
horrible situation, I mean you would steal a crate of beer from a
supermarket? That's the end of music, I mean my singer Jiotis gave
me a list of 13 sites where my album was available before it had even
been released! This is the end of music in my opinion.
To release an album now you have to be a realist and band must play live
to exist. But if labels aren’t making money bands can't go on
tour. It’s the end of music. People don’t realise how
hard bands work. I worked for a year on this album.
MM - Have you started working on the next album yet or is it too soon?
HF – Well right
now I have two recording sessions booked I have to finish with Victory,
then when I finished those I’m playing a couple of guitar tracks for a
friend. I’m in London then. Maybe in the Autumn I will
start thinking about a new album, I already have two or three songs in
mind.
MM - Was there anything left over from the new album that didn’t quite
make it this time?
HF – Tons.
After twenty five years of playing guitar I have so many mini cassettes
in my house.
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MM
- When working on new material where do you get your inspiration
from?
HF –
Not other people. I mean I don’t know where they come
from. I have these mini recording machines all over, one
in my car, one next to my bed, one in the toilet(!), lots of
them. Sometimes it happens before I go to sleep a melody
just comes into my head and then I put it down on tape.
MM - Is it easier having your own studio to put these ideas
down?
HF-
It’s a big, big help. Especially If you can program a
couple of drums to feel the rhythm sometimes, that helps a lot.
Nobody has money anymore and people can't practice for a month
at a time, most musicians have to have day jobs. Why do
you think I produce some many other bands? (laughs)
MM – And finally where do the band plan to go from here?
HF - We
start in two weeks. For one week we practice for the live
show and I’ll meet the guys. I’m really looking
forward to this, it's party time! I love this part, you
know meeting up with old friends and exchanging stories.
After that I will just be waiting for news on the live
shows. This could take a few months and I’ll have to get
some practice in. |
MM
- Twenty five years is enough practice I'd think.
HF – I have to
practice really hard again because I want to show some real guitar
playing in the live shows. You have to practice or you finish.
MM - With that
we say a very fond farewell to Herman and wish him the very best with
the album and the future shows. Hopefully we might see him on
these shores at some point when he hits the road. If you haven't
heard Herman's new album yet then be sure to check it out, it's pure
quality all the way ... but remember if you want the album buy it, don't
steal it! |