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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 ...
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.
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.
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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 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
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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 ...?
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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 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.
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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 |