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НазадGaby Hoffmann- December 15-21 2004Gaby Hoffmann (also known thru the 80s by the mysterious
alias "Deaffy") was Accept's manager and also primary lyrics writer.
She wrote lyrics for a couple songs on the Restless and Wild album,
and then all the songs from Balls To The Wall on. She had declined all previous requests for interviews in the past, making
this interview the very first one!!!!
(January 7- 2004. I had thought she was interviewed before. I found at least a partial interview today from 1984... which I had typed up on this website... the whole time right under my nose!! ) The interview is in two parts, my questions and questions e-mailed in. First off how are you doing and how is life these days in Nashville? Life in Nashville is one of many dreams to come true. We own a horse farm some 30 min outside of Nashville. Wolf, who is not only a gifted musician, he is an amazing builder as well. He turned an old farm house into something beautiful and I turned a wilderness into a park like property. Wolf and I are the perfect match in this one - he loves to build houses and I love to decorate and to garden - big time. Can you tell us a little about your family...brothers, sisters, children... ? All my relatives are gone, except 2 brothers, they live in Berlin/Germany I have a daughter, who is a professor at a TN University, a son in law, a beautiful grand son and we are expecting another grand son any day . What have you been doing professionally since the last Accept split in 1996? I had a marketing and consulting company since the 80.s MR. BIG STAR - for artists, Manager, Record companies, Publishers etc. I closed the company 2000 took some time off and started to get me a license as a Realtor and that's what I have been doing - and... loving it!!!!! What do you like to do for fun and what are your hobbies? I am an avid reader - you will never see me without a book somewhere. I have thousands of books, Wolf is not too happy about that, because every time we move this is INSANE. I am equally involved, dedicated and crazy about animals. I have 15 now and they will all go wherever I go..... But there is much more, I am and always have been an active and involved humanitarian - from American Indians to women in Afghanistan - you would never believe in how much I am involved. And all this besides my very large "adopted" family (including my ACCEPT boys, when they still where boys.....) So I hear you and Wolf are moving back to Germany? When will this be? There are a few things which are very personal and because of an ongoing development not for public discussion, but it has to do with the immigration situation for people like us, who are German Citizen. After September 11 nothing is like it used to be. I love America and I never had a plan to return. But Wolf is very German and he - specially because of a very close family - does not want to endure the same like me, when my parents passed away, I could not be with them - this, he does not want to happen and he is looking forward to create more classical music, which would be a bit easier with the musician friends he has in Europe. Did Accept have a manager before you who was replaced, or were you their first manager? As a Professional Manager I have been their first and only Prior to the Restless and Wild album, had you done song lyrics writing, or any other writing before? I have been a writer/journalist and a hobby poet Complicated multi part question! Could you describe the process of the Accept song writing? Not complicated at all - sometimes I had the lyrics first - but mostly I wrote directly to their music. We where close, we thought the same, everything came totally naturally...... a) Did the music usually get written first or the lyrics? see above b) Did the band share with you topics they wanted to cover and their general viewpoints, and then you put these into lyrics? Or how did this work? Mostly me, but don't forget, we lived, thought and dreamed as one c) From Balls To The Wall on, were ALL of the lyrics written by you, or did the band come up with lines here or there that they wanted used? Yes, but without them I could never have come up with all this - everything we did, I felt we did as one The Balls To The Wall album, the band had to fight off SO MANY questions about the sexual connotations in the songs... namely with London Leatherboys, Head Over Heels and Love Child. Finally(!) can we get your thoughts and feelings on these songs? Let me answer this and (the next) question in one, ok? I have been very rebellious and by no means I would have written anything "normal"! Never! The sexual question about the context of certain lyrics are mind games and pure interpretation from outsiders. This is a band who has as individuals -so little to do with controversy and absolutely nothing in particular with anything but being VERY straight. I can only say, all the lyrics have much deeper meaning than that and it surprised me, how little the public tried to find something else, than only one interpretation. However, it made the band one of the very, very first who have been in such a controversy - many famous bands mentioned that ACCEPT have been very innovative and inspiring, because of their boldness to mention everyday life problems - from justice to mercy killing and so on..... I'm also curious about your thoughts about Dogs on Leads? see above Who came up with the actual name "Deaffy"? And where does this name come from? I have no idea - it is so long ago. guess it was about getting deaf, because they where way too loud for me... How hard was it to work under this alias for so long? Not at all and I would have never been telling , if not someone a few years ago, who knew.... published it. I laughed about it, but would have preferred to stay in the background. I wanted always all the spotlight on ACCEPT -then and now Was there ever a point in the 80s that everyone came close to just revealing the secret no matter what everyone else thought? No - no one will ever believe how close and how ONE MINDED we where of certain aspects. If we ever differed, it was because I wanted more and more and more of their talent. I knew they had it and I always believed, we have seen nothing yet. If there ever was a thought to quit, it was out of exhaustion, because I never did let got. I respected our fans so much, that I insisted on being the best they could all the time - forever... On a personal level, the song "In The Darkness" meant a lot to me during a hard time period in my life (high school!). I cried many times listening to that song and often thought, "This is my story and what I'm feeling right now. How did they know to write this song for Joe Schlared?!" Can you remember the inspiration for writing the lyrics to this song? sorry, but I have no idea...... You will hear that one day from the band in person - I promise you that! U.D.O. has been able to come up with some classic lyrics as well, especially on the Solid album. In my reviews I explained it as work that "would even make Gaby proud". Did they ever ask for any help from you in comming up with any of their lyrics? The only album I wrote the lyrics for any other than ACCEPT, I believe, was Animal House, because is was composed by ACCEPT. No - I would never write for someone else, not even U.D.O. but only because of my dedication to the band and because I could not imagine to work outside of this "family" I am way too shy for that.... Have you wrote lyrics or worked with any other bands past and present? No - but I am a consultant all my professional life and hope to do that more active, when I go back to Germany. But clients, who hire consultants often would prefer to keep it private. There are shows in the past that were professionally filmed but not made available... not even in the bootleg world. Two of these shows are the Kalamzoo, Michigan 1984 festival and the first 1993 reunion show in Germany. Do you have access to any of these shows, and could we ever expect to see them officially released? I wish I could..... (from MANY fans!) Why has the Accept's line-up for the 2005 shows not been revealed yet? Is it still undecided? If it's decided, can you tell us the line-up? Well, well, well..... give us a little time, ok? Publicity for the 2005 festivals for ACCEPT will be exclusively handled by NUCLEAR BLAST and they are calling the shots..... we will keep you posted! (Rickard from Sweden) Is there a possibility of Nuclear Blast doing a DVD of one of the Accept '05 shows? We will see, but since this is such a great and awesome event, I hope so..... Special message from Gaby: Please let me tell you all, that we are deeply moved and humbled by the kindness and love our fans have been expressing over more than 20 years -because of you I have done this interview and I will answer as many questions as I can. Soon, we will move to Germany and than there will be a short time, where we will change our e-mails etc. So, please, be forgiving, when I will not be available for some time. However - I am very proud to tell you, that I have friends since the beginning of ACCEPT. I have seen them growing up and having families of their own. This is a wonderful, wonderful side of my ACCEPT life and - MOST IMPORTAT - all of them became some one to be very proud of! THANK YOU FOR THIS! And as You all grew up, so did the band. Each of them became a man, who is standing his ground and - is in control of his life and - HAPPY! What more can I ask for........ All of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Gaby Hoffmann Part Two - December 21, 2004
When Frank Trzaskowski was the tour tech for Accept
(1993-96) how much of a working relationship did you have with him?
Did he learn a lot about managing a band from you which prepared him
for U.D.O.?Rather than getting back with everyone individually, I will just say here- THANK YOU! for the great questions that you sent in!!! (I had a three more questions)
We had a very good relationship and I wish he would have learned my way to manage. At that time nobody could ever foresee that he would later on play a more administrative role for Udo. They have split up quite some time ago. What kind of music do you find yourself listening to? I am an old soul mama...but, obviously I am also a huge AC/DC fan and... I love music! Do you perfer vinyl, cds, or mp3s? (interviewer's note: I just got a turntable as an early Christmas gift and I love it! I LOVE vinyl!!!!") I love vinyl!! I always did! From Jerry Nordlund: How did Accept and yourself meet in the very beginning? Wolf and Peter came to my office to introduce themselves to me. At that time I had a very busy company and actually no time for them. I could not possibly sign on another act. But - life was meant to be different. It was Peter and other circumstances - not Wolf - who made me change my mind! Jerry read in interviews with Wolf that you had carefully thought out plans for Accept. In 1982, did you have a strategy then to bring them to the level of sucess that they achieved? This concept was developed by me alone and put together for the band in 1980 What was the biggest or most successful decision you ever made for Accept? Signing a deal with Breeze Music in Germany If you had the chance to go back and re-do anything, what would it be? Would not change a thing! The most memorable moment? The very first 10,000 fans in Stockholm!!! Never forget it, never will.... Your thoughts on the David Reece era, and how his drug use and behavior affected everyone else? Also would you care to mention anything about the supposed on-stage fist fight between David and Peter? David Reece was not on drugs during our times and Peter and him did not have a fight on stage. There was something close to a fight back stage in the dressing room and we left him the next day - which he knew would happen, if he ever would be violent to anybody. Unfortunately - I still love his talent and his voice, but he was his worst enemy! From underground movie making legend Tim Ritter: What was it like working with Accept at the peak of their success? Perfect Also Tim wanted me to remind you the offer is still good. He'll write an action movie script and cast you, Wolf and Udo in the lead roles of the movie! Of course.... From Jeno Kellner: When you guys move back to Germany, Wolf's plan is to form a new band? Will there be a new Classical album managed by you? Yes and this time I hope, I can get Wolf to perform it (live) in 2006 What really happened while recording Predator? Are there unreleased songs from that album that have been left over? Not much, but the times very bad that's all ACCEPT struggled with their identity.... and Udo with his enthusiasm..... From Vitaly: Do you have a favorite Accept album... or which album are you the most proud of? BALLS AND METAL HEART Do you have a favorite line from a song, or favorite lyrics as a whole... which song? Hard to tell....BALLS is the most political one and Objection Overruled and "...heaven is there where hell is and hell is down on earth...." Did you travel with the band when they toured? Will you in 2005? I did and I will. Do you play any musical instruments? Unfortunately not From Gene Kulin: How different was the approach to writing Eat The Heat lyrics compared to other albums? Totally different and it shows I struggled..... Do you feel Accept recieved the credit they deserved? I guess that overall yes, but the seriousness of their art and what they stand for, might have not been discovered - this was and still is - a very strong band in morals and attitudes and EXPECTATIONS of their own standing - at least from my point of view.... From Jordan Gatley: Which album has sold the most overall BALLS Are there any metal bands playing today that you are impressed with? Many Did a book or a movie inspire you to write the Princess of the Dawn lyrics? I was not involved in this one..... (Interviewer's note: Then there is some misinformation printed on the album. I'm looking at the back of a German issued Restless and Wild cd right now, and it credits her in the song writing for Princess of the Dawn and Neon Nights) From John Burrey: What are the chances of seeing Accept in a USA festival, such as the Ozfest? Not on OZ fest, but we are working on some options..... Does Wolf have an expression or "saying" that he goes around saying all the time? :-) "Problems are there to be solved"..... this changed my life, because he meant it and in the end - we got married .... Love ya guys and thank you! See ya all in 2005 somewhere on this globe! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Gaby Hoffmann
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