Having been a fan of Axel Rudi Pell for many years now, it was a thrilling prospect to have the opportunity to talk to the man himself about his new DVD ‘Live Over Europe'. One of the busiest and most prolific artists in the world of hard rock, I was slightly apprehensive waiting for the phone to ring, having been warned that he can be a little ‘terse' during interviews. I am delighted to report that the voice on the other end of the line was warm and enthusiastic with a ready laugh and more than keen to talk at some length about his busy schedule and what fans can expect from the ARP Band in 2008.

First of all, congratulations on the new DVD. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching it from beginning to end. I think it's fair to say it's been a busy time for you. ‘Diamonds Unlocked' was released in September and now there's the DVD. It's six years since you released the last DVD, ‘Night Treasures', what made you decide that now was a good time to release a full live set?

Thank you very much. That's good to hear. I decided it was time now because it was the first time we played a festival outside in the dark. The magazine Rock Hard Germany was recording it anyway, and we said if the quality is okay, it might be a good idea to release it as a DVD. The sound was pretty good apart from the bass which was quite broken on the first three songs and we had to re-do the bass for those in the studio. I think it turned out really cool even though we only played 75 minutes because we weren't the headlining band on the day. Normally we play a show around 2 hours long so we decided to have DVD 2 with lots of other stuff recorded from our private archives.

DVD 2 does contain a huge amount of material. How much footage did you have to go through before you could decide what to include?

If I'm being honest it was weeks and weeks of work. I had to pick out really interesting tracks, not pulling one from this show, one from that show. I really went through all the tapes and all the material. So yes, I spent a lot of time doing that!

Was it always going to be just the Rock Hard festival that you recorded? You weren't going to record several and choose one?

Exactly, that was always the idea. We checked that the playing was okay and afterwards I looked through the raw footage to make sure that was okay. Then I got the first edit of the footage and made a few changes, but the edits are really good.

DVD2 features a lot of different shows and it's nice, as a British person, to see Bloodstock on there as well!

Yes, Bloodstock 2006 was the first time we played in the UK. It was very exciting for us. We didn't know what to expect, whether people knew who we were or knew our music. As soon as we got on stage, it was great. The audience really liked it and went wild.

To look back to ‘Diamonds Unlocked', it has to be said that when you look at it compared to some other rock covers albums you haven't exactly chosen obvious songs?

This is exactly what I thought and it was the reason I did it. Every time I tell other people I'm doing a cover record they expect I will cover a lot of Richie Blackmore, Deep Purple and Rainbow songs, maybe a Led Zeppelin track. Are you kidding? No, I absolutely won't do that. Besides, there are too many other great bands with great melodies in their songs. I'm trying not to get pigeon holed. I actually had a list of over thirty or forty titles and asked the other guys in the band what they thought. In the end we agreed to do these eleven tracks because not everybody else is covering them.

So was it a democratic decision with the band as well then?

No, in the end I decided by myself! But I let the other guys sell it to me (laughs). I won't do a song though if Johnny, for example, isn't really sure about it. I would just choose another track.

The release of the DVD is the beginning of a pretty busy year for you. There will be festival performances and I believe there's another album in the pipeline?

Yes, at the moment I am in the middle of the song writing process for the next album, so we will be quite busy. We will be in the studio at the end of May, beginning of June so I have to be done with the record by then. We are doing a few festivals and then we are probably doing a support tour for another band. I can't tell you which one at the moment because it is not absolutely confirmed as yet. Then we are doing another headlining tour then going on to the next record. So, I am a very busy man at the moment.

Are there any of the festivals this year that you haven't played before?

I don't think so. We are playing the Wacken festival for sure, and maybe there will be another festival, but it's not confirmed yet. Hopefully there will be maybe four or five different shows in the summer.

As to the support and headlining tours, you played Bloodstock 2006 but were unable to come back last year due to illness. For those fans that missed out, will you be coming back to the UK next time around?

Of course I will, definitely. I promise. If it's not a support slot with another band, we will definitely play a headlining show, hopefully London, during the next tour.

People will be very pleased to hear that. What actually happened that prevented you from coming last time?

I was absolutely exhausted because I had a virus and really felt bad. Unfortunately I had to cancel that show, but I think it was also the day it snowed everywhere. Heathrow was closed, the ferry didn't go over, and so there wasn't any chance for us to play anyway.

Moving on to the new album, have you got a name for it yet?

No. But if you are familiar with the other albums, I think it will be the end of the Knight's story. ‘Mystica' takes it back to where the story originally started and I think now it's time to finish the whole thing. I can't go on with the Knight stories for ever, so I think maybe they arrive back home this time and live happily ever after – hopefully!

The sound that you and band have developed over the years has evolved gradually. This time, might we see any revolution as well as continued evolution?

I think so, yes. I'm not quite finished the song writing just yet, but I have a lot of ideas and I think ARP fans will be satisfied. On the other hand, I tried to get a newer feel to it. I won't tell you much more, but it will sound a bit different. I'm more than proud of the Axel Rudi Pell formula of Intro and then a fast track and then a more melodic track but this one will definitely be different.

The guys in the band are pretty busy with their other projects. Is it difficult to get them all together?

No, it is very simple because when I am planning to do the next studio record, I let the others know a long time in advance. Mike (Terrana), for example, has had the recording dates in his diary for nine months now. He works his other schedules around it. Same with the other guys, too.

There's a lot of experience in the band with some pretty strong characters. When you're on tour do you all travel together? How do you all get along?

(Laughs) Well, with Mike touring around the world and Johnny is in his home town of Los Angeles, it is very exciting the first time we get together again because we haven't seen each other for months, and it's fresh. If everybody lived in the same city or same country and we had the chance to see each other two or three times a week, I think it would be boring after a while. Sometimes it is a bit difficult because me and the bass player are the only guys who smoke in the band. So on the Nightliner the back lounge is reserved for our "Diva", the singer, it's the Diva Lounge (laughs). He's an anti smoking guy, but that's understandable because he has to take care of his voice. Mike is absolutely anti smoking too, so these guys are sitting in the back lounge and telling American jokes. Mike is an animal on drums, but he is a very funny guy too. He loves his practical jokes. When I am on the road with Mike there isn't five minutes when I don't smile.

There are a lot of bands who are looking to break into new territories, Eastern Europe or China, for example. Is this something you might look to do?

Not really. We haven't broken the whole European market yet, you know! Maybe for the future though, let's see what happens.

In December you appeared as a guest with the Rock Classical Stars in Symphony. You've played with an orchestra several times before. Is this something we might ever see as an either Axel Rudi Pell show or even perhaps as a CD?

No, this was a one time thing. I like to play with an orchestra, not too often though because I'm a musician who likes to jam a lot on stage. You can't do this with an orchestra because they have their notes written down and they play exactly what is on the paper. I can't improvise with an orchestra, I can't tell them I would like to make a solo two minutes longer. They would look at me and stop playing (laughs).

Talking about improvising, in the studio creating your solos, do you build them up piece by piece or do you go for a more spontaneous approach?

Depends on which song I am doing. I write the main melodies beforehand. In a lot of solos there is also a melody which I write beforehand in my own studio. On the other hand though, I really like to improvise in the studio as well. Charlie (Bauerfeind) my engineer will press the record button and I'll play through the whole song with the solo, and ask him what he thinks? He will say whether it's good or not and we'll work on it. I'll play it maybe ten or fifteen times and pick out the best bits, put them together and then play it again.

You do a lot of the production on your own albums. Have you ever been asked to produce for any other bands?

I've been asked several times but it's very different producing your own albums compared to producing for other bands. I got a tape two or three years ago from another band from Germany. They were expecting the songs to sound a bit like Zakk Wylde, but at the same time different to anyone else. After making several changes I said to myself I can't do this because they are not sounding like I would like it to. But I am very happy with producing my own sound.

After years of releases and hard touring, what inspires you to keep going? What still motivates you after all this time?

It's very hard to explain. I have so many ideas and I have to get these ideas out to an audience. As soon as I can't write songs any more I will stop, but that's not happening at the moment.

To talk about guitars for a moment – would you call yourself a passionate collector?

Yes! I have 17 guitars at the moment. Wait, I am in my working room, let me count them out. 11 Fender Stratocasters, 1 Gibson LP, 2 flying Vs and 2 ESPs. I have a Fender acoustic guitar and a bass which is a Stratocaster shape. I only use the bass for writing songs at home though.

I don't think I know of anybody who's had such a long relationship with their record label. How have you managed to keep that going? What's the secret?

Big money! (Laughs heartily). No, seriously, the truth is, if I joined another record company they'd have A&R managers!! My record company has A&R guys too, but they leave me alone, I can do what I want, that's the main point for me. I don't have to prepare any demos or anything, the only time they hear my songs is when they get the finished record. They get it and say we like it, thank you! No-one is saying, let me hear this, let me hear that, throw this one away, change your style, your clothes or cut your hair. Nobody disturbs me and this is my dream. I wouldn't change the record company because of this.

Our conversation ended with Axel modestly (and quite unnecessarily!) apologising for his "stuttering English". He's a very busy guy and it was a pleasure to spend some time speaking to him. ‘Live Over Europe' is an excellent release documenting the live prowess of one of rock's absolute stalwarts. The ARP band is going to be very much in evidence this year. You can choose from the DVD, the new album when it arrives or try to catch them on the road... even better go for the whole set as this is one artist who's band never fails to deliver. In spadefuls!