RALF SCHEEPERS- is one of the greatest voices in heavy metal. One of the founding members of GAMMA RAY, he was one of the top 10 finalists to take the slot as the new vocalist for JUDAS PRIEST after the departure of Rob "Metal God" Halford.
This
is the entire story about how I got into music , how I started to love Heavy
Metal and how I got to the state where I am now:
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I always sang along with songs in the radio
when my mom used to listen to a German Schlager radio program. In school I
listened to bands like Sweet or Bay City Rollers ha, ha, ha...
I started to listen to Heavy Metal in late 1978 when I first heard the live album Tokyo Tapes from the Scorpions. Then I heard Unleashed in the East from Judas Priest and it totally knocked me out !!
After visiting many Heavy Metal concerts and headbanging to bands like for instance: Maiden, Accept , Priest, Saxon etc. etc.... this heavy stuff really got into my blood !! I started to get in trouble in school as I kept on singing during the lessons ...... so I decided to team up with musical friends just form a fun school band. (The funny thing is that Klaus our drummer from Primal Fear was doing this with me..... so we met very early). After that I joined another hobby band where I used to play the guitar (rhythm guitar but not really good he,he,he,he and where I shared the vocal abilities with another guy. But this was no real heavy metal stuff so I looked out for a band who was playing my kind of thing. So I joined a band from Stuttgart called Beast of Prey. They really forced me to push my way of singing as I had to compete against those fucking loud Marshall and Hi-watt amplifiers !! So it happened one day that Beast of Prey gave a concert in a school hall. As a surprise the musicians from Tyran Pace have visited the gig ! This was somehow a great honour for me in those days as I heard them playing a long time before and they were really good !! They somehow have gotten a similar style like Priest and covered the song The Sinner as well. So after the show of that band called Beast of Prey they came up to me and asked me if I wanted to join Tyran Pace !! This was like a dream come true to me when I was just 18 years old. I got an offer from a german band called Helloween as they heard the second album of Tyran Pace and liked it very much but I didn't join in as they were coming from Hamburg which is in the North of Germany and I am coming from the South. And of course I didn't want to leave my friends in Tyran Pace. Some years later they had huge success with the album Keeper of the seven keys Part 1 with Michael Kiske as vocalist !! So of course in the end I regreted it that I didn't join Helloween.... but that's the way it goes......
After recording 3 albums with Tyran Pace and collecting many experience in playing live or recording in the studio we had some blood-seeking so called managers which got us in such a bad situation money-wise that we just had to quit Tyran Pace. The guitar player Oli Kaufmann and me joined a cover band 150 miles away from our homes where we covered songs from Guns n Roses to John Miles ... somehow we were musical prostitutes but we had to do it to pay back money to court fighting asshole managers, T-shirt companies, banks etc etc... Then Kai Hansen called me up to sing a demo for a band in Hamburg when Helloween was recording the Keepers Part 2 album. So we got to know each other personally and he very much liked the way how I sing. Some years later Kai left Helloween but wanted to continue in making music so we teamed up and formed Gamma Ray. We recorded 3 studio albums, 1 live album and 2 live videos. We did 3 video-clips as well.
With Gamma Ray I somehow really stepped into the heavy metal scene of the whole world. We were touring around Europe, I got over to Japan for the first time in my life. It was just another great moment to perform in the same concert hall where Judas Priest recorded their live album Unleashed in the East in the famous Koseinenkin Hall!!!
After being together for 5 years the guys from G-Ray wanted me to move up to Hamburg. I said okay if you offer me the chance that I can live up there (I mean having a flat and something to eat means to get money) I will come. But nothing happened ! No offers !! So I didn't move. On the other hand I found out that Kai wanted to sing on his own again as he did in the early Helloween days. He sung a song of the 3rd G-Ray album Insanity and Genius. Then Dirk the second guitarist wanted to sing his song on his own............. so I really thought ... these guys don't really want to have a vocalist. We went separate ways.......
I
knew for one year already that Rob Halford left Judas Priest but I didn't do an
application so far as I never thought they will ever take me. But then Edgar my
former band mate from Tyran Pace called me up and gave me the phone number from,
the personal manager from Priest.. Mrs. Jayne Andrews. She said that I should
send some material ..... so I did.... sending three albums of G-Ray and the live
video from Japan. After one month a letter came in saying that the band (Priest)
like the way I am singing so they put me one the short list............... oh my
God.......... what a long short list !!! After several of promises like: I
promise you right now that you will definitely going be invited to do an
audition............... it never happened !!! I didn't even have contact to one
of the band members......... nothing ......... just waiting............ rehearsing
Judas Priest songs with some friends of my hometown..................
waiting...................... singing Priest songs 2 and a half hours every
second day...................waiting................ getting
promises.............. waiting.................waiting for Glenn Tipton's solo
album....................... promises................. waiting .............
this whole process was taking two and a half years of my precious time as I
could not join another band ........ and there were many offers.......... but
what should you do if you wait for an audition for one of the top heavy metal
bands in the world ?? You cant just team up with some hungry musicians to create
a new band
..............
Then
another letter came in:
I am very sorry to have to inform you that we will not be holding any auditions for the position of vocalist for Judas Priest as the band have found their man. We had always intended to audition as I told you, but this singer came totally out of the blue and is everything the band were looking for, so they do not feel the need to try anyone else out.
The
band send their apologies and thank you for being so patient they know its no
consolation but they would like you to know that out of thousands of applicants
we received your vocal abilities stood out and you were amongst the final ten
who they felt had something special.
Once again, we are very sorry about this, but wish you luck for the future.
Best wishes
JAYNE
ANDREWS
WOW
!!! What a hammer of disappointment !!!! I had no more Gamma Ray, I had no Judas
Priest , I had nothing ............... just sitting in a black hole of
disappointment !!!
One year later I got a phone call from Tom Naumann the guitarist of Sinner. He asked me if I want to join them in the studio singing some lines for the choirs for their new album. I had nothing to lose and said yeah of course........
Somehow this is funny........ I knew the members of Sinner for 15 years as were living in the same city but we never really got in touch as they were concentrating on their stuff and I on mine with Tyran Pace and Gamma Ray.
So I had a great conversation with Mat (Sinner). He just told me: Hey Ralf ! You have such a great voice............ you cannot just sit around and do nothing !!! We joined forces and composed some songs.............made a demo..........sent it to Japan (JVC) as they were waiting for some material from me anyway.......... and........... here we go............. had another contract.
Thats the way how Primal Fear started and I am saying it over and over again we are a real band !!! Not a project !!! After all these years of disappointment I am back with my new friends from my hometown !! WE ARE PRIMAL FEAR and we are about to kick ass with some aggressive melodic heavy metal !!! Showing everybody that we have something to say in the world of heavy metal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RALF SCHEEPERS INTERVIEW (NOV.2001)
1. Well Ralph here we go. Before I get started I want you to personally know that Primal Fear is one of my all time favorite bands and each album has blown me away more and more. Now, tell us about your musical background?
Thanks! Well I started listening to Heavy Metal when I was 15 years old. Bands like Scorpions, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Saxon made my days in the late 70’s. Of course this somehow gets into your blood when you listen to it each and every day and you start to imagine to being a part of a band someday as well. And that’s exactly the way it happened, I got to be part of a band and made my way…
2. What are your favorite bands? What are you currently listening to?
To be honest, I don’t really have a favorite band I listen to these days…..there are a lot of good bands out there which sound cool and interesting but right my concentration is so much focused on our new album that there is almost no time to listen to any other stuff…
3. How does it feel being the singer in one of Europe’s top power metal bands?
Thanks again, well how does it feel…….it is just great to go out there on stage and celebrate a great metal party with the guys in the band and the audience….it’s pure adrenaline and I’m really addicted to it !!
4. How has the success that Primal Fear has brought you, changed you in any way?
It didn’t change me at all apart from the fact that I’m happy to be a part of a perfect working team………our great goal is to achieve more and bring more pleasure to the metal fans…………
5. Tell us about your involvement in the audition for the Judas Priest vocalist position. Do you regret not getting selected? What do you think of Ripper Owens and about their JUGULATOR album and the new one DEMOLITION? Have you heard any of the new songs from their album Demolition?
There has been no involvement in any audition …just promises from the management and 2 and a half years of waiting and preparing for nothing….to be honest when I listen to their new albums, I am the happiest man in the world being able to sing for Primal Fear now !!! Ripper is a great vocalist and this is just the respect from a singer like I am and nothing more…. He wouldn’t say that about any other vocalists because I read in so many interviews that this guy has no respect, not even for his predecessor……… nothing to add……. We played some festivals together this year and I tried to talk to him but there was no chance in getting to him because they are protected like some Superstars or what ever …even they can’t afford to act like that…….. get your feet back to the ground !!! You are nothing special !!!
6. Tell us a little about each Primal Fear album. Also, what is your favorite song from each album and why?
Wow, that’s pretty hard to answer……I liked the way we had started PF in 1998 when we composed our first songs….we just did what we had in mind and our hearts so we created songs like Chainbreaker which you can still find on our set list when we play live….regarding “Jaws of death” I think the most powerful song is “Church of Blood” and the most melodic is “Under your spell”….the funny thing about that song is that a German premiere league Handball team uses it as their entering hymn when the start play a game at their home field… cool ! “Nuclear Fire” is the continuing way of heavy composing and shows pretty much how the band has grown together after touring around in Europe, Japan and South America. So watch out for “Black Sun” it’s going be a very strong album I promise !!!
7. Primal Fear has played twice in the U.S., so far. Why is that and will Primal Fear ever tour the U.S. extensively? Any plans on playing in San Diego or Los Angeles, California?
Oh how we’d love to come to the West coast !!! It’s pretty hard to tour the U.S. Apart from the fact that metal is not so popular anymore it’s hard to find serious promoters to set a reasonable schedule which is not only healthy for the wallet of the promoter ! But we seriously think about touring the U.S. more intensively in the future.
8. Any plans on playing in Mexico?
Yes, there are preparations to do South America including Mexico as well……..
9. Any plans to hook up with a major tour? What would be the ultimate tour to be a part of?
Our management is planning a tour for autumn next year but it would be too early to let anything out with whom or when exactly.
10. Primal Fear keeps on getting better with each subsequent release, why is that?
Thank you again ! Well we are growing and we play live very often and long…..this makes us stronger and tighter !!
11. Has Primal Fear started writing for the next album? What is in store? Any surprises (b-sides, live cuts, covers)?
We have finished composing 18 songs now. We are in pre-production at the moment. After this process we sit together and choose the 10 best songs (In our opinion) out of the list and start to record them in the studio. The surprise is: It’s pure Primal Fear and it’s metal in the way we love it, we don’t think it’s modern to write negative songs which sound like we are about to run into suicide the very next day……… of course there are some critical themes in some lyrics but the music doesn’t sound doomy . This is progression for us, to write songs first of all that we like and that of course our fans like !!
12. Is a live Primal Fear live album or DVD / VIDEO a possible reality in the near future?
Yes !!! We are working on it !! Be patient !!
13. Name your personal top 5 metal singers, guitar players, bass players and drummers?
Singers-Ian Gillan, Rob Halford, Glenn Hughes, Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson, Eric Adams.
Guitarists-Stefan Liebing, Henny Wolter, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wilde, Yngwie Malmsteen etc….
Bassists-Mat Sinner, Glenn Hughes, John Entwistle, Steve Harris, etc..
Drummers-Klaus Sperling, Cozy Powell (RIP), Uli Kusch, Fritz Randow, Bodo Schopf
14. If you could put together a project outside Primal Fear, who would be in the group?
Hans Nägele, Ray Schwab, Tom Bayer, Herbert Schmidt.
15. Anything you want to say to your fans in the U.S. and Mexico?
Thanks for your support !!! Be patient we will come !!!
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview.
Cool ! See ya !!
