ACCEPT's WOLF HOFFMANN opens up about eight years of sobriety
02-04-2024
In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Metal Global, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann revealed that he has been sober for almost a decade. “I was never a hardcore drinker, but I was a steady drinker,” he explained. “Every night I would have my two, three glasses of whatever. And I couldn’t even go to bed before I had a slight buzz for many years. And it’s just dangerous. And then, one day, you realize the price is just too high — the headaches the next day and the hangover. So I stopped drinking about eight years ago, and it’s beautiful… It’s just awesome to get up in the morning and to feel fresh and not have a hangover.”
Hoffmann went on to say that the “downside of not drinking” is “if you are in a group of drinkers and you’re the only one not drinking, it’s a little painful sometimes, because they get sillier and sillier and louder and louder, and you sit there and think, ‘This is unbearable.’ … Well, they’re having fun, but they don’t notice how it affects you,” he added. ‘I’ve been there many times.”
ACCEPT‘s new album, “Humanoid”, will be released on April 26 via Napalm Records. The LP was once again produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by critically acclaimed heavy metal producer Andy Sneap.
Watch the album’s title track below
ACCEPT‘s Wolf Hoffmann states about “Humanoid”: “The song plays with the omnipresent topic of artificial intelligence (AI). In a strange way, we have entered exciting times now… This digital revolution has a huge impact, probably bigger than anything humankind has ever gone through. The Industrial Revolution was huge, but this might be even bigger, and we’re just at the beginning of it. However, I’m also a little afraid that humanity gets lost and pushed aside in all this stuff. The song is pretty impactful and provoking!”
Due on April 26, 2024 via Napalm Records, “Humanoid” was once again produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by critically acclaimed heavy metal producer Andy Sneap.
Pre-save “Humanoid” now to gain access to the web site AT THIS LOCATION.
Together with the album announcement, ACCEPT has also revealed a massive European headline tour with more than 20 shows across the continent for autumn 2024. This summer, ACCEPT will also return to some of the world’s most important rock and metal festivals, like Wacken Open Air, Hellfest and more, following their South American spring tour.
ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann comments: “I am extremely pleased with ‘Humanoid’. The album has great energy throughout! Working with the best metal producer Andy Sneap was once again a lot of fun! We are a great team. We all love the new album and look forward to playing it live! Hope our fans will like it as much as we do.”
Fall 2024 European headline tour:
Oct. 17 – TR – Istanbul @ KCP
Oct. 28 – FR – Toulouse @ Le Bikini
Oct. 29 – FR – Lyon @ Transbordeur
Oct. 31 – BE – Antwerp @ Trix
Nov. 01 – FR – Paris @ Elysee Montmartre
Nov. 02 – CH – Lausanne @ Les Docks
Nov. 03 – CH – Zurich @ Komplex
Nov. 05 – DE – Saarbrücken @ Garage
Nov. 06 – DE – Oberhausen @ Turbinenhalle
Nov. 07 – DE – Langen @ Stadthalle
Nov. 09 – AT – Vienna @ Simm City
Nov. 12 – DE – Munich @ Backstage
Nov. 13 – DE – Berlin @ Huxleys
Nov. 15 – DE – Neu-Ulm @ Ratiopharm Arena
Nov. 16 – DE – Geiselwind @ Eventcenter
Nov. 21 – DE – Bremen @ Aladin
Nov. 25 – NO – Oslo @ Rockefeller
Nov. 26 – SE – Gothenburg @ Trädgår’n
Nov. 29 – SE – Karlstad @ Nöjesfabriken
Nov. 30 – SE – Stockholm @ Fryshuset
ACCEPT is:
Wolf Hoffmann – guitar
Mark Tornillo – vocals
Uwe Lulis – guitar
Martin Motnik – bass
Christopher Williams – drums
This past January, it was announced that ACCEPT will perform at all European festivals in 2024 and the South American tour in May with Joel Hoekstra.
Hoekstra will be standing in for Phil Shouse, who will remain with the band as their permanent live guitarist for all other gigs.
New York-based Joel Hoekstra is best known to fans as a current member of the legendary band WHITESNAKE and is part of TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. He has also played with Cher, NIGHT RANGER and FOREIGNER, to name just a few of his numerous collaborations.
Hoffmann commented: “It is a great honor for us to be on stage with Joel Hoekstra. Joel is an exceptional guitarist and I have huge respect for him. The whole band is really looking forward to playing with this string magician.”
Hoekstra added: “I’m super honored and excited to riff out and rock out with Wolf and the guys! I’m really looking forward to meeting all the ACCEPT fans in South America and Europe! Let’s rock!!”
Last June, Wolf said in an interview with Cassius Morris about the progress of the recording sessions for the follow-up to 2021’s “Too Mean To Die” album: “Well, we have this place in Nashville that we have made the last five albums in. And we basically do drums at a place — it’s not quite sure where we’re gonna do it this time. And then guitars are usually happening here in Nashville and mixing happens in England. Nowadays, with technology, we don’t really need to be together in the same place for four weeks at a time; we do it here and there and everywhere. But it’s still important to know that we’re doing it kind of together; we’re not just sharing files over the Internet. ‘Cause that has never worked for us. So, in other words, (longtime producer) Andy (Sneap) has to be in the room, if possible, and then whoever gets to record their tracks, and then a bunch of others are usually around. So it’s a group thing, for sure, but it’s not (like) everybody’s there the whole, all the time together.”
In the fall of 2022, ACCEPT completed a North American tour with support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND. The band played a career-spanning set of new and classic tracks, including mega-hits “Balls To The Wall”, “Princess Of The Dawn”, “Fast As A Shark” and many more.
In February 2022, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.
“Too Mean To Die” came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group’s first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT‘s lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, the aforementioned Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019’s “Symphonic Terror” tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.
“Too Mean To Die” was recorded in Nashville with Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.
Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band’s original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT‘s last five studio albums, “Blood Of The Nations” (2010),“Stalingrad” (2012),“Blind Rage” (2014),“The Rise Of Chaos” (2017) and “Too Mean To Die”.
Social media