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Still Packing Sting In Your Tail With ULI JON ROTH · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining to say. We're here speaking with Uli
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: John Roth ahead of his September torch to Australia. So oh,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: thanks for joining us this afternoon.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm glad to be here. So now you got
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: that wrong. Uli is what they say in Texas the world.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: It's actually Uli. It's just Uli. Yeah, all right, I
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: shouldn't have said that.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: You've just I'm just going to call you bait.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: How's that sound, okay? Or serious topics? All right?
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: So you had to Australia for the first time ever
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: this September for a run of three select shows, studying
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: in Sydney on September third and then hitting Adelade in
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Melbourne consecutive night. So not long now you've packed it
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: ready to.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Go, not yet packed, but almost ready to go. We're
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: at the moment doing previously before coming to Australia, will
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: being Japan, and we're playing a completely different program there,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: a new program, so that's why we're rehearsing at the
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: moment here at Sturk Studios in Cologne, and then we're
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: flying to Japan. So no, I leave the packing to
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: the last moment. It's one of my least favorite things
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: to do. Believe me. You got to get it right
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: because I haven't been home for well quite a while now,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: and I won't be home until mid September, so I
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: got to get so many cases, bring and whatnot.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: You've been playing music for around fifty years now, mate,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: this is going to be your first order was long,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: long way. Why have you neglected us for so long?
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I tell you what, nobody asked us to come, so
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: you know it's actually you. Because we need an invitation
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: if we want to play somewhere. I would have loved
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: to come much sooner. Having said that, even the Scorpions,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: although they were so successful, even they found it difficult
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: to get to Australia simply because of the logistics. As
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: you know, you have to fly every gig. You know,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: you're you have vast distances to cover, and most other
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: countries are not like that. When you tour America, you
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: can do a month long touring and you have a
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: big tour bus. You sleep at night, and then the
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: next morning you're in Chicago. You know, I don't think
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: that really that entire industry exists in Australia in the
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: same way. You have to fly everything, and that makes
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: it much more complicated to do a tour and more expensive,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and I think that's also why it took the Scorpions
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: so long to get there, you know.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Good point. Now, the tour is called the Pictures of
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Destiny Tour, which is a great name. But what significance
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: of the title? Where's it come from?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it comes from the fact that I've taken up
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: oil painting ago sometime again, after many many years. I
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: used to do oil paintings in the early nineties and
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: late late eighties, but then I stopped because I had
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: an allergy against the paint solvents and I didn't paint
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: for nine thirty years or something like that. I took
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: it up back again, like more recently with a Vengeance.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: So I've been producing all these big oil paintings which
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: are based on my on my music and my lyrics,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: and so I thought it was only fitting to do that.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: So when we play in Japan, we will bring a
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: whole bunch of these oil paintings and we exhibit them
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: during the shows. In Australia, were actually not playing the
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Pictures of Any tour because it's my first time there.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: This would be more rock bassed. The other one is
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: more with orchestral stuff and a little bit symphonic, whereas
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: in Australia we will stick mainly to my early catalog,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: early Scorpions classics, some Electric Sun and some of my
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: later pieces. You know, but that's really what it is.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Now I'm justin. You'll be saying, a pretty talented backing
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: band for the to So who introduces the rest of
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the band? Who you got?
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's my tried and tested bands. They're all friends
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: of mine and most of them have been with me
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: for well since the early two thousands. You know Nicholas Turman,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: he's uh. He's the lead vocalist, main lead vocalist and
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: and also bass player. He used to be one of
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: my guitar players. We used to go out with three.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: He can do both equally well and and has a
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: great voice, so he does that. Then we've got David Kleczynski.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: He's my second guitar second in command. He plays all
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: these harmony guitar leads with me, of which we have
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: quite a few, and he's been also with me for
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: a long time. On drums, we have Richard Kirk from England, Birmingham. Uh,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: we go back in time, but not quite as long
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: as the others and on keyboards, it's he's a newbie
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Marvin Lights. You know, he is from Cologne and very
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: talented and yeah it's his first big tour really, you know,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: but I know he's up to it. In Australia we
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: have five pieces essentially. You know, in Japan we were
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: more like ten people on stage and or even twenty
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: when we have orchestra flaars.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Well not get a big crowded, wouldn't it.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, bigger stages, you know, yeah.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Biggest sight. There's little people ever.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: In Japan, it's one of my best countries because it
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: goes way back, you know, to Tokyo tapes and the
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: days of Virgin Kula. In fact, we had our first
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: gold album in Japan back then, and that was Virgin
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Kula in seventy six.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: So Japan was always good for the Scorpions and for
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: myself as well. And as I said, Australia unfortunately, I
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: know we have audience there, but it just never materialized.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: So finally the day is coming and you're.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Not coming to Brisbane now that is you do in Melbourne.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, only seek shows, you know, I guess if it
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: goes well, we will come again, you know if we
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: get an invitation. But no, it's basically just saying hello,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Hello Australia, you know, and see how it goes. I
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: hope it goes well, and that's all, you know.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Nice Now give a Witch Scopian sevent three for four
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: studio albums bouts a double live relief. So how did
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: that short time in the band shape the rest of
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: your musical life in your career?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: Well, it was back then. It wasn't a short time.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: It was five years. It's only eighteen when I joined,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: So at that time it felt like a long time,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: you know. With hindsight, of course, it is a more
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: brief time. Yeah, it very much shaped my life because
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: it was my autistic apprenticeship. Also learning the ropes in
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: the music business, learning how to do an album, how
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: to tour, how to write songs. All that came together
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: in those five years and we had a We had
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: a great time, you know, it was. It was wonderful.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: I've got only only good memories. It was just at
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: the end I started to write music that really didn't
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: fit the framework anymore. I could have gone both ways,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: I wrote in one year, I wrote sales Sharon, which
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: was perfectly suited for the Scorpions, But in the same
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: year I also wrote Earthquake, which became like something for
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Electric Sun, and it was very much not suited for Scorpions,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: and I wanted to do these songs that were not suited.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: So I had no choice really artistically. I had to
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: leave the band. You know. There was nothing personal. We
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: were good friends and still are. So it was just
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: one of these things. You know, a man's gotta do
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: what a man's got to do, I guess, you know,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: some thought it was complete and it yotic move away
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: from the millions that awaited us, and you know, but
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: I was never money driven and and success is nice,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: but I wanted to achieve it on my own terms,
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: you know. And Electric Sun was pretty successful too, you know,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: not not nearly like the Scorpions, but you know, we
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: had some major tours and and we did albums, et cetera.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: So again, Electric Sun for me was a bridge towards yeah,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: later steps, when I started to combine symphonic music with
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: with rock, you know, which is really where my heart is.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah nice. The live album you released with Scorpions,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Take the Tapes, is widely regarded as one of the
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: best live releases ever, like do you hold it not
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: higher regard? You would you put it in your top top.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: At first I didn't quite get it because I wasn't
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: so happy with the sound. To me, it sounded much
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: better on stage. But one thing is for sure, from
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: the five years that I was there, this was really
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: the high point. We were at an extremely good moment
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: in time and it was all very inspired. It all
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: came together. We had a great hall grant audience in Tokyo,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: and yeah, everything clicked. So it was a very special moment.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: And but I didn't really anticipate the worldwide response, you
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: know that came over the years. People kept saying Tokyo tip,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Soko tape, Soko tips, And at first I didn't really
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: get it because I didn't really like the sound of
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: the album so much, you know, the way it was
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: recorded with you know. But other than that, yeah, now
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: now I'm proud of to have been part of it.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: I was sort of touched on this a little bit,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: but Promoscopion form Electric Sun before embarking on a solo Korea,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: which included composed of the symphonies and concertos the former
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: and symphonic orperas. So what made you explore that sort
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: of music. It's a bit of a different, bit of
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: a stretch.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Well, the Electric Sun was basically I was a big
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Hendrix acolyte, you know. I grew up listening to Jimi
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Hendrix and he had the three piece idea. So I thought,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: I want to see what I can do with a
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: three piece and see how far I can push it,
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: you know, And I figured out I couldn't push it
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: very far because in the studio I was able to
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: do all the guitar overdubs and it sounded quite orchestral,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: so to speak. But lot was a pain with three
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: players because my style didn't really lend itself because my
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: melodic guitar solos really were asking for keyboard accompaniment or
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: chords in the background, which you don't have when you
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: do a three piece like uh yeah. Now, if you
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: look at typical or one of probably the most successful
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: three piece was Cream back then, and their style was
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: perfectly geared to it. You know, when they did Sancho
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: andov your left, they didn't need another guitar. It was
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: rift based and it was different. But my music from
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: the beginning wasn't really suited for three piece. That's why
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: very soon I branched out. In the end, Electric Sun
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: had eight people on stage, you know, it was we
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: had two dramas singers, you know, it was. It was
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: like a circus. But it was a nice Actually, it
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: was a good time and and I learned an awful
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: lot at that time. You know, on on many levels.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: We did three albums, Earthquake, Firewin, and Beyond the Astroskies,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: and each one to me was another step forward of
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: exploration and inspiration. You know, with hindsight, I could have
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: done a lot of things better, but back then, you know,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: it was the best I could, you know, other than
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: that the vocals sucked. They were not good. And yeah,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: well I was trying to find a vocalist in the beginning.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I couldn't find anybody at short notice who was suitable
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: for the weirdness of some of my compositions. At the least,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: what I would have needed is like a guy who
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: can sing like Bob Dylan, but with a rock singer's approach,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: and that guy pretty much didn't exist, you know, So
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: I did the Bob Dylan version, which was not such
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: a good idea either. I outgrew all that you know nowwadays,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I've actually learned how to sing after the event, although
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: it's still in trust all the important parts. Two people
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: who are better than I, you know. And it's one
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: of these things, you know, yeah, forgive and forget.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: It's always like have it Marty Freeman and Inga Malmstein,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and they've all started here as a major influence on
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: their playing. Like, how does that sit with you? Like,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: it's going to be pretty humbling that people that have
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: seen looks up to you so.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Well, well, you know, I grew up looking up to
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: and I learned from the best, you know, I learned
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: from Eric Clapton, from Jimmy Page, Jimmy Page, maybe not
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: so much in the beginning, by Jeff Beck and and
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: of course Jimmy Hendrix, you know. And uh so it's
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: it's just a natural progressing progression when somebody comes and
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: does something new which is kind of in tune with
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: the wave of the moment, you know, which I think
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: we were at that time in the seventies to a
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: pretty strong degree. Then other people caught onto it, and
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: the younger generation they they say, oh I I want
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: to do that, and then they put their own spin
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: on it, you know. And that's exactly what happened with
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: people like Ingvay or Marty, you know, they they became
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: their own And yes there was an inference, but in
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: the end, Vay is Ingway, you know, and Marty is Marty,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: you know, and and Uli. So that's that's that simple.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: I don't really think about these things a lot, think
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: about them because that question comes up a lot. But
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: to me, it's just, you know, it's just part part
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: of the game, you know, it's not the most important thing.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: It's just a natural progression. I guess what was it
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: life like in that chopper edge?
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: A lot of guitar players around the world like, do
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: you just told each other and ask each other for
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: advice help play or when you get stuck and not advice?
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: I've never no, I don't. Most of these guys don't
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: ask other guys for advice. They know their stuff and
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: everybody has carved out their own niche Usually when you talk,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: like when I England, I we used to talk a
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: lot on the phone. We hardly ever spoke about the guitar,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: you know, it was mainly about all sorts of other
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: things about uh. Ingvey told me about his ferrets, and
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I spoke about my cats, you know, or stuff like that.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: And you know, sometimes you speak about business matters a
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: little bit, you know, like I was on that tour,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: et cetera, and you know, you exchange information, but most
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: of the time it's about other things, you know, not
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: about gear so much. There are some gear heads who
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: talk about nothing else, you know, and vintage there's vintage that,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: but I've never been interested. Although I do like gadgets
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: and I like cutting edge stuff, but I don't really
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: like talking about it a lot. I tried it out
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: and if it works, it works, you know, But then
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: that's as far as my obsession gets, you know them.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah nice, All right, brother, Well, thanks very much for
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: your time that I made to spit of pleasure. You
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: are in Australia, September third, fourth, and fifth, Sydney, Allelaid Melbourne.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: It's up to you guys to get along with the show,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: so they come back and come to Brisbane so I
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: can see him in the meantime, Brady, take care and
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: enjoy the rest of your practice.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: All right, Thank you so much. Thanks for having me