While Thilo Herrmann is one of the most talented guitarists in the German heavy metal scene, he is not the household name he could have been, despite recording excellent work with bands like Running Wild, Grave Digger, and Holy Moses. However, on ‘Steelmachine’, the new album by German power metal band Generation Steel, not just Herrmann’s guitar work, but also his compositions can be enjoyed. Herrmann tells about his work with Generation Steel, and his time away from the international metal stages.

“Originally, Generation Steel approached me to simply record guitars for their album”, Herrmann explains. “The pre-production was actually already done. We listened to what the band had done, and then I presented some songs that I had written. Partially completed songs or song ideas that I had worked on, but that had not been fully arranged yet. After listening to all that material, we decided to work on the songs a little more.

When I listened to Generation Steel for the first time – admittedly, I didn’t know the band before – I liked how it was this typical classic, Teutonic type of heavy metal. That was the reason why I eventually said yes when they approached me. And this line-up just works. I already recorded an album for Feanor with Micke (Stark, singer), and I think he is a fantastic singer with an incredible range, and a really nice guy. I can work with him really well. We did many sessions, and that was simply fun.

Jack (the Riffer, guitarist) is the founder of the band, and the organizer as well. Without his experience and how he handles the business side of the band, it would not have been possible to get the band going like this. If we had to start the band from zero right now, I think it would have been very difficult to get a good record deal like we have with Fireflash. That made it more attractive for me to join as well: there was already a good foundation, and everything is handled very professionally.”

Certain Obligations

After Herrmann left Grave Digger in 2009, he appeared to have disappeared from the world of heavy metal entirely for over a decade. “I’m a family man; I have three sons”, he explains. “They have grown up in the meantime, but my family was always my first priority. That comes with certain obligations, also financially. That’s why I have always held a full-time job while I was playing with bands.

Everything I did, I did during my holidays, or I took time off for it, because it was important for me to be able to give my family a good foundation. But I always took the time to keep making music. Even when we were building the house I live in now: I worked outside during the summer, and then during the winter, when I had more time, I would be working on my ideas in the studio: making arrangements, recording things, writing songs, programming drums… Simply working out ideas.

This entire foundation is still there. But when I was done just sitting around my studio, where I couldn’t share my ideas with anyone, it turned out to be quite a challenge to start a metal band here. It was just difficult to find the right musicians. That’s when I founded the Audesno Classic Rock Show, with which we play the old hits from back in the day: Black Sabbath, Ozzy, everything that’s fun for us.

Another advantage of that was the fact that I have stayed in shape when it comes to playing live. If you just sit around in your studio the entire day, you’ll be out of oxygen by the third song once you step back out on stage. That’s how the whole thing developed at the time. So I never quit making music; I just disappeared for a while. There is always a guitar and an amp in my living room, and I play guitar every day, sometimes until 2 AM. Just for fun.”

Never on Bad Terms

The band Herrmann stuck around with the longest was Running Wild. “I have always felt really well playing with Running Wild”, he nods. “We made a new album together every two or two and a half years. When I decided to quit the band, it was because my third son was born. Rolf (Kasparek, Running Wild’s singer/guitarist) has accepted that, and we didn’t go our separate ways on bad terms. On the contrary.

In fact, I never split from any of the bands I played with on bad terms. Whether it was a decision the band made or something I decided myself; everything actually went fair every time. That is something that I value greatly. Our paths will always cross one at some point in our lives. For me personally, it’s also a bit of a bummer if there is bad blood when a member leaves a band, or when a band decides to carry on without a certain musician.

Such band-internal business should remain internal anyway. That’s how it goes in a company as well: you have a relationship inside of the company and outside of the company. That is something that should be maintained. I think it’s important that people are loyal to that. After all, it’s always better to deal with people who are kind.”

Possessed by Music

“Even when I wasn’t visible on the national or international stages, I have always continued writing and recording music. I have a studio in my house, and I have been playing with the Audesno Classic Rock Show for over thirteen years. So I’m always playing and creating things. And that will stay that way for as long as I can. Because for me, making music doesn’t just mean messing around in the studio, but also being on stage, receiving feedback from the audience, and having fun together.

My heart has always been with hard rock and metal. Anyone of my age grew up with Deep Purple and AC/DC, and then later things like Iron Maiden and Accept. This love I have for this type of music has always been there, and I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon. I have been possessed my music for as long as I can remember, and I would not be able to imagine a life without music at all.

It’s not just playing the instrument either, it’s also exchanging records and having fun with friends. What I have always loved was playing in a band and hanging out together after a gig, just having fun and celebrating the whole thing. That’s when stories and experiences are created.

Obviously, you can do a lot of things online these days. We do that as well: we organize live sessions where we sit around our computers and exchange ideas. That way Micke can sing with us from Sweden. And then the tracks appear in the chat immediately, and I can implement those in what I’m doing.

I remember a time when you had to take the tapes to a studio to have your album mixed after it was done. Everything was done physically. The fact that these things are done digitally these days is an incredible step forward and a great relief.”

Logistical Benefits

“In the studio, I tend to be quite old-fashioned. If I had the choice, I would most like to play my old Marshall amps, which I have had since I was 18 years old, over a Marshall cabinet. However, I have been using modeling in the studio; a Fractal FM-9, on which I managed to put together a studio sound that sounds really good.

There is a reason for this too. The last album I recorded, I actually recorded with an old tube amp, which broke down in the middle of production. Obviously, I had to repair that thing, but some of the songs weren’t completely finished yet, and because of that, the guitar sound differs between tracks. That eventually led to me saying: let’s record everything with a Fractal amp this time around. These things have become so good over the years that there hardly is a difference in sound anymore.

It has made transport a lot easier too. If we play a show in, let’s say, northern Germany, and we have to rent a transporter in order to take all equipment with us, a modeling amp will do just fine. It also sounds good. You plug it in, everyone has their own sound, and it’s done. The logistical benefits are numerous.

If you start from zero, without any of the presets, and you want to create a sound yourself, it does require a bit of time to make it work. That’s why I would still be happy to do everything with the analog world of a Marshall tube amp, a guitar, a Tube Screamer and a wah pedal. I have worked with microphones for a long time, so I know how to position them. It’s also just fun. And it has something a digital amp just doesn’t have.”

Getting Familiar with Generation Steel

“On ‘Steelmachine’, I only used three guitars. There were two guitars for the rhythm tracks. There was a Dean Vengeance, and for the solos there was the Ibanez that I’ve had around forever, because it has a tremolo. It has been renovated recently, though. New frets on it, a new tremolo, and everything is cool again. I’m very happy to be supported by J’s Guitar Shop by Jochen Braun in Lipptingen when it comes to guitars and amplifiers. At the moment, I’m playing a Maybach Les Paul with Seymour Duncan SH-4 pickups.

I have recently played two shows with Generation Steel playing the old set. This was important for me, in order to get familiar with the style and the sound of Generation Steel. And as far as rhythm guitar goes, that is the whole classic metal story. Fortunately, I have been playing this style myself ever since I played with Risk. In terms of sound and playing style, it fortunately isn’t too far removed from all the other bands I have played with.

The same goes for my solo style. Whenever I play a solo, I first listen to the parts accompanying it. Obviously, I already have something in my head by the time that happens, so what’s next is that I play around with that. Then I listen to what I have done, and a melody has been born. After that, I have the perfect take at some point. But I don’t write any notes down; everything comes from whatever I feel when I am working on my solos.”

Messing Around Until It Works Out

“When I learned how to play the guitar, there were no videos, there were no mobile phones, and the computers we had couldn’t do what they to today. If we wanted to learn how to play something, we had to put a record on the turntable and try over and over again to play the riff or solo you were interested in. When I was 8 years old, there was a guitar teacher in my village who taught me the basic concepts of guitar playing for about a year, but the rest of it, I did completely on my own.

So when it comes to technique, you could say that I am mostly self-taught. That is basically how everyone of my generation had to do it. These days, there are guitar videos that will help you train things like your picking technique to perfection. That sort of thing simply didn’t exist when I was young. If you wanted to reach whatever goal you had set for your self, you just had to mess around until it worked out.

Still, on every album, there are things where I think I could have done a better take. But I also think it’s good to put something to the side for a few days or even a few weeks, and then listen to it again. Often, the things that bother you when you are focused on so many details are evened out, especially within the complete arrangement. But honestly, there is always something to improve.”