| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Date of Birth: | Apr 06, 1952 |
| Place of Birth: | Wuppertal, Germany |
| more Information: | My first glance at the world was on April the 6.th of 1952, exactly at 1.pm, in the beautiful town called Wuppertal. As the years were passing by, at the age of 12, I received as a gift from my parents the Beatles record "I'm Down", From then on I was obsessed with music. Then the Rolling Stones came into my life, and from that momment on the Beatles were only wimps. I got my first portable Recordplayer for Christmas. All my teachers hated me, because I took it always with me to school, my schoolmate was the world famous producer Michael Wagener and together with him I started my music carrier. At this time I was not interested in using my voice I was more into keyboards, and so my parents made me a gift at the age of 14. Of course a keyboard! At the same time Michael got his first electric guitar and the radio of his parents becames the amplifier. Of course they didn't liked it! From this time on the route was marked. Michael was working hard on the guitar and I was trying to play the keyboards propper. More and more I got into singing, and the result was, that I liked it more then playing . I created the first Band BAND X, when I was sixteen. We played 3 years in Clubs and in the year 1971 Michael and I changed the name of this Band. From this time on we were ACCEPT. At the same time Michael faced himself with the fact that he was not a good guitarplayer, and he changed to studio work. It needed 4 years to find the right Line up which gets the break through under the name ACCEPT. On a competition in Düsseldorf we reached the third place, and we got our first record deal. 1978 was the year of our first Album called "Accept", and at this time our music was a revolution. In the end of 1979 the second album was out under the title "I`m A Rebel", it was a work of research for a style. In 1980 with the release of "Breaker" the music scene was shocked by the sound of this album, surprised with this kind of agressive music from Germany, and this was also a breakthrough for the band all over Europe, and also it was the first time that we did a big headline tour in Germany and the european tour with JUDAS PRIEST, and so we decided this would be our profession. With the next album "Restless And Wild" for the first time America was interested in us, but in our opinion it was to early. During this time together with Michael Wagner I made a production company, called "DOUBLE TROUBLE" and produced bands like RAVEN, FAITHFULL BREATH, STREET FIGHTER etc. At this time there were rumors that I would quit ACCEPT, but it was not true. Then in 1983 with the release of "Balls To The Wall" we had world wide success and than the time for America was right. ............ the rest of my carrier, fans know it ! Udo.... |
| Instrument: | Guitar |
| Date of Birth: | Dec 31, 1983 |
| more Information: | Meet Andrey Smirnov, a renowned rock musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Germany. Andrey is the guitarist, composer, and songwriter for German heavy metal giants U.D.O and DIRKSCHNEIDER. He is also the lead vocalist, guitarist, and founder of modern metal band EVERLOST and heavy metal band NEBESA. Andrey began his musical journey at the age of 12 as a founder of his own band, EVERLOST. He’s recorded 5 albums with EVERLOST and 5 solo records. Latest instrumental guitar oriented record "Electric Gravity" was released 10 September 2021. Andrey has played with notable bands such as Paul Di'Anno, Blaze Bayley. In early 2013, Andrey joined the legendary German metal band U.D.O. as their guitarist and recorded his first work with them on the album "Steelhammer." In October 2016, he became the guitarist for the newly-formed DIRKSCHNEIDER project, led by the illustrious Udo Dirkschneider. Andrey Smirnov's impressive equipment collection includes ESP and LTD guitars, AMT Electronics amplifiers and pedals. He is working as a software developer for OVERLOUD (TH-U) and he's endorsed by ML SOUND LAB, NEURAL DSP plugins, InTune Guitar Picks, Kemper amps, MARSHALL and ENGL amps. |
| Instrument: | Drum |
| Date of Birth: | Dec 08, 1993 |
| Place of Birth: | Köln, Germany |
| more Information: | Sven Dirkschneider is the youngest member of U.D.O. and son of mastermind Udo Dirkschneider. From the beginning on Sven is in touch with his father ´s job and runs around backstage at his shows. His father ´s world consisting of tour busses, lots of event techniques and travelling has been normal to him since he can think. And he feels at a very early stage that this could be his world as well. Since he is 5 years old Sven has been playing drums already. After his school graduation he starts studying for media designer and event technician. Whenever he can and is on vacation he travels with his father and starts helping out as a drum tec at U.D.O. shows. As soon as he finishes his study Sven becomes a full time drum tec for U.D.O.. With DAMAGED he also has his own band that he plays drums with since he is 16. In 2012 he even supports U.D.O. with them. Also for British legends SAXON Sven starts working as a drum tec and replaces Nigel Glockler beginning of 2015 as a show drummer as Nigel hast o recover from a surgery. Now Sven is a fix member in U.D.O. |
| Instrument: | Guitar |
| Date of Birth: | Mar, 1992 |
| Place of Birth: | Krefeld, Germany |
| more Information: | Fabian Dee Dammers, born in ‘92, is a professional guitarist, based in Germany. He started playing guitar at the age of 13 due to the influence of bands such as Kiss, Motley Crue and Mr. Big. He performed on stages all around the globe with bands and artists from different genres, such as pop singer and tv/cinema star Nini Tsiklauri, dark-rock band “Hell Boulevard” or YouTube star “Cookiebreed“. Dee played the guitar for UK classic rock band “The Treatment” in 2014/2015 and toured with bands such as Aerosmith, Scorpions or Alter Bridge and performed at major festivals, such as Soundwave (AU), Rock am Ring (GER) or Download (UK). In 2015, Dee founded his own pop/metal project, called “Dirty D’Sire”, who reached the Spotify viral charts and hit more than one million listeners in the first year. While touring with Dirty D’Sire, Dee prepared for the audition with U.D.O., a chapter in his career yet to be told. Dee is also workin‘ on an instrumental guitar record at the moment. Fabian Dee Dammers plays: Ibanez guitars, ENGL amps, DiMarzio pickups, S.I.T. strings, Richter straps, InTune picks and likes to wear Pottrocka. |
| Instrument: | Bass |
| Date of Birth: | Apr 04. 1958 |
| Place of Birth: | Solingen |
| more Information: | In the 1970’s I started the Prog Rock Band Pythagoras in Solingen, Germany. Inspired by the Band Yes my playing style was heavily influenced by Chris Squire. Around 1978 I joined a local Rock Group called ACCEPT. Back then I had no idea that it would change my life forever. The ACCEPT style was Heavy Rock, loud and in your face with the most intense singer I had ever heard. I was hooked. It required to change my style completely, down to the bare essentials. Just keep the beat. And that’s all I did. And it paid off. Years later the press started referring to me „the heaviest right hand in metal“. Throughout my career I had many opportunities to write and record with many incredible artist. From the first Dokken Breaking The Chains album to Animal House, the first UDO album. Scorpions Savage Amusement, Don Dokken“ Up from The Ashes, Face the Truth & World’s Away Albums with John Norum, being able to play with so many different musicians really expanded my musical horizon. After my time with Accept I focused on writing & producing Film & TV tracks and working with artist worldwide. From recording bass for Mick Mars solo record to the album Requiem Reloaded with japanese guitar hero Nozomu Wakai. I reconnected with Udo writing & recording the album We Are One with the Musickorps Der Bundeswehr and Dirkschneider & the Old Gang. I had a great time being involved in this project but being able to spend time with Udo and Stefan really what made it special for me. In September 2022 I was asked to fill in as Bassplayer for the European Game Over tour. It was a great experience and we all really connected. Udo and I had plenty of time to talk about the old days. In April 2023 I accepted the offer to join UDO as permanent bass player. It’s all about the journey, not the destination. Peter |