HERMAN RAREBELL Discusses 'Take It As It Comes' Solo Album In New Interview

Jeffrey Easton of Metal Exiles recently conducted an interview with former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Exiles: Concerning your former label, Monaco Records, what did you learn from running a record label?

Herman: I learned that the biggest thing is that you can gain a lot of money and lose a lot of money. We came at a time when labels had a hard time selling CDs so that ruined the label. The record buying world has changed now.

Metal Exiles: On the other hand what did you gain from running a label.

Herman: You can sign artists that you love and believe in and you have 100 percent profit where as before you had to give a percentage back to the record company.

Metal Exiles: What is your current take on the music business?

Herman: I think personally that the game has changed. It is no longer the album anymore, it is the song. People really do not go to the record stores anymore because more and more people download what they want. I think the future of music is an all-digital world so it will really depend on that one song.

Metal Exiles: Let's get into "Take It As It Comes". This was already released in Europe, correct?

Herman: This was released in Germany under the title of "I'm Back" but I could not find a company in the states to distribute it. It was on Amazon as an import for $38 but I thought that was a bit much and did not expect many sales. But since I finally found an American company I changed the name of the album to "Take It As It Comes" because I love the song and it is my life's philosophy as well.

Metal Exiles: This album is a long time in the making. Why did it take so long to get another Herman Rarebell solo album?

Herman: I had so many things going on but I knew it was time for a new album because I was itching to go out and play. I found a good band and since I was producing the album I had the luxury of picking the songs that I wanted. I told the guys in my band to bring me their best songs so out of all of those I picked the best ones to record.

Metal Exiles: You said you picked the best songs to record but yet you're a great songwriter, so why did you accept submissions rather than write the album yourself?

Herman: As the producer, I just said to myself just take the best songs, nobody is going to give a shit about who wrote what when they hear the song. I made sure all of the songs were on a high level but I did write "I'm Back" and I do think on the next record maybe it will just be me writing by myself. Also when I go out on tour, I do not want to be out front singing all of the time the songs I write. I have a great singer in the form of Stefan Erz. He is the perfect frontman, a cross between Jon Bon Jovi and Steven Tyler, and he knows what he is doing and I would rather be drumming than singing.

Metal Exiles: You did something very interesting here, you recut [SCORPIONS'] "Rock You Like A Hurricane" into a different version. Why did you do such a diverse version of the classic and what do your former bandmates think of it?

Herman: To be honest, I have no idea what they think of it as nobody has said anything to me. I wanted to make something completely different, a 2010 version because there is no point in touching the original version. For me it was having a challenge to do something different with it.

Read the entire interview from Metal Exiles.