The Blairing Out Show host, Eric Blair, has released a new video interview he conducted with U.D.O./ex-Accept bassist, Peter Baltes.
During the chat Baltes discusses growing up in Germany, what he thought the first time he heard Udo Dirkschneider’s voice, navigating his success in Accept, playing bass on Dokken’s Breaking The Chains album, and much more.
When Blair asks when we’re going to hear the long awaited Peter Baltes solo album, Baltes responds, “I’ve been working on it, and I was really gonna go for it because I had certain players in mind to play it. [Deep Purple keyboardist] Don Airey – then he was on tour, so I couldn’t get him. And then Udo called me, ‘Can you help me out.’ And since he called me, I’ve been on the road or recording with him. I did the My Way album and I played on the last album. I didn’t have any time and it’s killing me, you know, I’m going home now for three weeks. I’ve gotta spend time with my wife, I can’t just… And then we’re going to South America. Then we’re going back to Europe. Then I have December. Then I have something to do with the DATOG [Dirkschneider & The Old Gan] album, we just recorded that. Then the end of February, the European tour starts, so there is no continuous like four or six weeks I could dive in. I don’t know, that’s how it’s gonna be, that’s how it’s gonna live, song by song, piece by piece I have to put it together.
“It’s really like old progressive, Emerson, Lake & Palmer meets [Deep] Purple meets Rush meets Motörhead. It’s all in there in my own little world that I am. And it’s very bass driven. And I’m struggling so much because I don’t know if I should sing it myself. And then I could never do it live because I’m not a frontman, I play bass, you know. I didn’t wanna stand there, sing at the same time, that wouldn’t be me. So there had to be a singer there anyway, so I figured I’m gonna sing it, get it all finished, and then I’m gonna find a singer or have somebody sing it. And then I just alternate the ones that I really like where I’m on, keep them and everything else,somebody else.”
Baltes recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help rebuild his Florida home after it was ravaged by Hurricane Milton.
Peter’s statement on the GoFundMe page reads: “Hurricane Milton hit my area head on while I was still on tour. My wife and the cats where in a shelter with friends. I was able to fly out straight after the last show. I thank God that our family was spared. Many others where not that fortunate. The house has damage but it can be repaired. The cage and concrete floor are busted and need to be replaced. Of course not covered by insurance. We would appreciate if you could help.”
Visit the GoFundMe page here.