We recently interviewed a very talented music artist Scheppel. Scheppel’s debut album ‘Origin’ is the perfect chronicle for this journey as a musician and highlights all his various influences from classical to folk, rock and even dubstep.
With such a great reception for the album, thousands of twitter followers worldwide including over twenty fan pages from Mexico to France, Finland, Germany, the Americas, South Africa, Brazil and even Australia, one can’t help but wonder how big this fire is about to grow!
Pro Media Mag : First of all tell us about the start of your professional career?
Scheppel : After a strict classical childhood that included recitals, universities and competitions as a violinist, composer and orcestral conductor I discovered the world of rock and roll and well, yeah, the rest is history!
Pro Media Mag : Who or what inspired you to get into music industry?
Scheppel : I come from a musical family so it has always been part of my surroundings since I can remember. My first big concert was conducting Beethoven’s Corolianus Overture at age sixteen. I spent my time memorizing orchestral scores and listening to various genres of music from Shostakovich to Led Zeppelin.
Pro Media Mag : Tell us about your debut album ‘Origin’?
Scheppel : My framework in music is quite broad and I wanted to do an introduction into my history as a musician from alternative rock, dubstep to celtic rock and metal influences. So Origin is the start, or coming of age album connecting all these several elements into one.
Pro Media Mag : You have recently released music videos of ‘Swamp Stomp’ and ‘Celtic Fire’. Tell us more about these?
Scheppel : Both songs represent the two very different sides of the album, rock and dubstep.
The celtic rock track Celtic Fire was actually shot on the set of Swamp Stomp at 3am in the morning and the director of photography – actually also a pretty great violinist himself- had a great idea to shoot this video up close with clever lighting and frame speeds. I had to play the song at 260bpm for the slow frames, quite insane but fun since it was freezing at the time.
Swamp Stomp is dubstep-rock fusion and the last track on the album. It features a younger version of Scheppel played by Michael Kraounakis as he tries to escape a duel between both his good and evil versions of himself. The special fx makeup for swamp creature was loads of fun to do!
Pro Media Mag : What attracts you more, performing on stage or working in studios?
Scheppel : I love both parts of the industry. Playing live is exhilarating! Creating music for albums is (to paraphrase Dean Koonts) like simultaneously having the best sex of your life whilst having a root canal. The end result is whats drives me and to then take it on tour to share it with some amazing people.
Pro Media Mag : Last year you collaborate on the Metal All-Star Vivaldi Metal Project and worked with so many great artist. How was your experience?
Scheppel : Unforgettable. I have the utmost respect for all those great musicians involved including Sir Rick Wakeman, Mistheria, Ark, Impelliteri, Radioactive, Testament, Savatage, Mark Wood and Sumphony X. The projecy was massive, and spanned studios from all around the world. It was such an honor to be part of!
Pro Media Mag : Have you set some target to achieve as a music artist?
Scheppel : Yes. It does change over time but the essence would be to really break the bounaries of violin as a classical instrument. The violin is quite limitless and still very young within the rock and alternative genres and styles of music.
Pro Media Mag : Are you currently working on any other project?
Scheppel : We are currently finishing my new album to be released in February 2018. So when not touring its all studio time and collaborations. So far the new album is the biggest project I have worked on to date, and I can’t wait to share it!
Pro Media Mag : How do you spend your free time?
Scheppel : Reading suspense novels, Youtube and driving safari trails in South Africa, away from the music and the world. Just being, until the music calls again.