< PreviousLet ,s start the mountain moshpit! By Andrea Leim altatio Mortis, Clawfinger, Hämat- om, Faun, Bokassa and many more: the line-up of bands that will be belting out their riffs in the mountains from 31st of March is impressive. The heavy metal family will be celebrating their festival premiere in Mayrhofen, in the heart of Tirol. Framed by the imposing three-thousand metre peaks of the Zillertal Alps, Full Metal Mayrhofen offers the perfect combination of alpine idyll and heavy music. Exactly the right holiday destination for real slope rockers whose instruments It’s getting loud in the beautiful Zillertal, in the heart of Tirol! From 31st of March to 5th of April, the zither will give way to the electric guitar and the traditional costume to the metal west. That’s when the new ‘Full Metal Mayrhofen’ festival will take place for the first time at the foot of the Alps Hämatom will ensure the après-ski party gets harder than any black diamond slope on Thursday in the Racket Club Faun will perform on Friday on the open-air stage of the enchanting Waldfestplatzare skis or snowboards. “Fans have been asking us more and more often in recent years when we’re going to do something in the mountains again,” explains Holger Hübner. “The answer is: now or never! Mayrhofen has welcomed us with open arms, the response has been extremely euphoric and the possibilities on site are fantastic.” There will be concerts, read- ings and much more in various locations in the village, but also on the alpine huts up on the mountain. Because a holiday at Full Metal Mayrhofen offers more than just headbanging: Away from the stages, metal fans can go skiing, snowboard- ing, winter hiking or explore the surrounding excursion des- tinations, relax with metal yoga or wellness and spa offers, eat really well of course and - watch out! - enjoy the beer from Ziller- tal’s very own brewery. “I’m not a skier myself be- cause we only made it as far as the Harz Mountains with my par- ents,” Hübner tells and laughs. “Nevertheless, I’m a mountain fan. We may come from the flat country, but we feel at home wherever our fans feel at home.” And for them, the organisers have planned several events at different locations for each day, so that visitors can also explore their holiday destination. From Tuesday to Thursday, concerts will take place at the Racket Club, an indoor venue with space for a good 3,000 guests. On Friday and Saturday, it’s off to the rus- tic, fairytale-like Waldfestplatz with its open-air stage. Up to three shows are planned per day, and of course Bokassa will turn up the energy on Wednesday Heavy metal, great vibes, and the most stunning mountain scenery are the key ingredients for Full Metal Mayrhofen To close the festival in style, Saltatio Mortis will take the stage at the Waldfestplatz on Saturday The beautiful holiday destination of Mayrhofen in Tirol invites you to a metal spectaclethere will also be a supporting programme, as fans are already familiar with from the other touristic offers of the W:O:A organisers such as Full Metal Cruise and Full Metal Holiday. “Of course I’ll be DJing again and creating the right atmosphere,” promises Hübner. “That’s where I come from and I still enjoy it. So as long as the fans like it, I’ll keep doing it.” Andreas Lackner, Managing Director of the Mayrhofen-Hip- pach Tourist Board, assures us that the festival visitors will not just keep to themselves (see also interview on page 14): “There are quite a few metalheads among us locals. That’s my music too, I grew up with it. I would say that the metalheads who come to us as guests won’t stay here alone, but will see quite a few locals celebrating with them. I can imagine that some great friendships will develop here and that the metalheads will like it so much that they might make another trip to Mayrhofen a few months later.” The metal family is every- where! So, mountain metal- heads, pack your wests, put on your scarves and get ready: The mountain is calling! ive questions for An- dreas Lackner, Man- aging Director of the May- rhofen-Hippach Tourism Associa- tion What makes the Mayrhofen region special? Andreas Lackner: Mayrhofen is one of the few Alpine destinations that you can visit all year round. Of course, we are known as a winter destination, but almost half of our guests now come to us in summer, which is a wonderful demonstration of the diversity of the mountains. In winter you can enjoy sensational skiing, snowboarding, partying and good food, and in summer you can go mountaineering and mountain biking. In Mayrhofen, visitors will find everything a guest’s heart desires in the mountains. There are great offers in all price ranges, from a cosy hotel with beautiful wellness facilities to an absolute top level resort, everything is available. Full Metal Mayrhofen takes place in spring, from 31 March to 5 April. Should festival visitors be able to ski or snowboard? Andreas Lackner: No, not at all. This is one of the most varied times of the year. We have a valley floor that is 630 metres above sea level, and it’s usually already green in the valley in spring. So if the weather is right, you can go skiing, snowboarding or winter hiking on the mountain in the morning and cycling in the valley in the afternoon. The infrastructure for pedestrians on the mountain is also wonderful. We have set up winter hiking trails on both mountains and also offer a special pedestrian ticket. Metalheads also like to enjoy a beer or two with good music. Is Mayrhofen prepared for this? Andreas Lackner: Absolutely! We even have our own brewery in the Zillertal with its Zillertal Bier. Mayrhofen organises several festivals throughout the year. Do the event guests come back later as holidaymakers? Andreas Lackner: We very often experience that festival visitors fall in love with the region and then like to come back. I can well imagine that the metalheads will feel the same way. Do we have to worry that Hämatom or Clawfinger will cause an avalanche when they really get going? Andreas Lackner:No, no! (laughs) The snow belongs on the mountains, that’s where it stays. There’s so much of it up there, and that’s a good thing. Down in the valley, you just have to clear it away. So we certainly won’t trigger any avalanches, not even Manowar could do that. “’ ’ ” Throw your metal horns in the air and let’s go! Andreas Lackner Credits: WOA, Becknaphoto Mayrhofen is the perfect destination for the entire metal familySince 2018, Axel Schmitt has been delivering his baked goods to the Holy Ground. He has also kneaded dough with In Extremo for the Wacken Foundation, talked breadmaking with Iron Maiden and this year, he even graced the main stage with his friends Rage. Schmitt doesn’t just roll dough; he also rocks the drums. A conversation about metal, meal and motivation Axel Schmitt loves heavy metal – and bread! Schmitt in his bakery with a special Wacken loafby Andrea Leim e oversees 70 employ- ees, has been named the best baker in the world, boasts almost 700,000 fol- lowers on social media and is regularly seen on TV: Axel Schmitt from Schweinfurt is one of Germany’s most fa- mous bakers. His passion for heavy metal played a big part in this development, the 43-year- old admits. Axel, you were practically born into this trade and run a family business, right? Axel Schmitt: Exactly. I’m a fourth-generation baker and grew up with flour in my veins. My childhood bedroom was directly above our bakery. We had a real artisanal workshop and if I wanted to see my parents, I had to go either to the bakery or to the shop, because that’s where they both spent most of their time. When you were out partying or playing music late into the night, were you allowed to go to bed, or did you go straight to work? Axel Schmitt: When you come home and have a bakery, you get into funny situations. I would sometimes try to avoid that – my father, that is. I’d look suitably out of it, but because we had a small house, my father was practically everywhere. As soon as he bumped into me, he would have made me help. And I rarely had time off. So when I came back a bit worse for wear, I would climb up over the entire house, along the gutters, over the roof and slide down the other side to my room on the first floor. But quite often I really did go from the stage straight to the bakery. How did your passion for music emerge? Axel Schmitt:Money used to be really tight in our family. Thomas Jensen, Axel Schmitt and Doro Axel with guitarist Ost and singer Nord of Hämatom Even Dave Mustaine got some bread Axel and Holger Hübner Axel Schmitt is a pro in front of the cameras He knows how to pose for pictures Judas Priest fronter Rob Halford is happy about his gift from Axel With Otto Waalkes and a bespoke loafMy parents worked a lot, but there wouldn’t be anything left. Although no one in my family was that musically inclined, my parents always put money aside for my early musical education. At music school, you could get a taste of everything. My teachers there recognised my talent early on and also realised that I could sing well, at least back then. And I had rhythm, too! I was allowed to try out a few instruments, from piano to trumpet. And here in Bavaria, boys obviously play in the brass band! But I secretly wanted to play the drums. That eventually came true because I was always so disruptive in piano classes. Back then, I was being taught in a group and distracted everyone so much that my teacher put me on an electric drum kit with headphones as punishment. That happened in fifth grade, so quite late, but it was the beginning of my great love affair. When did you start your first band? Axel Schmitt: I’ve done a lot: from a brass band, where you learn how to drink beer as a Bavarian boy and get relationship advice from eternal singles, to party music for marquees and the army music corps of the German armed forces. But I felt most at home in my metal band, which was called Serpent Smile. We earned a bit of pocket money by playing covers because with my 400 bucks in wages I couldn’t afford a flat or a girlfriend back then. Music paid for a lot of that. And my Eva has been with me ever since. Were you always going to take over your parents’ bakery? Axel Schmitt: Yes, I knew that right from the start. I was roaming around here as a little boy, after all. When we went on my first family holiday to Italy while I was still a small child, I cried and managed to get my parents to go home two days early because I wanted to make my dough. I did an additional apprenticeship as a pastry chef in Würzburg and got to see a bit of the world through music, but my labour was needed at home. By the time I was 30, I was the rocking baker who enjoyed baking, but also music. (laughs) You broke out of the traditional baking mould and started combining music and baking. How did that come about? Axel Schmitt: That was due to fate. When I came back from my traineeship, I was still toying with the idea of becoming a rock star one day. (laughs) I was also a professional musician in the army, and it’s great just focusing on music all day. Anyone who loves music can relate. My wife and I already had a child, and Eva was pregnant again. Suddenly, unfortunately, my father passed away, which was really tough. And there I was, the rocker who had no idea about business management. That was more than ten years ago now. Eva and I then put our heads together and drew up some rules. At the top of the list: it has to be fun! If you spend day and night working and never have any fun, you have to hit the breaks. We also wanted to shake up the craft. In addition to the existing rehearsal room, we naively built a studio for public relations work. Then there was a new programme on TV called ‘Germany’s Best Baker’. We competed as absolute underdogs, but baked our way through to the semi-finals – and into the hearts of the audience. At the same time, I was training to become a bread sommelier and had to create 60 pages of new knowledge on bread for a research paper. I thought to myself: if I have to spend the whole summer researching, at least I should be doing something I enjoy. So I investigated how sourdough develops when “ , , ” A hot show for W:O:A 2024: Axel Schmitt rocking Rage’s drums on the main stage The baker has played the drums since he was a boyexposed to music, what the microorganisms do when you play metal versus different frequency ranges. And in the middle of the summer slump, it was a great story for the media, which picked up on it with 400 newspaper articles and even TV reports. I was also asked to give talks about it and spoke at a congress that had also booked Thomas Jensen. He thought the parallels between W:O:A and my story were so cool that he invited me to Wacken. What happened next? Axel Schmitt: In the run-up to Wacken Open Air, we wanted to bake bread on the untouched Acker – when nobody is there except the cows. So together we created the ‘Wacken- Rocks-Wecken’: Rolls that you make from things you find under your inflatable mattress in the tent after the second or third day: crisps, peanuts, a bit of flour, bratwurst. Finally, we tapped the beer pipeline, made buns from the dough and baked them on the barbecue. Just classic Wacken. One thing led to another, and so today I sometimes wax philosophical about bread with Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. Rage have become good friends of mine, I even played a song with them at Wacken this year. Today I’m the official Wacken baker and I’ve already had the honour of giving baking courses for the Wacken Foundation. There is private label bread for the bands and campaigns for social media, whether for Wacken’s channels, mine or those of the bands. This year I baked with In Extremo and Knorkator. I’ve grown very fond of Wacken over the years. Do people underestimate you? Axel Schmitt: They used to. But in 2022, I was crowned World Baker – the highest possible honour. Me, the long- haired guy who prefers to hang out with sinister characters on stage and get up to no good on TV. World Baker, that’s like the world’s best football player, only with far worse pay. And what effect did metal have on the sourdough? Axel Schmitt: We did two experiments, one with AC/DC versus Mozart for marketing purposes, and then the scientific part with precise frequencies from 2,000 hertz to 32,000 hertz. We tested this gradually to the point of hitting ultrasound, for weeks, 16 hours per round. We may not have reinvented bread baking, but the higher the frequency, the more the acidity and pH value of the dough changed. In the end, we were actually able to produce a more flavoursome dough. So Maiden is scientifically better than Schlager. Do metal fans eat bread more often or differently than ‘normal’ people? Axel Schmitt: Absolutely. People who love music are much more receptive to nuances, to taste, to flavours, to beautiful things, because they’re connected to art. Combine all ingredients into a dough. Let dough rest and cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Separate into balls of 110 g and roll out to the size of your waffle iron. Bake until crispy in your waffle iron, about 7 minutes. 325 g butter 200 g sugar 500 g flour (wheat 405 or spelt 630) 3 eggs 15 g Speculoos spice 5 g baking powder “ ” Framed by legends: Schmitt with Steve Harris (l.) of Iron Maiden and Joey Belladonna (r.) of Anthrax In Extremo helped Axel Schmitt knead dough for the Wacken Foundation Credit: Axel SchmittNext >