Accept’s Mark Tornillo reflects on his journey as a metal vocalist: “Sing your ass off – every day”

Accept vocalist Mark Tornillo has taken a long and rather unusual road to becoming the frontman of one of heavy metal’s most legendary bands. Tornillo, who was already singing and playing piano at the age of two, spent years playing both drums and bass before eventually leaving the instruments behind and stepping fully into the role of a frontman. He later became known as the vocalist of T.T. Quick, before spending a lengthy period away from active life in music prior to joining Accept in 2009.

Chaoszine sat down with Tornillo at Hellsinki Metal Festival in Helsinki, Finland in August for a new episode of our My Story As Metal Frontman video series. During the interview, Tornillo looked back on his journey from his earliest musical influences to the present day, recalling how AC/DC, Van Halen and Judas Priest‘s classic live album “Unleashed in the East” opened the door to heavier music for him.

Tornillo explained that he had essentially been a singer for his entire life. During his younger years, he sang while playing drums and later bass, until his bandmates eventually suggested that he should put down the instrument and concentrate entirely on being the frontman.

The transition initially felt anything but natural.

Standing onstage without an instrument made Tornillo feel as though he was suddenly standing naked in front of the audience. He also realized that he was constantly holding onto the microphone stand as a crutch, so he eventually decided to get rid of it altogether. The decision freed him as a performer, and Tornillo still doesn’t use a microphone stand today.

During the conversation, Tornillo also recalled the years when T.T. Quick played clubs combining original material with covers before eventually being signed to Megaforce Records. As a young vocalist, he became skilled at mimicking some of his favorite singers, ranging from AC/DC‘s Bon Scott to Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford. One of his more difficult challenges came after Scott’s death, when he had to learn how to sing like Brian Johnson.

Returning to singing was harder than Tornillo expected

One of the biggest turning points in Tornillo’s career came when he joined Accept in 2009 following a lengthy period away from being an active touring musician. Returning to life as a full-time vocalist wasn’t as straightforward as he might have expected.

Tornillo sought help from a vocal coach in New York City who had worked with major singers including Steven Tyler. The coach quickly told him that he couldn’t teach Tornillo how to sing because he already knew how to do that. What he could teach him, however, was how to sing again the following day.

That lesson became one of the most important things Tornillo learned about maintaining his voice: the importance of properly warming up.

These days, Tornillo goes through approximately 45 minutes of vocal exercises before performing. His routine is based on the same program he has been following for roughly 15 years, with some modifications to help prepare his upper register.

Tornillo singled out Accept‘s 2010 album “Blood of the Nations” as a particularly important record in his development as a vocalist. At that point, he hadn’t recorded an album in almost a decade and discovered that returning to the studio at that level was more demanding than he had anticipated.

With producer Andy Sneap pushing him forward, Tornillo had to rediscover the kind of singing required by Accept. He described the process as requiring considerable mental and physical work, although the challenge ultimately helped him get back to the vocalist he had once been.

When it comes to performing material originally recorded with Udo Dirkschneider, Tornillo has also developed his own approach over the years. He acknowledges incorporating some of Dirkschneider’s nuances, but increasingly views the classic songs as something he has made his own.

His goal is to give audiences what they expect from those songs and remain faithful to the spirit of the original recordings without going overboard trying to imitate Dirkschneider.

“Get out there and start a band”

Today, Tornillo treats his voice like an instrument that requires both conditioning and recovery. Whenever touring schedules allow, he tries not to perform more than three or four nights in a row.

His pre-show routine is equally disciplined in other ways. Tornillo doesn’t drink alcohol before performing and prefers not to eat at all before a show, explaining that singing is simply easier for him on an empty stomach. Once the show begins, however, a beer is waiting for him onstage, and he says that is essentially all he drinks while performing.

Toward the end of the interview, Tornillo also offered some straightforward advice to aspiring metal vocalists. In his view, becoming a singer isn’t about relying on television talent competitions. It’s about actually singing and playing music with other people.

His advice is to get together with friends, start a band, write music and, above all, sing as much as possible – every single day.

You can watch the full My Story As Metal Frontman interview with Mark Tornillo below.

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