from Dororocks.net

DORO INTERVIEW 2/6/05

This interview originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Metal Maidens.  It
was conducted by me (Tony Cannella).  If anyone wishes to use this interview
for their magazines or web sites, you may do so as long as the proper credit is
given.

I consider myself to be a very lucky person. Over the course of Metal Maidens'
10-year 40-issue run I have had the pleasure to interview several of my
favorite singers, bands and musicians. I have no horror stories to report and I
can honestly say that every single band that I interviewed were cool and easy
to talk to. Then there is Doro Pesch. I have interviewed Doro far more times
then anyone else and she stands alone as the best person I have ever
interviewed. To speak to Doro is not so much an interview but it is more like a
conversation with an old friend. She is passionate about her music and cares
very deeply about it and her fans. It shows in her work and her words. So for
the final issue of Metal Maidens it was indeed a pleasure to once again hook-
up with the Metal Queen to find out what she has been up to recently. It was
another enjoyable experience and the pleasure was all mine. Without further
adieu, here are the contents of our last conversation which took place on
Super Bowl Sunday 2005.

QUESTION: First, please tell us what you are currently up to.

DORO: We just came off the tour with the orchestra, which was very, very nice.
I always wanted to do it one time in my life (play with an orchestra) and it was
really great. It was totally different. We just put out a DVD from the tour
("Classic Diamonds") and it will come out in the states in the next couple of
months. I think they will put out the DVD and the CD at the same time. We're
still doing promotion for it. I'm also writing new songs for a new record which
will be a normal record without the orchestra - maybe I will combine some
things that I have learned - but it will be a regular good metal album. I am
just
trying to come up with the best songs. I am in the studio usually or working on
lyrics and melodies.

QUESTION: How is work progressing on the new album?

DORO: We have four songs so far and I think it is going really well, I'm very
excited about it. I'm working on some ideas with my guitar player Joe Taylor.
In the past we did some cool things, and now we have some really nice things
in-the-making. I think it sounds really good so far. I want to write as many
songs as I can in the next couple of months then pick and choose the ones
that I think are really the best. I feel really inspired because of all the
experiences in 2004 with all the touring and concerts, all kinds of situations I
think gave me a lot of inspiration about what I want to write about. I
definitely
would like to concentrate on a metal album, maybe we are bringing "Triumph
and Agony" into 2005.



QUESTION: You have always worked with many talented people on your
albums. Who are some of the people that you are working with on this album?

DORO: I'm just planning where I want to go, but I definitely would like to work
with Torsten Sickert. He helped me with the "Classic Diamonds" album and I
really liked working with him. I would also love to go to Nashville again to
write with my old song writer friend Gary Scruggs. With him I can always come
up with the best and the nicest ballads. I'm also writing with my band, I think
that's definitely the plan that we do something all together. I don't know yet,
I
want to feel it out. Sometimes I start somewhere and I end up somewhere
completely different, so I let it happen. I definitely want to work with my
team,
the guys I know already and they have proven to me that they're ready to give
their heart-and-soul, they're definitely good to work with. I'm open to working
with new people.



QUESTION: You have recorded some duets with some great artists. Is there
anyone you would like to work with on another duet for this album?

DORO: It's definitely too soon to talk about but I really enjoy doing duets. On
the "Classic Diamonds" DVD I love the "Fear Of The Dark" version with Blaze
Bayley, I think that was so cool. I must say so far I have done duets with
people I have really wanted to work with, people like: LEMMY, BLAZE and
UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER (UDO/ACCEPT), it is hard to say who else would
come into the picture. I thought it was great on the "Fight" album working with
Pete Steele, so I don't know. At the moment, it depends on the song too.
Sometimes when there is a song, I have the feeling, `this person would maybe
like it' or would be perfect on it. I have some people that I have always
admired like RONNIE JAMES DIO, I would love to sing a duet with him, I don't
know if that will be possible but that would be one of my choices. GLENN
DANZIG I really like. BLACKIE LAWLESS from WASP, I always admired him
and I love his voice. So maybe one of those three guys. I love RAMSTEIN,
they are one of my favorite bands these days, so maybe something with their
singer. If it is meant to be then I am sure that it will happen. But I first
want to
write the songs then see where it takes me.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask you a few questions about "Classic Diamonds".
What was it like working with an orchestra?

DORO: It was amazing in the sense that I really met some great, super-
talented musicians. They were from all over the world: From Russia, France,
Germany, Korea - it was a great mix of people. I think we really made them fall
in love with heavy metal. They were all young - very open. Some of them were
die-hard rock fans, which I thought made the work with the Metal Classic
Night Orchestra so special, because they weren't like a traditional orchestra,
they were mixed in with all young people. It was totally different in the
studio.
There were sometimes 40 people there and I'm used to being by myself or
maybe with the band, but there are never more than 4 or 5 people in the
studio, it was hard work to get everybody on the same page. I think Torsten
Sickert did a wonderful job to get everybody in the same mind-frame. It was a
big challenge too, it was totally different from what I was used to. They were
always working with the music and the note sheets and doing the
arrangements. That was actually the biggest part that the arrangements would
sound cool, I wanted to make sure. Sometimes we wrote three arrangements
for one song and then I picked the one that I liked, I had to be totally
prepared
and ready to do it. The pre-production took much longer than usual because it
had to be all put down in writing, so that was different for me but I got used
to
it. I had some great help with my keyboardist and guitar player Oliver Palotai.
He was really, really helpful because he studied all that stuff. He's a
conductor and he studied everything and he helped me a lot, because he is in
my band he knows exactly what I like and what I want and what I need. When
he wrote arrangements, I was very happy with that. It hit the nail on the head.

QUESTION: How did the idea to work with an orchestra first come about?

DORO: It was just actually a little idea when I first did it in 2001. I did one
concert in Dusseldorf and I never thought I would ever do it again. It was great
but it was such a big production - it was a lot of work. Then in 2002 on the
"Fight" tour there were two people, they came to me and they asked me if I
wanted to participate in a benefit concert - it was for a good cause- for
animals
in need. I thought, `yeah sure, I'd love to' and they said they had the Metal
Classic Night Orchestra and I said `that sounds good already'. I went to the
rehearsal room and I met most of the guys we recorded the record with and
we went on tour with and we all got along right away. There were a couple of
songs arranged for this benefit concert and they sounded awesome and the
fans really liked it. On the "Fur Immer" DVD there are a couple of songs from
the Dusseldorf concert and off the Bochum, Zeche concert which was my first
concert with the Metal Classic Night orchestra I thought, `man, it's a shame
that it's just one concert then it's over' and I thought that we should really
record it then we tried to do it, but it was a much, much longer time then we
thought. At first we thought two months and then it's done, but it took like
eight
months. The recording costs were three times as much as we thought they
would be, I thought, if we do it, then we have to do it right. At first the idea
was
to make a little side project, but then the record developed and it wanted to
become a real record and we treated it as such.



QUESTION: The video for "Let Love Rain On Me" is also included on the
"Classic Diamonds" DVD. Where was the clip filmed?

DORO: It was actually filmed in an old castle in Germany called Sonneck. I
always wanted to do a concert or video in a castle. Actually, one time we
played in a castle but it was many, many years ago and I always thought
doing a video at a castle would be great. We tried to find a castle where
people would allow us to do that and actually this castle, some people didn't
take care of it. They said we could even film there for free. The day we shot
the video, it was a very rainy day and we weren't allowed to get in so we just
shot it outside. Sometimes it was a struggle with the weather, but it worked. It
was a great location.

QUESTION: It is a really cool video. The scenery is awesome, I think.

DORO: It unfortunately never got played on the video channels.



QUESTION: Wasn't that your biggest selling single ever?

DORO: Yeah! It entered the charts at number seven in Spain. We recorded it
in three different languages: English, French and Spanish. In Spain, at first it
entered the charts at number 18 and I totally freaked, I couldn't believe it.
Then it went to 8 and then it went to 7. It's overwhelming.

QUESTION: You've always enjoyed good success in Spain.

DORO: I just found out two days ago, from the people from the magazine
Heavy Rock in Spain that I was voted the best singer of the year again for the
15th time. I'm going there in a couple of weeks to receive the award.

QUESTION: Wow, that's got to be a great feeling.

DORO: Yeah, I don't know what it is but in Spain there's like such a strong fan
base and it's great. That single was played a lot. It was even played on the
radio, which for me is very unusual that people would play it on radio.

QUESTION: Why did you decide to record the JUDAS PRIEST song "Breaking
The Law" for "Classic Diamonds"?

DORO: I was always a big JUDAS PRIEST fan, they were always one of my
biggest influences when I started doing music and I always wanted to sing a
PRIEST song. I saw them here in Germany on their reunion tour and we
talked. I asked if it would be okay if I could cover a JUDAS PRIEST song and
they said "yeah sure, go for it, it would be great". I went back into the studio
and I thought I would love to try it, if it doesn't work than I will not put it
on the
record. We tried out "Breaking The Law" and immediately I thought this would
sound great. It's totally different, it's a version which has a different
arrangement and I thought if I cover the song then maybe I want to do it
differently. "Breaking The Law" is one of my favorite songs off this record and
doing it as a duet with Udo Dirkschneider - that makes it even more special. I
love Udo and we had so much fun singing it together. "Breaking The Law"
was always one of my favorite PRIEST songs. We played it live on the tour
and it was always one of the highlights on the tour.

QUESTION: On the "Fur Immer" DVD you filmed a concert in a cave in Balve,
Germany. What was that experience like?

DORO: That was like two years ago on the "Fight" tour. That was great. We
played the cave again this year with the orchestra. Now they said they
wouldn't do any concerts there anymore, so I am so glad that we had the
chance to play there for a second time. It was awesome and I think the "Fur
Immer" DVD came out really, really good. It was like one year of work and it
shows the whole history. The cave gig was definitely very special, it was
totally different from all the venues I have played in the world. It had a
different
vibe - it was a little bit spooky, it had like a heavy vibe but it was really
cool - I
enjoyed it. It was just pretty difficult because it was very wet, moist and cold
and for my voice, I got a bad cold after the concert. I heard from other artists
that when you play the cave that you can be dead sure that you will be so sick
afterwards. It is very cold and when you sweat you immediately can catch a
big cold, so that's what I got, but it didn't matter because the concert went
over
great.

QUESTION: I have to say that the Fur Immer DVD is great. It's one of the best
music DVDs I have ever seen. It's everything the fans have waited for: videos,
documentary stuff, the concert.

DORO: Tony, that's great to hear! Even the making of the DVD, the whole
process, I could feel, we were working on something special. It was totally
interesting to watch the footage from when we started or from 10 or 20 years
ago.

QUESTION: It pretty much spans your whole career. It's a pretty good
overview.

DORO: I had so much great help from all of the fans. All the fans, they sent in
their tapes, everybody was contributing to it. It was great to make it and I
could
really feel that it would come out good. We had great people working on it.
Unfortunately, the company that did it went bankrupt. It's the last DVD they did
and they were a wonderful company. I wanted to work with them again, but it
didn't happen, but I was glad they did our DVD.

QUESTION: You toured extensively off your last record "Fight" in 2002. How
did that go?

DORO: Super! That was the longest tour we have done since 1987. It was a
great tour. We played countries and territories where we had never been
before, it was phenomenal. All the countries where it wasn't possible to tour
before, like Russia, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary. That was really,
really cool. The "Fight" tour went on even into last year and we did Australia
and Thailand. It was mind blowing. The whole record had a long life, which I
loved and that was good. You could really feel in every country metal is
getting more and more important again, so that's really great to see and hear.
The "Fight" tour was definitely one of the best tours we have ever done.

QUESTION: After touring the U.S. extensively for "Calling The Wild". How
come you didn't make it over here for the "Fight" tour? I think a lot of fans
were
disappointed.

DORO: We wanted to tour there - we tried. Actually, we were hoping for the
DIO tour. And then we had to make plans and we booked the European tour
and then we heard from DIO or from his management that they would like to
take us on the road and we thought "oh shit", and now everything was booked
already and we couldn't cancel all of the European dates that were already
confirmed. Otherwise, we would have been on the DIO tour again. That was a
total shame, I wanted to do it so bad. This year we definitely want to do a tour
again in the states. There are a couple of possibilities already. Last year was
just a shame that it didn't work out, It's always complicated.

I have some other good news, in September I will do my first film. It's called
"The Way of the Warrior", it's a Swiss film and has a great story. It's like a
science fiction movie but it plays like in the stone age or something. It's a
cross between Highlander or Mad Max, something like that. I saw the script
and I met him (the producer) on this tour with the orchestra, he came to one of
the concerts and he asked me if I would be interested and I thought, "maybe".
I read the script and I thought it was great! He said to "check out the script
and
tell me what kind of character you would like to play" and he said maybe he
could write another small role or something. To make a long story short there
is this girl in the script- her name is Meha - she's a hunter who then develops
into a warrior, it's one of the major female roles in the movie. I met him again
and he asked me what I would love to play and I said, "well, there is this one
role" and he said, "well can I tell you what I would like for you to play" and I
said, "yeah" and he said, "this girl Meha", and I said "Yeah, this is great!" I
thought exactly the same thing when I was reading the script and I want to do
it. I definitely would like to write some music for the movie as well. That will
be
in September.

QUESTION: Is it going to be just a European release or will it get released in
North America as well?

DORO: I hope it won't be just released in Europe. I know it is coming out on
DVD. It is a bit difficult to compete with all of the big Hollywood productions,
that's tough. We are hoping for the best. But it's definitely coming out on DVD,
that's for sure and we hope that it will come into the cinemas.

QUESTION: Will the movie be an English language release?

DORO: I don't even know how he wants to do it, but I think it will be English
than it will be translated in all the other languages.

QUESTION: Let's talk a little bit about the 20th anniversary. What was that like
to celebrate your 20th anniversary on stage?

DORO: That was the biggest moment of my life, after the great monsters of
rock festival (in England in `86), since then I don't think I had a better day
in
my life. It was so cool, people came from all over the world: from Spain,
Australia, America, Holland and from Germany - of course - from all over. At
first we thought maybe 3000 people would come and then it was like 6000
people or even more than 6000 people showed up. It was a tremendous
show. We had a lot of guests show up like Lemmy and Mikkey Dee from
MOTORHEAD - we played "Love Me Forever" together - which was great.
SAXON played, Udo Dirkschneider, Blaze Bayley, Jean Beauvoir, BONFIRE.
It was great seeing all of the fans, I think I did the longest show I ever
played
in my life, it was three hours and fifteen minutes. We made sure that we
played all of the songs that I thought people would like to hear like from the
first record to the "Fight" record - we did everything. It was a hell of a day
and I
didn't expect that so many people would come, that was actually the biggest
surprise. I got so many cool gifts. Everybody had nice little things from nice
things like hearts and little gifts , it was so good and I still have it here.
My
whole living room is filled with gifts from that day and old pictures. Not that
I
even expected gifts but suddenly everybody had something. I felt even it was
too much, but it was really nice and everyone was so thoughtful.

QUESTION: You also played Wacken last year. How was that?

DORO: Wacken was so good, too. This year Wacken with the orchestra, it was
another phenomenal day. For me it's always so much pressure, I was so
nervous and sometimes I am so glad when it's over because it's too much for
the nerves. But then I'm even happier when things go over well.

QUESTION: Do you think the anniversary show will ever be released on
DVD?

DORO: Yes, it will. I saw it already. It was filmed beautifully. There were like
twelve cameras there filming. The only problem is to get the permission from
all of the companies of all the people that played at the show. But I'm hoping
that we can do it soon.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask you about the WARLOCK reunion. How did that
come about?

DORO: It came about because we met at my 20th anniversary concert. I
invited all kinds of people to the show and I thought I wanted to give my old
band members a call. I asked them if they wanted to come and party. We said
how about doing something for the fans that they wouldn't expect and play a
couple of songs together. We did some rehearsals and they went really well. It
was the last thing we did at this concert and I think the fans really enjoyed it
because there were so many old fans from the 80s. That was actually the start
of us talking again. Then we were talking to the Wacken people and they said
they were celebrating their 15-year anniversary and they would like every act
to do something special and I was thought, "yeah, maybe we can come with
the orchestra and maybe I can call up the WARLOCK guys to see if they
maybe want to play together". Everybody was so happy that it would work,
then actually we got into some heavy lawsuits and we still are with one of the
old bandmembers. A couple of days before the show we thought everything
would fall through, because it was heavy with all kinds of lawyers and there
were so many problems. But then we could play under the name WARLOCK
1986. That was the only solution - thank god. Now we have to go to court
again, actually next week I have to go to court. It's still the fight over the
name,
the rights over the name. It's a mess again. I don't know, I hope for the best
but it's a mess.

QUESTION: One more question about the WARLOCK then we'll move on. Do
think you'll ever get together and do more shows with them?

DORO: If we are allowed, then it could be possible. We have to solve it in
court that we can use the name WARLOCK.

QUESTION: I wanted to get your reaction to what happened to Dimebag
Darrell of DAMAGEPLAN at that show in Ohio. It was a very tragic situation.

DORO: I was so shocked. I couldn't believe it. I just read today the Rock Hard
issue, they had a long article on him and man I couldn't believe it - I was
really
shocked and very sad. I'm so sorry that it happened. I couldn't believe that
things like this would happen. Sometimes I always thought that security is a
joke. I always thought, I don't want to have any security but in that case there
are many crazy people out there. The world became such an unsafe place
and it's maybe good to watch out for one another. Definitely have more
security checks so stuff like that won't happen. That somebody can even take
a gun to a show. That's unbelievable.

TONY: And get on the stage with it.

DORO: Yeah. I always thought that metal stands for family and unity. I heard
this guy was out of his mind. I was very sad and shocked when I heard about
it. Johnny Dee, my drummer, gave me a phone call and he told me about it
the next day. I couldn't believe it.

QUESTION: Does this incident change how you feel about performing live?

DORO: I always try to do the best I can and I know not all of the people will
like it always at all times. I hope that when I give my best that everything
will
be okay. You can't check every situation, you can't check every venue. It's
difficult to control everybody, even though some more security would be
better. I try to do the best I can. I feel like in our band we watch out for one
another a little bit more. The guys pay more attention when I am in the front
headbanging away. I could feel they are a little bit more alert.

QUESTION: Nick Douglas and Oliver Palotai have been on tour with BLAZE.
What is the status with them? Are they still a part of your band?

DORO: Absolutely, they are still in my band. Just to make that clear, they were
just borrowed by BLAZE. They just played his tour - a couple of gigs. At the
moment they are not on tour anymore. I was totally okay with it that they did
some other stuff because being a musician you have to survive, it's really
difficult these days. So I was even glad that they could play with BLAZE, but
they are definitely in my band. If a guy in the band wants to do something, like
a festival or a gig or play another tour, that's okay. That's totally cool, as
long
as everybody knows we are the band. That was the only thing with the
situation, when they played with BLAZE, I think it came across a little bit
weird
that it wasn't clear that they would still be in our band so that was maybe a
little bit unfortunate. Other than that everything was okay.

QUESTION: Do you ever get the chance to go online and check out some of
the web sites dedicated to you? What's your opinion of them?

DORO: Sometimes I do, but I want to do it more. I highly appreciate that
people put so much work into them. I love it because when the fans do
something, I'm the happiest. I can truly say that. To have a good vibe with the
fans. I really deeply appreciate it when people put work into it and sometimes
I check the web sites. I probably haven't seen all of them yet. I guess I'm more
old school I don't surf the internet so much. Sometimes here and there,
usually I am in the studio or working on songs and lyrics - always working.
When I come home from the studio it's usually like 4 or 5 o'clock in the
morning and I don't even feel like going on line. I'm really grateful that
people
put so much work into it. That's cool. From all over the world. I heard that
there
are fans that are doing it from all different countries.

QUESTION: What bands are you currently listening to?

DORO: I listen to all kinds of bands. I am a big RAMSTEIN fan, I really love
that band. I love all of their artistic stuff and the videos, the photo
sessions, I
think it always has such a good sense of humor, very artistic. I love the
"Amerika" video. I'm very curious about the new JUDAS PRIEST record, I
haven't heard it yet, but I definitely want to get it as soon as it comes out. I
like
the band CHILDREN OF BODOM. I like this Hungarian band called
OCTOMORS, they are pretty cool.

QUESTION: Do you have any hobbies/interests besides music?

DORO: Actually there is not much time to do anything else. I have to learn for
this movie to work with all kinds of weapons and I am just starting to do this
to
practice. So that's what I am doing at the moment to get ready for the movie
and to get into the character and to start getting familiar with all kinds of
weapons. In the movie I play a warrior so I had better know my shit (laughs).
So that is what I am doing besides the music at the moment.



QUESTION: What are your plans for 2005?

DORO: To come up with some great songs, which I hope the fans will love.
Playing some kick ass shows - we will play a couple of summer festivals. I
hope we can get on a great American tour. I hope we can come up with a
great record, which I hope will be ready in early 2006.

QUESTION: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Doro. In closing, is
there anything you would like to say to the fans?

DORO: I want to tell the fans that they are the most important thing in my life.
I
can truly and wholeheartedly say that and that nothing ever came close to that
feeling that when we are together. When we share great concerts, great
moments, great music together. I am so happy to belong to this great family of
heavy metal. I hope that we will have many, many more great years together
and I wish everybody the best. Keep metal alive and I hope to see you all
soon. I would also like to thank Metal Maidens for all the great years of
support.