M.S: Don, before analysing your new album, I would like to ask you something. How is the band formation today? Because I’ve been said that a member has left the band… What can you tell me about it?
D.D: Mick and Barry are still members but they had other commitments for the summer before we got the poison tour they will be back in the fall.
M.S: Don, the first thing I think about when I listen to your album is: How long have you been composing new material for Lightning Strikes Again?
D.D: We worked on it for 3 years, it took a long time to find the direction we wanted to go in, i wanted to do a cd like Dysfuntional but Jon pushed me into the direction of “tooth and nail” so we did more of a classic sounding cd., we were on tour a lot these last years so we had to start and stop many times during the recording
M.S: Well, in order to say the truth, at the moment we see the album’s cover, it smells like a classic. Did you think previously in a cover in which we could notice that Dokken is back with a studio album with your totally classical sound?
D.D: Yes since we were going old school we had the original artist do the cover and recorded at the same studio as our older CD’s to get the same sound as our biggest hit records we wanted our fans to recognize the cd cover as soon as they saw it as Dokken
M.S: There are great songs that I think that can become big hits, such as Heart to Stone or Standing on the Outside. Did Dokken want to come back to that sound that so much success gave you?
D.D: Yes i wrote the songs to have the classic feel and sound but still have a new fresh vibe, i don’t care if there hits. it is just important that the fans like the songs, that is enough for us
M.S: I noticed that the production of the album is quite good and the songs look like 80’s hits. Did you take a look back to the past when you composed the album?
D.D: Jon made a CD of his favorite Dokken songs and gave it to me, i put it in my car and listened to it every day for weeks to get my mind in the same place it was when i was younger
M.S: At the first listening I gave to the album, I noticed in the first track that the guitars and melodies sound like the best Dokken. What can you tell me about this great song? Have you followed any determined pattern to compose it?
D.D: No there was no pattern we just wrote songs that were simple, rokken, with catchy guitar riffs, this is our style so we tryed to capture it again it was hard but in the end i think we hit the write direction
M.S: Don, last year you came to Spain on tour and played in three big cities here. What can you tell me about that tour? Did you enjoy with the Spanish audience?
D.D: I am being very honest when i say that we love playing in spain very much, it is one of my favourite countries and the fans are crazy, in a good way, i wish our US fans were as passionate as the Spanish, everyone know that Spaniards are a passionate people it is a great feeling for us when we tour there, i wish we could play there more often
M.S: During the last tour, there were people that told me that it was difficult for you to get to some tones in the songs. Is difficult for you to sing your old songs today? If I went to your show, I wouldn’t expect that you sang like many years ago, but it is truth that some people think that the vocalists can keep the same voice even for decades. But the truth is that it only happens with very few vocalists…Have you received any critic from the fans about your voice? They must know it’s not 1984.
D.D: Some fans don’t understand how the human voice works, even Pavarotti could not sing the same when he got older, i was not singing my best on our last tour, i was drinking a lot of jack daniels and smoking a lot to, i have stopped both of these and my voice is sounding very good, i think it sounds pretty close to my old sound on this new CD. it was 25 years ago when i sang our biggest hits i have sang thousands of concerts since then, its only natural that my voice is not perfect any more but i still give it 100% every night.
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M.S: Coming back Lightning Strikes Again. What songs do you think that are more likely to Dokken’s 80’s sound? What song do you identify yourself with?
D.D: I think that the first 3 songs on the CD sound like classic Dokken, “Oasis’ and ‘This Fire” are my favorites but honestly i like all the songs, we wrote over 30 songs to pick the 12 best thats why it took so long, if this is our last studio LP I wanted the fans to see it as one of our best ever
M.S: Well, I think this album might probably have a tour and I hope you visit Spain as well, am I right? In this same line Don, what songs would you include in your new set list?
D.D: I would do “standin on the outside” “heart of stone” “point of no return” and “this fire” these songs sound great life, i don’t think we will visit Spain until next year because we are on tour in the US until December
M.S: Now, changing the point, I have been said that George Lynch wanted to play again with Dokken. Do you know something about it? Has George Lynch got in touch with you?
D.D: I have not heard from him maybe someday it could happen but i don’t think that Jeff and Mick will do it
M.S: Your solo album titled Solitary has been released a few time ago, and I also had the opportunity to listen to it and I must say it’s a nice work. It’s full of emotions, but, how would you define this work? It has quite ballads and it’s acoustic. Has it been difficult to find a record company to edit this album?
D.D: My solo album is not released yet, It is only available on my website the labels do not understand this CD, even though Robert Plant has just done a similar record most labels are afraid to release a mellow peaceful record like this. I think they are afraid my fans won’t understand the music, i am very proud of this body of work, the songs come from my heart and it was a chance to show a different side of me
M.S: Don, thank you very much for your time for Metal Symphony, and we hope Dokken come back to the stage with this new album.
D.D: I hope to see you and all your readers on tour soon
D
