Lovers of old school sounds of hard rock have found in The dead daisies a refreshing oasis. With only a five-year career, the band led by ex-singer Mötley Crüe, John Corabi has formed an ever-expanding fan base, who are looking forward to the fourth studio album, ‘Burn It Down’, which will be released the first week of April.
We spoke briefly with guitarist Doug Aldrich who talked to us about the album's creation process, in addition to his upcoming world tour and even sent a friendly greeting to fans of Club América, taking advantage of his taste in soccer.
They have an upcoming album, ‘Burn it down’, I have already listened ‘Resurrected’, and I think it is a very energetic song! It has that old-school feeling that the band uses so much, how do you think your fans are going to react to the entire album?
Hope you like it! We didn't want to make the same album again, so we tried new things and the sound of the album is quite different, definitely heavier, more powerful in a way, but also some colorful nuances. I firmly believe that it is an extraordinary step forward for the band.
Will we have the opportunity to hear something new on your next visit to Mexico?
Yes, definitely, we are going to rehearse the entire album to be able to play any of the new songs, so if someone asks us “puedes tocar esto o aquello”, we can do it. Then yes. Much of what we wrote for this album, we wrote because we wanted more "Hymns", for bigger places, at festivals, songs like ‘Rise Up’, for example. Some songs from ‘Burn it Down’ they have that kind of vibe.
How do you prepare your setlist? Do they make a setlist for the entire tour or do they still sit the night before to decide?
En realidad estamos planeando una lista de canciones en este momento. Y nuestros equipos de management tiene una gran influencia en eso porque los de la banda no tenemos favoritos personales. Nuestro manager tiene una visión diferente y nos ayuda con eso, pues The Dead Daisies es una gran maquinaria de trabajo y muchas personas están trabajando en cosas diferentes y tenemos al management ayudándonos en el setlist establecido para que solo vayamos y lo ensayemos. Ellos nos dicen “esta si funciona, aquella no funcionó” y según eso es como vamos haciendo ajustes. Lo que es totalmente seguro , es que será un setlist increible.
Es interesante, pues la mayoría de las bandas se encargan de su propio setlist, pero tener a alguien del exterior para decirte y sugerirte, como un productor cuando estás grabando y te dice “podemos cambiarlo, podría sonar diferente” suena como a una ventaja.
Sí, a veces da un poco de miedo ceder el control porque los artistas, solía ser… por ejemplo, cuando estaba en Whitesnake, la banda eramos quienes decidíamos todo. David [Coverdale] pensaba que decisión tomar y yo lo ayudaba para que él pudiera tomar la decisión final, y eso era todo. Nadie más tenía palabra, así que también siento que a veces es una buena idea tener una opinión externa, pues en oncasiones me preguntaban “¿Por qué no has tocado esta canción o esta otra?” and I didn't have an answer for that, it was just our way of working. Now with Dead Daisies, management decides everything about it, they tell us. "Play this song, it can work very well live".
Sounds like a very solid team effort.
Yes, it is and it is good.
The Dead Daisies is considered an old school band. Certain bands consider exploring different genres of music, other types of music, and try to mix or change it entirely. Can we expect The Dead Daisies to try something like that?
[risas] Es gracioso que lo meciones, ya que este nuevo disco es bastante diferente, va a ser interesante ver lo que todos piensan de él. Queríamos enfocarnos en un sonido más cercano a la música de los 70, más pesado. Tengo que decir Marti Frederiksen, el productor que estuvo a cargo del disco dijo “yo tengo que dar la última palabra “, la última palabra en los sonidos, la última palabra en las canciones que usamos, la última palabra en todo. Es un productor de la vieja escuela. Él era el jefe, así que el máximo responsable de la forma en que suena este álbum es Marti Frederiksen, el crédito es todo para él, incluso más que de la misma banda en varias maneras.
Se necesita valor para modificar tu sonido, sin saber la forma en que tus fans van a responder…
Sí, tú me entiendes. Simplemente puedes sentarte en tus laureles y hacer el mismo disco una y otra vez para asegurar a tus fans. Ser una banda de formula, haciendo las mismas canciones hasta el hartazgo. Una balada por aquí, otra por allá… pero en The Dead Daisies no queremos hacer eso, queremos hacer cosas nuevas y experimentar.
How did you feel the change between Brian Tichy and Deen Castronovo? They had little time for adaptation, keeping the album in mind at all times.
I love Brian, he is one of my best friends and I love the way he plays the drums. He is a very talented guy, very good at what he does, but he wanted to do some new things with his projects and he was not sure if he could commit to us in all the plans that we have ahead, because it is a lot of work, so we decided to do the change, because we thought that whoever was with us on the tour, should necessarily be on the record, something that we all agreed on. It was Brian and I himself who suggested Deen as a great substitute. Marco [Mendoza] knows Deen from Soul Circus and I know him from Revolution Saints, there were many good reasons to talk to him and once the management contacted him, they were fascinated and everything progressed.
They're both amazing drummers, though I think Deen is a little bit simpler. We showed him the demos and he said “lo entiendo, veo lo que ustedes quieren hacer”, that easy. Deen tried to put a sexy vibe on the groove and that is what we were looking for, although I clarify that Brian was able to do it too. Also, Deen has an incredible voice, he is a fantastic singer. We are very excited.
Did you have anything to do with choosing the band that opened the show they gave here a few months ago?
All that is decided by our manager. Usually they ask us if there is a band that we know of and we think it's really a band "Hot". We say “échenle un vistazo a esta banda”. We are always open for suggestions. If anyone wants, they can always go to our Facebook page and send us a message if they want us to check their gang.
Do you know something about Mexican music?
Solo sé… bueno, todo el mundo sabe de Menudo y cosas así, cuando yo era niño, esos muchachos eran niños, y recuerdo a la artista Selena, ¿era de México? … no, de Texas, ella era de Texas…
Well she was Chicana…
She was incredible. I don't know where many artists are from. Mariah Carey I don't know where she is from, or Lady Gaga I don't know where she is from, but if someone says, what do you think of the people who play music in Mexico? I would say that I listened to some incredible guitarists when I was in Mexico, traditional Mexican music or hard rock that is very played there. They have many talented musicians in the country.
I hope that someday you will have the opportunity to attend a couple of local shows and you will be surprised, I am sure.
I know, I've seen some guys playing, the guitar for example, and those guys are serious, much more serious than elsewhere. The passion in Mexico is much bigger than in the United States, and they show that passion in music in a great way.
“Los niños siguen amando el rock & roll y mientras eso siga pasado, el rock tiene un futuro.”
Somos personas muy apasionadas y especialmente los músicos…
I have a very good friend who lives in Mexico and one day he gave me a national soccer team jersey. I live in Los Angeles and when I put that shirt on and walk down the street, people honk their horn to say hi, it's really cool.
The Mexican selection?
The green one, the national team!
Te voy a dar un tip para cuando vengas a México. Si gritas en el escenario. “Que chingue a su madre el América” la gente te amará, te lo juro… es algo muy del fútbol mexicano.
Fuck your mother to America! [laughs] I'll try to remember that for the next time we play there.
America is the most hated team in the Mexican league, it's the boys who cheat and things like that. You understand me.
I love soccer, I collect jerseys from all over the world. My son plays soccer and he loves that I wear my Mexican national team shirt. If I wear any other shirt, nobody says anything, but if I wear the green, people go crazy, they honk at me, they yell at me on the street. It is very crazy. And this summer comes big! The World Cup in Russia.
Regresando a la música, han hecho algunos covers, pero particularmente escogiste “Fortunate Son” de Creedence, ¿por qué esa de entre su enorme catálogo de canciones?
Es solo una canción que la banda tocaba en vivo, incluso antes de que yo entrara a la banda. La tocaban en vivo y a los fans les encantaba, así que en el último álbum decidimos grabarla y resultó muy bien. Ahora, para el nuevo disco ‘Burn it Down’, tenemos una versión de “Bitch” de los Rolling Stones, y también es realmente genial, quiero que la gente escuche esa. Creeme, es de verdad grandiosa.
Do you think rock and roll has to adapt to survive?
I do not know. I don't think I'm the best person to say it. I love rock and roll, and I think it's pretty cool right now. I still love it, every time I travel I listen to new bands that make great rock, although obviously it has to change to adapt to the times. We still have a lot of people passionate about rock and roll and that will never end. Personally, I will always love rock and I will play it until the day I die. It is in periods like this that people think that everything is lost, that it is over and they say things like “tenemos que hacer algo, tenemos que hacer que los niños escuchen más rock and roll” but I think that is what is happening. Children listen to rock and they love it, they are the future of this.
Tengo dos hijos, un niño de 8 años y una hija de 2 años y puedo decirte que mi hijo ama a Motley Crue, Guns n Roses… mi hija es muy pequeña y todavía no reconoce las bandas, obviamente, pero si pongo alguna de sus canciones, ella siente el beat y se vuelve loca y comienza a correr. Conozco a mis hijos y sé que estarán escuchando rock and roll para siempre. El rock estará bien por un tiempo.
To people who have not seen The Dead Daisies, what would you say so that they do not miss your show?
Well John Corabi is one of the best frontman And it really makes you feel like you are at a party at their house. You are going to have a good time, we are going to sing, we are going to go crazy and we are going to play incredible songs for you.
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