After the global success of their first single, The Dead Daisies have been chomping at the bit to release ‘Bustle and Flow’, the next track from their upcoming album ‘Holy Ground’ which itself is coming in January 2021. We caught up with Doug Aldrich to talk all about the single and album and to look ahead to a time when we’ll all be enjoying live music again on the ‘Get Out Of The House Tour’. 2021 might just be a big year with the band planning a series of dates across the UK, US, Canada, Japan and Australia with Foreigner, Judas Priest as well as the playing the prestigious European summer festivals.
Mark: Hi, Doug, how are you?
Doug: Good man, how are you?
Mark: Very good thanks, and thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Strange times we are in at the moment?
Doug: Yeah, it’s on going, it’s the year that keeps on giving!!
Mark: It certainly is and we don’t know where it’s going to end! The ‘Lockdown Sessions’ were wonderful earlier in the year, giving us all some enjoyment as lock-down started, but the real anticipation is for the new single and album. I understand it was a case of sticking with a great idea as far as ‘Bustle and Flow’ went. I read that you had everything for the song except the chorus.
Doug: Well we had been working on it, and the original demo that I had tossed out there had a cool vibe, but we didn’t really have a chorus to it, so I thought between the four of us we’ll certainly come up with something. We tried and had a couple of ideas that didn’t really work, so went in another direction and that didn’t work, and finally after a little prodding from management, we just forced it, and something came to us right off the cuff.
Mark: The premier is the first of October, and there’s a great video coming with it?
Doug: Yeah, I actually haven’t seen it yet, I’m excited about it, I saw a little teaser like everyone did, and it had a great vibe about it, so I guess it will be more of that, and I’m excited to see it.
Mark: I guess for The Dead Daisies, like a lot of bands, it’s a case of making the best of what we have to deal with at the moment, and so the ‘Lockdown Sessions’ was a great start, and I imagine the album would probably have been released by now had things not changed all over the world?
Doug: Yeah, it was meant to be early in the spring, so we thought we’ll push it back a little bit, and we locked it in for January the 22nd of next year, so not too far away.
Mark: From what we’ve heard so far, “Righteous Days”,” Unspoken” and the new single “Bustle and Flow”, does that give us a good taste of the album, or are there a few surprises in there for us as well?
Doug: Definitely got some surprises, it’s got a lot of twists and turns, and I think “Righteous Days” was a good start off, and we ended up re-cutting that so it sounds a bit different on the record. “Unspoken” was the traditional start of the record, but what’s interesting is we didn’t really have a plan for any of these songs to be singles; we just really cherry picked them from the record. We did have a plan which I think will kick in when the record comes out, or shortly before, that features some different songs on the record, so we’re just rolling with the changes, and wanting to keep the fans engaged, so we are at ‘Bustle and Flow’ at this point.
Mark: To me there’s a timeless, classic rock sound about the single, and a bit of Aerosmith in there, which is pretty cool.
Doug: That’s cool, yeah, you never know when you’re doing it, what it’s going to turn out like until everyone is done putting there bit on it, and then obviously, it’s mixed and done, I didn’t really think about that at the time, but I’ll check it out and see!!
Mark: I guess as a collective there’s always changes to the band line up, and I just wanted to know what it was like working with Glenn, who has an amazing voice, and all that history too? What does he bring to the mix?
Doug: He is up level on everything that he does; he’s like a freak, talented person! Most people are lucky enough to be decent at one thing that’s good, and he and Deen as well are both really talented at two things, and Glenn just is very passionate about the songs on “Holy Ground” and the way they were written, both musically and especially lyrically. He likes to tell a story that means something to him, and also leaves room for imagination, and I think that’s a really cool thing to have, because when people hear it, and see the lyrics they’re left to their own imagination in some ways to wonder what he’s talking about. It’s different, with John, he a lot of times would paint a picture that led you in to a real situation, and so it’s a different way of song writing, but I really enjoyed it, just because everyone wants the opportunity to make up what they think it’s about.
Mark: It’s wonderful, there is a great sound and we’ve got a lot to look forward to.
Doug: I was just going to say he does bring an amazing history with him, aside from the talent he has been around the block, and I think everyone knows just how a great a singer he is, but until you really work with him, you don’t realise how talented he really is.
Mark: Yeah, I was lucky enough to talk to him when he did his Deep Purple tour here in Australia a few years ago, which I think was around the same time as I last spoke to you for “Burn it Down”, which was the last time we spoke. Prior to The Dead Daisies of course you were in Whitesnake and also a couple of my other favourite bands from back in the day, Lion, and you were briefly in Hurricane as well. I notice that some of the dates you’ve got for next year are with Foreigner, who of course Kelly is singing with.
Doug: Yeah, it’s a small world!
Mark: It is, isn’t it!! I just have to ask one non Dead Daisies question, if I can? We’re doing a series at the moment about best albums of the 1990’s, and “Slave to the Thrill” by Hurricane, is one of those. I know that when we’ve talked in the past you told me a story about how some of your guitar parts got wiped for that record inadvertently once! How do you look back on an album like that now?
Doug: It was an interesting time, I don’t remember exactly what I told you, but there was that story and a lot of different things that I remember about that time. One thing I do remember was that I was kind of really stubborn about how I wanted it to sound, I’m very particular about certain things. The guy that they got to mix it had said I don’t really want to have the band involved in this mix because it’s too much to deal with and too many opinions and it’s hard to make everybody happy, and besides this guy is an amazing mixer, Chris Lord-Alge, which he is, he’s brilliant! He’s mixed a lot of hit records, but, I wasn’t happy with the guitar solo tone, and he’d put an effect on it, which I thought just didn’t sound right, so I said I really need to come, and I was out of town, so I said I need to come back home and I really need to go to the studio with this guy and figure out what it is he’s doing, because I’m not happy with it. Eventually they let me do that and we fixed it, but the whole process was hard for me because the producer, Michael James Jackson had a way that he wanted to work, the band had their way, and I was the new guy, and I had a way that I wanted to work, so it wasn’t an easy walk! But, in the end we got the record done, and we were happy with it, toured with it, and the rest is history!
Mark: The rest is history, and you brought so much to the Whitesnake sound as well when you were with them, and you certainly do that too to the sound of the Dead Daisies. I’ve spoken to a lot of musicians over the lockdown and people have been affected by it in various ways, and somethings are different in certain parts of the world. One common thread that people have told me, is what they’ve learned from the pandemic is that you can no longer take being able to play music for granted, how do you look at things? Does it drive you forward, as soon as things start to get back to near normal, does it give you more drive??
Doug: Well, for me I have never really taken music for granted, I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to support my family with it and have basically my hobby as my job, and always there’s more to learn, it’s been my whole life from when I was a kid playing guitar, or trying to play guitar. It’s been great, I still pinch myself, seriously, because I get to wake up every day and do what I love! During the pandemic I was mostly at home, and I was able to focus on family a bit more, and do a bit more to engage the fans and keep social media happening, it’s been like juggling, keeping the music flowing, taking care of business and being at home with the family, which is great, but we’re all really hoping to get back to some sort of plan of normal, because we just can’t live like this without music, especially live music. It’s really important, so there are places in the US, and around the world where they’re starting to put on some live music which is great, we just have to learn to live with this thing, and fortunately there’s been some advances lately which I think will make it easier, so we just have to hang in there. A lot of my friends in the music industry have been hit really hard, we all have in some ways, mental health, different things, you just have to hang in there, there’s nothing else we can do.
Mark: It’s certainly been the longest period in my life without a live show! It’s been a 102 days since I saw my last show! We are pretty much back to normal here in Western Australia, really because we just closed everything off and its given young local bands the opportunity to play in front of bigger crowds which is great! The most exciting news though, that I read recently was that the 2021 tour of the “Get Out of Your House Tour”, which is very aptly named, is coming to Australia!
Doug: Yeah, I don’t know the exact dates or anything, but I heard that too, I’m really excited. I’ve only been there once and I had a blast, it’s a dream place for me, it’s so far away you never think you’re going to get a chance to go there, and through music opportunities, I’ve had a couple of offers, but the only time of touring was with Whitesnake, it was great!!
Mark: Yes, I remember that tour. We’ve been asking people, and because we have got time on our hands, and because there is a whole world of music out there, even if we can’t see it live, just to suggest some albums that people might get a lot out of listening to during lock-down.
Doug: Well, one that I’ve been thinking about, that I want to revisit, I’m not hearing much of it on the radio anymore, or on the streaming services or anything is “Dark Side of the Moon”, I’ve been wanting to revisit that, so one of these nights, I’ve got a buddy down the street who just texted me and said do you want to do an evening hang out and listen to some music and so a bottle of vino and “Dark Side of the Moon” could be in order! Another choice would be a Yardbirds album; it’s been a long time since I’ve actually listened to one from top to bottom. Everyone now has access to lots of music through streaming and mp3’s and stuff, you end up cherry picking a lot of times, and the days of sitting down with an album, for me, have been few and far between, you bring up a good point, sitting down and listening to a whole album top to bottom was how it was meant to be!
Mark: Old school!! I think a band like The Dead Daisies are one of the few bands I can do that with. There’s never a dull moment on the albums so far, and let’s hope the new album “Holy Ground” is going to do that for us!
Doug: I really hope that too, and I think it will.
Mark: One final question for you, that I never got time to ask you before, and it is particularly poignant for the time we’re in at the moment is our usual closing question, an easy one, what is the meaning of life?
Doug: For me, really, it’s family and kids; it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever been a part of, with kids it’s made life so much more fulfilling, all the hard work that you put in to something, in to creating my music, they really inspire me. To see them change and the struggles they go through, life is not always easy, raising kids is not always easy, making music is not always easy, but we do it because we love it.
Mark: That’s a perfect answer! Thank you so much for your time today, Doug, it’s been a pleasure.
Doug: Thank you so much for your support, Mark, and thanks to the people at The Rockpit, and all your fans and listeners, we really appreciate your support and it’s always great to talk to you.
‘BUSTLE AND FLOW’ from the forthcoming album ‘HOLY GROUND’ is out now.
Listen to the track now
