THIS INTERVIEW IS TAKEN FROM INDEPTH WEB-ZINE

A: Do you have any favorite cities you like to play in?

KD: There are a lot of really cool places to play. I can't say that there's just one. There are a lot. I'd prefer those places where we can put up the whole production but that does not mean that those are the best shows. It all has to do with the audience too. It's such a two way thing.

A: What was your reaction when learning that Metallica was going to do a Mercyful Fate cover medley on their Garage Inc. album?

KD: I actually didn't know until they had already done it! Lars called me and we chatted for a bit. I asked what they were up to because I thought they were still out on tour and Lars said 'No we've been in the studio, you want to hear some of it?'. So i'm like sure let's hear it. He said that they had just gotten back from mastering the recordings and that they did a Mercyful Fate medley as well. So i'm like "What are you doing man?". He said "oh yeah, we have 4 covers in there, you want to hear it, it's 12 minutes long!?". So I said "Sure, play it". So I was there on the phone listening to it and my hair was standing up on my arms!!! They did a KILLER job! It's got that Mercyful Fate feel but it's Metallica playing.....

A: But James couldn't hit all those high notes....

KD: True, but he did do some cool things with lower harmonies where the harmonies where. Kirk didn't play the solos note for note but he made his own style and caught Michael Denner's feel to the songs. Then we got the chance to perform it with them at one of the festivals we did together last summer. We had played earlier in the day and we were rehearing it backstage a couple of times. It was not in their set but they did a few rehearsals of it and they had the whole medley down, all 12 minutes of it. It was the last encore and it was just an unbelievable experience.

A: The Mad Arab and The Mad Arab II, they were both from the book of Necronomicon. Might we see any other songs come out of that book?

KD: Those songs are a description of what that guy went through in the story where he supposedly wrote it down. I have a hardcover version of the Necronomicon. It was a limited edition of 666 copies and I have number 666! It was given to me by the German ambassador's son of England. His son was out on tour with us and gave it to me. He came to the shows and he wanted to sell it to me, but I didn't have the kind of money he was asking for it. The day that we left he said "Take this" and I told him I couldn't afford it but he insisted and said "You'll get more out of it than me."

A: Being around the industry for as long as you have, how have you seen it change?

KD: Well it's gone through many, many different phases. For us we've been lucky enough to have the freedom to maintain our own identity. We did create a style that is pretty unique. You're not really in doubt when you hear us or another band. We don't sound that close to another band and there are no other bands that sound like us. When you create your own niche, you don't have to follow the trend. We never did that. I've seen the rock and then disco then some metal then grunge and all these styles that radio stations would play but we've gone straight through it all. Metal is up again it seems. You see a lot of bands re-uniting, but is seems like they've lost their touch a little bit. Simply from being away from it. They can't quite go back and recapture that style and feel that they had. It does work for some but it does for others.

A: What is your opinion of the Internet, and how much of an impact do you think it's made on the music industry?

KD: Well first it's such a big progression in keeping the world smaller. It helps business a lot. I'm not hooked up myself. There are certain reasons for that. I don't have cable TV either. It's not that I can't have it, I totally can but I'm scared of it for the fact that I know myself to well. I would get on it and just have to see everything and go to all these sites and spend hours and hours on it when I should be in the studio working on some songs. The same thing with cable TV. I'm such a sports idiot that I would just sit there and watch Soccer, or Formula 1 racing or hockey games......

A: being a sports fan, did you happen to catch any of the Devils and Stars playoff games?

KD: Actually I was in Europe at the time and I can say fortunately I didn't. I was on the way home when I heard about the final game...but I love going to see the hockey games here (Dallas, TX) when I have a chance, but my biggest passion is Racing. I have such a...... I don't know what it is but I fucking love it! We have Texas Motor Speedway down here which is HUGE. I just love the power of cars.

A: What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

KD: That's a hard one. I couldn't say. Sometimes people will ask what's the greatest thing you've ever seen and I draw a blank because I've seen so much crazy shit. And 20 years is a long time to be going around experiencing it all. Every year there are things that we talk about for a while. I can't really say that there is one specific thing. I could say that it might have been the first show we played in Holland at a club packed with 300 people. The people wanted to hear more that night so we started to play our set AGAIN! We also played the Monsters Of Rock in Brazil. Playing with Metallica. Back in '84 they were opening for us and they were up there headbanging away with us... there's a lot to remember for sure.

A: Thanks for your time and see you out on tour later this summer!

KD: Hey thanks a lot!

   
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