These 2 pages are a collection of some of the best Questions & Answers from interviews with King Diamond. Thank you to everyone who has helped me compile these through the years, you know who you are.

Edited by:
Jack Diamond

King Diamond: It's no challenge to write isolated tracks. I'm unable to describe my point of view and get below surface in a single track. I just love complicated concepts that I can explain to anyone who's interested in listening. My fans prefer concepts, and it's a huge satisfaction to make them hate or love my characters.

King Diamond: Other things just don't appeal to me. I'm incapable of writing lyrics about long rides into a nice forest with your fiancé and so on. This is uninteresting to me. I just love to produce twisted characters and subtle intrigues. It's much more rewarding for me. You'll never see Stephen King write a novel about a family picnic in the woods, would you? I'm extremely fascinated by car races, but not even this would be interesting to write about.

King Diamond: Not at all. I refuse to change my style. This is what I love and want to do. This music reflects my feelings and personality. I'm not conservative or rigid, but I refuse to find my inspiration from other sources than myself. You just have to remember that I'm using a female vocalist on my new album... something which is totally new in King Diamond. It's always possible to find new ways to go without finding your input from other sources.

King Diamond: I contributed my vocals to the tracks just before I flew to Denmark... when we were about to rehearse for the Sweden Rock Festival. The record label has kept much of it a big secret... which of the tracks that would be released, the cover and the release date. Dave told me to just do it my way, the way I sang, the lyrics and so on. Just do it like King Diamond, he said. I actually never met him, but we corresponded through a representative of his. Dave Grohl is actually depicted as King Diamond on the front page in the newest issue of Kerrang. I refused to believe it, but it's true. He's wearing my outfit and make up. This is totally awesome.

King Diamond: All the lyrics I do myself… no discussions with anyone about the storylines or what’s gonna go on there. Inspiration is anything. It can be something I see or something I hear… a conversation or situation between two people I might not even know. It sits in my brain and I will write it down. That happens very often. I have a little box full of notes that are full of different inspirations. It could be so many things. A lot of it is stuff you’d find in the stories is what you could call a life biography. It’s situations that I have felt or seen myself. We are human beings interacting in such different ways, especially under pressure or in critical situations. The way we treat each other… there are a lot of different stories out there. It really could be anything. There is nothing specific that will trigger a certain story. Before I write a new story, I will usually go and look through all my notes and that’s pretty much how the Puppet Master came about, too. It all started with an experience in Budapest, Hungary when Mercyful Fate was touring in ’99. We were doing some shows where we opened up for Metallica on some big festivals on that tour. It wasn’t really festivals, but like the stadiums tours in Europe. We had an afternoon off in Budapest and we took a walk in the city. We went into the center of the city with narrow streets. Suddenly we past a thing that was an actual Puppet Theatre. It looked like a normal theatre, maybe 1600 capacity or 2000 capacity. That struck me as really odd because I have always imagined puppet theatres being a tent in a park with a bunch of kids or something like that and here was a genuine theatre. That just freaked my mind out and I was thinking, “How could this be? How big are those puppets for everyone to be able to see them? How does it work, is it like a walkway under the theatre where the puppeteers are working?". It just struck me as very odd. We walked further down the same street and we came upon a few shops that were selling puppets of all different sizes. I think it was Sunday afternoon because all the shops were closed and there was no light in them either, but you could still look in the window. In there, they were sitting on chairs, hanging on the walls… they were just full of puppets. It was very eerie. It gave me a feeling that I still remember today, like I wouldn’t sleep in that shop if someone paid me. It was almost like you knew they’d come alive and kill you. So I got back to the hotel that evening and I started writing down all kinds of things on the hotel stationary for hours. Questions and feelings and weird scenarios and could it be this and that. Then I put it away back in my box when I got back from the tour. Then when it was time to do the story this time around, I went in there and saw these notes from ’99 and reading those notes gave me the same feeling I had back then. I hadn’t looked at them because already at the time we were touring I knew what the next album was going to be about. After that, on request from so many fans, we did Abigail II and so it was not until now that it actually came up to dig in that box and find something brand new.

Interviewer: Do you plan to follow up the Puppet Master storyline?

King Diamond: I never plan for those kind of things. The thing about doing a Part II is that it’s actually dangerous. I don’t want to be looked upon by fans or the media as if “he’s run out of ideas, he’s run dry” because I CERTAINLY haven’t run dry! It could be looked upon like that, you know? So it would have to be a STRONG request from the fans to want a Part II for me to do it, otherwise I would start fresh. For my own self, there are certain characters that I really like, like Grandma, I like her a lot. I would love to write more about her. But I don’t want to do that again because there are already two. That one I did without thinking about anything else when I did Conspiracy. When I toured that, I totally felt like the story was so not finished and that there was so much more to tell, so I just did it on the next album.

Interviewer: Details about The Puppet Master?

King Diamond: Man, there is going to be so much blood! At one point in this story it gets so gross, and you will hear me scream of pain like you have never heard on any album. It deals with turning a human being into a doll, and using a big part of that human body on the doll. The way I describe how it happens to me in the story – if you can picture a scalpel start cutting your eyelids away – you’re totally awake – an eye being plucked out, pulled out, cut off, brought over while it’s still alive because of a very demonic ritual that has taken place earlier where your body parts stay alive as long as they have only your blood in them – there’s some parts in this story that explain how it all works. When this – I don’t know what to call it – “dissection” is taking place and creating this doll from human beings, it will be explained later how that body’s blood needs to be collected so it can be used. Only as long as you have that blood can you inject into those dolls where the blood belongs, and make the skin work almost as muscles – the skin can pull so they can actually move without strings, these dolls. The eyes will actually be able to see for as long – it will be about an hour and a half that this blood is good for every time they get injections in them. And of course it (the story) deals with this puppet master and his big fat wife, Emerencia who is the enforcer in the relationship and who is out in the dark streets of Budapest at night, killing the homeless people that they bring down there. The puppetmaster does these demonic rituals where he is in total contact with a certain demon that, in exchange for most of the soul will allow the guy to keep a little bit of the soul that will go into the skin of these bodies and keep it alive. If you inject the blood you will make the skin able to work almost as the muscles. It sounds really weird, but once it’s explained it’s not so confusing. Lips will be cut off and nails will be pulled out. These dolls look so grotesque because some of their features – they are almost human-sized – if you picture the doll going only to your chest – that will be the height of a doll, but it will have nails the size the size of a normal human being. The eyes will be those that poke out. The ears will be too big. The lips will be too big. Eventually, of course, in this thing that takes place, I will die from the pain and loss of blood, and you will hear about his wife Emerencia is on her knees with these jars of glass. “Don’t spill one drop of blood!” She’s there, collecting blood. It’s a horrible thing. When you hear in the end when he takes one eye out and puts it into the doll, that eye is still functioning. It has part of my soul in it, and I can suddenly see my body over on the other side, with one empty eye socket. They’re working on my other eye, and when that’s moved over, then I’m just seeing from the doll how they’re pulling my nails out, and it still hurts over there. It’s really so weird. It’s going to be so gross! You can imagine a body where, from the thighs, skin has been cut away and it is now being sewn onto this wooden skeleton for a doll. It looks horrible, like the carcass of an animal that vultures are picking at. I see that with the eyes in the doll. Then I see this big fat woman Emerencia pick my carcass up and throw it all into a big trash can. It’s so fucking nasty. And then it’s going to be burned in the big oven they have down there. There’s always this sweet smell around the theatre which smells like candy from hell. It’s something else. I’m not going to talk about the ending of the story, but the ending is so tragic. It’s horrible, totally horrible. No censorship. I don’t care this time.

Interviewer: Can you tell me a bit about the album Abigail 2?

King Diamond: There is no break between any of the songs. There is always something carrying over, whether it is a girl crying or some sound effects, so once you start playing it, it goes all the way through. There are a lot of different moods in the music. In general, it is as complex as the early days and some of the parts are more complex. Definitely more complex vocals than I've done in a long time. It is more theatric than the old stuff. We have this girl laughing and crying at different points, representing Abigail. We had this little girl, six-year-old, in the studio to do the part of Little One, which is Abigail's spirit from when she was stillborn. She is the mummified infant in the crypt that is now haunting the house.

Interviewer: Regarding your vocal harmonies, do you usually have those in mind before you even start recording?

King Diamond: It's a mix because I have a pretty good idea of the song melodies I want to try to use. Sometimes they don't always work because when the music is laid down in the studio for real, the whole feel of a riff can change just by how the drums are played. Probably about 70% of what I have in my head going into the studio stays once we're done, but there is room for a lot of development. Sometimes, I'm not always sure what voice a melody line is most fitted for, whether it will be a high falsetto or a normal voice with backing or a normal voice on its own or the real raw, deep stuff. That's never 100% when you go into the studio, that's why you have to try them out and see what gives you the best feel for what you're about to tell. Every time we're in the studio, we try out all the options we have and there were just so many more options this time. Because of the music, the way it was written, when it was my turn to sing, I really felt that I had so much more to work with.

Interviewer: Well how are things with Massacre Records overseas?

King Diamond: Its fine but the only thing I am finding out today that Metal blade told me that Massacre released the WHOLE album as a promo. Not just a sampler... and that is going to hurt album sales...I was like; I don't wanna kill you but still, come on!!! ....They weren't supposed to do it, and I was shocked when I found that they had done that and it was in an interview with a European magazine that I found out and call out to see what's goin' on....and they told us that we have to do that to get reviews of an album...they won't do reviews from a sampler...and I said, well do the review later!!! Then they said it would be too late for the initial sales and everything...So we are kind of stuck in between two walls you know, and those kind of things for a band we are at the mercy of...and we try to balance through it....and it is a problem you know...especially with all the God damn downloading and all, it's tough...It's a cancer...This could be our reason for having this as our last album. It's absolutely possible...if this doesn't stop or slow...the money for our budget will go down even more, reduced by the label to make it cheaper...and there is no way we could even do that (record an album) and have the same type of quality of good stuff. So...(sighs heavily) I don't know...I don't know where this fucking theft downloading shit is taking us...we wont know what is going on...It pisses me off... and no other industry is allowed to just steal others people's things when they go and spend money and create something...and obviously others think it's absolutely, perfectly fine...they are trying to make stronger laws, but you'll have to enforce those laws too...It's tough, you know at the moment to stop the flood gates and it's a matter of survival...and....that's what it is...Pure and simple and those are the facts...nothing I can do but make the albums more attractive by adding a bonus DVD for instance...

Interviewer: How was it, doing the bonus DVD for Puppet master???

King Diamond: Well you know it was Brian Slagels' idea (for those of you who do not know....Slagel is the owner and founder of Metal Blade Records.....over 20 years now!!! HAIL!) We were going out to a nice dinner on a sunny afternoon along w/Mike (no last name given…but NOT Mike Wead for sure...) and I told them both the story and Brian said it gave him Goosebumps and he told me you have to tell the story like you told me and put it on a track...or maybe a DVD!!! I though I could put full makeup on and do that it that way....I am really into it when I watched it back myself...it is a great companion w/the lyrics and put atmospheric sounds to it and it sucks me in ...and I think what the hell did I just watch???? I did not rehearse that DVD and I do not make cheat sheets either... I am doing it straight from memory...I mention things that aren't in the lyrics and it's recorded in surround sound actually… I should be the last one to get sucked in...but it was quite impressive to see played back for sure…There is another big surprise on this album even though we still have the same lineup from the European House Of God Tour, we have actually an extra singer on this album who is a female, meaning there are some additional vocals on this aside from my own on one of the songs...This singer is from Budapest Hungary where this Puppet master story takes place...and this really just fits in perfect...She is the Victoria in the story....So I don't have to pretend I am her when she sings you can tell it is her singing to me or whoever in that part of the song...In eight out of twelve songs she is there....some songs hardly at all...but singing about blood being not red black in darkness and a couple of choruses aside from me...and a few songs like "So Sad"...I have never wrote anything like that...fucking ever man, ever !!! Several journalists say they can really feel how sad that song is and can identify with it easily because it reminded them of losing a girlfriend or loved one in death or something like that...(after this statement...I have some private words with King that I wish not to allow on this interview...it was for him and me alone to know....We have been friends for over 10 years and have had some close things we share in common and I apologize not sharing them in this public interview...I hope you understand...Thank You) In my song "So Sad" I lost a good friend that I have had in the U.S. 90% of that song is about that special one...but 10% is changed to fit the story...every time I hear that first note....It is heavy....heavy duty man...The story really leads up to this point of the situation and makes it really easy for you to relate to it in a special way...the buildup is there and this story is easiest to follow than my others I have done...but much deeper...The Puppet master and his 300 pound wife...It is my best and most gruesome story I have done...and a big spider web of entangled stories comes out the more you will read and understand the subplots in the album with all the songs being tied together...Why I got weird feeling of why such a creepy place a puppet show place can be...and I am sure people have felt that being in one before...There are demons getting souls sold for another in rituals and how....And my stories are told from MY eyes...but this time it is totally different....I usually win in the end...but this is pure and utter tragedy for me...I end up in a state I would rather be dead...and the same thing for the girlfriend Victoria. and the evil from the Puppet master and his wife they are the most successful...the evil wins. Like Oh, there's a plan to win...and then it totally backfires on him man and the Puppet master goes on "Pfffft!" It really has come together for me this time and I cannot wait for you to hear that whole thing man... (I tell King about seeing Force Of Evil in Cleveland and he was happy to hear that it was a fun show for them at this point of the interview...and he asks about my Mercyful Fate tribute band HAIL SATAN and what songs we have been doing and learning…) You know Jonathan, it's gonna be weird playing some shows with five new songs from the album before it will be released...we have never done that and the crowd hopefully will definitely be excited to hear the full thing when it is out that same week....but we are playing "Sleepless Nights".....opening up w/the Abigail story.....one off "The Eye" a couple off "Them" five possibly six off "Puppet master" too and then do "Burn" from "The Eye” and off Fatal Portrait with "No Presents"...But I wish this (Puppet master) was our first album we ever put out....I am that proud of it...I love Abigail II...but this recording buries it...me and Andy mixed it mostly w/an old engineer from the old recording studio that produced some vocals for me and it turned out totally awesome...and we have the new character onstage w/us, Victoria this time around...It will be quite different in that way....She will sing her parts too this time around on the tour...

   
Next: The Best Of King Pt.2