Latest / Classic Metal Show / Jon Levin Just Dropped A Dokken Bombshell 2012!

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Jon Levin Just Dropped A Dokken Bombshell 2012! · Classic Metal Show

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is Dave Landau and you're watching CMS TV.
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It is your classic metal show right here on
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theclassicmetalshow.com That's brand
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new Dokken from the Broken Bones release The name of that tune
0:29
is just called Blind
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and that's not exactly one of Chris' favorite tunes off that CD
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I prefer to call it
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SPEAKER_02: Death Hey,
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SPEAKER_02: what's up?
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Hey,
0:38
that's our good friend John Levin from Dokken Oh,
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on that quick,
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huh?
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah
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SPEAKER_01: Hey John,
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we just played the song Blind from Broken Bones and Chris has
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revealed to all of us
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SPEAKER_01: he's not a fan of that song I know,
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SPEAKER_00: he hates it man Oh,
0:55
SPEAKER_00: you knew that already?
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SPEAKER_00: Well,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
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maybe I should have called the song Deaf instead of Blind I'm
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just kidding,
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SPEAKER_00: Chris
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SPEAKER_02: Nice!
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SPEAKER_02: Nice!
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well John you know that's one of the reasons we love you bro is
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because you're just
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funny and you're honest like that and you know the fact that
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you come out of the
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gate swinging like that and we just kind of blind you know not
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to be you know not
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to have a pun here but we kind of blindsided you here with that
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right off the bat
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SPEAKER_00: you're funny you know what man honesty is all good man hey you can't
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you gotta just do what you do some people like what you do some
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people don't and
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that's how it goes right right well obviously we like what you
2:08
do overall I don't
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personally I like the song I mean I listen to it I've listened
2:13
to the album
2:14
probably at least I bet you I've listened to this CD two dozen
2:19
times already wow
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SPEAKER_00: I've got it $24 yeah I've got it $2 a listen well I've
2:27
SPEAKER_01: I've got it in the car.
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SPEAKER_00: You got my address to send that check?
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
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I've got it in the car and I've been playing it for probably
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the last two weeks and
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I've been just basically driving around with it in the car
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every time I'm in the
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car it's on so I've been digging it I like it a lot probably
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one of the things that
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stand out for me personally is the fact that you really shine
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in the guitar parts
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SPEAKER_01: on the CD not that you didn't
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you know shine on lightning strikes again or hell to pay but in
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this production
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wise the guitars are out front for a change yeah you know I was
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surprised with that
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I actually wasn't there when they mixed it you know when you
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when you're working on
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a record for as long as you know as slow as we are about making
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stuff but when
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you're working on something for 11 months man and then the mix
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has come it's like
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SPEAKER_00: You have a tendency to micro-analyze it and hear it,
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SPEAKER_00: maybe not as how a listener would hear it,
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SPEAKER_00: so there's little things I was hearing,
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SPEAKER_00: oh,
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SPEAKER_00: this,
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SPEAKER_00: that.
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I was really,
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really surprised at how loud some of the leans were,
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to be honest.
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SPEAKER_00: I was sort of surprised by that.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead, Chris.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: What do you got, Chris?
3:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh, Josh, I'm waiting for you.
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listening to the record John and listening to the three records
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now that you played
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on it seems like each time you've come in with like a different
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vibe you know to
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that I mean Hell to Pay obviously had one vibe and now and then
4:06
you did the
4:06
SPEAKER_02: throwback record with Lightning Strikes now this one is
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I'm gonna say it it really doesn't have the lynch thing as much
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as maybe you have
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done in the past it's it's a lot more of your own group your
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own style when it was
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that purposeful that you've changed each time is that just
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where you were at at the
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moment or what are you know I think it was a combination here
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to be honest that yet
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you grow and you change and I think a lot more my own
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personality may probably came
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out in this one I mean that's just how things go I'm one of
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these people that I
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SPEAKER_00: can't you know my attention deficit but what did you just ask me
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my attention span is so short that I can't sort of stick on
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anything and that's
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just how it always is with my making music it's the same thing
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I seem to get like
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in a phase and when I'm in that phase I'll do a whole bunch of
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things like that and
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then six months later or a year later I change into sort of I
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grow or progress into
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something else and I think that's sort of what happened on this
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one you know and I
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approached it a lot differently than I have in the past in
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terms of playing I got
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SPEAKER_00: my own recording studio here now
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and I would come in like on a you know one day of the week when
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I was sort of
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inspired and I throw four or five solos down and I wouldn't
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even listen to them and
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then I'd come back maybe two or three days later and I'd do
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like another three or
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four without listening to the first batch you know and I
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accrued like 10 or 15
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leads and then finally when I had nothing to do I'd siphon
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through them and I would
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see how my directions changed so it gave me an opportunity to
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sort of really you
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SPEAKER_00: know pick what I felt was the best you know
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sentiment for the song as opposed to necessarily in the past
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where I just came into
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the studio and as soon as I had one take knocked out I would
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just fix it and that
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was it you know right how much how much more how much different
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was it working on
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this record this time with Don because Don's been out there
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saying a lot that this
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is yours and his record not just another you know one of his
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records seems like you
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had a lot more input into the actual writing and the
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development of all the songs
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SPEAKER_00: this time yeah I think I thought you know I had a lot that we did it
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together mostly I mean look I did the last one probably I think
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in my mind anyway
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equally as I did at this one but there was much we had a much I
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had a really good
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time working with Don in this you know I think for some reason
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we got through a
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really good working situation together we had fun making this
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and you know there
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was the serious moments too but we just you know as like any
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relationship we just
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we have a really good working chemistry together just how we do
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things really seems
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SPEAKER_00: to work and
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we work really well together you know what it's really this
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really sort of typifies
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how I think of how I'm how I work with Don I came in and I had
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a riff for what
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became the bonus track on the Japan release Can't Fight This
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Love I don't even know
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if you've heard that one but anyway I played him the riff and
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you know he said he
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SPEAKER_00: made a very very subtle change to it which you know
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but that subtle change in my mind made the riff five times
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better than it was and
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and to me that's the sign of you know something when
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something's really good
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chemistry wise like that that really impresses me you know what
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I mean sure well
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well John I'm going to ask you something about Don I've known
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I've known Don for
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SPEAKER_01: let me go back here let me see here um
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SPEAKER_01: about 18 years.
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SPEAKER_01: And he and I, you know, are very good friends.
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SPEAKER_01: You know that.
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SPEAKER_01: Has Don had a change in demeanor, say, in the last two years?
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Have you noticed anything different about him in the last two
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years,
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demeanor-wise?
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SPEAKER_01: I mean, being more...
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I don't know what you want to call I don't want to use the word
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sentimental as much
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as he kind of values his friendships more now than he did in
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the past does that
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SPEAKER_01: make any sense?
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you know what I think I have noticed that it almost seems like
8:04
yeah I could see
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that it's almost like our friendship sort of comes first and
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the music we make
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together is just something that we do which is really
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refreshing I absolutely have
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SPEAKER_00: noticed that
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SPEAKER_01: because, you know, he and I, I've known him since 94.
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SPEAKER_01: We've always had a very good friendship ever since day one.
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SPEAKER_01: But for the last couple years,
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I'm going to say in the last two years when he and I have been
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hanging out and
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SPEAKER_01: stuff,
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he'll more or less throw some kind of a sentiment in there
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toward me saying,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: I really love you,
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SPEAKER_01: bro.
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SPEAKER_01: You're my brother, you know, and that kind of stuff.
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SPEAKER_01: And something like he's never said before, you know what I mean?
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SPEAKER_01: It's just kind of like,
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SPEAKER_00: I've noticed that,
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SPEAKER_00: and actually,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: he actually emailed me a letter during the course of this record.
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SPEAKER_00: I did all the solos myself in my own house,
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SPEAKER_00: in my place,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: and he didn't hear them until,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: way late in the game.
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SPEAKER_00: And I value his opinion that I wasn't sure how he was going to react.
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SPEAKER_00: And had he said to me,
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SPEAKER_00: hey,
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SPEAKER_00: man,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't think this one's as good as you can do,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: take another stab at it,
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SPEAKER_00: of course I would have.
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But he wrote me like a very endearing letter,
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and to be honest,
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I saved it.
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SPEAKER_00: So I guess I'm not the only one
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Okay so I thought I was just imagining that so I guess that
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kind of solidifies it
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but I guess I want to ask you John I admire what you do guitar
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wise Thank you
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Don used to send me roughs of certain songs he was working on
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before the guitars
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were put in and what I want to know is when Don sends you a
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rough that has no
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SPEAKER_01: guitar leads or anything on it,
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SPEAKER_01: how do you
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SPEAKER_01: get to a point to where you sit down and go,
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SPEAKER_01: man,
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this could use this kind of a riff and obviously you got
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anywhere from 30 seconds
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SPEAKER_01: to a minute and a half to fill that space.
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SPEAKER_01: How do you do that?
10:42
SPEAKER_03: So what are you waiting for?
10:51
Subscribe right now at classicmetalshow.locals.com and become a
10:55
CMS VIP today.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a very good question, actually.
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SPEAKER_00: Now where I'm standing here today,
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SPEAKER_00: I've actually learned that when he feels there's something in a track,
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I have to take his word for that,
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even if it's not something I'm hearing right away.
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SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes when he gives me something like what you just said,
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SPEAKER_00: and in my mind I'm thinking,
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SPEAKER_00: oh my God,
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this is just so way off or like off-center for what I feel like
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the core of what we
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SPEAKER_00: do is.
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SPEAKER_00: Sometimes,
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SPEAKER_00: I mean,
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SPEAKER_00: I remember being in here recording and I'd look at our engineer,
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SPEAKER_00: Darian,
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SPEAKER_00: and I'd be like,
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SPEAKER_00: bro,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
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SPEAKER_00: man,
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SPEAKER_00: can I really do something with this?
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SPEAKER_00: And he's like, you could do it.
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SPEAKER_00: And to be quite honest,
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that song that I'm thinking of right now in my head was the
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song called Empire And
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SPEAKER_00: Don actually had an original He had a riff for that that was very,
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SPEAKER_00: very,
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SPEAKER_00: very different than what the song is now And,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: it's a good thing I didn't just,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: call him up and say,
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SPEAKER_00: hey man,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't feel this Let's just abandon ship here,
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SPEAKER_00: you know Because it turned,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: that's a single Sure
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SPEAKER_02: Well John,
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SPEAKER_02: you know,
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one of the things that we've heard a lot lately is this rumor
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that following this
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SPEAKER_02: run with the record that Don may put Dokken down,
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SPEAKER_02: he may not,
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SPEAKER_02: he may do,
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SPEAKER_02: and I mean,
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SPEAKER_02: would that piss you off if he went and did something different?
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Because it just seems like right now you guys all seem to be
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feeling like there's a
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SPEAKER_02: really good chemistry.
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SPEAKER_02: Would that be a bad shakeup if that was to happen?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, that's actually a really good question.
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SPEAKER_00: We were in Bulgaria
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SPEAKER_00: he came up to me
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and and he said to me so you know we make a guitar we play an
12:59
acoustical guitar
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talk together you and me and I'm looking around like who are
13:04
you talking to you
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know and I'm like me he said yeah you and me playing the
13:08
acoustic guitar together
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so I was like okay and actually Don was there too and he goes
13:15
and you will sing so
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I actually didn't know that he was serious I don't know if Don
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thought he was
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SPEAKER_00: serious but you know sure enough I got a letter from his lawyer
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a week a few days after I got home saying Michael's really
13:28
excited about this and
13:29
can you have Don you know start working on some music with him
13:32
and so on and so
13:34
forth so we will see okay is that something that you would want
13:39
to do I mean it oh
13:40
yeah man yeah absolutely Don singing and myself and Michael
13:45
playing guitar I mean
13:46
that would be a dream for me because he's one of my favorite
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players would that not
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SPEAKER_02: reduce what you do though to be more of a rhythm player behind Michael
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SPEAKER_00: None of that's been discussed,
13:57
SPEAKER_00: but I'm sure there's some room for me to play as well Okay,
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SPEAKER_02: very cool,
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SPEAKER_02: man So going back to the record,
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SPEAKER_02: man I mean,
14:05
obviously this is probably the most shred-heavy record that
14:10
you've played on with,
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SPEAKER_02: Doc What came out the best in your eyes,
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SPEAKER_02: you know,
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SPEAKER_02: from the vision that you had to what's actually on the discs?
14:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow Well, I think tone-wise, I mean, sonically
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Are you asking me sound or playing or both?
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Both I like the rhythm guitar sounds best in Blind and Empire
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Not that I don't like
14:39
SPEAKER_00: some of the rest of the record But on this particular album,
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at least sound wise I printed a direct track I don't know if
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anyone knows what that
14:46
SPEAKER_00: is That's the actual sound of the guitar coming out of the guitar
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on every note I did I printed a direct track so I was able to
14:54
later when we were
14:54
mixing go have if I didn't like the sound run it back through
14:57
any amp I wanted so
14:58
it gave me some flexibility there which was an interesting
15:00
thing but for those two
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songs I think I really like the rhythm guitar sound play wise
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I'm pretty happy with
15:10
all of the solos honestly I normally not like that normally
15:14
there's one or two I'm
15:15
SPEAKER_00: like uh but on this record I really feel that
15:18
SPEAKER_00: I really like them all.
15:19
I know that's probably,
15:21
you know,
15:22
weird to hear,
15:23
but I really feel that way.
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SPEAKER_00: I feel like this.
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SPEAKER_00: I think the solo in the song called Fade Away,
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SPEAKER_00: I really feel like that sentiment-wise,
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SPEAKER_00: it might be the most emotional solo I've maybe ever done.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: I think maybe there was a degree of luck in there.
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SPEAKER_00: I just did a lot of solos on that one, and I've
15:43
that middle part eventually came out and when I heard that back
15:47
I couldn't even
15:48
believe I played it I had no idea what I played when I listened
15:50
back to it I liked
15:53
that one quite a bit and I think that's very Shankery
15:55
influenced too that's all you
15:57
know I like the solo also on Tonight I think that lead came out
16:02
really well I like
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Burning Tears quite a bit too
16:07
well that's one of my favorite John I gotta be honest with you
16:10
actually I was just
16:10
sitting here just thinking about that song but I gotta ask you
16:15
John you know you've
16:16
been in Dawkins since 03 04 somewhere around there 03 and here
16:23
we are you know
16:23
almost 10 years in and Don is claiming that this is the last
16:28
Dawkins record which
16:30
he made that comment for Lightning Strikes Again this is the
16:33
last Dawkins record
16:35
but here you are with Broken Bones do you believe this is the
16:39
last stocking record?
16:42
You know to be honest right at the moment I sort of want to
16:46
believe that just
16:47
because I just know how much effort went into this particular
16:51
album and I don't
16:53
know I don't see a way at least right now in my mind how I
16:57
would be able to do
16:58
something better than what I did here to be honest at least
17:02
with what I brought
17:05
and I have a feeling you know what what happens is as you keep
17:08
going on and on and
17:09
on especially coming out of our last album you know lightning
17:12
where it was sort of
17:12
a you know a little bit retro sounding when you write more and
17:18
more and more songs
17:19
it starts to be like what can we do to bring to the table here
17:22
that sort of works
17:23
within the confines of our audience but isn't just you know
17:27
rehashing the same
17:28
SPEAKER_00: stuff over and over
17:31
SPEAKER_01: For me, way more palatable because there's a lot left to swallow.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: You know,
17:56
SPEAKER_00: I could think,
17:57
SPEAKER_00: okay,
17:57
SPEAKER_00: wow,
17:57
SPEAKER_00: just one song,
17:58
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
17:59
SPEAKER_00: I like,
17:59
SPEAKER_00: to me it's much easier,
18:01
SPEAKER_00: at least right now,
18:02
SPEAKER_00: for that thought.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: You know,
18:03
SPEAKER_00: to be quite honest,
18:04
SPEAKER_00: I pushed off this album for a really long time,
18:07
SPEAKER_00: and I think Don did mentally,
18:09
SPEAKER_00: too.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
18:09
SPEAKER_00: every time the subject came up and labels were approaching us,
18:13
SPEAKER_00: you know,
18:14
SPEAKER_00: we were always like,
18:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do this.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to do this?
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Why don't we just go play some shows?
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Why do we need to do this right now?
18:21
SPEAKER_00: And I think it was somewhat out of, you know,
18:24
can we do it can we do something that stands up to what we've
18:29
done on the last one
18:30
because I thought the last one was good and especially given
18:35
the fact that I don't
18:35
know how many people know but we take an exceptionally long
18:38
time to make records
18:40
SPEAKER_00: with the way that Don and I do things
18:42
SPEAKER_01: Well,
18:42
there's no reason to hurry because you and I both know that the
18:47
record business per
18:49
SPEAKER_01: se is pretty much non-existent.
18:53
If it wasn't for labels like a Frontiers Records who's willing
18:58
to take the risk of
19:00
SPEAKER_01: putting the money up for a new record,
19:03
SPEAKER_01: there would be no place for a docking.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really true.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: But for that, there are
19:11
Frontiers and one or two other labels maybe SPV there's not
19:13
that many games in town
19:15
left so it's really wonderful we have a vehicle with which to
19:19
do this you know
19:21
SPEAKER_01: So what do you envision,
19:22
SPEAKER_01: I know Chris kind of asked this about the Schenker thing,
19:25
SPEAKER_01: but if you choose,
19:27
if say you and Don choose to continue working together in a
19:32
recording capacity,
19:35
SPEAKER_01: what do you see for you guys as far as doing a project together?
19:44
we were talking about maybe doing sort of like an all-star
19:48
record where Don and I
19:49
could be the core writers and have maybe different fingers on
19:52
different tracks just
19:54
something where we could just have fun and maybe make it really
19:57
heavy so that's
19:59
just something we were taking around but you know we don't
20:01
really know we have
20:02
identical recording studios now in our homes which makes things
20:06
really wonderful in
20:07
terms of work it's really easy we have the same studio same
20:10
gear same everything so
20:12
SPEAKER_00: it's great for
20:13
SPEAKER_00: I believe it is the original
20:42
the Jeff Tate version or the other band members with a new
20:45
singer I you know what I
20:48
don't want to misspeak but I think it is the latter band
20:52
members with a new singer
20:53
okay I think I could be mistaken but I think that's the one you
21:00
and everybody else
21:00
John you and everybody else yeah you know who knows what's
21:05
going on there but any
21:07
SPEAKER_00: you know you know to be certainly if we were
21:11
we'd almost be better off if we were going to do another
21:14
docking record it'd almost
21:15
be easy if we just started it now because there's so much
21:19
leftover material and
21:20
we're still in that frame of mind that we have the operation
21:23
rolling with the gears
21:24
turning in terms of how I do guitar sounds here how Don's got
21:29
his set up there and
21:30
then how the whole machine is still functioning here so it
21:35
would almost be easy if
21:36
we were going to do another one to just do it now let's do it
21:39
god damn it let's do
21:40
SPEAKER_00: it
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, especially when there's so much leftover material.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I am not exaggerating.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: I wrote 200 riffs for this.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: And they're all on my phone.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: But that's how we would do it, you know.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: And forgetting even the riffs,
21:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
21:57
SPEAKER_00: there's full tracks that we didn't even,
21:59
SPEAKER_00: that we'd forgotten about.
22:01
I mean,
22:01
there's at least five or six recorded that we,
22:04
you know,
22:04
didn't even get to.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: Feel free to send those over anytime you want, John.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: Well, John, let's talk about the live show for a little bit.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: Obviously,
22:17
SPEAKER_02: with you being in the band almost a decade now,
22:20
SPEAKER_02: there's still not a lot of the tunes that you basically wrote.
22:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're still playing almost an exclusive George Lynch show.
22:29
SPEAKER_02: Obviously,
22:30
SPEAKER_02: you can play it,
22:30
but do you try to push to get some of the tracks either from
22:35
Lightning or from the
22:36
new record or even from Hell to Pay into the set to try and get
22:40
a little bit more
22:41
SPEAKER_02: of your own flavor into the set?
22:44
You know,
22:46
it's something we want to do,
22:48
but for some reason,
22:50
I don't know why.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: You know,
22:52
SPEAKER_00: admittedly,
22:53
SPEAKER_00: it's probably that with all of us sort of living where we live,
22:56
SPEAKER_00: we don't get a chance to get in and rehearse up shows.
23:00
So we get sort of into the thing of,
23:02
look,
23:03
this is what we do,
23:04
and we don't,
23:05
you know.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: And there's really no excuse for it,
23:07
SPEAKER_00: because although we have discussed it,
23:09
SPEAKER_00: we're definitely going to start doing songs off this record.
23:12
and at least three and you know we're gonna pull some from the
23:16
last records too
23:17
because it's really time to freshen the setup and start doing
23:21
that Does that mean
23:22
that either yourself or others in the band are bored with some
23:25
of the tunes that
23:26
SPEAKER_02: are
23:26
I never get sick of playing the songs I really don't I love the
23:28
songs but here's
23:29
what we're up against it's like you have fans that want to hear
23:31
certain songs
23:57
and it's sort of like you're between a rock and a hard place
24:01
you start playing
24:02
something new some people don't know it why are they doing that
24:06
we want to hear the
24:07
ones we know so it's sort of like you can't please everybody
24:12
you're in one of those
24:13
situations but I do think we are going to start playing songs
24:17
off this album and
24:19
SPEAKER_00: adding some in from the last record or two
24:21
Well John you know I gotta be honest with you you know you and
24:25
I and Don we've sat
24:27
around and talked about stuff and you know I my opinion is
24:32
always thrown in there
24:33
people you know you guys ask my thoughts and opinions on things
24:36
periodically
24:38
SPEAKER_01: I would like to see songs that haven't been played in a long time.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite songs,
24:44
SPEAKER_01: and I'm sure you're familiar with it,
24:46
SPEAKER_01: from the Back from the Attack CD is Lost Behind the Wall.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: I would like to hear that song live.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a great song.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to hear that,
24:55
and I would like to hear a couple other songs from Lightning
24:58
Strikes Again,
24:59
SPEAKER_01: and I'd like to hear some dysfunctional songs.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: I realize a few of those are Lynch's songs, and some of them are your own
25:07
SPEAKER_01: thecmsnetwork.com
25:22
SPEAKER_01: Sure, it would be great.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: I have no problem with that.
25:46
why don't you email me the songs that you think we should do
25:51
and send them to Don
25:52
too and I think that would be a good way to get the ball
25:55
rolling because I can
25:57
never really be as basically objective as you can by someone
26:02
who's out there
26:03
SPEAKER_00: watching it we're in it
26:07
but there's just such a huge back catalog that a lot of these
26:12
songs just don't get
26:13
ignored they get ignored obviously some of the songs are not
26:19
the most popular or
26:21
the hits or whatever the case may be but any hardcore fan of
26:27
the band Dokken would
26:29
appreciate hearing those live it's just like holy shit I can't
26:32
believe they're
26:33
SPEAKER_01: playing that tonight you know
26:36
yeah okay yeah I agree that would be great let me know which
26:39
ones you think we
26:39
should do what are the ones that stand out for the new record
26:43
to you I know you
26:43
guys love Blind what are the other ones well obviously Broken
26:49
Bones is a great
26:50
record or great song I mean Burning Tears that's another
26:54
favorite of mine yeah that
26:55
one came out good I like that one a lot for the last time I
27:00
like that one a lot
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Which is done by the way,
27:03
we shot it last week I don't want to blow this for the fans but
27:07
because you're on
27:08
SPEAKER_01: the show and you're a pretty honest guy
27:26
what is it with Don being bundled up like it's winter time and
27:31
you got a coat and a
27:32
hat on and then Mick and Sean are in t-shirts I don't get that
27:40
I mean it's just too
27:41
weird it's just like you guys are like bundled up like it's
27:44
winter time inside that
27:46
abandoned building and those guys are like it's hotter than
27:49
hell and they're like
27:50
SPEAKER_01: it's summer time what's up with that that's funny man
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Well,
27:56
SPEAKER_00: hey,
27:57
SPEAKER_00: you know,
27:57
SPEAKER_00: Don calls me and he goes,
27:59
SPEAKER_00: hey,
27:59
SPEAKER_00: we're going to do this real,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: you know,
28:02
SPEAKER_00: post-apocalyptic video,
28:04
SPEAKER_00: like Road Warriors,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: you know,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: like Think Mad Max.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: Well,
28:07
SPEAKER_01: I get the concept and it looks good and I like the concept,
28:11
but it's inconsistent with the way that you guys are dressed in
28:16
the video,
28:17
SPEAKER_01: you know what I mean?
28:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
28:21
because Mick's in a t-shirt and Sean's in a t-shirt but Don's
28:27
all bundled up in a
28:28
leather jacket and gloves and a hat and you got a coat on and
28:32
you got a hat on and
28:34
it's just like what is it cold in there or is it hotter than
28:37
hell what is it that's
28:41
SPEAKER_00: funny man I never would have thought about it like that but yes anyway
28:46
Yeah it was sort of trippy we did it in this abandoned iron
28:50
warehouse underneath
28:51
buried under some bar in downtown LA you know that I don't know
28:54
that anyone ever
28:55
goes down there it was really creepy Look everybody I have
29:00
spent 30 years in the
29:02
loudest rooms in the world and I can tell you one thing for
29:06
certain I've got zero
29:08
time for weak coffee or woke nonsense guess that's actually two
29:13
things I don't care
29:15
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29:16
you're tired of giving up your money to corporate sellouts who
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29:52
SPEAKER_03: thecmsnetwork.com Nice.
30:16
SPEAKER_02: Very cool.
30:17
SPEAKER_02: Well John,
30:18
SPEAKER_02: one of the things outside of Dokken,
30:20
SPEAKER_02: one of the cool things,
30:21
I guess it's not really totally outside of Dokken because
30:23
you're doing it on the
30:23
SPEAKER_02: concert on the dates,
30:25
SPEAKER_02: but you've made yourself available to actually teach guitar players,
30:29
give guitar players in-person lessons and earn the week online
30:34
lessons and whatnot.
30:35
Why don't you tell people about how they can get lessons if
30:38
they want you to teach
30:39
SPEAKER_02: them how to play guitar?
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
30:42
you can go to my website which is johnlevin.com and this sort
30:46
of came about because
30:47
you know someone once emailed me asking if I gave lessons and
30:51
you know she was real
30:52
serious about learning how to play guitar and she started
30:54
wanting to when I was in
30:56
the Midwest area she'd come to the hotel that'd be like a
30:58
conference room and she
30:59
started taking lessons from me and I really enjoyed teaching so
31:03
I wanted to go from
31:04
there and all of a sudden one day I said you know what I had a
31:06
Skype conversation
31:08
and conference call and I was like wow I could probably teach
31:10
like this you know
31:12
so I decided to offer lessons for people who want to learn how
31:16
to play and you can
31:18
do it through Skype and just go to the website and sign up it
31:21
isn't called George
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Lynch's Dojo is it?
31:25
no it's not I don't know what his thing is mine's just you know
31:28
regular guitar
31:29
lessons but it's great for me man because I don't have to go
31:32
anywhere I just grab
31:34
my guitar and give somebody some stuff instead of watching
31:38
another rerun of
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Gilligan's Island or whatever I'm going to do here nice
31:42
nice well you know I emailed you earlier this week and I got a
31:47
confirmation from
31:48
Don but it looks like you and Don and maybe even Mick might be
31:52
taking over the
31:53
classic metal show at the end of the month what are we going to
31:57
do hi Jack you guys
31:58
would duct tape and tie you up and grab the mic right basically
32:02
yeah you guys are
32:03
going to take over the show this should be interesting I'll
32:10
make sure I bring my
32:10
SPEAKER_00: long coat and hat
32:13
as long as Vic wears a t-shirt but Don emailed me back says
32:19
he's in so it looks
32:21
like you guys might be doing the takeover show at the end of
32:24
the month and debut
32:25
SPEAKER_00: the new CD oh that would be great so you've been spinning the disc?
32:30
oh yeah dude we started last week we didn't want to jump the
32:33
gun too much but we've
32:34
been playing it last week and tonight wow you must be one of
32:39
the only I don't know
32:40
SPEAKER_00: that many stations have it yet
32:41
well we're on top of shit dude you guys are on top of it
32:45
already this is the
32:46
classic metal show after all for Christ's sakes what songs have
32:51
you been playing
32:52
everything all of it whatever we feel like playing but yeah
33:02
we're behind you we're
33:05
SPEAKER_00: pumping it I really love the disc I really do
33:10
SPEAKER_01: So how does it compare to Hell to Pay for you?
33:15
SPEAKER_00: Hell to Pay was a completely...
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Hell to Pay,
33:18
SPEAKER_00: we just wrote whatever we wanted to write is really what we did,
33:22
SPEAKER_00: you know?
33:24
SPEAKER_00: This one...
33:25
SPEAKER_00: I think this one's way, way, way better, in my opinion.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: I think that this is the best one I've ever done with Don, for sure.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think sound-wise and playing-wise and song-wise, I mean...
33:37
I'm really happy with it I couldn't really imagine it would
33:40
have been better than
33:41
it came out Well I like it dude like I said I have it in the
33:46
car I've been playing
33:47
it for a couple of weeks now and obviously I had a chance to
33:52
listen to it a few
33:53
weeks ago when I was in Cleveland with you guys and it came out
33:58
great and I'm glad
34:00
to have had a chance to listen to it as early as I have and I
34:05
love it Oh that's
34:07
SPEAKER_00: great
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Right
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Well,
34:29
SPEAKER_01: you know,
34:30
SPEAKER_01: outside of recording is concern,
34:34
SPEAKER_01: how long of a career do you think the band as an entity,
34:38
SPEAKER_01: Dokken,
34:39
SPEAKER_01: has?
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope to keep going.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't see there's a reason why we can't keep going.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: We always want to get out there and play.
34:49
And maybe we'll change in terms of whether or not we want to
34:51
record more in the future.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: You have to understand, after 11 months of hardcore recording...
34:57
the amount of burnout right now is pretty high so we need to
35:02
get out there and play
35:03
and get back to doing what we do and enjoy because we had shows
35:06
sort of interlaced
35:08
while we were recording which really made everything even more
35:11
sort of difficult we
35:12
couldn't really even enjoy the shows because we were really
35:15
being pressured so hard
35:17
by the record label to get it done that they were wrong we were
35:20
supposed to do it
35:21
SPEAKER_00: in 6 months and it took 11 but
35:23
SPEAKER_00: thecmsnetwork.com
35:41
well I'm glad you guys put together such a great disc I agree
35:46
with you the
35:47
production is great Dawn's voice is sounding great I'm glad
35:51
that you got the
35:52
spotlight in the guitar you know in the guitar area and you
35:56
kind of got the
35:57
forefront on this and you know I think people are going to
36:01
appreciate it it's got
36:02
more it's got some of the traditional docking sound but it's
36:06
got more of a modern
36:07
SPEAKER_01: vibe to it so it's kind of like the best of both worlds
36:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would agree with that assessment, exactly.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: I feel the same way about it.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: I think it's fresh, but it still fits within the dock and camp.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, at the end of the day, great songs are a great song.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's how you have to really approach it, you know.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: You can't turn a crappy song into ice cream.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: Alright, John.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Well,
36:32
we appreciate you taking the time out to talk to us here
36:35
tonight on the Classic
36:36
SPEAKER_01: Metal Show.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: You know,
36:38
hopefully we'll get that thing together by the end of the month
36:41
and you will be
36:42
SPEAKER_01: hosting the Classic Metal Show.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: I look forward to that.
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're looking forward to it.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Special guest, George Lynch.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: I need a week off.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: Let you guys take over.
36:55
That would be great man Alright man Well I think what we're
36:59
gonna do is we're
36:59
probably gonna wrap this interview up with probably burning
37:04
tears Great And I don't
37:06
know if I've ever asked you this question before This is a
37:10
traditional classic
37:11
metal show question we ask everybody who's interviewed on the
37:14
CMS here this
37:16
SPEAKER_01: question How has Lemmy from Motorhead influenced your career?
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I see him at the rainbow at the blackjack table there, man.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: He influenced me to go to Vegas and lose all my money.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: All right, John, it's always a pleasure.
37:34
You're always welcome to come back on the show,
37:38
even to be a guest host at any time.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, I appreciate it.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: And,
37:42
SPEAKER_00: hey,
37:42
I want to thank you both for all the support through all the
37:45
years and the
37:45
SPEAKER_00: friendships.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: Well,
37:47
SPEAKER_01: I realize that I've known you,
37:50
SPEAKER_01: well,
37:51
SPEAKER_01: come Memorial Day of 2013,
37:54
SPEAKER_01: I've known you for 10 years.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: Time goes fast, huh?
37:59
Yeah,
37:59
I met you over the Memorial Day weekend of 2003,
38:04
so it's been almost 10 years,
38:07
man.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: Wow, it was before Hell to Pay.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, before.
38:13
We did the little four-day run for Orange County,
38:17
Tucson,
38:18
Arizona,
38:18
Phoenix,
38:19
Arizona,
38:20
and Vegas.
38:22
SPEAKER_01: And that's where Mick passed out and fell off the drums.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I remember that, man.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: It was during The Hunter.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: He looked at me and he goes, where are we?
38:32
SPEAKER_00: Where are we?
38:33
SPEAKER_00: And I thought he got lost in the sauce.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, second verse.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: And then that's not what he meant.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Next thing you know, he's out.
38:41
he meant where are we what planet that was a good weekend yeah
38:53
it was a lot of fun
38:55
alright man we're going to get out of here with burning tears
38:59
any story behind that
39:01
SPEAKER_00: at all nah they'll figure it out just run it alright
39:09
SPEAKER_01: Alright John,
39:10
SPEAKER_01: we'll talk with you soon Alright you guys,
39:13
SPEAKER_01: thanks Alright,
39:14
well here's Burning Tears from the new Dock and release due out
39:17
on September 25th
39:31
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