Hard RoxX on-Line Rock Magazin: Doug Aldrich Interview 2001

Lion and it's successor Bad Moon Rising were two of my favourite bands from the late 80's / early 90's, with albums such as 'Dangerous Attraction' and 'Blood' the perfect combination of Kal Swann's soulful, blues tinged vocals and Doug Aldrich's sizzling lead guitar work. It's sad then in many respects that the change in direction heralded by 'Opium For The Masses' was to see the end of such a fruitful partnership. "Well, one thing to keep in mind," Doug explains, "is that it was the first full record with Ian Mayo and Jackie Ramos in the band, so they had an influence on the sound as well. But mainly, it seemed that guitar solos were out of style at that point in time, and that grunge was all over the radio. I don't think we intentionally did a sound change, but I think Kal was singing very differently, and that rubbed off on the band. I got a lot of flack from the guys about sounding too classic hard rock or metal. Anyway, I bought a flannel shirt and they thought that was cool. I must admit though, I'm glad that musical period is over, ha, ha!"

Looking at it logically though, you'd think it would be a no win situation with their traditional fan base being completely alienated, and the grunge fans steering well clear because of their hard rock past. "Yes, you are absolutely right," Doug concedes, "And that did happen quite a bit. Mainly, I didn't really care about the grunge fans because they were a very arrogant lot anyway, but I was bummed to let down the fans that we had gathered over the years. You know, I was the least grungy member of the band, but in defense, it is really easy for a lot of people to make opinions or judgements about things in hindsight. We made a mistake, as a lot of bands did, but after playing that record live in Japan and France, it made me want to write harder stuff. And I told Kal that on the next record I was gonna play guitar again."

Although the record companies can often be painted as the villain of the piece in such circumstances, Doug is keen to point out that there was no outside pressure on Bad Moon Rising to reinvent themselves as the next Alice In Chains or Soundgarden. "No no," he insists, "when the record company heard the record, the first thing they asked us to do was record two more songs, at least for the Japanese market. I was kinda happy about that; one because that meant more studio time, and secondly because I could at least put a normal solo on those two. I was really struggling as a guitarist with trying to find a suitable tone and stuff like that, so one day I decided to approach it with more of a bluesy tone. And the producer kinda liked that. But as a whole, I have to say that I didn't find anything in that time stimulating musically."

... I just wanted to do what I do best. I also wanted to give my die-hard fans what they wanted to hear. I talked to Kal and played him some of the new ideas I had, but he said he just didn't want to sing like that anymore ...

As was perhaps to be expected, the reaction on the streets was one of surprise. "Yeah, it was kinda mixed," Doug nods, "some people loved it and congratulated us on our coolest record yet, but mostly our fans were a bit confused. I'm not one of those who can hide my feelings anyway, so if we got any criticism, I had to agree. That's why I was so defiant about the next time I set foot in the studio, I was gonna do what I wanted to do as opposed to trying to please everyone else. That was the best thing about that time. I learned that you just have to play what you want and don't let outsiders influence you, stick to your guns."

Even in Japan, a long time core market for the band, things went less well than expected. "It did OK," shrugs Doug, "but not as good as the first BMR record. I think we sold about 40,000 units in Japan in the end, give or take. Some of the magazines over there gave us a bit of a hard time, but even though it was a bit rough, they still supported us somewhat. The Japanese market is very confusing to me. I love Japan so much and I have gone there dozens of times, but it is still a mystery how things work. Japan, is my favourite place I have ever been."

In the end though, as stated earlier, 'Opium For The Masses' proved to be the straw that finally broke the camels back. "I'd just had enough and decided that I wanted to get back to my sound and style," Doug explains. "In the end I guess I kind of pushed it too hard for him, because he just said that he didn't want to go backwards, whereas I looked at it as coming full circle. I was so happy to have made a stand, and I was glad that he could understand my point. Kal and I did a lot of good music together, but it was time for a change. Looking back, that record was successful in several ways. Because of that record, we got to play in Korea. Also we sold like 8,000 units in France. We opened for Van Halen in Paris, we had it released in the States ... so it was successful in many ways. And it is a good record with some good songs, but that wasn't enough for me. I needed to play guitar again, and maybe Kal wanted the guitar to be less of a focal point. So, that was that, but we still remain good friends. He has a family now and a totally cool son, gives me the same looks as his daddy used to, like 'turn down that damm guitar !' Kal used to call my amp set-up "The Vortex" because he used to say it sounded like a wave crashing on the beach when I hit a chord. But later he just stayed away, ha, ha !"

"Kal is a true artist," Doug continues, "he's one of the most creative people I've ever known. He has a bunch of solo songs that he did, but I think for the time being he's just holding out. We talk maybe once a month. Kal is a very private person, and he's known to take off on a surfing trip or a desert camping trip for weeks at a time. I hope one day we can see eye to eye again on some music. I know sometime we will get back together."

With Bad Moon Rising no more, it was time for Doug to take stock and consider what he wanted to do with his life. "I just wanted to write some songs that felt good to me," he admits. "I didn't have a real plan or anything like that, but I wrote some songs and started looking for a singer. I used to get some cool offers to join other bands, but It was never the right one I guess. I am dedicated to what ever I am doing, and maybe that is one mistake that I have made, because I have turned down some very lucrative offers. But I can sleep at night ya know. There was one that I got from a great singer and band one time. I auditioned and got the gig, but after hanging out with them, I realised that I just wouldn't be happy so I backed out. They were cool with it. They found a great player anyway in the end."

There then followed a couple of instrumental releases. "I have done two self indulgent solo records, yeah," Doug laughs. "The first is called 'High Centered' which was kind of bluesy and groove oriented. The second one is called 'Electrovision', and it's kind of over the top blues fusion music. It is a bit over the top, but it was a lot of fun making it ... me and Chris Frazier would jam for hours and I would record everything. Then I wrote guitar parts to the jams. Listen to this stuff at your own risk, ha, ha ! It is out there, you can check out some of that stuff on my new web site - www.dougaldrich.com . There are some mp3's and stuff on there. Also I have this thing called riff of the month. It's cool this web stuff. This guy designed it for me and I'm really happy about it."

"It's just great fun to blow of steam on those things," Doug adds. "I'm really proud of both of those records. For me, I need to work a lot or I get crazy. With BMR it would take a long time to do a record and then tour, it would be like a year long process. So these records kind of cleared my head a little."

Prior to forming Burning Rain, Doug's profile here in Europe has been pretty low key, although he's been far from inactive. "I did a record with the band Hurricane," he offers. "We toured the clubs in the States which was my first tour there. It was summer and we had a great time. Also, I did a record with House Of Lords called 'Sahara'. I didn't get credit, but I did all the electric guitars except for two solos. I've also done a bunch of session stuff over the years. I don't know why, but I guess you're right, my profile has taken a bit of a hit in recent years. I guess in order to really have support from a scene you need to tour so people can see you play. That's my real strength. I hope I can come back a lot after the Z show on May 6th. We're really looking forward to that show and we hope we can come back and do our own tour after that."

Having finally laid to rest the ghost of Bad Moon Rising, Doug decided it was time to get back into the saddle once again with his own brand of classic hard rock.. "That's what I'm known for," he explains, "It's the music that I love and still listen to. I can't play other styles like pop or grunge or rap rock, so I just wanted to do what I do best. I also wanted to give my die-hard fans what they wanted to hear. I talked to Kal and played him some of the new ideas I had, but he said he just didn't want to sing like that anymore. I can totally respect him for that. So it had to be fresh and new because I had no other options."

And so Burning Rain was born. "It all fell into place pretty easily," recalls Doug. "I met Keith through Ian Mayo, and once he and I started writing together, I knew it would be cool. He's an amazing singer / musician and a great performer. I told him what I was looking for and he said he liked the same kind of music too. Once we started writing, we both felt really good about it, there's a lot of tension there during the writing process which I think is healthy. He was just the automatic choice really. Of course there were other options open to me, but I didn't really see any point in continuing to explore them once I'd found Keith."

The Burning Rain sound is more rootsy than Bad Moon Rising in many ways, and certainly more so than the slick, arena rock of Lion. "I was looking for that," agrees Doug, "I wanted us to sound hungry and pissed-off, and I think we got close. Our first record was a simple statement, but the new one 'Pleasure to Burn' has a bit more depth to it. I think it sounds like the first, but with a couple of really deep outside songs."

Turning naturally to his core market for support, a deal was first struck with Japanese label Pony Canyon. "They have been my record company for my whole career,>" Doug offers. "They've been very supportive of me, and my entire catalogue is with them, so there was no other choice that made sense, I mean I know those guys. They know they can talk to me about business, and I understand somewhat what they need to sell records. I have a lot of friends at Pony Canyon."

The key players in the media too were soon won over by the seductive charms of the 'Burning Rain' debut. "I think they were happy about it," Doug ponders. "Our Publishing for the first record was with Burrn! Publishing, so I guess they liked it. The international market in Japan is in a bit of a slump from what I am told, but I think we did pretty good under the circumstances, something like 10,000 units sold which for a new band is cool. As far as the other territories were concerned, I was relying on other people for that. There were a couple of options open to me, but fortunately I was contacted directly by Z records. They've just released both records. The label is really refreshing and hungry. Their leader is a cool chap and he has a vision about the European music scene that I think is dead-on. We are planing to work with Z for a bunch more records. So far, we haven't been shopped in the US, so I don't think many people know about us here, only from the web I guess. I wasn't tempted at all by half decent deals. I would rather release records myself than be on the wrong label."

... I didn't really care about the grunge fans because they were a very arrogant lot anyway, but I was bummed to let down the fans that we had gathered over the years ..

As Doug has said, both albums have been recently issued by Z Records here in Europe. It must seem strange at first re-promoting an album like the debut which was released the best part of two years ago in Japan ? "No not really," Doug muses, "that stuff happens quite a lot. I'm just so happy that people in Europe are having a chance to get the record for a normal price at last."

With 'Burning Rain' being such a strikingly strong debut, I wondered if that had put any added pressure on Doug and Keith to deliver the goods second time around. "No, but it was hard to get started though," Doug admits. "After we came home from Japan, Keith was out of town quite a lot. His family is in New York, and he would fly in and stay with me so we could do these marathon writing and recording sessions. Once we got started, we got really excited about the song idea's we were coming up with. We did it in the exact same way as the first, so I guess there's a real continuity feel with 'Pleasure To Burn'. On the next one, I hope to have a great outside producer come in to work with us, just as long as he can add to the sound. On the whole, I'd say we're all really very happy with the way this one turned out. Sure there are always little things that you wish you could change or redo, but yeah, I think it turned out great. Keith and I went up to Boston to mix it with Jeff Glixman; and I think he did a good job with the final mix."

As many of you will know, Burning Rain are scheduled to make their European debut at Z Rock 2001 in early May, something the band are looking forward to immensely. "Hell yes, we can't wait," Doug enthuses, "we have a bunch of fans from Japan coming over just for the gig. I've been to the UK before, but never actually played there. It will be fuckin' great, I can't wait ! I'm not really sure what to expect from the crowd over there ... but I heard about the piss, ha, ha! I don't know, I guess they're a very educated audience, you can't bullshit them because they've seen everything before."

Finally, not wishing to let the grass grow, Burning Rain are already looking forward to album number three, which will also be on Z Records. "Keith and I have already started to write," offers Doug, "and we have kind of a rough schedule that we're on now. At the moment it looks like we'll be back in the studio in late spring. I just hope that we can keep the momentum going and make it stronger, because the scene needs support right now, it's kinda limp don'tcha think ? I'd just like to say thanks to everyone out there who loves guitar based music, be it mine or somebody else's music. Together we can make the scene live again."