Interview

It takes me about an hour and a half to get to Allentown from where I live and, during that drive, I began putting some questions together for an interview that I was supposed to be doing with Don Dokken. By the time we reached Crocodile Rock, which was the club that Dokken was performing at this evening, I had my interview questions all ready to go. I was totally ready for this interview. After talking with tour manager David Steele, I was informed that Don wouldn't be available to do the interview. But, former Europe guitarist John Norum would come out and spend a few minutes with me to do the interview. We sat in the front of the club and while we waited for the staff to turn down the radio that was playing, John was kind enough to sign my copy of "The Final Countdown," which I brought along just in case. Anyway, since most of the questions I had prepared were no longer of any use to me, I put my little notebook away and just went with the flow and, for being a "last minute" sort of interview, it went rather well. John was very cool to talk with and I could sense that he was very eager to get up on that stage and just rock out, which he eventually did. The band tore through a set list that was pretty much the same as the "Live From The Sun" album, with the exception of a few different songs. Their performance was very strong and it was an exceptionally powerful show. Dokken's been around for twenty years and, from what I saw this evening, time has done nothing to slow them down. They still seem to have the passion and energy that a lot of these new bands have and that, my friend, made the drive all the more worth while. So, here you go, my pre-show chat with John Norum.

Paul Autry: Well, I guess I should start off by asking...how did you hook up with Dokken?

John Norum: This time around or from the begining? Paul Autry: I guess we can go back to the begining. John Norum: Well, I did a solo album after I quit Europe in 1987. Don got a copy of that album and he really liked it. So, he called me up and asked if I would be interested in working with him. So, I went out to L.A. and did the "Up From The Ashes" album with him, which was his solo record. I was with him for about three years. I did some more solo albums after that.

Paul Autry: Kelly Keeling worked on some of those with you, right?

John Norum: Two, yeah. Anyway, I've been in Sweden pretty much the whole time and in 1997/1998, they called me again because they fired George Lynch in the middle of the tour because they were fighting again, as usual. So, I finished that tour, it was about fifteen shows. Then I went back to Sweden again and did another solo album. When Reb Beach quit, about five months ago, well, I'm back in the band again. Paul Autry: So, why did Reb Beach quit...I didn't see anything on that. John Norum: He couldn't stand Don, I guess. No...Don's very hard to work with in the studio as a producer. That's what Reb said anyway. He just didn't want to do it anymore. So, Don called me again and here I am. We've been in the studio the last few months, working on the new album. It's almost done...I'd say it's about 90% done.

Paul Autry: There's a few songs I heard about that I wanted to ask you about. One being "You," which, if I'm not mistaken, has an orchestra and, from what I was told, it's one of the most, how shall I say it, un-Dokken songs there is?

John Norum: Well, I don't think it is, really. It kind of has a little bit of the old Dokken stuff in there. It's quite heavy...the album's quite heavy. It has a couple of ballads too. But, it's probably the heaviest Dokken album so far...finally!

Paul Autry: Is "Little Girl" one of the ballads?

John Norum: It's kind of half a ballad. It's not a ballad, really, it's more on the poppy side.

Paul Autry: So, what's it like working in the studio with Dokken?

John Norum: It's good, I like it a lot. It's great. This album is gonna be very good. As soon as this tour is over, we're gonna go back in the studio to finish it off. So, look forward to it. It's gonna be out in, I think, the begining of March.

Paul Autry: Since this is the 20th Anniversary for the band, is there anything special planned?

David Steele: Yeah, I think they're gonna do two bonus tracks in Japan for this record and this tour is basically a 20th Anniversary tour and this is just twenty years of rockin' with Dokken.

Paul Autry: Is this a warm up show or is this actually part of the tour?

David Steele: All the clubs that we're doing right now are warm up shows for the European tour. We'll be doing festivals. We'll be back in the summer, in the States, with, possibly Whitesnake. These shows are basically a warm up for the fans...they can get intimate with them, in the club situation.

John Norum: And we'll be playing a few of the songs from the upcoming album as well.

Paul Autry: Cool. Now, you've played with Don on his solo record. But, how would you describe this line up of Dokken?

John Norum: Well, they're the best musicians I ever played with. They're really, really good. Barry Sparks on bass, he's just incredible. Mick Brown, of course, he's just the greatest drummer of all time, that's just what I think. It's just amazing. It's a real strong band. Paul Autry: As far as the set list, what can the fans expect to hear? John Norum: Well, they're gonna hear all the old classics, of course. All the hit songs.

Paul Autry: Any Europe songs?

John Norum: No, we're not doing any Europe songs. And, like I said, we're doing a few new songs, we're trying them out now. See what kind of response we'll get. So far, it's been great.

Paul Autry: How hard has it been for you to learn all the material that you'll be playing live with the band?

John Norum: It's was very easy because I did the tour with Don and, a lot of these songs, I've played them all before. So, it's nothing really new to me. Plus, I knew them even before I knew Don. I used to play to these songs at home and stuff because George Lynch was one of my favorite guitar players.

Paul Autry: How do you approach his guitar playing?

In the "Live From The Sun" DVD when Don was talking about Reb joining the band, he said that every guitar player that auditioned came in and said "I can play George" and Don didn't want 'em and then Reb came in and said "I don't do George." - Did you go about that the same way?

John Norum: Yeah. I put my own stuff in there, you know. Not too much though. I just play whatever fits the song the best. Obviously, a lot of the melody lines and a lot of the licks really...I should copy what George did on the album because they're part of the song and people tend to get disappointed if they're not hearing certain things a certain way. So, I pick the best pieces out that I like from what George and Reb did and I try to add my own thing into it...I mix it all up.

Paul Autry: So, how did you become a guitar player?

John Norum: Actually, my whole family are guitar players. My mom, my dad, sisters...they all play guitar. I used to study with my mom. She had an old acoustic guitar at home and I just picked it up and started playing. We'd play to old Elvis songs.

Paul Autry: Going back to the "Live From The Sun" DVD, Don mentioned on there that he would like to make a Sgt. Pepper's meets Metallica's black album, the ultimate Dokken record. Do you think this album will be the one?

John Norum: I think so, I think this is the one. I don't think it's gonna get any better than this. You never know, but, there's no filler on this album. There's no bad songs, you know, they're all very strong songs. Like I said before, it's much heavier and, finally, Dokken has a heavy sound to them. It's heavy and good sounding.

Paul Autry: You've seen music change over the years, people come and go. Yet Dokken, much like Def Leppard, has managed to survive all the trends. What do you think is the key to Dokken's success and where do you think they fit in the music world today?

John Norum: Well, Mick Brown could probably answer that question better than anyone else. You know, he's been in the band for twenty years. But, I think it's just that they stick with it. They've never followed the trends. They were always better than all the other bands from the 80's. The songs are much more stronger. But, more important, they're all good musicians. A lot of the bands from the 80's weren't good musicians, but, Dokken were always great players. So, that has a lot to do with it for sure. A lot of the songs have stood the test of time. I mean, really, you could listen to "Under Lock And Key" today, which was made in 1985, and it still sounds great. But, if you put on something else from 1985, you might go, oh, damn, how could I listen to this...this is horrible.

Paul Autry: Final comments?

John Norum: Well, I really hope they like the new album. It's gonna be released when we're all happy with it, we want everybody to be satisfied. So, I hope they like it and I hope they come out to the shows to see the band and have a good time. Keep on rockin' with Dokken...always!

http://www.dokken.net