By Murilo Henrique
This year, even with the enormous problems surrounding the global pandemic ravaging and haunting the world with severe deaths and widespread concern, the music world (thankfully) did not stop, and this past month we had the release of "Bustle and Flow," a single from the American supergroup The Dead Daisies.
With a lineup that would make many new bands envious, the band delivers a single that will be part of their upcoming album and aims to give all long-time rock and hard rock fans that feeling of living in the golden age of Whitesnake , Mötley Crüe , and AC/DC, always bringing high-quality compositions and a great deal of virtuosity and experience from other solid projects known to all of us, ranging from Deep Purple, Guns N' Roses, Thin Lizzy, and many others.
We chatted with guitarist Doug Aldrich about the band's album, and he emphasized the band's unity and the synchronicity achieved in the composition process of the instrumental and lyrical lines. According to the guitarist, these musicians, despite their individual experiences in different projects, managed to bring together common points and, most importantly, maximize the current rock spirit within their hearts.
WIKIMETAL: I heard the new single "Bustle And Flow" and I particularly loved the way it's played with so much weight, besides the whole atmosphere that reminds us of that great 80s scene. What inspirations do you bring to the studio to create the lines with the other guys ?
Doug Aldrich : Basically, we create the sounds in a way that allows the ideas to come out with great quality and in the way we think it will sound good.
The way the sound expresses itself is particularly similar to the influences of the 70s, largely because we all grew up around the same time and have many things in common, such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. And precisely when we're in the process of composing and recording in the studio, we try to maintain as much naturalness as possible so that the sound can come out as best as possible.
We had some great and wonderful times while we were recording because we did all the work in the south of France last year, exactly a year ago now, and when we had everything lined up, the pandemic hit and severely hampered our plans. Having done that, we started with "Unspoken," which was recorded between April and May, and we recorded this single, "Bustle and Flow," released in September, and now we have "Holy Ground.".
WM: Since we're talking about the pandemic, how's life going for you? Are you still playing gigs at home? Keeping up with your friends and the guys in the band?
DA: (Laughs) Yes! Currently, I'm still creating things on social media with the band, and even with the whole quarantine process we went through here in Los Angeles and everything else, we managed to produce some acoustic material for our fans, and on top of that, Glenn [ Hughes ] and I did some things here in the summer. But anyway, I'll always be practicing with my guitar and at the same time working on the band's music, whether it's experimenting with something else that might fit into future ideas, and looking outside of the musical work, I'm here with my kids, I take them to soccer three times a week, it's a lot of work!
WM: You're a real rockstar, it seems. Right? (laughs)
DA: Honestly, I don't know. These days I'm usually just the dad, you know? (laughs)
WM: Speaking of which, are you a football fan?
DA: Yes, I love it! Since I spent a lot of time at home last year, I decided to coach my son. Currently, he's playing for two teams, and I decided to take on the job of coaching one of them, and seriously, we won every game we could, and wow, it was my first coaching experience and it was simply unbelievable, you know? We were very lucky and worked very hard when, unfortunately, we fell in the finals in a match that was decided by penalty kicks. Besides that, we traveled practically everywhere, and that must have somehow affected the team.
WM: Speaking a little more about the album: who was responsible for writing the lyrics for the single? Looking closely, we realize that it's a very strong and very engaged lyric. Did you have a more central role or did the whole band contribute? Looking at each individual's career, it's noticeable that there's an intense and solid background of influences as well.
DA: When we talk about the band's lyrics, practically everything is Glenn's responsibility, and when we talk more about the musical part, everyone contributes. I bring some things, Glenn brings his, we write some others together, and practically, almost at the end, we did almost everything together, you know? Everyone always put their best into the project. We got together in August to play with Glenn and we started brainstorming from there on, and in fact, it was very good and very cool to participate because in the first songs we recorded and in the pre-production periods of those, we spent a lot of time elaborating the instrumentals, writing lyrics, rehearsing and everything else, and the following month, we were already very sharp and rehearsed to rock, having practically finished everything close to Christmas, when Glenn needed to go back to the studio to do a few things with the vocals so that when we got to January, everything would be perfectly complete.
The key is always to be very well rehearsed and very well prepared; that's very important for us.
WM: After all the craziness the world is going through, can we expect a world tour? Maybe a quick stop here in Brazil?
DA: Yes, definitely. I have many friends in Brazil, I know people from São Paulo, Curitiba. There was a time when I was with Whitesnake that was sensational, because we played in Manaus for the first time, in addition to Porto Alegre and many other places. I love the Brazilian people, the food and everything else, so I'm very excited!
WM: Any message for the fans here in Brazil?
DA: Yes! First of all, I really wanted to thank you for all the support over all these years and, as I said before, I have many dear friends out there and I love them very much. I can't wait to see you all again and while we can't meet up yet, please continue to take care of yourselves, stay safe, and wear a mask!
