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NICK DOUGLAS INTERVIEW (APRIL 2005)

Question: You recently played the "Keep It True" festival in Germany with DEADLY BLESSING. How did that go?
NICK DOUGLAS: The response we received was very good and I think none of us expected such warm praise. The reactions have been extremely positive so far. Many of which considered us to be the best band on the festival

Question: DEADLY BLESSING was actually the band you were in prior to joining DORO in 1990. What made you decide to reunite?
NICK: We were first offered to reunite for the Bonnies Reunion Show in Pennsauken, New Jersey in May of 2004. Everyone was available to do it except for Tony, our one guitarist. So we decided to go ahead with it with a friend of ours, Jim Alessi filling in for Tony (who did an admirable job, by the way). It went over great. I suppose that out of this show, word had spread around and that's when Martin Brandt of "That's Metal" magazine and Oli of "Heavy Order Was?" magazine (both from Germany) told us of the offer to play at the Keep It True Festival. We thought that it would be great to have the band come to Germany for this festival so we can finally pay homage to our European fans. However, we would only wish to do it if Tony was involved. When he finally agreed to do it, it was all go from there. So I guess you could say that our appearance at the Keep It True Festival was our first truly official "reunion" show.

Question: Will there be any more shows with DEADLY BLESSING in the future?
NICK: We are slotted to Play at the BW&BK 6-Pack festival in Cleveland, Ohio in May of this year. That's all we have confirmed up until now.

Question: Will there be any newly recorded material?
NICK: Unfortunately with our individual busy schedules, we see no opportunity to collaborate on new material in the near future.

Question: You also recently toured with BLAZE. How did that come about?
NICK: I got a call form Neal, Blaze's manager in the spring of 2004 asking if I could fill in for Wayne (Blaze's current bassist) while he was touring with another band. When I knew that scheduling could allow me to do it, I was honored to accept it! I ended up playing out the rest of the year with them.

Question: What was it like touring with them?
NICK: My stomach was hurting from laughing so much! A great bunch of guys. All quite talented as well. There was Oli from Doro who had previously toured with Blaze. But besides myself being new to the lineup, there was Dani on drums who is now playing with Helloween and a fantastic guitar player, Luca from Milan, Italy. Of course, sharing the stage with Blaze himself was a thrill. He's got a great spirit and is a true-hearted fellow. Neal, Blaze's manager, kept things running smoothly for all of us and deserves a lot of recognition. It was a privilege to be involved with everyone.

Question: Do you think you will play any more shows with them?
NICK: It's difficult to say as things are going to be busy with Doro soon, who is my first priority. But it is not at all out of the question.

Question: Do you think you will ever record with BLAZE?
NICK: It was great to be of service for Blaze and if scheduling would permit it and I was asked, I would be honored to record with Blaze.

Question: A lot of people got concerned that maybe you would leave DORO for BLAZE, so let’s clarify this. You are still a part of DORO, right?
NICK: Absolutely. I think that since it was a scenario (playing with Blaze) that drew a bit of attention, this caused some rumours to fly. But the Doro band is like a home base for me, we are like family.

Question: You toured extensively for the last album "Fight". Are there any highlights for that tour that stand out?
NICK: Oh yeah, many! The first thing that comes to mind was doing a quickly planned show at a nightclub on a resort island in the Gulf Of Thailand called Koh Samui. Our tour manager, Dirk had arranged for us to have five days off there on our way back to Europe from our shows in Australia. I remember that the club arranged to have a nicely painted billboard sign advertising the show the day before. But the interesting thing was that the sign was attached to a small truck which drove up and down the main street the day before the show. Music from the Fight album was being played through a loudspeaker which was attached to the top of the truck. I can remember how strange it felt to be walking down the street on this island during the day with many people about and hearing our album being played off in the distance yet the music was coming closer and closer. Fantastic!

Question: You filmed your first DVD with DORO "Fur Immer". What was that experience like and what was it to play a gig (and have it filmed) in a cave?
NICK: Well, the cave show was a lot of fun. We've played there once before and I think that's how the idea came about to film a concert for the DVD there. As always with filming and or recording a live appearance, it's a fine balance of being able to play your instrument with accuracy and attitude while trying to be visually substantial. It's not easy considering we are for the most part very active performers. But I think the end result represented us well and it's a generous amount of content for the fans. Let me also mention that making this DVD was similar to making two or three albums at once. There was a massive amount of audio and visual material being prepared for the Fuer Immer DVD. I was there in the studio for most of the audio preparation. It was A LOT of work and I loved being involved in that but that was only a small portion of the entire task. All in all, it was fun and a thoroughly productive learning experience. I'm very proud of it. But I think producing a DVD is not something that could be done very frequently! At least not how we do it.

Question: A few years ago, you toured Australia for the first time with DORO. What was that experience like?
NICK: The local promoters were wonderfully sincere and generous to us. The friendships we made in Australia still stand to this day. I hope we get to go back sometime. If you have the means to go down under, do it!

Question: A few years ago you came out with your first solo album "Through The Pane". Are there any plans to record another solo album?
NICK: I have been working on new material for the intention of a second release when ever I have the time however, I've been quite busy with Doro and other projects. So finishing the album is going slower than I anticipated. But I'm not giving up!

Question: What kind of music would you say has influenced your solo material?
NICK: I grew up listening to whatever my mom had on the radio. I can remember being around seven or eight years old and the three bands that stuck out to me were The Beatles, 10CC and The Commodores. So having the opportunity of writing songs completely at free will allowed me to go back in time far enough to react upon these early influences. I wanted to be able to show a side of me creatively that I could not reveal otherwise. That's how "Thought the Pane" came about.

Question: What kind of music are you listening to these days?
Nick: We played with a band in Finland called Godsplague that I've been listening to lately. Also Madrugada, Snow Patrol and Jet.

Question: Who are some bass players that you are influenced by and/or admire?
Nick: Well, Steve Harris and Geezer Butler were two of my biggest heavy metal influences. I also like the bass player who played on the first Pretenders album, Pete Farndon. He had such a cool attitude and approach. Jaco Pastorius forever changed the way we look at the electric bass. Also, there is Pete Way, Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins.

Question: What are your plans for 2005 and beyond?
NICK: It looks like we'll be busy with working on a new studio album with Doro this summer which may take us well into the fall. There are also a few festival shows lined up. Recently, I spoke with Chris Caffery about playing a few shows for his solo album tour. I'm quite excited about that.

Question: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. In closing, is there anything you would like to say to the fans?
NICK: We have been through a lot together by now, haven't we? Thanks for being a part of the history. It's always been about you guys but you probably know that by now. I look forward to seeing you guys real soon. Peace to you. Until next time.

Nick's official web site: http://www.nickdouglas.com
You can order Nick's solo album "Through The Pane" here.