The undisputed queen of metal Doro Pesch, although currently locked away in a recording studio has taken the time to answer a few questions for www.imarocker.com. Doro 1st came to the world’s attention as the singer for German metal legends Warlock. In recent times there’s been a lot of new female vocalists, a lot of them coming in the wake of the success of bands such as ‘Arch Enemy’ and ‘Lacuna Coil’ but even though in the 80’s you had bands that ‘rock goddess’ & ‘Girlschool’ , and even the ‘Runaways and Lita ford’ who were more pop than metal’ Doro was the 1st female metal vocalist to enter the world stage on an international level and give the usual male dominated metal scene a run for its money. She’s still doing it today and still turning heads along the way.

Doro has always done it her own way: In 1986, the then singer of German newcomers Warlock experienced an early breakthrough, impressing tens of thousands of people by playing a thunderous gig at the Legendary "Monsters of Rock" festival. An early success that opened wide the doors of the American market as well. Since then millions of copies of Doro’s records found their way into collections of dedicated fans around the world. Her last album with Warlock "Triumph and Agony" has sold more than one million units over the years. In 1989 her first solo album "Force Majeure" went gold in Germany with more than 250 000 sold copies. Doro received awards in various countries, topped by Germany’s "Echo" Award in 1994 as "best female singer". In Spain she’s a reigning goddess: 13 times in a row the Spaniards voted her as "best international female singer of the year".

It is impossible to me to imagine a life without music", she says. Someone with her unique blend of tenacity, sensitivity, reliability, honesty and determination will always find a way. Unbelievable, but true: Only a few years ago she was busted several times by the German cops when they found her with a bucket of glue in the middle of the night, sticking her own concert posters to wooden fences in the center of her hometown Düsseldorf. And even back in the day with Warlock when the rest of the band were out of it with booze it was Doro who was driving the bus night after night, show after show. In the days of pampered Rockstars who forgot where they came from and still to this day, Doro can be found hanging out with her fans after a show, ensuring everyone gets whatever they want signed spending time with them. She is a true metal legend!!

How are you, where are you? What’s currently happening in Doro’s world?
Thank you I’m doing pretty good. We just came back from doing all the great summer festivals and now we’re working in the studio on our new record. I wrote some songs in Nashville with my friend Gary Scruggs and we’re gonna record the new material in the next couple of weeks. I think it all feels really, really good and I’m totally excited about it. The band is in good spirits and we all have a great time working on new songs and sounds…

What has been the best concert by one of your peers you ever attended?
I guess I’ll never forget the first time I saw Whitesnake in 1980, my first real Rock-concert, it blew me away! A year later the Judas Priest-Accept-package, man, it was soooo good.

What was the first song you ever wrote/performed?
I’m guessing….. I think the song was called “Shake down”, the first song I ever performed. The drummer of my first band wrote it. And the first song I’ve written was called “Cry about a rebel”.

Do you remember the first place/time you stepped on stage to play? What happened?
Oh yes, it was such a wild experience, unbelievable actually. It was a dark dangerous club called “Rose and Crown” in Düsseldorf and the whole show, there was a guy pointing a gun at me. I was really shocked and nobody had the guts to take the gun away from this drunken guy. But we did the show and I think it was really good. The fans seemed to like it a lot.

What performer are you in awe of? Why?
Oh, a lot of people I love….. like Janis Joplin, Lemmy, Little Richard, Marc Bolan from T.Rex, so many great personalities and voices and real characters… I love people who have magic and soul. The list is really long…

What would be the high point and low point of your career?
The 90’s were very hard because of the huge impact grunge music had and I think now is a really good time for our kind of music again. People love metal and hard rock again and that feels fantastic. The festivals are huge like in the 80’s and to tour is absolutely what I love the most, especially when many clubs and gigs are sold out and people are into it like crazy. That’s the best!!!

What is your favourite city to have a show in and why?
Oh, I treat every show like it could be the last and I always give 200% in every city, no matter where or under which condition. I love to play and to me every show is sacred. The fans are the most important thing to me, the most sacred in my eyes are the people and I’m a servant to the fans I love.

If you could do something else, what would it be?
I would be a painter, I think.

What colour is the sky in your world?
Oh, it has many shades from dark blue to black and sometimes it is very bright and golden like a whiter shade of pale…..

Discography:
Warlock:
• Burning The Witches (1985)
• Hellbound (1985)
• True As Steel (1986)
• Triumph And Agony (1989)

Doro:
• Force Majeure (1989)
• Doro (1990)
• Rare Diamonds (1991)
• True At Heart (1991)
• Angels Never Die (1993)
• Doro Live (1993)
• Machine II Machine (1995)
• Love Me In Black (1998)
• Calling The Wild (2000)
• Fight (2002)
• Classic Diamonds (2004)

links
www.doro.de
www.afm-records.de
UltimateDoroClan@aol.com