Turn It Up To Twelve

2013 will see the 30^th year in the world of rock for Doro Pesch. 

She will headline Wacken Open Air Festival as part of her anniversary celebration.

In 2008 she celebrated 25 years at Wacken close to her home town of Dusseldorf, Germany.  You would never know to speak with her.  Pesch still radiates the vitality and enthusiasm of a 20 year old.

Her appearances on stage were not always so confident.  At the Donington, Monsters of Rock Festival in England in 1986 Pesch recalls. “There were lots of steps on the way to the stage.  It was unbelievable.  I was so nervous my knees were like pudding.”

Early Doro with Warlock

Growing up in Europe, there was no easy ride for Pesch.  The US market was a far and distant land, but Pesch is a fighter and her band Warlock broke free and made it onto the world stage.  The music was loud, free and hard, the voice of Pesch recognisable as one of rocks heaviest and most influential and coming from a woman.

Post Warlock; they disbanded in 1989, her German connection gave Pesch the opportunity to take part in a promotional tour with fellow countrymen and 2013 Download Festival headliners Rammstein, back in 1995.  “They were also with Polygram at the time, playing small clubs, doing meet and greets.  I just love them,” Peschs enthusiasm for her fellow musicians is oozing as she speaks.  “I truly feel that if anyone has not seen them they really should.  They are great live; State of the art, with great pyro and so artistic.  This kind of metal gives me my energy.”

Doro 2012
Courtesy of The Gauntlet

Pesch is not only famous for her vocal, but also for her for her bondage type clothing on stage, but despite what you may love to imagine, there is no perverse reason for this.  Pesch explained in detail.  “It’s just like a work uniform to me.  It looks great too.  You can’t go on stage wearing sweats or jeans and a Tee.  I used to wear real leather, but I worked with Peta in recent years and I strive to wear leather look clothes now instead.  It looks just as good and it doesn’t get nearly as stinky after two weeks on the road either.  I just love animals and you know the way that leather is produced is really cruel.”

Pesch is also well known for being an incredibly fit person.  How does she manage it with such a bust schedule?   “Music keeps you fit and young and I will try to do this until the day I die.  I work out when I am in New York.  I jog and run on the beach.  Of course then I will do a two or three hour show where I sweat like crazy.  It’s so easy to keep fit that way.  Once I go into the studio everything changes.  Then it is not so easy.  I have never been a drinker, all the boys in the band used to drink, so I would be the driver, so that was never an issue, but I did used to smoke.  I loved to smoke, but I knew it was the right thing to do, to quit.  My only beauty secret is Estee Lauder Resilience.  It is the only thing I ever found that really works with my skin!”

From ThePlaugue.net

Despite being so athletic and with all the great energy, Pesch was hospitalised on tour several years ago after head banging caused a disturbance to blood flow in her arm and leg. She tells it like this, “It was really very scary; the Doctors said it was possibly some kind of nerve damage.  Of course head banging is a big part of what I do on stage, so I have to be really careful.  On the new cd, Raise Your Fist there are three songs that are head bangers!”

Raise Your Fist

Also on the new CD is Motorhead singer/bassist Lemmy.  How did that happen?  “Ah, Lemmy.”  Pesch muses.  “I was at the house of Andreas Bruhn, you know, he was the guitarist for Sisters Of Mercy.  He was singing my song It Still Hurts, a song I wrote about someone I love dearly and I could just hear, well visualize, the voice of Lemmy singing.  I said to Andreas, I hear Lemmy, this is his song.  We called him and he agreed to sing for us.  It was so worth the call.  Lemmy has haunting vocal on our duet It Still Hurts.”

The addition of Lemmy and other musical guests such as guitarist Slash and drummer Eric Singer ensured an easy return to the US market in 2000 when Calling The Wild was released, a place Pesch had been away from for a time.  “You know that’s great, that North American fans love the music, but seem not to have such great love for the artwork as we do in Europe.  With the picture discs and vinyl, I know it is still really popular back home.  In North America they do not seem to notice!”

Calling The Wild

No matter the visual art.  Wherever there are metal fans, Pesch is always likely to draw in a great crowd.  So, for those fans anticipating live and loud here is a link to Peschs website where, among other great information, the new Doro tour dates are listed;

http://www.doropesch.com/

By Karen Graham 3 November 2012