Post by Dr Demented on Mar 19, 2008 17:41:44 GMT -5
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Give them props for an awesome interview!
Interview w/ King Diamond - added - March 18th, 2008
Interviewer: Ruben Mosqueda
King Diamond is on the mend from his back injury that caused him to cancel his touring plans for his critically acclaimed album Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. In this conversation, we got a chance to ask King about his road to recovery, his Grammy nomination, the music video for “Give Me Your Soul,” his participation on the Probot album, politics, and of course Mercyful Fate. This was another fun and informative interview with King Diamond. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed doing it.
King, since we last spoke, you were forced to cancel the tour behind Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. How are you doing? What is the prognosis on your injury?
[/b]
Yeah, I had some herniated discs. This was the first time I ever had any problems. I have never been to any hospitals before, you know. I’ve never be so incapacitated, it was during the last two days of mixing (the album), when it happened. Obviously this had been a condition that been occurring over the years. (pause) You don’t really take care of your body enough…as you know people find this out later. I think you never think that anything is wrong you just continue to do what you’ve always done. That was a heavy blow…there was a lot of pain to the point that I would not put any pressure on my left leg. You can’t describe the pain, the specialists told me that they know that these pains are some of the worst that people can experience. I certainly know that they speak the truth…it was so bad for a time that I couldn’t even walk. Now I’m able to walk around and can do interviews and stuff like that. I can sit normally on the couch and stuff like that, all around (now) the pain is (now) rare. I never really took any pain killers you know I just didn’t want to use those. I really think that by not doing so it really helped speed up the healing process. I think if you get on these pills you don’t want to experience the pain because it’s so uncomfortable, but at the same time you’re drugged up and drowsy and you just can’t function. The other thing you can lie in the wrong position for hours and since you’re taking painkillers you won’t know until later as they begin to wear off…if you’re not using painkillers you’re able to adjust yourself and reposition and help the healing process. I think if I were to put this into context for you…if there were let’s say 75 steps to full recovery I would say that I’m at about the 50tth step. It’s a lot better than how it was when it first happened that’s for sure. It’s not good enough right now to tour and to do a lot of what I’d like to be doing. Everything that I can possibly do I’m doing to get better. The road to recovery is going in the right direction.
What have you been doing during some of the down time? Any new ideas for a new album? What does a typical day look like for King Diamond while on the mend?
You can’t do a whole lot of stuff, you know…it’s a matter of doing business things, you know. We did do the video. That was in that period where I was not that good. We filmed out performance footage, I felt okay while doing it. When we were done filming and they began to pack up the cameras I felt awful. I think if I didn’t live on the ground floor I would have probably jumped out the window you know (laughs). Of course when you’re healing up you look into what else can be done, I want to be as productive as possible. We did the video and we’ve been working on other things, like those old retro DVD’s, we’ve looking for the right deal to get those out. These are bootlegs but they are very good quality, no body’s seen these before. We have Mercyful Fate before we even got signed, we have some rare shit, and I know that Brian Slagel was over at my house about a year ago and very surprised at the quality. I had told him about them, that the quality was very good for bootlegs. Once he saw them he said “I had no idea that they were this good!” He was excited about getting them out there for the fans to see. Hopefully we can get them don and there are these little side projects pooping off here and there. There’s a video game that’s coming out later this year that has asked if they could use some of our music, we’ll see if this happens. This is going to be a gig game from what I’m told. They’ve already got voice overs from Rob Halford, Dio and Lemmy…K.K. Downing has laid down some guitar solos and music for the game. A real heavy metal game where the landscaping you recognized heavy metal album covers and stuff. They also spoke about me doing a voice over but thing are moving slow at this point because they are in the middle of a merger. Hopefully that all works out, there’s something else. (pause) There’s also talk about preparing some of the album stories for a graphic novels. All these things that you can’t say for sure right now, but are excited to be a part of, we’ll have to see what happens. Theses are some of the things that you try to do on the business side that you can work on since I can’t be on the road, since I can’t be in the studio you know. I want to add that we had to make that hard decision a few months ago about the tour. Did we take the chance to tour with the idea that everything is going to be alright, and then if it doesn’t having to cancel the tour and everything scheduled to promote the album? Or do I cancel the tour, take the time to properly heal and in the process prolong my career and by doing so keep the fans happy? Canceling the tour wasn’t an easy thing to do, it was thought out carefully and I think we did the right thing, even if we didn’t like doing it.
Have you had an opportunity to work on new some ideas or concepts during the down time from the injury?
It hasn’t been until recently that I have even been able to hold a guitar on my lap. It has been a long road to where I am today. I have over the past few months been able to get some ideas down; I would turn on some of the stuff in the studio and get some ideas down. Obviously these will be for use later when we begin to write an album. I haven’t actually written anything for a new album, I hope to get together with Andy (LaRoque) later this year and begin writing a new album. I’m taking things slow right now, I’m not wanting to prolong the healing process but I don’t want to get back to soon with Kind Diamond activities before I’m 100% ready.
You were nominated for a Grammy this year for “Best Metal Performance” for "The Never Ending Hill." How do you feel about the nomination?
Of course I’m honored. I mean, the more I thought about it. It’s pretty nice to be in that category among those five bands; they’re from all around the world, you know. It’s a pretty nice gesture. I mean, who decides this? It’s not a popularity contest you know, it’s recognition from the industry and then of course it’s really nice. On the other hand it really doesn’t make you any better or worse. I see this more of something that is really nice for the fans, the die hard fans where they have been there all along and then wow, there’s their favorite band among the nominated. I would have never expected this nomination I never considered us that kind of a band. I’ve never followed the Grammys in fact the only time I recall watching it on TV was when Metallica was performing. The nomination came as shock of course. Brian (Slagel) called me that morning (of the nomination) he said “hey congratulations, they have announced the Grammy nominations and you have been nominated for Grammy for “best metal performance” My response was “why?” Brian asked “why do you mean why? They liked the song so you’ve been nominated.” After a bit you begin to think it’s a really nice honor to be nominated.
You shot a video for the track "Give Me Your Soul" from Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. It premiered on Headbanger's Ball last week.
I think it turned out pretty good, too. It’s low budget you know…that’s what you see on MTV most of the time. As I said it’s low budget, but they did a great job for the money. I’m very pleased with the end result. I really like the shots of the band, we got a chance to work with some pretty good people on that one. I think it’s the first in like 17 years! (laughs)
The Mercyful Fate and King Diamond DVDs that are in the works, what is the status of those DVDs at this point?
We are still in the process of working out the deals on those. Like I said the footage we have is bootleg material but it’s good quality. I can’t wait to get those out, I hope to have those out this year, we still must go back and edit and put them together but my hopes are to get those out soon because I have been talking about these and I know it just has heightened people’s anticipation for these DVD’s. One thing is for sure I will not put out stuff that does not meet my standards and you and the rest of the fans will not be disappointed. There will be a King Diamond and a Mercyful Fate DVD, I have not determined if they’ll be released at different times or simultaneously.
Has there been any progress made on getting any of your albums onto the big screen? If you had a choice, which album would you really like to see made into a feature film?
Well I’d like to see something like that happen of course. I think we could do a lot with some of the characters from Them. Have a series of films with these chracters, I also like The Puppet Master. I think I wouldn’t go for a half effort, these have to be good or else I won’t give the okay. I’d like to see someone who brings in a fresh perspective on horror, I really like how Rob Zombie has developed as a director. I think Rob would be great to work with on a project like that. We have talked about doing this before, but nothing has gone beyond the talking stages.
Will we see Mercyful Fate again in the near future? Why or why not? As a fan, I’d love to see the band do another album and tour.
I think you could certainly see another Mercyful Fate album in the future, I’m definitely not ruling that out. I don’t know what the future holds, especially with how the music business looks like today. It’s hard to say what is going to a happen in the future I wish I had a big crystal ball. There are a many reasons why Mercy has been hibernating; we do have a (record) deal, we brought in out lawyers and we have secured a deal which no albums have been done. Mercy renewed with Metal Blade for The United States and Canada and Massacre Records for Europe has Mercyful Fate for the first time, but no records have been done for the new deal. The deal is just there dormant until the opportunity arises. I think I speak for the band that the reason we did it (signed the deal) is because we’d like to do it. I think had we not taken the steps to get the deal, and then when the opportunity came around we wouldn’t have a way to release the music. I think the fans sometime have no idea how much time it takes to secure a deal, it could take as along as six month or sometimes more. I don’t see Mercy as disbanded so when the new album comes out it’s not going to be a reunion album and when we tour behind the record it won’t be a reunion tour, you know. That would be so cheesy and cheap, that’s pretty much where the band stands right now. The record business has changed so much, who would have thought that Tower Records would close down? That was one of the biggest stores in North America for years now they are gone. I really think that so the next to go will be the major labels they’ll go before the independent labels I think. Simply because they have such big budgets for their artists, I don’t think those artists have fans that are as loyal and as die hard as metal bands do. King Diamond for example has some of the most die hard of fans; they’ll help keep us alive for a while, long after the major labels have gone. For people like Britney Spears when they sell only a tenth of what was projected it will send them and the label under. Who knows how long they can continue to lose money?
You're a U.S. resident, but are you a citizen? What do you think of U.S. politics? We have a presidential election coming this November. Who do you like in this presidential election and running the country in 2009?
I’m actually a citizen now. Oh good, this really interests me, but I don’t think I can pick one person that I like. Government is just so different than what I’m used to in Denmark. In Denmark for example, there are just so many more political parties one large party and two other smaller parties, there’s a better chance that those that are going to govern represent your ideas better than here. And you’ll also find that those that govern are more like a coalition. Here it seems like it’s either left or right, to me it seems like if I side with one party there are just and many things that I don’t agree with than what I agree with the other party the same the same things happens. I’m like wow, I just don’t get it, there just seem to be that in between area. It’s simply not there it’s either left or right. From my point of view this prevents progress. You hear about bills being presented; some you think “that would be really good for the population” but then the opposing party steps in and says “no that would not be a good idea, unless you also give us this, this and that.” I think “well what does that have to do with the other thing?” It’s like their sole purpose is to put a stick in the wheel and prevent the other from getting their ideas through regardless of whether it’s good for the population. That’s why we see how little gets done, so little get accomplished with congress in my opinion because there’s nothing but this big fight, it’s like it’s either this or that. There’s these projects where millions and millions of dollars are being spent; you must have heard of some of those too right man?
Bureaucratic waste? It’s frustrating for sure.
Some of those are just so…brain dead! I saw one day where they had picked a couple out, there was this donkey museum where someone was wanted to grant them thousands of dollars. They were out in the boonies somewhere where they had this yearly donkey festival and there they had this donkey museum. Who the hell wants to look at donkey museum?! It was absolutely insane, but there was some congressman wanting funding for it since it was where he was from. This isn’t even one of the big projects. You’ve heard of The Bridge To Nowhere right?
Yeah I’m familiar with that. [Note: Congress had previously approved a bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska, to fund reconstruction of a hurricane-damaged bridge in Louisiana. Dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere,” the bridge in Alaska would connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the Island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in the recent highway bill. At present, a ferry service runs to the island, but some in the town complained about its wait (15 to 30 minutes) and fee ($6 per car). The Gravina Island bridge project is an embarrassment to the people of Alaska and the U.S. Congress. Fiscally responsible Members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding.]
There we’re talking millions and millions of dollars. Those things…I really don’t know what to say. I’m just baffled, they (congress) complains that they are spending too much here and too much there and money is being things like these? So it’s just too bad that there just two parties I think. I think if there were additional parties there would be much better representation.
Where did the name King Diamond originate? It sounds glam to me, or did at first. Was this inspired by your love for Alice Cooper?
If you look at the old pictures, the constumes and clothing could have been considered glam. But aside from that I don’t see anything glam about us. I know the music and the attitude certainly was not….
Sorry, I was referring to the name King Diamond…
Oh, well the actual name…that’s back up to where I have to spin up a lie for you then! (laughs) I have no clue how the name came to be, I know when it came to be. It was approximately in 1976, I was play guitar in a band, no singing at all. We all came up with names like Alice Cooper who we knew wasn’t really Alice Cooper you know. Thinking that we were going to make it big, we needed new names because we were afraid that no one would be able to say our Danish names. We took up new names and how I came up with King Diamond I have no idea. People seem to think that because of the saying “diamonds are forever” but that’s not it though I’m still here.
"Sweat Dreams," the track you did for Dave Grohl's Probot album, how did that come together?
Dave Grohl, he has a lot of metal in his blood, as I found out I didn’t know that at first. He got in touch, he had this idea to put out an album of metal songs. The album would be a different style than The Foo Fighters. I was approached if I’d be interested and of course I was and Dave sent me, I think it was six demo songs. This was just to give me an idea of what he was doing on the album, they were rough mixes. Then he pointed out which of the songs he felt were right for me, it was interesting because it wasn’t like a King Diamond or a Mercyful Fate song, it was a whole different style. When I heard the demos I thought “that might be really interesting.” I was given freedom to do whatever I wanted on the track as the music was already demoed. I actually never talked to Dave himself, I dealt with a middle man; I think it was a guy in the band I think, who would then talk to Dave. I would talk to him about the song, like there should be a solo from this spot to this spot. It was definitely fun to do.
Thanks to Vince at Metal Blade for setting this up and for keeping us in mind during King Diamond press days. And of course thanks to King Diamond who is a great interview subject and a true gentleman. Also if you haven’t already pick up a copy of King Diamond’s critically acclaimed album Give Me Your Soul . . . Please, do so now because it's a fantastic record with a storyline in real time, which makes it a very unique listening experience.[/quote][/size][/b]
webzine.pivotalalliance.com
Give them props for an awesome interview!
Interview w/ King Diamond - added - March 18th, 2008
Interviewer: Ruben Mosqueda
King Diamond is on the mend from his back injury that caused him to cancel his touring plans for his critically acclaimed album Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. In this conversation, we got a chance to ask King about his road to recovery, his Grammy nomination, the music video for “Give Me Your Soul,” his participation on the Probot album, politics, and of course Mercyful Fate. This was another fun and informative interview with King Diamond. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed doing it.
King, since we last spoke, you were forced to cancel the tour behind Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. How are you doing? What is the prognosis on your injury?
Yeah, I had some herniated discs. This was the first time I ever had any problems. I have never been to any hospitals before, you know. I’ve never be so incapacitated, it was during the last two days of mixing (the album), when it happened. Obviously this had been a condition that been occurring over the years. (pause) You don’t really take care of your body enough…as you know people find this out later. I think you never think that anything is wrong you just continue to do what you’ve always done. That was a heavy blow…there was a lot of pain to the point that I would not put any pressure on my left leg. You can’t describe the pain, the specialists told me that they know that these pains are some of the worst that people can experience. I certainly know that they speak the truth…it was so bad for a time that I couldn’t even walk. Now I’m able to walk around and can do interviews and stuff like that. I can sit normally on the couch and stuff like that, all around (now) the pain is (now) rare. I never really took any pain killers you know I just didn’t want to use those. I really think that by not doing so it really helped speed up the healing process. I think if you get on these pills you don’t want to experience the pain because it’s so uncomfortable, but at the same time you’re drugged up and drowsy and you just can’t function. The other thing you can lie in the wrong position for hours and since you’re taking painkillers you won’t know until later as they begin to wear off…if you’re not using painkillers you’re able to adjust yourself and reposition and help the healing process. I think if I were to put this into context for you…if there were let’s say 75 steps to full recovery I would say that I’m at about the 50tth step. It’s a lot better than how it was when it first happened that’s for sure. It’s not good enough right now to tour and to do a lot of what I’d like to be doing. Everything that I can possibly do I’m doing to get better. The road to recovery is going in the right direction.
What have you been doing during some of the down time? Any new ideas for a new album? What does a typical day look like for King Diamond while on the mend?
You can’t do a whole lot of stuff, you know…it’s a matter of doing business things, you know. We did do the video. That was in that period where I was not that good. We filmed out performance footage, I felt okay while doing it. When we were done filming and they began to pack up the cameras I felt awful. I think if I didn’t live on the ground floor I would have probably jumped out the window you know (laughs). Of course when you’re healing up you look into what else can be done, I want to be as productive as possible. We did the video and we’ve been working on other things, like those old retro DVD’s, we’ve looking for the right deal to get those out. These are bootlegs but they are very good quality, no body’s seen these before. We have Mercyful Fate before we even got signed, we have some rare shit, and I know that Brian Slagel was over at my house about a year ago and very surprised at the quality. I had told him about them, that the quality was very good for bootlegs. Once he saw them he said “I had no idea that they were this good!” He was excited about getting them out there for the fans to see. Hopefully we can get them don and there are these little side projects pooping off here and there. There’s a video game that’s coming out later this year that has asked if they could use some of our music, we’ll see if this happens. This is going to be a gig game from what I’m told. They’ve already got voice overs from Rob Halford, Dio and Lemmy…K.K. Downing has laid down some guitar solos and music for the game. A real heavy metal game where the landscaping you recognized heavy metal album covers and stuff. They also spoke about me doing a voice over but thing are moving slow at this point because they are in the middle of a merger. Hopefully that all works out, there’s something else. (pause) There’s also talk about preparing some of the album stories for a graphic novels. All these things that you can’t say for sure right now, but are excited to be a part of, we’ll have to see what happens. Theses are some of the things that you try to do on the business side that you can work on since I can’t be on the road, since I can’t be in the studio you know. I want to add that we had to make that hard decision a few months ago about the tour. Did we take the chance to tour with the idea that everything is going to be alright, and then if it doesn’t having to cancel the tour and everything scheduled to promote the album? Or do I cancel the tour, take the time to properly heal and in the process prolong my career and by doing so keep the fans happy? Canceling the tour wasn’t an easy thing to do, it was thought out carefully and I think we did the right thing, even if we didn’t like doing it.
Have you had an opportunity to work on new some ideas or concepts during the down time from the injury?
It hasn’t been until recently that I have even been able to hold a guitar on my lap. It has been a long road to where I am today. I have over the past few months been able to get some ideas down; I would turn on some of the stuff in the studio and get some ideas down. Obviously these will be for use later when we begin to write an album. I haven’t actually written anything for a new album, I hope to get together with Andy (LaRoque) later this year and begin writing a new album. I’m taking things slow right now, I’m not wanting to prolong the healing process but I don’t want to get back to soon with Kind Diamond activities before I’m 100% ready.
You were nominated for a Grammy this year for “Best Metal Performance” for "The Never Ending Hill." How do you feel about the nomination?
Of course I’m honored. I mean, the more I thought about it. It’s pretty nice to be in that category among those five bands; they’re from all around the world, you know. It’s a pretty nice gesture. I mean, who decides this? It’s not a popularity contest you know, it’s recognition from the industry and then of course it’s really nice. On the other hand it really doesn’t make you any better or worse. I see this more of something that is really nice for the fans, the die hard fans where they have been there all along and then wow, there’s their favorite band among the nominated. I would have never expected this nomination I never considered us that kind of a band. I’ve never followed the Grammys in fact the only time I recall watching it on TV was when Metallica was performing. The nomination came as shock of course. Brian (Slagel) called me that morning (of the nomination) he said “hey congratulations, they have announced the Grammy nominations and you have been nominated for Grammy for “best metal performance” My response was “why?” Brian asked “why do you mean why? They liked the song so you’ve been nominated.” After a bit you begin to think it’s a really nice honor to be nominated.
You shot a video for the track "Give Me Your Soul" from Give Me Your Soul . . . Please. It premiered on Headbanger's Ball last week.
I think it turned out pretty good, too. It’s low budget you know…that’s what you see on MTV most of the time. As I said it’s low budget, but they did a great job for the money. I’m very pleased with the end result. I really like the shots of the band, we got a chance to work with some pretty good people on that one. I think it’s the first in like 17 years! (laughs)
The Mercyful Fate and King Diamond DVDs that are in the works, what is the status of those DVDs at this point?
We are still in the process of working out the deals on those. Like I said the footage we have is bootleg material but it’s good quality. I can’t wait to get those out, I hope to have those out this year, we still must go back and edit and put them together but my hopes are to get those out soon because I have been talking about these and I know it just has heightened people’s anticipation for these DVD’s. One thing is for sure I will not put out stuff that does not meet my standards and you and the rest of the fans will not be disappointed. There will be a King Diamond and a Mercyful Fate DVD, I have not determined if they’ll be released at different times or simultaneously.
Has there been any progress made on getting any of your albums onto the big screen? If you had a choice, which album would you really like to see made into a feature film?
Well I’d like to see something like that happen of course. I think we could do a lot with some of the characters from Them. Have a series of films with these chracters, I also like The Puppet Master. I think I wouldn’t go for a half effort, these have to be good or else I won’t give the okay. I’d like to see someone who brings in a fresh perspective on horror, I really like how Rob Zombie has developed as a director. I think Rob would be great to work with on a project like that. We have talked about doing this before, but nothing has gone beyond the talking stages.
Will we see Mercyful Fate again in the near future? Why or why not? As a fan, I’d love to see the band do another album and tour.
I think you could certainly see another Mercyful Fate album in the future, I’m definitely not ruling that out. I don’t know what the future holds, especially with how the music business looks like today. It’s hard to say what is going to a happen in the future I wish I had a big crystal ball. There are a many reasons why Mercy has been hibernating; we do have a (record) deal, we brought in out lawyers and we have secured a deal which no albums have been done. Mercy renewed with Metal Blade for The United States and Canada and Massacre Records for Europe has Mercyful Fate for the first time, but no records have been done for the new deal. The deal is just there dormant until the opportunity arises. I think I speak for the band that the reason we did it (signed the deal) is because we’d like to do it. I think had we not taken the steps to get the deal, and then when the opportunity came around we wouldn’t have a way to release the music. I think the fans sometime have no idea how much time it takes to secure a deal, it could take as along as six month or sometimes more. I don’t see Mercy as disbanded so when the new album comes out it’s not going to be a reunion album and when we tour behind the record it won’t be a reunion tour, you know. That would be so cheesy and cheap, that’s pretty much where the band stands right now. The record business has changed so much, who would have thought that Tower Records would close down? That was one of the biggest stores in North America for years now they are gone. I really think that so the next to go will be the major labels they’ll go before the independent labels I think. Simply because they have such big budgets for their artists, I don’t think those artists have fans that are as loyal and as die hard as metal bands do. King Diamond for example has some of the most die hard of fans; they’ll help keep us alive for a while, long after the major labels have gone. For people like Britney Spears when they sell only a tenth of what was projected it will send them and the label under. Who knows how long they can continue to lose money?
You're a U.S. resident, but are you a citizen? What do you think of U.S. politics? We have a presidential election coming this November. Who do you like in this presidential election and running the country in 2009?
I’m actually a citizen now. Oh good, this really interests me, but I don’t think I can pick one person that I like. Government is just so different than what I’m used to in Denmark. In Denmark for example, there are just so many more political parties one large party and two other smaller parties, there’s a better chance that those that are going to govern represent your ideas better than here. And you’ll also find that those that govern are more like a coalition. Here it seems like it’s either left or right, to me it seems like if I side with one party there are just and many things that I don’t agree with than what I agree with the other party the same the same things happens. I’m like wow, I just don’t get it, there just seem to be that in between area. It’s simply not there it’s either left or right. From my point of view this prevents progress. You hear about bills being presented; some you think “that would be really good for the population” but then the opposing party steps in and says “no that would not be a good idea, unless you also give us this, this and that.” I think “well what does that have to do with the other thing?” It’s like their sole purpose is to put a stick in the wheel and prevent the other from getting their ideas through regardless of whether it’s good for the population. That’s why we see how little gets done, so little get accomplished with congress in my opinion because there’s nothing but this big fight, it’s like it’s either this or that. There’s these projects where millions and millions of dollars are being spent; you must have heard of some of those too right man?
Bureaucratic waste? It’s frustrating for sure.
Some of those are just so…brain dead! I saw one day where they had picked a couple out, there was this donkey museum where someone was wanted to grant them thousands of dollars. They were out in the boonies somewhere where they had this yearly donkey festival and there they had this donkey museum. Who the hell wants to look at donkey museum?! It was absolutely insane, but there was some congressman wanting funding for it since it was where he was from. This isn’t even one of the big projects. You’ve heard of The Bridge To Nowhere right?
Yeah I’m familiar with that. [Note: Congress had previously approved a bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska, to fund reconstruction of a hurricane-damaged bridge in Louisiana. Dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere,” the bridge in Alaska would connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the Island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in the recent highway bill. At present, a ferry service runs to the island, but some in the town complained about its wait (15 to 30 minutes) and fee ($6 per car). The Gravina Island bridge project is an embarrassment to the people of Alaska and the U.S. Congress. Fiscally responsible Members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding.]
There we’re talking millions and millions of dollars. Those things…I really don’t know what to say. I’m just baffled, they (congress) complains that they are spending too much here and too much there and money is being things like these? So it’s just too bad that there just two parties I think. I think if there were additional parties there would be much better representation.
Where did the name King Diamond originate? It sounds glam to me, or did at first. Was this inspired by your love for Alice Cooper?
If you look at the old pictures, the constumes and clothing could have been considered glam. But aside from that I don’t see anything glam about us. I know the music and the attitude certainly was not….
Sorry, I was referring to the name King Diamond…
Oh, well the actual name…that’s back up to where I have to spin up a lie for you then! (laughs) I have no clue how the name came to be, I know when it came to be. It was approximately in 1976, I was play guitar in a band, no singing at all. We all came up with names like Alice Cooper who we knew wasn’t really Alice Cooper you know. Thinking that we were going to make it big, we needed new names because we were afraid that no one would be able to say our Danish names. We took up new names and how I came up with King Diamond I have no idea. People seem to think that because of the saying “diamonds are forever” but that’s not it though I’m still here.
"Sweat Dreams," the track you did for Dave Grohl's Probot album, how did that come together?
Dave Grohl, he has a lot of metal in his blood, as I found out I didn’t know that at first. He got in touch, he had this idea to put out an album of metal songs. The album would be a different style than The Foo Fighters. I was approached if I’d be interested and of course I was and Dave sent me, I think it was six demo songs. This was just to give me an idea of what he was doing on the album, they were rough mixes. Then he pointed out which of the songs he felt were right for me, it was interesting because it wasn’t like a King Diamond or a Mercyful Fate song, it was a whole different style. When I heard the demos I thought “that might be really interesting.” I was given freedom to do whatever I wanted on the track as the music was already demoed. I actually never talked to Dave himself, I dealt with a middle man; I think it was a guy in the band I think, who would then talk to Dave. I would talk to him about the song, like there should be a solo from this spot to this spot. It was definitely fun to do.
Thanks to Vince at Metal Blade for setting this up and for keeping us in mind during King Diamond press days. And of course thanks to King Diamond who is a great interview subject and a true gentleman. Also if you haven’t already pick up a copy of King Diamond’s critically acclaimed album Give Me Your Soul . . . Please, do so now because it's a fantastic record with a storyline in real time, which makes it a very unique listening experience.[/quote][/size][/b]