SolidRock.gr talks to the great King Diamond about the possibility of a new Mercyful Fate album, his upcoming DVD releases and music but also politics...

Solid Rock: Last year you released “Give Me Your Soul”. What is your personal review on that one year later and did the album fulfill your expectations?

King Diamond: Oh yeah! I think it went beyond that actually from many different viewpoints. It was received extremely well by the fans which is always a nice thing, because you work really hard every time to try to do your best. And then to get that reception that we got with it [“Give Me Your Soul”] was really nice.

It’s very hard to compete with yourself, with the old days, simply because things were new. Back when “Abigail” came out, it was a new thing to have a whole concept put to metal music, it was very new at that time, the style of music was very new, so it had a deeper impact on people when they heard it for the first time. Now people know our style so it’s kind of like we have to be so much better that we were to keep the same recognition which is both good and bad. It’s bad because sometimes you get feedback and you think “Wow man, I though they were gonna like this more.”

But on the other hand, it makes you never relax; you never let your guard down. You always know you can get better; you can always do better next time. There’s still a lot to fix, but I think that the albums are now really good both song-quality wise, with the whole arrangement thing, and sound and certainly got the reception from the fans that we really wanted. It’s done better than the album before and that’s in these hard times, cause it is hard times with all the downloading it’s very difficult to keep everything alive so in that respect its very similar to how we started, because our recording contract with Metal Blade records had run out. We still had a special thing with Mascot Records, and they still had one more record they could licence and they took the option. And we’ve now secured an extension to the recording deal with Metal Blade records and the terms in there are the same as they were for “Give My Your Soul”, so it’s really good that in these hard times were able to get the deal we had before.

Solid Rock: That’s great to hear.

King Diamond: It’s really cool for us, cause how many more [albums] are there going to be? Are we gonna to stop because the label says “Hey, it doesn’t work right anymore”? But that’s not the case yet…

Solid Rock: And it’s good to know that in these hard time of downloading, as you said, there are some bands that still have support from their fans and still sell albums.

King Diamond: And we’re one of them. King Diamond and Mercyful Fate fans, I know a lot of bands will say “Ah, we have the best fans”, but we DO have the best fans, we really do. We probably have one of the highest percentages of people that support and still buy the albums because they want the real thing. And that’s what keeps the band going of course. What they’re doing is keeping the wheels going. Of course they’re a lot of other people involved in keeping the wheels turning, people like yourself. If we don’t get exposure the wheels don’t turn and it goes for journalists, radio people, TV, MTV, it goes for promoters, booking agents, the whole big thing and the record labels of course to make the wheel keep turning.

Solid Rock: But the heavier burden always goes to the artist. Because no matter how hard everybody works the album is not going to sell…

King Diamond: No, that’s true. I mean if you release a product that is inferior to everything else you’ve done it’s probably time to stop… (laughs) But I don’t feel like that. I mean we have lots of inspiration and lots of stuff to give and we’re certainly gonna keep going as long as our fans want us to.

Solid Rock: Ever since you moved in USA, the King Diamond sound is different than before. Did this move bring this change or why was that?

King Diamond: No, I don’t get that. I never felt that. I never felt that it has anything to do with the sound or the writing or whatever. I mean, one of the key things with “Give Me Your Soul” is that it doesn’t sound like anything, I don’t think that any King Diamond album sounds like another King Diamond album. “Graveyard” sounds very different from “Them” and “Graveyard” sounds very different from “House Of God” or “Voodoo” they all have a very different sound. So I would say no. Arrangements develop all the time, we try new things, new instruments to underline moods in the music to fit the storylines. The storylines are different too of course and the music comes from the storylines, because the storylines are one of the first things I do. And then I will tell Andy what the new story’s gonna be about, just to lay down the foundation and the mood the story’s gonna have. And to have that in the back of your mind when you start writing the music cause you get some of those visions in your head, you know, and they translate into the writing of the music as well. I don’t think that there is any influence in what the band sounds like. I mean, “Them” was done in Copenhagen but “Conspiracy” was done in the US, we lived in Los Angeles at the time, and then we went back to Denmark where we did “The Eye” and I  think the sound has been different from album to album and that’s because there’s always been development going on, there’s always been new things tried, new instruments, new ways to put the arrangements together and of course the stories, as I said, they play  a big role in what mood comes out of a story.

When it come to writing and also when you’re ready to record I don’t think it matters where you are. If you have a room and just enough light to see and electricity. I always write, whether it was in Denmark or over here, I write in a very dark room where I can barely see what’s going on. And the same in the studio when I record, there is no light, just two little black lights so I can just light up the lyrics. That’s all I have in the studio. And then I can totally get myself into what it is I’m singing about and see the characters in front of me. So it doesn’t make any difference to me. Electricity, a small dark room and my gear there of course, that room can be anywhere in the world, it doesn’t matter to me.

Solid Rock: So you don’t think you’ve changed your way of thinking now that you’ve moved to the States?

King Diamond: Not musically. Maybe in some of the things I’ve been writing or putting in to the stories have come from life in the US. Certain things come to mind but when you think about it, maybe it was things that were blown up more in the press so I paid more attention to those issues that I did when I was living somewhere else.

And then some of those things that you see on the news play a role on your life and you start to think more about certain issues or problems in this world because of how they are portrayed in the news over here. Those things affect you and you feel good or bad about some of these issues that are brought up and I might hear more of those things over here. At the end of the day these are just stories and in those stories I put a lot of things of my own experiences and how I feel about certain issues or problems. And I always try to stay away from telling people what’s right and what’s wrong. I know better and I have a high respect for people having different opinions of what’s right or wrong for them, in their situations or where they are. And you always have to respect their opinion. I won’t stand up and say which way I’m gonna vote or this is bad or that is bad so don’t do this. I like to make the questions and then people can decide for themselves.

Solid Rock: So you don’t agree with bands that have a political agenda or bands that back a political candidate?

King Diamond: I’m very interested in politics. But I would never stand up and say “I’m voting this way and you should too because of this, this and that”. I personally will never do that, I’m not the one to tell people what they should do. For my own opinion I don’t think it belongs in music. Go and put your vote down. How can you go on stage and stand there and preach one side? During a concert I don’t think that’s what people come to watch. I think that you should arrange a scheduled political rally instead. And say “I’m playing at this political rally where I’m supporting this or that”. But to do it on your normal tours? Who knows if half of your audience doesn’t appreciate it ? Why would you go out and do that? I ‘m there to entertain. If you want to play politics become a politician. Well, that’s my opinion. You’ll never see that from me.

Solid Rock: So if you want to get into politics become a politician. If you want to play music become a musician?

King Diamond: I think so. I mean if you’re a musician you’re there to entertain. So it goes with everything else. If you’re a moviemaker you make movies. I don’t mind that people stand up. If you go to one of these big political meetings and the band plays at the Democrat’s convention and another band plays at the Republican’s convention that’s fine. They’re there for that reason. And then the fans know that the band supports this side. So what? So should I not like that band because they believe politically this way or that way? No. I’ll go see them because I like there music. But I won’t go see them if I’m going to get things stuffed down my throat. Things like “Aaah! Fuck this person” and “That person sucks” or “This person is like Hitler”. That’s not what people come to listen to. They to listen to the music they like. And that’s where I think the difference is. If you are on a tour of your own then you should be aware of  why the people are there. Because the fans like your music, not because they are interested in your political views.

Solid Rock: Would you like to tell us what’s the current situation with the Mercyful Fate?

King Diamond: Yeah, me too [laughs]… It’s hard to talk about this situation with Merciful Fate. People always ask us “Are we going to see a Merciful Fate album?”. I do believe that we are going to see another Merciful Fate album, much more than not. I’m talking a lot to Hank recently as well. It’s more because of other things I can’t talk about, but there is a higher likeness of us seeing another Merciful album that there was 3 months ago.

Solid Rock: That’s good news for the fans.

King Diamond: Well it’s not like we don’t want to do anything. It’s just that we had some situations in our hands that were out of our control. Some of those situations had to do with downloading. And that’s why we had to put Merciful Fate on the backburner for a little while. But that might get fixed in a little while. I’m really not allowed to talk about this yet. It’s very difficult to say something without saying exactly what’s going on. I know King Diamond are going to do more albums now that the contract’s been agreed and all that. And who knows Mercyful Fate might do more albums, even though we done the album that’s on the contract, the contract might be renegotiated, I don’t know. If other things happen.

Solid Rock: You’re about to release 2 double DVDs, 1 King Diamond and 1 Mercyful Fate. Would you like to give us a small taste of the features of these releases?

King Diamond: We’ve done the contracts that had to be in place first before we could start to work on these projects, this old footage we have. Most of it, if people had seen it before, would have been in a very bad version. We’re gonna work on it and it’s going to become a kind of official bootleg. So we just got the equipment and the software to work on this stuff.

Solid Rock: So you’re gonna be producing it yourself?

King Diamond: We have been involved a lot in the videos that we’ve done. Often when those videos are shot, we have version 1 of the video and then we start talking about them and we say “Oh, why don’t we try this and that” and then it becomes version 2. You know trying all of our ideas. And this footage is not the same as in a promotional video of course. These are all recorded in a live situation. Some of it is one camera, some of it is two and three cameras and I think one King Diamond show is four cameras. And we have to sit down and look at all the angles and enhance all the footage and make the sound as good as it can be. Brian Slagel has seen it and when he came and saw it he said “Wow! I had no idea it was this good!”. And what you’re seeing is very interesting. In Mecryful Fate’s DVD there is footage from 1982, before we got signed. Michael Denner isn’t playing guitar in the band then. There’s something from 1984 that no one’s ever seen. And the band plays better that I’ve ever heard it. It’s really interesting stuff. The King Diamond stuff, that 4 camera shoot, is from an outdoor concert that we played in 1990 while we were recording “The Eye”. We took all the gear out of the studio, went into the centre of Copenhagen, in a big park and played a free concert, on Sunday afternoon. We played “Eye Of The Witch” there. And that was just 3 days after we had recorded it in the studio. So it’s a bit shaky but it’s there. And it works. It really works. So there’s that, a big concert, Sunday afternoon, 1990. And then we have some old stuff from 1986 with King Diamond. There’s so much bootleg out there. But this stuff is really cool stuff.

Solid Rock: It sounds amazing.

King Diamond: Those who I know, who have had a chance to look at it are amazed by it. So we’re hoping for the best.

Solid Rock: Well, good luck to you and let’s hope to see you on the road soon and maybe even in Greece.

King Diamond: Absolutely! It’s always amazing to play Greece. And this time we’ll have some surprises!

Solid Rock: Thanks a lot for the interview.

 


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