Doro is back ready to conquer – interview with Doro Pesch

One of the most difficult things for a writer is when you come to the point that you can’t write down anything. I’m not a professional writer but I’ve always find it pretty funny. The last couple of years though has been terrible and I haven’t been able to write anything. Now I hope that I can find the joy again and my first test is to tell you what I and Doro Pesch was talking about a few weeks ago.

Doro is back on album on the 27th of October and the title of the album is ”Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud”.

Hello Doro and welcome back on record.

-Thank you, it’s so good to be back.

A couple of years ago you were doing the classic album ”Triumph And Agony” in its entirety. Do you have plans for more of that? ”True As Steel” is turning 40 in 2026 for example.

-The ”Triumph And Agony” project were great and we started the whole thing at Sweden Rock Festival. I remember that we actually was kind of worried if it would turn out as we would like. It really did and the rehearsals went extremely well so when we hit that stage at Sweden Rock we knew that we had something good coming up and it was the first time ever that ”Make Time For Love” and ”Kiss Of Death were performed live.

To get back to your question I can say that we have no plans right now for anything that have with ”True As Steel” to do, but to be honest it’s quite a good idea.

In October you are back with your new album. Are you pleased?

-Yes, totally. The album is called ”Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” and it contains 20 songs. It’s three duets there and I’m so happy that I could do some duets with Rob Halford from Judas Priest. Our first real tour back in the 80’s was as a support act to Judas Priest and me and Rob have stayed friends ever since. And when we both were playing at Hellfest we decided that we would something together. I wanted to do a Judas Priest song and he asked me which. My answer was simple because I’ve always loved ”Living After Midnight”. Even more exciting is that he helped me sing the fantastic ”Total Eclipse Of The Heart”and we have a video for that song which will come out on the the same day (27th of October) the album is released.

At this time we have released a couple of videos already, ”Children Of The Dawn” and ”Time For Justice”, and the day after the release ithere will be a great party with guests like Tarja Turunen (ex Nightwish), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and Mille Petrozza from Kreator. That will be very much fun.

Will there be a tour?

-There will be a tour in 2024 and we will play some old stuff and some new stuff. I hope that we could play several songs from the upcoming album and of course we will play ”All We Are” because it’s in the set list always.

When you started back in the early 80’s did you ever think that you would still be around 2023?

-No way, not a chance. I thought that it may last for about six or seven years but now we are here forty years later, it’s bloody amazing. It’s hard to understand. Time flies by and I’ve met so many people that become good friends. Rob Halford, Lemmy and Ronnie James Dio for example. They are really my heroes. And Kiss of course. I was a huge Kiss fan when under my years in school and I’ve got the pleasure of meeting them at festivals and Gene Simmons did produce my album ”Doro” back in 1990.

I was gonna ask you about that record because you were doing a cover of the Kiss song ”Only You” on that album. Why did you choose that song? ”The Elder” isn’t a record that you first think of when it’s coming to Kiss.

-It’s a fantastic song that Gene rewrote the lyrics so that it would suite me better. ”The Elder” is a different album comparing to other albums from Kiss but I really love the whole album. I think there are some other songs on the album that’s really good but I choosed ”Only You” because it’s a special song.

How many more albums can Doro release?

-I have so many ideas and if it’s possible I would do at least ten more albums. For me the fans are the most important as long as the fans would like to hear and see us I will go on. I’m pretty sure that I will do this til the day I die. I’m still healthy and good and I hope that it will continue for me being in good health.

My life is an adventure and I have so many ideas.

Is it more difficult these days making money on your music?

-It is. The streaming services doesn’t give you any money. I mean it’s like twenty dollars for 100.000 streams and that’s not much. I miss record stores, I really do. I remember Tower Records in New York which was open 24/7 back in the 80’s. I love vinyl because the whole package you get there is superior the CD.

The new album will be released on a 2lp picture disc and a limited CD edition. And of course it will be available on digital platforms. It’s a different world today because when I look back I could make a 20 hours ride to get a record, today you can stream it on your phone or computer. We have to work harder on social medias to get people interested in our music.

If we talk about social media for a while I see on Facebook that you send birthday wishes to musicians. You have met a lot of rock stars over the year and I wonder which one that have make the biggest impression on you?

-Lemmy and Ronnie James Dio without a doubt. Me and Lemmy recorded some songs in the early 00’s and he was always awake. I remember that we could drive around talking to each other at three o’clock in the morning. We were also listening to music and he wanted me to play the music I’d like at the moment, he was really interested in that and then we were talking about my favourite music. He was so sweet, wise and sensitive with a gentle heart that makes it awesome spending time with him. When I was feelig low I could call Lemmy and he helped me by listening to me. A great man that I miss so much.

When it comes to Ronnie I met him when we toured with Dio back in 1987. We also made a tour in 2000 and we played several festivals together. We became great friends and it was kind of a family feeling with Ronnie. A total gentleman and super sweet. He and Lemmy was different in many ways but great human beings and very good friends.

If we turn it around. Have you met a real asshole sometime?

-In the 80’s it was kind of difficult to get opportunity to do soundchecks or using all the lights. We were support act and some of the headliners wasn’t really friendly. The friendship has been on a different level since 2000 and forward. The grunge was gone and it’s been a tough time for bands in the 90’s when the grunge spread over the world.

The Heavy Metal scene went bigger and bigger in the early 00’s and I think the bands became more happy and friendly back then. When we meet assholes these days there is often agencys, managers or security people. It’s becoming a much more different world but for me it’s more friendly today comparing with the 80’s

Okay Doro. I thank you and wish you good luck with the new record and tour.

-Thank you very much. It was nice talking to you and I hope that we can meet somewhere in the future.