DORO PESCH: Getting Married And Having Kids Is 'Not For Me'

Karma E. Omowale of FourteenG.net webzine recently conducted an interview with German metal queen Doro Pesch. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

FourteenG.net: It's wonderful to have a song dedicated to the fans, your family…but having said that, at any point in time was having a family of your own something that you feel that you missed out on?

Doro: Actually, I made a conscious decision a couple of years ago, maybe it was like five-six years ago and I really thought what I wanted to do in the future and then I thought I definitely wanted to dedicate my life to music. And then in our band everybody was starting to think about maybe getting married and stuff… and then I thought, "Maybe that's not for me." Maybe in another lifetime, right now I'm totally happy. [Voice fills with more elation] I don't miss it at all; I love kids and you know when I was growing up I always thought I would love to have ten kids. But now in the past couple of years I know it's probably impossible with the lifestyle and the tour bus and doing what we do. I made a decision and that's good; it definitely makes me happy even [though] it never worked out that I settled down or get married… Sometimes it came close to somebody, where I thought, "Ahh, it could work," and one year later I was on tour and that was the end of the relationship. I'm not unhappy about having a family, it's just it's different. I feel like the fans are my family. It's a little bit different, but yeah… I feel so close to them that I don't miss anything at all. It's cool!

FourteenG.net: When you first started there was not a distinction between man and woman [in the metal scene]. In comparison, how is it now? Do you think it has changed at all?

Doro: You know, I think my fans always knew my heart was in the right place for metal and it didn't even matter if you were a man or a woman and I think the fans that it goes without saying, like sometimes in the media they made a bigger deal out of it and you know, it wasn't! They always asked, "How does it feel to be a woman in the metal scene?" I don't know it's cool, but if I were a man, I'd probably do the same thing. And now there are great women out there fronting bands, I think it makes all women look really good, they have strong personalities, great voices. I think in the eighties when I started, sometimes there were girls in bands and the record companies just put them there to make the band look good. They had sexy outfits on but nobody thought much about their voices or the musicianship. I think that in this time and age, it's pretty good. I think people respect female musicians pretty much and I think that there were some good singers in the Eighties like Ann Wilson and Lee Aaron from Canada, I loved and ROCK GODDESS from England. But sometimes there were videos that made women look really cheap, sleazy, and sexy…I never liked that but now, I think it's totally the opposite, that totally changed I think everybody's very respected and the styles are different they are sexy just not in a cheap way, but a very dignified way, so I think that's really great. As women that are from classic metal bands, there's almost a "queen" vibe [laughs]…I love it, I think it's very good. I definitely think it's better how women are perceived now and in the Eighties and just in general.

FourteenG.net: I totally understand that Doro. Well what can be said about your progression as a singer/musician over the past twenty-plus years?

Doro: I just do what I feel and it always comes from the heart and soul and from the gut and yeah… I don't know, I always try not to think about it and stuff. Actually, in the Eighties people, they got on my nerves when they said, "Man, you're not classically trained? Did you ever get vocal lessons?" Then I thought, "Oh man, I've got to do it!" because everybody was like bothering me with it so I took vocal lessons, the whole thing. And then after two years, so many people came up to me and said, "Can't you sing the way you used to sing before? That [new way] is like strange and stuff!" [We both laugh] I'm like oh man! So I didn't go anymore and for two years I had vocal training. But I think with rock n' roll and metal, you have to sing from your gut! For classical, I think it's a bit different, but for rock, you have to just feel, it's all it takes. And then try to sing your best and give your best but when you're truthful and honest, I think that has a beauty to it. I always try to do it! When I'm [playing] live, and I feel the fans and get some good feedback, I can sing songs thousand times better than when I'm in the studio when it's just like the engineer and me, and there are no fans, but he is definitely the sixth band member. So that's the reason why the DVD or the live concerts are much better than the studio work.

Read the entire interview at www.fourteeng.net.