MIKKEY DEE Looks Back On His Time With KING DIAMOND: 'It Was Fantastic Years'

In a new interview with Metal Injection, Mikkey Dee, who played drums for KING DIAMOND from 1985 until 1989, reflected on his time with the band. He said (as transcribed b'y BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "With the KING DIAMOND days, we played really well together. It was fantastic years. And we were five guys who were, we were friends.

"I have to say we did not really know where it would go," he continued. "We wrote the music that we liked and thought was good. And then it took us to a place where it kind of surprised us, especially in the U.S. Just give you an idea, we came on tour with [KING DIAMOND's debut album, 1986's] 'Fatal Portrait', we played a big theater in Chicago, 1,300 seats, and came back with [1987's] 'Abigail' and did two nights at Aragon Ballroom, 6,000 every night. It just exploded because we came at the right time with the right stuff. And we came with a lot of other great bands that we stuck together with, QUEENSRŸCHE and ANTHRAX and SLAYER — the same generation, boys and some girl bands as well, but same generation kind of grew together. We had the same type of fans, and the U.S. metal scene was growing enormously in the '80s. And everything from pimply little college girls to hardcore KING DIAMOND fanatics, we had everything in between. We had three or four different types of people in the audience… With KING DIAMOND, we united a lot of different groups in society, from pimply stuck-up little college chicks that wouldn't touch hard rock with a pair of pliers, but they came to our show. And then you had the musicians that might not agree on King's [Diamond, KING DIAMOND's namesake frontman] way of writing lyrics and the way he sang, but they loved the music and the band. And then you had KING DIAMOND fanatics that just really enjoyed the dark occult thing that King was writing about and the make-up and all that stuff. So we had a very wide variety of people, which is great."

Dee played on the classic KING DIAMOND albums "Fatal Portrait", "Abigail" and "Them" until he left in 1988 to join Don Dokken. He returned a year later as a session player on KING DIAMOND's "Conspiracy".

Matt Thompson has been KING DIAMOND's drummer since 2000.

Back in March 2023, Mikkey was asked by Canada's The Metal Voice if he is still in contact with KING DIAMOND's singer and namesake and if there has been any talk about them collaborating again, either in the studio or on the road. He responded: "Yeah, [King and I] talk once in a while. He came and saw us [when I played] with SCORPIONS in Dallas, where he lives. He could not come this last tour we did, unfortunately. They were busy, him and his wife… so he missed that show. But King is a big SCORPIONS fan, and we talk. And I talk to Andy LaRocque [KING DIAMOND guitarist] and Hal [Patino, former KING DIAMOND bassist], especially Andy; we live not far from each other. So we talk. And I say what I've been saying: if they ever wanna have me behind the drum kit for something, I'm totally there for that. That'd be great fun for me. But I also, with that said, know exactly where King's coming from. He's been playing with Matt Thompson for so long — a great drummer, a great guy — and [it would] not [be] fair to him or to the rest of the band maybe."

The Swedish-born drummer, who also played with MOTÖRHEAD from 1991 until the band's dissolution in December 2015, continued: "We [in MOTÖRHEAD] went through kind of the same thing with some people that kept talking about [a reunion with former MOTÖRHEAD members] 'Fast' Eddie Clark and [Phil] 'Philthy Animal' Taylor. And [MOTÖRHEAD leader] Lemmy said, 'Never, ever, ever will I play with these guys again. They are friends, and we talk, but I'm playing with the best band I ever played with in my entire life and we're doing better than ever.' So he didn't wanna hear about it. So I see where King's coming from. It would be unfair to a loyal guy like Matt, but I said if they had an interest [in] doing something, I'm here, if I've got the time. I still play drums, and I feel that I play better than ever."

Nearly four years ago, Dee told Cassius Morris of "The Cassius Morris Show" that he would like to take part in a reunion tour featuring the surviving members of KING DIAMOND's original lineup. "Unfortunately, [original KING DIAMOND bassist] Timi Hansen is dead, but you could have Andy, Michael Denner [guitar], you could have Hal Patino, Pete Blakk [guitar], myself, just for a tour, and only play the stuff that we did — from 'Fatal Portrait' to 'Conspiracy'," he said. "That could have been a really fun and successful tour."

Dee, who has been a member of SCORPIONS since 2016, went on to say that it's "totally up to" KING DIAMOND's namesake frontman and leader as to whether such a tour will ever take place. "Because he [also] does MERCYFUL FATE [on the side]," Mikkey said. "I don't see why not. If I'm off [and not doing anything] with SCORPIONS, then I could easily have done that. That would have been so much fun, I think, because we were a great bunch of guys. And I still talk to Andy and Pete and Hal and King as well."

Mikkey previously reflected on his time with KING DIAMOND in a 2017 interview with "The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show". He stated at the time: "We started as a bunch of kids, really, and we created something. To tell you the truth, we really didn't know what we did. Well, we knew what we did, but [we weren't aware of the fact] that we created a style. But we had so much fun, and [we were] a bunch of friends touring. It all came to an end, where I didn't feel very happy in the band anymore. We were going in a little bit different direction than I thought that we'd been working ourselves up to. And me as a drummer, I like to play everything. I play big band jazz, fusion, pop, blues, rock, heavy metal, speed metal… So, to me, it was a natural move. I wanted to play some more straight-ahead rock and roll, and I felt a little stressed in KING DIAMOND in the end, maybe."

Asked how he felt about the Satanic overtones of the KING DIAMOND lyrics and image, Mikkey said: "It wasn't that bad at all. King believes in the occult — more Stephen King kind of stuff. And for the rest of the four of us, we were not so much into that. But it was great music, great camaraderie, great lyrics — great. Then King's personal belief was his deal. Just like I never got into Lemmy's personal vision. If you're a band, you're four or five or three people — whatever you are. Everybody has their own vision and their own belief in how life is or wherever you're gonna go. And the trick is to get that to work together without people getting angry or disagreeing. And luckily, with KING DIAMOND, we had great teamwork."