MIKKEY DEE Says Playing With SCORPIONS Was 'A Big, Big Challenge'

Former MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee says that joining the SCORPIONS last year was a big challenge.

Last September, the Swedish musician was named as a permanent replacement for SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band during his well-publicized his battle with alcoholism.

Dee had spent a few months filling in for Kottak before being upgraded to the positon of a full-fledged member. He spoke to the "Talking Metal" podcast about how the transition came about. "Overall, we clicked really right away — all of us together — and it sounded really good," he said (hear audio below). "I was filling in for James; he didn't feel good at that point, and he just needed some time off, I suppose. So that was about it. And then the guys decided to keep me. And I had nothing going at that point. So we just clicked. It just sounded right. And personally, we just liked it all. It was great. So here I am."

Dee admitted that joining a band like the SCORPIONS, which has been in existence for five decades, "is easy to get into but it's so hard to get into at the same time, because they have their routines, they have their way of working and the whole thing, and so do I. So either it clicks or it doesn't, on the personal level and on the musical level," he said. "But here we clicked right away, they loved what they heard and how I played, and so did I. And it was great for me to join a band and play something else as well."

Mikkey added: "After almost twenty-five years with MOTÖRHEAD, playing the same music, playing the same stuff and thinking that way as a drummer, it was a big, big challenge for me, and it was not easy — and it still isn't easy. These guys are very, very… They're great musicians, and they know what they want, they know how to sound, and I have to adjust myself at the same time as they really need to adjust to me. But I think we manage pretty good, and the result is a great, great live show. It's very tight, it's very heavy. I've heard some remarks about, 'Oh, back to the '70s,' kind of, and, 'Really powerful.' I'm giving it my best; I'm giving two hundred percent up there. So it's good."

SCORPIONS and MEGADETH will join forces for a North American tour which will kick off on September 14 in Reading, Pennsylvania and conclude on October 15 in Tampa, Florida. The 16-date trek, dubbed the "Crazy World Tour", celebrates SCORPIONS' 1990 LP of the same name. Two of the SCORPIONS' best-known songs, "Winds Of Change" and "Send Me An Angel", both appear on "Crazy World".

Dee was originally scheduled to play drums for THIN LIZZY on the latter band's anniversary shows planned for 2016 and 2017 but was forced to bow out of the dates after he was offered the SCORPIONS gig. He has since been replaced in that group's touring lineup by JUDAS PRIEST's Scott Travis.