by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
We live in an era when every coffee mug and every photo frame insert encourages us to “follow our dreams” and “fulfill our passions,” and yet – not everyone has found their true calling. And even if they did, it doesn’t mean it’s getting any easier from now on. There’s still a fine line between having a passion in life and being able to focus solely on it, the matter of financial security getting into the way. But the truth is that once you find something you’re truly about, there’s no way you can leave it once and for all. You can contemplate it and even give it up for a while, but – health permits – it will be nothing but just a temporary decision. The story of David Reece’s career is a clear example of that. He considered leaving the music business quite a few times throughout the ups and downs of the last three decades, but with his new solo album Blacklist Utopia out now and a string of other projects to follow, it seems passion has won again. “I’d have to be insane to do what I do, but it’s in my DNA, it’s in my bones…,” David says in yet another interview for Hardrock Haven where we talk his new music endeavors, songwriting, politics and pandemic. But most of all – we discuss whatever it is that keeps him, and everyone of us for that matter, still coming back over and over again to our respective true callings in life.
Hardrock Haven: In the last of quite a few interviews we’ve done over the years, you were promoting Sainted Sinners’ album Back with a Vengeance. Last year the band regrouped, but without you on board. What happened?
David Reece: I just was no longer interested in working with them. I felt like my time was up and Frank [Pané, Sainted Sinners’ founder and also, a member of Bonfire] and I decided that I wanna step down. [And I said] “If you wish, carry on.” We had some business dealings to deal with, and then I wished him luck – and I still do. And I was really happy with the first album that we did together [Sainted Sinners, 2017]. I wasn’t [that happy] with the last one, Back with a Vengeance. I know Malte [Frederik Burkert – Sainted Sinners’ bass player] produced it, but I just felt musically it wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been… and I really, really wanted to start working on my solo career. You know what I mean – I was tired, the band wasn’t really getting a lot of gigs and he [Frank] was playing in Bonfire which took a lot of his time… So I said, “You know what? I think it’s time I stepped away,” and I wished him luck and stepped out.
Hardrock Haven: All right. So, before we get to your solo career and the new album Blacklist Utopia, there’s also a couple of new projects coming on including Iron Allies put together with a former Accept guitarist Herman Frank…
David Reece: It’s just strange ‘cause I’ve just told you that I wanted to pursue my solo career. But over the COVID lockdown, many things happened and of course, nobody could do anything. But I was really lucky to be asked to sing [in various projects]. I didn’t wanna do any, but of course, I had to survive. So there’s a few things I can tell you about before I get to Herman. Can I tell you that first?
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, go on – I’m all ears!
David Reece: Okay, great. So, Jimmy Waldo of Alcatrazz is on Blacklist Utopia – he co-wrote a few songs with me. And while we were talking, I was actually offered an Alcatrazz job [of replacing a lead singer] and I turned it down. When Graham [Bonnet] left the band, the management asked me, “You know, you’d be perfect for Alctrazz” and I said, “You know what? I don’t wanna be a replacement singer. You know… Doogie [White] is a better choice. Call Doogie.” It’s because he knew the band with the Michael Schenker tours and all that stuff and knowing Doogie, it’s more his style of music anyways. So, Jimmy said to me then, “I’ve got this guy called Steve Rosen” and if anybody’s familiar with Steve Rosen or not, you can go to YouTube. He was writer for Rolling Stone magazine and Guitar World, I believe, and he’s interviewed everybody – [Ritchie] Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen, you name it. All of them. And his dream his whole life was to make an album and he made all those guitar players that he could promise “If I ever do an album, would you play on the record?” And they were like, “Sure.” So, Jimmy calls me and says, “Hey man, I’ve got this project with Steve Rosen – would you be interested in singing on it?” And I’m like, “Yeah. I need to work, I’m going crazy, I’m stuck at home – what is it?” So I started listening to the songs and they were great! But I didn’t know that Steve Rosen has made a deal with all these other guitar players (laughs). So I’m writing the songs – I wrote nine with Steve and Jimmy and we did two songs by Blackthorne ‘cause as you know, Bob Kulick has died not that long ago. So I’ll be singing a couple of classics that Graham had done [in Blackthorne]. And while this was going on, I started getting messages, like “Oh, Joe Satriani’s playing on this song.” “Paul Gilbert’s playing on this song.” “Kane Roberts is on this song.” And I said, “Hey, let’s get Herman Frank on the song” and okay, we’ve got Herman on the song. And Bumblefoot’s on one song… So I’m literally singing my songs and I’ve got the royalty playing the guitar around me. So it was really cool. And I said, “Well, we need a band name for this thing. A project name. How about the Highway Sentinels?” And they went, “Hey, that’s great!” But that’s what it’s called and I’m not exactly sure when that’s coming out, but I’m really proud of it. I mean, it’s amazing, and all those great guitar players… to hear the way they interpreted the songs that I wrote with those guys around my voice… it’s amazing. So I’m excited about that.
And the next thing I did, obviously you know I did gigs with John Steel. And that kind of brings us back to Doogie, because Doogie had sang an album with them [Everything or Nothing, 2017] and I do a lot of gigs with them in Bulgaria. And they asked me, after we opened for HammerFall, “Would you be interested in doing a record with us?” and I said, “Yeah.” So I did that album – the new one – and it’s called Distorted Reality. It’s not released yet, but I understand they’re getting close to releasing it.
I did some few other projects – some demo work, which keeps my voice in shape and puts food in the house… I work with Taz Taylor, Christian Baltendorf, Christian Tolle and a bunch of other German guys I know… And – on top of all that – Michael Klein from Wicked Sensation calls me out of the blue… As you know, I did an album Adrenaline Rush with them in 2014, and that’s a great album.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely!
David Reece: Yes, those guys… they can really write songs. They’re master songwriters, and they have Dennis Ward producing them, so it’s a perfect combination. So they sent me a couple of tracks and I said, “This is really good”. They asked if I wanted to do an album, and I said, “Yeah.” So I finished the whole album, which is scheduled for December 17th, 2021 – as well this year… (laughs) I wrote all the lyrics and the melodies with Michael and Sang [Vong] – I mean, they brought some ideas and said, “What do you think of this?” and I would change it in my way, and then I just shot three videos with these guys in Germany about a month ago for the album, and it’s amazing record… it’s fantastic!
So, I did that, and then out of the blue I got an e-mail from Herman Frank. And he said, “I’ve been a fan of your voice my whole life, and we’ve been in the same band at different times and we’ve never actually physically met one another.” I said, “Yeah, isn’t that strange?” I mean, we played the same festivals, but we missed each other every time. And he said, “You wanna try to write some songs?” and I said, “Yeah, you know what – I think that’s a good idea.” I think I’ll maintain my solo career, but I wanna be in a real class Metal band. So we wrote two or three songs together, and he goes, “Wow, Dave, this is really good.” And I go, “Yeah, this is pretty special.” He said we need a drummer and we need a bass player, so I said, “Okay, let me contact Donnie Van Stavern from Riot.” And he was like, “Absolutely, I’m in!” So that’s bass, and then Francesco Jovino of course, who played on my album Blacklist Utopia. I’ve always loved his drumming. So, right now we have twenty two written and recorded songs, and we’re shopping to all the labels for – hopefully – early 2022 release. So, I’ve been a very busy guy… What I’ll probably do is some shows with Wicked Sensation, if possible and I’ll definitely do Iron Allies with Herman Frank and the guys… John Steel, if they call me and there’s a couple of shows. I did a show with them last May in Bulgaria, when things opened up… It’s kind of odd, you know, ‘cause nobody was wearing masks and I was nervous to go, but it was fine. Anyway, I’ve been a busy guy – a really busy guy. And I’m blessed – I’ve been really blessed to survive the COVID lockdown.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely, and with so many new releases on the way! But what was the reason for this huge gap between the two Wicked Sensation albums?
David Reece: It was 2014 and at the same time, Hans Ziller had called me. I was actually going to retire from music in that year, 2014. I said, “Nothing happens even though I’ve done a bunch of records since, like, 2004, so I’m gonna quit. I’m done.” And out of the blue, Ziller said, “Well, I need you to sing with EZ Livin. I’ve got ten shows confirmed, can you come over?” And I said, “Okay” and then I went home, and they called me again – I did thirty shows with them in two months and then, I ended up in Bonfire. But what happened with Wicked Sensation was, there was some kind of a legal battle going on, when they couldn’t use my photo. And it wasn’t true as I didn’t sign any contracts, so with Michael [Klein], we were basically shot down ‘cause he was told by other people that they won’t allow to have me involved. And I’ve never had any contract or anything, so I would have loved to do some shows with Michael. He’s just recently told me that story… I was totally unaware. So they actually put the old singer’s photo on that record, which is very confusing (laughs). And it’s funny, because on the U.D.O. tour Steel Factory I autographed that album at many shows! People said, “This is a great album, man! Are you going to do another one?” And I said, “I don’t know.” And then, out of the blue, Michael Klein sent me a message and said, “Hey brother!” So I said, “Hey, how are you?” And he went, “We wanna do another album, would you be interested?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I need to work!” And of course, I wanted to hear the songs first, but they’re such class songwriters that they really know how to write songs. They’re great. That’s how it happened.
Hardrock Haven: And looking back at your career and various bands and projects you’ve been a part of, would you make some different decisions now?
David Reece: Oh yeah. I have regrets. I’ve actually stopped drinking now – it’s over three years. I’ve had an alcohol problem for many years that I’m not ashamed to admit. That was holding me back with relationships [and influenced] my behavior… I regret that, but it’s in the past. You know, I’m healthy now and I’m sober. One thing I’ve had to learn the hard way is… well, [in] rock’n’roll band everyone says they want a democracy, but it’s not possible. Not in a band. There’s always one or two or three strong members and two followers. There’s never really a true democracy in a rock’n’roll band. And I always thought, “Hey, we’re the brotherhood, blah, blah, blah…,” but it’s never really that way. It’s kind of a fantasy that I’ve had. But I’ve finally come to terms with every band being like being married to five different people. And it’s a difficult thing to keep focused and keep working… I mean, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve made a lot of great choices at the same time. One thing I admitted in an interview just recently – I don’t know what site it was – but I’ve spent a few years trying to emulate David Coverdale and Paul Rodgers, and I kind of lost my identity vocally. And I took a look at myself and said, “What am I doing? Am I singing the way I wanna sing?” And that’s why I was really kind of going, you know, “I wanna be solo, I wanna do something heavy and modern and go back to kind of [Accept’s] Eat the Heat thing with “X-T-C” and “D-Train”… heavier, more aggressive songs. ‘Cause I’m kind of known for that. So I’ve decided to go in that direction and you hear that on [my solo albums]. You know, Resilient Heart [2018] was a little bluesy, but you can see that I was getting heavier with “A Perfect Apocalypse” and other songs like that, and then on Cacophony [of Souls, 2020], it kind of opened up right away with Andy Susemihl… again, I told him what I wanted and Melte [Frederik Burkert] started writing a little bit with us on that record and now with Blacklist [Utopia] I think you get a full scope of what I am as a singer and my identity. I really thing I’ve nailed who I am and I kind of put that also into these other projects I’ve told you about. So I’m singing pretty good for my age and I’m healthy. But yeah, I have regrets and I think any person in the world who says they don’t have regrets, they’re lying (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! You’re absolutely right. So, it’s still your solo career that remains your main focus at the moment, as you’ve already mentioned a couple of times, and we’re finally getting to it now. There’s only been a year between Cacophony of Souls and Blacklist Utopia. Can we treat the latter as the continuation of the former because of this short time span between the two releases?
David Reece: Yeah, I’m getting a lot of compliments about Blacklist and they say, “How are you gonna follow up Cacophony?”, ‘cause it was so many people who loved it… And the thing about Blacklist Utopia is, Andy [Susemihl] was doing a solo album at the time that I decided to start working again. ‘Cause you know, I’ve lost so many shows ‘cause the release day [of Cacophony of Souls album] was March the 13th 2020… And literally, [the place] where this whole thing blew up in Italy is about thirty minutes from my house. The following week was the record release party, everything was booked and I had… I don’t know, but I think thirty-eight shows planned. I didn’t wanna wake up and turn on my Internet ‘cause it was cancellation after cancellation. I went into a black hole for about a month. But then Malte, our bassist, he wrote me and said, “Man, what are we gonna do. This is horrible,” and he goes, “Hey Dave, I’ve got a bunch of songs that I had written, but nobody ever really takes an interest in my songwriting.” And I said, “I’m interested! What do you got?” He goes, “Ah, I’m kind of nervous to play it for you…” and I say, “Let me here what you have, let’s work!” And he sent me, I think, “Save Me,” “Down to the Core,” “Hindsight” [In 2020] and a couple of others and I went, “Oh my God, Malte can write a rock’n’roll song. This guy is great!” I mean, he played guitar on everything, he programmed drums on the demos, he played the bass, he had some vocal lines… And I’m like, “Hey, where have you been all my life…? This is great!” (laughs) So I would write the lyrics and sing to my phone and he would e-mail it back to me, saying (imitating Malte’s voice) “Ahh, this is great!” And then, when we kind of opened up around Italy, I was able to go back to the studio and I started demoing real vocals to this stuff. And of course, Andy said (imitating Andy’s voice): “Hey, what are you guys doing? Why didn’t you call me?” And I said, “Well, you’ve been doing solo album” and he says, “I’ve got some ideas” and I’m like, “Okay, send them.” Andy sent “American Dream,” “Red Blooded Hell Raiser” and “I Can’t Breathe”… the riffs for these songs. So Andy put into it. And then I got Roland Grapow and we’ve been actually talking for a while ‘cause Herman [Frank] and I were talking with him about Iron Allies and Roland Grapow was like, “Yeah, I’m interested.” So I said, “Let’s try to write together” and so we wrote “Civil War” together and then Roland decided to do something else and he just kind of disappeared. But I said, “I wanna use this track” and he was like, “No problem.” So I got Jimmy from Alcatrazz, I got Roland on a track, playing solos and writing and then I got Malte who’s a really great, talented songwriter. I mean, I’m really lucky. I’m surrounded by really talented people.
Hardrock Haven: So, what we get out of these collaborations is Blacklist Utopia – and as your album titles never seem to be accidental, so why did you choose this particular one?
David Reece: (laughs) Okay, obviously there’s political references all over my record. Like I told you before, I’m a person who doesn’t write “baby-baby-woah-woah” love songs very much. I wanna write the stories with meaning and watching my country – the United States – and Europe, it’s really strange. It’s like one side that wants you to believe what they believe in, and then there’s another side saying you should believe what they believe in. And if you agree with somebody, the other side hates your guts and there’s no middle. And they’re all seeking some type of utopia, and to me it’s like a blacklist. It’s like, “Are you really gonna be satisfied/If you get what you’re talking about. That utopia that you’re seeking. Will you even be satisfied then?” And my answer is, I don’t think so. ‘Cause I really don’t believe people know what they want anymore. Everybody’s so confused – including me. I don’t know which media and what to believe anymore. I quite stopped watching television… it was driving me insane, to be honest. News and all that… I remember last summer, when I was doing Cacophony of Souls, I actually was accused of being a racist and I was attacked in some chat rooms. And believe it or not, one of the guys that started it was doing it with some major magazine, and this writer from this other magazine was African-American, while the guy that started it was actually booking me. So of course, no clubs wanted to book me because of the cancel culture and of course they said, “David Reece is a racist.” It got ridiculous!… So we fired this booker when we found out, because we had a friend saying, “Hey man, I know who it is.” But what it caused, it completely flipped me out. I couldn’t believe, ‘cause half of my family is mixed race. Not many people know that. Native American, Mexican American, African American… We’re all mixed in my family. And I’m not racist. But it really angered me that people would sit at home and write these fake stories to attack me while they don’t even know me. It’s just because I said, “Oh, I agree with this politician’s viewpoint or that group’s viewpoint.” They automatically put me in the box that I’m a racist and I’m a blah, blah, blah… It was horrible. So that kind of started my thinking… But then you’ve got tracks like “Highway Child” and “Red Blooded Hell Raiser” – those are straight-ahead rock’n’roll songs on Utopia, so it’s not all politically activist music. But there are messages in my lyrics that are subjective for interpretation. It doesn’t mean I believe what I’m saying, I’m just speaking about it, okay…? And the video, “I Can’t Breathe”… my brother Bob did the video and he did his best, and the song is great. And that neighborhood where George Floyd was killed by the policeman, it was the neighborhood where I spent the first years of my musical career in Minneapolis. So I was watching my city burnt to the ground, and I was really angry that the police were standing there watching this guy die, and all this stuff happening… I have a family there, I was worried about their homes being burnt and all the stuff… And basically, this lyric is not in support of George Floyd. What it means is, I can’t breathe anymore with all the negativity that I’m reading in social media. You’re choking me. So I used “I can’t breathe” because that was a slogan for George Floyd, but it’s basically my spin on how out of control everything’s gotten.
Hardrock Haven: So it’s a double entendre kind of thing.
David Reece: Yeah.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking about political messages in songs, some people’s stance is that musicians should stick only to making music and not get too political whatsoever. So with your need to speak out and express your mind, what would you tell them?
David Reece: I’d say, “Bullshit.” (laughs) I’ll give you an example – go to the 1960s in the United States. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Buffalo Springfield, Janis Joplin, The Doors… then we can go into the ‘70s, when things got a little bit glam and different with Alice Cooper and the Bowie movement… he [Bowie] was talking about outer space kind of stuff… Then you got into the ‘80s, which was like Pop Rock – the endless parties, cocaine, girls, blah, blah, blah… naked girls in the videos… big rides, big videos… Then you got into Grunge, which was about societal change with heroine and all the bad problems in the Generation X-ers… and then you got bands like Rage Against the Machine. Now, if anybody out there doesn’t think they’re political, they’re not listening to what they’re talking about. They can express themselves through their art and I think it’s perfectly good channel as long as I’m not shoving my political point of view down everybody’s throat and expect my fans to agree with me. That’s not my intention. I wanna use a paintbrush and open up the concept that [goes], “Can you look at it from this side?” “Can you look at it from that side?” Because if we’re just gonna bury our heads, we’re never gonna change what’s happening. And I think music is a great outlet for that. I mean, there are records that I have and that I can listen to from the ‘70s, or if I go back to Tom Petty songs… Every time I hear those songs, it brings me back in time. And I think what happened with music is, it kind of got generic and it’s disposable. And there’s not a lot of meaning and sustenance behind it. And maybe you have albums in your life that you listen to that are very special.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely!
David Reece: I miss that. I think what’s happened with that craziness is that music is no longer special, you know. It’s weird.
Hardrock Haven: And why do you think it happened? I agree of course, but what are the reasons? From all your experience, not only as a musician but also as a person?
David Reece: I think that Grunge was a necessary cancer that needed to come about for rock’n’roll. Because – including myself – we all dyed our hair blonde and followed David Lee Roth and all that stuff. In L.A., we went that route. And it was about time to kill itself off, ‘cause it was just sugarcoated, oversaturated Pop songs that all sounded the same. But I knew that Grunge was kind of a flash and it wasn’t gonna last. And then what happened was these weird television talent shows that are huge now around the world. You know, you get an artist who goes into a contest and performs and works their way up as the country’s voting for them. And then, they get the record deal, they have a hit single and you’ll never hear their name again. But for three months they’re the best thing that’s ever happened and everybody’s glued to their television set. It’s kind of taken away… well, music seems to have lost its heartbeat. And rock’n’roll is all about four and if you can’t count to four, you can’t play rock’n’roll, right? So when you put all these dancers and all this stuff in there, and activists with cats and [other] animals and climate, and… Well, you get away from the songs. I mean, you can say what you wanna say, but at least write a good song (laughs). You know what I mean? I think we’re missing really good songs. Steve Lukather made a great point about it once. I’ve read an interview from him and obviously, he’s played on over five thousand albums. He’s played on some of the biggest records in the world with hit songs. And he said it’s turned into McDonald’s, and it’s kind of like when a song comes out, it’s like you go to the drive-through, you get your bag of food and before you leave the driveway, you’ve already eaten the half of your French fries… by the time you get to the first roundabout, they’re gone… and the second roundabout, you’ve already inhaled your hamburger and you’ve forgotten what you had for lunch two hours before. It’s kind of what happened with rock’n’roll. There’s no meat and potatoes. Seems nobody’s writing great songs. Now, there are some exceptions. I think Rival Sons are fabulous, I think Foo Fighters are a great band. Sammy Hagar’s still kickin’ ass. There are newer bands, like Shinedown – well, they’re not really new – but there are bands out there that are great and they are getting our attention the right way, like Foo Fighters and stuff. I think people have lost their hunger because of the social media… the concentration of looking for those bands. I mean, there’s a lot of great bands out there. But I think it’s like you see a band that you like, and the next day, you forgot what you even saw on YouTube. It’s so fast, so quick… there’s no long-term. It’s a very sad thing to me.
Hardrock Haven: And do you think also streaming contributed to it, with almost unlimited access to so much music but not having the time to really get familiar with it?
David Reece: Streaming is one of the biggest criminal acts of the music industry. I mean, the music business has always been criminal, but for the streaming platform to license from a record company and to keep on a digital machine millions of songs and own catalogs… You know, the record companies are still getting paid for it. They license it, so… But to say, “Okay, I’ve got your album and I’m only gonna pay you 0,000007 cents per song. And you need one million or two million plays to see a thousand Euros. Peter Frampton for instance, I know he had five million streams on one of his hit songs from the ‘70s. He received one thousand five hundred dollars for five million streams.
Hardrock Haven: Oh God.
David Reece: So he went to Congress and said, “Who allowed this to happen? I think the big bear snuck up behind everybody with digital platforms and streaming and just kind of planted it in our life and then we’ve been like, “Oh, now we’ve got streaming!” Nobody questioned the real monster behind it. And it’s really unfortunate. It’s like, you gotta have a million streams to get people to pay attention to your band. On YouTube, you gotta have million or more views – but the thing about YouTube is, bands can buy their own views. And so, you can see a band you’ve never heard of, and people don’t know that they’re actually paying a company to put up fake names and fake viewers. So it looks like this band is really huge and you’ve never heard about them, but you go, “Wow, they’ve got five million views!” There are companies out there soliciting it – like, “if you want to pay for views, we can do it for you!” (laughs) So it’s like you pay for your views and you’re not making any money out of it, but you’re trying to make your band look relevant.
Hardrock Haven: That’s insane.
David Reece: Yeah, we’re in a very weird time. I think the only thing that really makes music real – like when you write a record… Well, I was telling my wife this the other day – I said, it’s like you had a baby, right? And the only time the baby really gets a chance to walk, is when you put it on stage. Let it get its legs; it starts standing up and running around and getting stronger… You have to go out and tour your record. And in the old days, we wrote the songs in the van or the bus and we played them live to see if they worked… you kind of squeezed them in, right? And if they really worked live, then you played them for a few months and then you got booked studio time and you had this natural, organic feeling. And now you record at home or in the studio and you send the files to another guy and you don’t see the band for three months and you go and play these songs live. You rehearse maybe at soundcheck… And another disaster is, you know, COVID destroyed a lot of venues. So for touring bands, next year is going to be just so full of all the bands that were waiting to tour for the last two years. Unfortunately, a lot of bands aren’t even gonna get the opportunity to work and be paid for their work, because all these heavy-hitters have been waiting around and people have been waiting for them, so promoters will go where the money is.
Hardrock Haven: Sounds like another disaster indeed as there will be no dates, especially for the smaller acts.
David Reece: Yeah – like me. I’m what I’d consider honestly a B- artist. I’m not gonna put twenty thousand people in the room. It’s sad – and I used to do it – but promoters will go where the cash is. And promoters themselves have all the issues now, the COVID insurances, insurance with damage – all that stuff that they’ve gotta consider. And when you got the band that’s bringing fifty thousand people, you can cover these costs. I get it – that’s economics one on one – but there’s a lot of great young bands out there that deserve a crack on it, and they’re not gonna put those bands on stage… unless these bands are willing to reach into their own pocket and pay thousands for week just to open for the [bigger acts]. And that’s another sad tragedy… the buy-on tours. Because of what is happening in the music business, a lot of bands can’t go out and headline unless they have paying opening acts to cover their expenses, you know…? It’s a lot of bad news, huh? (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: Definitely (laughs).
David Reece: I’m sorry.
Hardrock Haven: It’s the reality – it’s just how it is… So in the light of all we’ve discussed, the seventh song on Blacklist Utopia is called “American Dream” – so what is the American Dream to you and would you say you’ve indeed been a part of it?
David Reece: That’s a very good question. Andy Susemihl, I gotta say, he mixed and produced the record and he’s probably one of the most criminally underrated guitar players I’ve ever met. He’s so great, and he’s especially gifted with acoustics on ballads. And after the song we released last year – “Another Life, Another Time”… actually, with that video, a lot of people my brother had died – it wasn’t [the case], it was just my brother and I trying to reconnect and be brothers again, and we used all that old footage… Anyways, [back to] American Dream. When I was young, I was told by my father – who was a very successful chemist and engineer with multiple PhDs, a highly intelligent guy… I’m just a dumb farm boy, but my father put himself through college and worked full time, and he always told me that “the American Dream is if you work hard enough at something and you try and you keep pushing and you make an honest living. And no matter what you do, you’re gonna do the best you can, David. If you’re gonna dig holes in the ground and build fences, you’ll be the best fence builder in the county.” And he always instilled in me this work ethic that if you do good and you apply yourself, the dream comes true… right? So, over the last decade or so, I’ve seen that kind of mentality dissolve. And I think there’s an experiment called America, and it’s a great experiment. You know, in Europe there’s been wars happening for thousands of years, for these countries to carve out their little space on the planet. And I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, “Ahh, America is two hundred and fifty years old, three hundred years old – you guys are in for a really big problem.” It happens in every nation. We had the Revolutionary War, then the Civil War – and now we’re heading towards the societal war. I mean, I’ve heard talking about secession and [making] the United States of California or the United States of Texas… and if that happens, it’s not a united country. Because we’re divided and I had seen a photo of the Statue of Liberty with the Twin Towers in front of her from behind – one was collapsing and one was burning… That photo really messed up my head, so I wrote “The lady on the island, I used to know her name/Now she’s just a puppet on a string” and that I’m “alone in my American Dream.” It almost seems that [when it comes to] a socialist way of Europe – the European Union – the American politics want to join in and be like a non-capitalist country and actually be even more socialist then, say, Germany or other EU [countries]. They wanna go even further to where you don’t have to worry about getting up and going to the work – we’re gonna send you free money. But the problem is, we have a lot of hard-working people, like you and me. We have to pay taxes to support that. So automatically you divide the people and sooner or later, you’re gonna run out of people that are willing to work all day long for nothing. And then you have a government-run country which will kill itself off. So that what is [“American Dream”] is about. That’s a political song. It’s a sad kind of thing. In the video, there’s a lot of things from America, things that I remember – Andy actually did the video… But yeah, that’s a song about a huge change I see. Even friends of mine, you know, they’re like, “Ahh, why should I work seven days a week? The government should take care of me.” Nobody should take care of anybody. You should take care of yourself. I mean, if you’re sick and you can’t work, then yeah, you need help. I get it. But when I joined in rock’n’roll, I’ve been kicked in the balls so many times. It’s a foul contact sport – and if you’re not willing to play hardball, you’re in the wrong game, baby… (laughs) Nobody is gonna come to my door and say, “Here’s a gold record, Dave.” I have to work for it. And that’s who I am.
Hardrock Haven: So beyond “American Dream” that we’ve just covered, can you take us through the rest of Blacklist Utopia track-by-track?
David Reece: First is “Utopia” – the music was written by Malte. That was one of the first riffs and I went, “Oh my God.” That’s basically a joke about the utopian dream that the world seems to have and like I said, I really don’t think once they achieve it, it’s gonna be what they wanted (laughs). I mean, look at the back of the album, it’s got the Ferris wheel from Chernobyl when that [the 1986 nuclear accident] happened, and it’s got an interracial couple sitting around, drinking and relaxing with all this chaos going on… It’s just kind of what goes through my head.
Song number two is a “Red Blooded Hell Raiser”. That’s a standard rock’n’roll tune, and that’s cool, because I believe you gotta raise a little hell to get to heaven, right? So it’s kind of like your initial ‘80s kick-it-up-go-fast song and it’s kind of like… You know, Andy and I wrote a lot of songs together and that’s a traditional Andy-Susemihl-kind-of-riff.
“Down to the Core” is about an evil guy. You know, “I’m wicked down to the core…” It’s about that dark side that we all have in our spirit. We’ve all got it.
“Civil War” – that kind of goes along with what we said about the United States of California, the United States of New York… (laughs) People are at each other’s throat and I don’t know why and how it’s gotten this way.
We talked about “I Can’t Breathe” already – and “Most of the Time”, it goes, “Time is my best friend/Helping bad memories fade to an end/The cruel things I’ve said/Don’t always come from the clearest of heads/I’ve got a good heart/But that’s not where my words are coming from/I’ve got a strong mind/But it ain’t my friend/Most of the time…” So it’s kind of like I’m saying I’m doing my best, but I don’t always complete what I’m doing. I’m human. I make mistakes.
The next song is “American Dream” and we already discussed that – so now, “Before We Fade Away.” That was written by myself and Jimmy Waldo. It’s about the blurred lines, you know. Everybody living in denial/Does it fit your style/Fight, defend your rights/Believe in what you’re fighting for/Before it’s too late/Before we fade away…” That’s kind of a political song about standing up to the bad guy and believing what you believe in, and no matter what people say, you kick me and I’m still gonna get up.
“Hindsight Is 2020” – that’s me looking back on last year. That was a nightmare – for you too, I’m sure…
Hardrock Haven: For everyone, I think.
David Reece: I think it left a scar in us all. “Reminiscing about the past/Different worlds of mice and men/No desire to suffer twice/Retrospect what might have been/So many years ago/I’ve got to let it go…” It seems like 2020 was like ten years ago to me. It’s crazy.
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, it’s like time was standing still for a while, and then it’s like it’s been a decade since then.
David Reece: And now we’re back, but it feels like, “Are we really back?” and nobody really knows, because today [the interview was being done on the 27th of October] I’m booking flights and I’m doing an in-store record release party on Friday in Stuhr, Germany, at MediaMarkt. And I’m going through all the [safety] protocol – like my green pass and all… I’m gonna take a nasal test just to be sure [I can] get on the plane… It’s just like, “What is this? What is going on?” Three years ago, everything was so cool. It was so much better. And now – it’s like a blur (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: It is. It’s still not normal.
David Reece: Yeah, not normal – and nobody knows what the normal is. Maybe that goes back to …Utopia, ‘cause – to be honest with the readers – I really thought I was going to get crucified for writing some of these lyrics. ‘Cause there’s so many politically correct people out there – and I was like, “You know what – I don’t care.” But it seems like the timing has struck a nerve with my words and my melodies, so it actually has kind of worked in my favor. It’s got people thinking. ‘Cause a lot of interviews I do, like with you, you know… we’re talking about it. It’s not you just allowing me to say this and this and next and next and blah, blah, blah… and “Okay, great talking to you, Dave! Hope to see you on tour! God bless, goodbye.” (laughs) But now we can talk about something, right? So, back to the track-by-track thing…
Next song on the album will be “Devil at My Doorstep” – a temptation, obviously… You know, fighting back and pushing back the demons and trying to do the right thing.
“Save Me” is number eleven at it will be… well, I don’t know. Just save me – save me from myself.
“Highway Child” – it’s like, let’s just break the monotony. Let’s just get free, get on a Harley, let’s go flying down the highway… It’s a woman on a motorcycle, just living her life on her own terms. “Highway child/Light the sky/Let the bridges that you’ve burnt guide your way/Highway child/Flying high/Out the stones they throw at you/For the castle walls that you re-built.” Yeah, go out there and build your own life, man.
Hardrock Haven: Do you think there’s a link between the pandemic and this thirst for freedom in the song?
David Reece: Yeah, I do. I’ve heard the riff and I went, “You know what? I gotta get positive with it. We need an upbeat rocker here and let’s get freedom involved.” ‘Cause really, when you look at a lot of the content of the album, it really is about freedom. It can be in different keys of songs, it can be darker keys and stuff… but this [one] is upbeat, positive message. “You thought your only place was up there on the moon/Watching through your hollow eyes/Your spirit filled with gloom/Dead and gone, way beyond/The feeling’s gone […] You’ve been reborn.” It’s positive.
And then the last one is “Book of Lies.” It kind of came because we used an itinerary on some tours I’ve done and we always called it “the book of lies” (laughs). Because you’re in a bus or in a van and you open it and you’ve got a schedule, right? And it’s like nothing ever [works out]. It’s always like, “Ahh, open up the book of lies – what’s happening today?” It’s an adventure, right? It’s kind of a joke – all lies! ‘Cause you hit a traffic jam. Or you’ve got to meet this guy for the interview – “Oh, he’s not here. Another lie!” (laughs) It’s just a book of lies. But my take on it was, “Open up the book/So everyone can see/Show the world the crimes/Where everyone’s guilty.” So we’re all guilty at something, I think. “You’re fool in no man’s land/You search for truth in the promised land.” Maybe it’s a little bit biblical? I don’t know… There’s a good book and there’s a bad book, right? You gotta have faith. I really just want to tell everybody – and I hope people will listen – you’ve got to have faith. We’re human beings. And I’m not a preacher, I’m not a minister, I’m just a rock’n’roll singer. I grew up in the countryside with a hard-working family and I miss the great outdoors in Montana actually… I got a feeling that – somehow – this will come around. And maybe live shows will come back in the next few years and before I get too old, I really would love to do another big tour. I see [other] guys being up there and kicking ass – these guys still got it. Like Mick Jagger, come on. Look at the guy. And we’re losing a lot of artists, and that’s another sad thing. It’s like every week somebody’s gone, you know.
Hardrock Haven: Unfortunately yes… It’s a nightmare really.
David Reece: Yeah, but you know what? You gotta remember – a lot of us came from the ‘80s and we’re not young spring chickens. And back in the ‘80s, we did a lot of bad things to ourselves (laughs). It’s pretty normal that when you get up in your sixties or seventies, your body’s… you know (laughs). You’ve been around the world a few times… (laughs). You didn’t eat so well, you drank too much… it takes a toll on the old ticker and the body. But anyway, are you still based in Poland?
Hardrock Haven: Yes.
David Reece: So being a Polish person, you know – if anyone knows – about freedom, right?
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, my country’s history is basically one huge struggle for freedom.
David Reece: And look at Poland now… I was in Warsaw and I had the Polish musicians explaining it to me – the war, all of that… the whole thing… and then the Communism. Beaten so many times, now it’s thriving economy. That is a successful story – that your country has struggled, but Polish people persevered. They’re wonderful people – there’s a lot of Polish people in America, after all, in Polish neighborhoods like Chicago or New York… They escaped, often before the war got out of control, and thank God they got out and started a new life with no money in their pocket and build a life for themselves. That’s the American Dream, like that. And the Polish dream. You’ve had Lech Walesa – I mean, was he a good man? I’m not sure. But it seemed like he was trying to change something for the people of Poland. Was he a good man?
Hardrock Haven: Well, it’s hard to say – as you’ve said, we have good and bad thing about us, all of us.
David Reece: Yeah. I’ve watched something that terrified me the other day – it was the deep state and the deep Church. That really scared me (laughs). I was like, “Okay, in my country there was supposed to be this thing called the separation of the Church and the state, where the Church can do what they wanna do with worship, whatever your religion is, and the state cannot tell them what to do. But there’s also this dark side of the deep Church which I never really thought about. It’s very political and that’s another thing. It’s like John Lennon said, “Imagine there’s no country […] Nothing to kill or die for.” When there’s wars around, it’s religion or some fanatical belief. So that stuff… Well, I love history. I went to the war museum in Warsaw and I was just looking at the holograms and they gave us a little tour of everything and I was like, “Oh my God…” Poland, what you endured, the resistance… It’s crazy. And then you got Stalin coming in and saying, “Okay. You’re mine.” You go there and you fight off the Germans and then they come and crush you and put you under their boot. And in 1989, that all changed… So how’s the economy in Poland now?
Hardrock Haven: Well, not that different from what you’ve said about the current situation in the US…
David Reece: So it’s kind of like the music business – I mean, it’s always been criminal. But I do Rock’n’roll because I love it. I love Blues, R&B… I’d have to be insane to do what I do, but it’s in my DNA, it’s in my bones… It’s like, I wake up and, like today, I’ve got a wealth statement of forty-nine Euros (laughs). I’ve got a passion at my work and when you’ve got a deposit for that, for a bunch of work you’ve done for something, after they taxed it and after everybody puts their greasy fingers on your work… you end up with forty-nine Euros and you go, “What…? Really…?” Then I say, “You know what? I’m gonna go and write a song about it.” I must be crazy (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Well, you don’t have to tell me – I mean, journalism isn’t a day job for most of us out there doing it anyway, but we do it because of the passion for it.
David Reece: And that’s a great thing, isn’t it? I mean, can money really make that better…? Think about it. Are you enjoying yourself right now?
Hardrock Haven: Well, I’m talking with one of my favorite singers of all time…
David Reece: Thank you very much! And look – you’re talking to me and you let me grumble… you’ve always been so kind to me and so professional. But like I said earlier – forty-nine Euros. But you know what? I must love what I’m doing and be half-crazy, because I know a lot of journalists like you and that’s a lot of preparation. You’ve got to listen to the album, you’ve got to deal with the record company, you gotta talk to the media guy, you’ve got to spend time after you’ve got your full-time job, and then you go, “Wow, I’ve got this record and now I’m really delving in. I wonder what he’s talking about or she’s talking about. Then you talk to the person, you make a bond… Hopefully we meet each other on tour sometime!
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, it’s a pity it didn’t work out for me when you were in Warsaw [in 2019, invited as a special guest for “King of Rock’n’Roll – the Ronnie James Dio tribute concert organized by the Warsaw-based band Scream Maker].
David Reece: Well, actually that was also the night when I met Dino Jelusick and I was like “Uh-oh, look at this guy! Who is this kid…?” And I stayed in the apartment with him and his father Dario and I didn’t know who he was. He opened his mouth and it was like the angels from heaven came down and I said, “Oh my God. Who is this kid?” I mean, I was jealous! He’s a young me – hungry, just beautiful to look at and so nice… And his father struggled a lot during a war in Croatia. He was telling me stories about Serbia and all the struggles that Croatia went through and I’m like, “Oh my God, you survived that?” And he said, “Yeah – barely. But my life is dedicated to my son, because he’s got a gift.” And now Dino’s making some moves. I mean, the Whitesnake thing… I’m very happy for him.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, I was stoked to hear the news too!
David Reece: Yeah, Dino’s the new guy. And it wouldn’t surprise me, well… I mean, it’s kind of like KISS. You can hire anybody to put on Paul Stanley’s and Gene [Simmons]’ make-up and you can make KISS last another fifty years. What if [David] Coverdale’s thinking, “This kid’s got it – I can still call it Whitesnake, still be the boss and let Dino take over. Make a few guest appearances… I’m getting up there when my voice isn’t tired…” That would work!
Hardrock Haven: Probably… Then Whitesnake would be more like an idea than a band. It might have been our fantasy, fans’ fantasy, more than anything.
David Reece: Yeah, there was a time when David Coverdale was a lion king on stage, right? I mean, he was the guy. But we all get old. And when Dino popped out of the rock’n’roll womb (laughs) with those Badlands’ YouTube covers… ‘Cause I’ve worked with these guys in Badlands and I knew Ray [Gillen] and I’m like, “Listen to this young kid. Who is he?” And I met him [in Warsaw] and he sang some really great Dio songs, and the audience was just mesmerized. I was actually afraid to go out after him (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Let’s just say the guys from Scream Maker were just lucky to have both of you on stage with them that night.
David Reece: What a bunch of great people… The whole Scream Maker organization – there’s like so many people that were working together… It’s almost as if they grew up together as they know each other so well. And Sebastian [Stodolak, Scream Maker’s lead singer], that guy can sing too – they all can!
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! They’re all dear friends of mine.
David Reece: Tell them I send my love! They were so nice to me. And one thing was weird – every singer that walked on stage was actually brilliant.
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, that’s very specific about these gigs actually, that each performance there is pretty special.
David Reece: And they have love for Ronnie James Dio – you can really feel it.
Hardrock Haven: Everyone of us does, I think.
David Reece: (laughs) Yeah, I used to rehearse next door to Ronnie in North Hollywood. He would actually just sit down on a road case and have really intelligent conversation with you. His band would be blasting next door to us and we’d be playing and then take a break, and he’d open the door, come in and sit down on a road case and kicking his legs, and watching us… He was just so normal and kind. And what a voice!
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely… And what a loss, when he passed away.
David Reece: Yeah, we’ve lost some great ones in the last few years…
Hardrock Haven: Right, sometimes to retirement – but when it comes to the Grim Reaper, that’s a whole different story.
David Reece: Yeah, even in my case… You know, I’m grateful I wake up every day. I’m a heart attack survivor – I had a heart attack in 2010. That came out of nowhere… I was in New York, onstage, singing with this band and I felt like I was catching the flu all day. It was August. And the next morning I woke up and said, “No, that’s not the flu. Call the ambulance” and I survived that. But when it’s your time, it’s your time and when I see a lot of my old friends – and when somebody passes on, I go, “I knew that dude. I remember drinking with that guy at the Rainbow or we played a gig here or I remember hanging out with him…” And it turns out somebody else dies the next day, and it’s like, “Wow, when is this gonna stop?” But that’s life.
Hardrock Haven: That’s even more frightening for my generation. I mean, I’m thirty now. We’ll be the generation to bid the final farewell to all the greats.
David Reece: Yeah, I know… People I worshiped when I was a kid – some of them are around, but a lot of them aren’t… There are ones that are really strong, like Alice Cooper who’s still doing great, but he eventually took care of himself. Ian Gillan is still kicking it, and Ozzy of course, he’ll probably come out again… Steven Tyler of course, still jumping around like a maniac. But they’ve all got their limits and I’m doing five shows with one day off and they’re doing one show, day off, one show, day off… Then you get into Udo Dirkschneider and the guy’s indestructible and he’ll play every day – and Doro… I mean, they’re all legends in their own right too. I love all of them and I grew up with many of them. And I love what Doro did not long ago – I saw a video of her without make-up and getting ready for a show and letting her be seen as an aging person. I thought that was really brave of her, I thought, “You know what, that was cool.” She’s not joking anybody, but she’s like, “Hey, I’m in my late fifties now – I can’t hide it!” (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: You’ve also been open about various moments in your career when you considered leaving the music business, and one you actually did walk away from it back in the ‘90s. So with more and more musicians announcing their retirement, do you think there’s life beyond the music for a musician, or maybe the decision is harder than we think?
David Reece: I’ve accepted that I’m not gonna have the glory days and the gold albums – I’ve got one… I have a day job and I was in Denmark for the summer, roofing buildings. I work construction and thank God, my legs are still strong and my arms [too]. I can go out and put in a hard day’s work and I’m able to do that. And if it came to me struggling to sing my songs or physically do, I think I would be honest with myself because I owe that to myself and to the fans. You know, I see a lot of bands out there where the singers can’t sing anymore. And it’s just a pain for a name and it’s an aging thing and I’m sure it’s pride… But I’m just gonna say that I think my spirit will tell me it’s time to walk away. But if I walk away, I’m still gonna have to work because you don’t make any money in this business so you put yourself in a situation when you probably work ‘till you fall over dead. Like for instance, if I don’t tour next year, I’ll probably go to Montana and work the whole nine-month season in construction. And that’s hard on the body. But I have to think beyond my nose. You gotta pay your bills and I’m not gonna have somebody pay my bills for me. I’m not gonna sit in some shitty place and think the world owes me something. ‘Cause I chose my destiny. I chose my trail… The trail that I walk, I picked it. And I think, if it was that easy to be famous, everybody would be famous. Sure, some people get a better break, because they’ve got a big power money machine behind them and they can make it all as they want to, but it’s the working musicians that I respect.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely. And why do you think it’s particularly difficult to get a break in your homeland and make it big in the American scene?
David Reece: One thing about Americans, we have a saying “Here today, gone later today.” It’s a very fickle mentality. In Europe, what I noticed a long time ago was, if a fan loves you, they love you for life. They wear their vests, they wear your patches, they buy all your records – they might not like some of them, but they don’t quit you. Things have to be fashionable in America. Actually, speaking about it, I forgot one project that I’m working on. There’s this guy named Mike Onesko and the Blindside Blues Band. And Mike’s a great guitar player, and it’s really back-to-the-roots thing, Humble-Pie-Bad-Company stuff that I’ve started doing and I’ve written seven great songs so far, I think. We’re gonna do an album together. And it’s cool, because it’s just like me singing live in the studio and not doing multiple takes. I’m performing to the tracks. And I get to go back to get to that part of America, if you know what I mean. But my fanbase… Obviously, with Accept was where my kick-off started. I played every honky-tonk in America you can imagine, and in Canada… I’ve been everywhere… In those days, we played six-seven days a week, four or five sets a night, we did all the covers you can imagine – whatever was popular – and were trying to write our own songs. That’s a hard life. You’re making a hundred and fifty dollars to two hundred dollars a week and you’re thinking you’re making a living and you hate it. You despise it at a time. But you know what? I would give my right arm to go back and do that for another year, right now. I mean, I hated it when I was doing it, but I miss it so bad. It was joy. It was freedom. In those days, there was so much happening in the music business. You could play everywhere and it was great. From 1977 to 1988, when I went over to Germany, it was non-stop.
Hardrock Haven: Best years for music, at least from my perspective…
David Reece: Yeah, we got invaded with the English Invasion again – you know, [Iron] Maiden and UFO… I actually got to see Michael Schenker with UFO at a theater with Rick Derringer opening and we didn’t know who UFO was. But we knew Rick Derringer and he just blew the roof off that night – and then this great band called UFO walked out with this beautiful blonde guitar player with a white Flying V and I could not take my eyes off him or that singer [Phil Mogg]. I said, “What is this?” And I went out and next thing was that I bought every UFO album I could find. And I just absorbed Phil Mogg and Michael Schenker’s songs – I was actually listening to a bunch of them yesterday and going, “God, the memories! What great songs!” And then Iron Maiden with Killers – and then, when they got Bruce. That wave was intense… And the first Def Leppard album, On Through the Night. We played a lot of those songs, ‘cause they were cool. We saw them open for a Blackfoot in a huge hall – they were like little kids.
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, right at the beginning!
David Reece: Yeah! (laughs) It was like, “Wow, these guys are amazing!” And we thought, “We can do that to.” We should have left Minneapolis and gone to LA, ‘cause I knew we would have gotten signed easily these days… but it was a safe place to be, a lot of work, and the band had family and all that stuff… So I said, “Well, screw you, I’m going to California!” So I’d go there and go back and join my band again (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: So that was the past – and what does the future hold in store for you?
David Reece: You know, I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve got a great writing streak going on right now. I think it’s like you as a journalist – you’ve got to work at your craft every day… I’m not afraid of running into writer’s block. I think people that talk about it, they create their own writer’s block… They stop and then they try to jump in. I’m a big Steely Dan fan as well, and Donald Fagen, who’s a genius musician, once said he eventually can’t write songs anymore because everything he writes, he says, “Hey, I’ve already written that.” That kind of scared me, ‘cause he writes Jazz, Rock, R&B, Metal… And he’s written all that stuff already because he comes up with a cool lick on the piano and he goes, “Wait a minute, that’s a song from 1976.” Still, he’s got such a vast back catalog that he can play until he falls over dead. But I don’t really worry about it – I think it’d be just fine topics… I mean, I listen to you talk tonight and some things inspired me that I’ll probably write down, and my family will be around doing some type of business and I’d turn on the television for five minutes and somebody would say something on an American TV show… and I’d say it’s cool… And then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and I’ll write it down ‘cause I’ll forget otherwise. And I’d sing it into my phone too, because if I don’t write it down or sing it, I wake up the next day and I’m so mad ‘cause I can’t remember it. But I think [plans are to] stay busy and stay focused. I was in the studio last night doing some Synth Metal stuff for an Australian artist and it’s really cool ‘cause I’ve never done Synth Metal and it’s a challenge. It’s a whole different game without the guitar bashing my skull in the headphones. I’ve done a couple songs for him and I’m gonna do a few more next week. Actually, he did “Rock’n’Roll Children” by DIO with a synthesizer. He wants me to sing that. I don’t know what’s gonna happen with it, but I’m really excited about Iron Allies – it’s kind of like the second Accept album I wasn’t able to do in a way, mentally and musically and personally… I love Herman as a guitar player and I think he’s highly underrated… You know, he’s always been kind of second to Wolf [Hoffmann], but he’s so great. And he’s a great guy, and I like being around him. And then, Donnie on bass – he’s the wild American bassist – and he’s been fighting with Riot for over thirty years, with all the tragedies that happened to Riot and they still keep going…
Hardrock Haven: Yeah, that’s admirable after all the band has been through.
David Reece: Yeah, I mean Rhett [Forrester] was murdered, Mark [Reale] died… actually, four guys died in the band [including the former singer Guy Speranza, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2003, and guitarist Louie “L.A.” Kouvaris, who passed away reportedly of complications from COVID-19 in 2020]. They’ve been through hell. But Donnie carries on.
Hardrock Haven: Let’s hope it will stay this way.
David: We’ve got too much invested in this project. Herman and I have been working on this since, I think… June this year. We started really concentrating and writing and it was like, “Let’s write songs” and I think there’s twenty-two songs finished right now and he’s like, “That’s enough. Let’s shop a record deal.” And I don’t think we’re gonna have a hard time getting signed. And actually there was a post last night and two promoters called us and wanted us to headline some big festivals in the summer, and it’s like, “Wow, all those guys on one stage together!” We wouldn’t even have to do a record. Can you imagine…? We could do Accept songs, we could do Victory songs, we could do Riot songs… we could do the ninety minutes of all of our history… (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: …and the audience would be ecstatic!
David Reece: Yeah. We decided that on the shows, we’re going to do a mash-up or a medley… “Swords and Tequila” by Riot and then we’ll do a heavy Accept song, then a Victory song, a David Reece song and put them all together like a five- or six-song-medley and then play 7-8 of our new songs. And then, as a closer, just go out there and break their heads in with a song that everybody knows from all of us.
Hardrock Haven: That sounds like a plan – like a finished setlist!
David Reece: Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. Promoters are already calling us, it’s just the matter of getting the right recording deal and the budget and getting into the studio and putting the little shiny pieces on the songs that are missing there… and go from there.
Hardrock Haven: So I’m keeping my fingers crossed for all your plans to work out.
David Reece: It’s a progressive Iron-Maiden-kind of thing with John Steel, then you’ve got Wicked Sensation which is really great – you’ve got Deep Purple riffs, you’ve got big choruses, you’ve got Dennis Ward’s production and melodies… he’s a great producers. That album deserves a lot of attention and ROAR! Rock of Angels Records are doing a great job promoting it. And I also gotta say that my label, El Puerto Records, they’ve been so good to me. I hope El Puerto grows into something really big, ‘cause they just keep fighting. I’m pretty lucky and I never take it for granted – I’m thankful every day.
Hardrock Haven: So before we wrap it up, is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
David Reece: All I can say is thanks everyone at Hardrock Haven and thank you. I’ve got a lot of Polish friends now, and I’ve got you as a friend – I thank you for that and I thank you for an interview. And God willing, I’ll see you next year!
Visit David Reece online: Official Site | Facebook | Instagram
Check out new videos and singles from David Reece:
“I Can’t Breathe”
“American Dream”
The first single and video off the upcoming Wicked Sensation album Outbreak, “Stabreaker” featuring David Reece, can be also viewed below:
