{"id":7417,"date":"2012-11-07T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T00:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=7417"},"modified":"2012-11-15T20:03:36","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T20:03:36","slug":"feature-t-and-n-11-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-t-and-n-11-12\/","title":{"rendered":"T&N – Into The Fire Yet Again (November 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

T&N – Into The Fire Yet Again<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nNovember 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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T&N (l-r): Brian Tichy, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Alex Solca<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

In early 2011, guitarist George Lynch contacted erstwhile Dokken bandmate Jeff Pilson with the express purpose of co-authoring material for a future Lynch Mob album. Jeff agreed to participate, and so the two began to pen tracks, \u201cvery quickly\u201d composing an entire album\u2019s worth of material. Recording subsequently took place, Brian Tichy (Whitesnake \/ ex-Ozzy Osbourne \/ ex-Foreigner) stepping behind the drumkit. For various reasons however, the material wasn\u2019t used to form a Lynch Mob effort. \u201cIt made sense to have Brian Tichy play on all of the new stuff because he played drums for Lynch Mob,\u201d notes Jeff Pilson, vocalist and bassist for T&N. \u201cPlus, we love Brian\u2019s drumming; he\u2019s a brilliant drummer, and a brilliant musician. To have him on the tracks was wonderful. We recorded the drums in his studio, so it was a win-win for us there. We had this record sitting there, and then it was Brian\u2019s idea to get Mick Brown to do the Dokken tracks to make it interesting and spice it up a little bit, to give it a little variation and not to keep things so predictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian suggested \u2018Hey, why don\u2019t you finish these songs and then get Mick to re-record a bunch of Dokken songs? You can call it…\u2019 He suggested we call it Tooth And Nail after one of our records, but we were asked not to use that by a party. Instead, we chose initials that might have nothing to do with that album, but just coincidentally happen to have the same initials (laughs). That became T&N. We got Mick, recorded it, and got guest vocalists. Everything came together very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore Dokken studio full-length Tooth And Nail<\/em> (September 1984) holds a special place in Dokken\u2019s history. \u201cThere is a real spirit that happened on the Tooth And Nail<\/em> record, and I think that spirit kind of carries through to this day,\u201d the rhythmist enthuses. \u201cWhen we first met George and I started writing together, but then on the road when we were on our very first tour \u2013 the Breaking The Chains Tour \u2013 we used to practice stuff in our hotel. We\u2019d write, and then when we got back home we spent a month essentially at George\u2019s house writing what became the Tooth And Nail<\/em> record. Don wrote some of it, but we wrote most of it in this period of about a month. I think that\u2019s when we really, really got the bond going that we have to this day. At the time Mick Brown was actually living at that house, so he would come in late at night, hear what we were doing, and throw in his two cents\u2019 worth. It was just a great writing situation. So yeah, what can I say? That\u2019s where the foundation of the band really took root.\u201d<\/p>\n

T&N consists of the classic Dokken line-up in short, albeit minus vocalist Don Dokken. \u201cThat\u2019s accurate in one sense,\u201d Jeff observes. \u201cThe Dokken re-recordings are the three of us \u2013 George, Mick, and myself \u2013 and that is the core of that. We have guest singers to make it interesting, but it\u2019s a multi-formatted band. We also have George, Brian Tichy and I doing the new stuff with new singing. The object of T&N was to be a creative outlet that was pure enjoyment, and we are hoping fans will like it too. They seem to be, which is making us very, very happy. Like I say though, the emphasis was on making it a creative outlet and a chance for the two of us or the three of us \u2013 whether it be Brian or Mick \u2013 to be able to work together. So to that end, there is no constraint to what T&N is, and that\u2019s a beautiful thing for us. We can bring in guest singers, we can sing it ourselves, we can write with other people \u2013 it doesn\u2019t really matter. There are no limits, and when you have a creative outlet I think that\u2019s the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mick Brown and Brian Tichy each possess individual idiosyncrasies. \u201cI think Mick comes from little more of a basic oriented approach,\u201d the singer critiques. \u201cMick is almost all about the groove; he is so totally into the groove, and he does it wonderfully. He just has a great groove to play along with. He\u2019s got plenty of chop, but his primary interest is in the groove. With Brian, Brian is just explosively creative. He\u2019s got all facets of ability; he can do anything on the drums. He has a great groove as well, but with him there are all sorts of twists and turns. He\u2019s really capable of doing some creative things with the drums, which is because he\u2019s such a phenomenal musician. They\u2019re both phenomenal musicians, and phenomenal drummers. Like I say, it just worked out the way it did. We\u2019re real, real happy with the results though, and we seem to be getting good feedback. I think we did something right.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Whether Mick Brown or Brian Tichy will occupy the drum stool for future T&N outings is currently uncertain. \u201cWho knows?,\u201d Jeff ponders. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing; we can do either. If we were to tour I think we would probably like to use Mick first just to keep the Dokken connection alive, but you never know. We might use Brian. Who knows? That\u2019s why I say the beautiful thing about T&N is that anything goes. There are a lot of possibilities there; it\u2019s gonna keep it fresh for us and interesting for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As T&N\u2019s formation crystallised, the four-stringer stepped behind the microphone stand. \u201cThere were never going to be auditions,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cLike I say, it was originally going to be a Lynch Mob record, and so Oni Logan would\u2019ve been singing on the material. When we then decided to make it our own thing \u2013 which became T&N \u2013 we always knew that I would sing the new stuff. That doesn\u2019t mean that somewhere down the line we couldn\u2019t have somebody else singing songs as well. We loved having guest vocalists on the Dokken songs. It was really fun. Again, you just never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press releases fail to mention that Jeff handles vocals on October 2012 T&N debut Slave To The Empire<\/em><\/a> for the most part, Jeff\u2019s vocal contributions arguably left low-key. \u201cI don\u2019t think it was left deliberately low-key,\u201d he counters. \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware that it was so hard to find that out (laughs)… Wow, that\u2019s interesting… No, it wasn\u2019t as far as I\u2019m concerned… Maybe someone else made it low-key (laughs)… But no, I\u2019m very proud of myself on this record. I wouldn\u2019t be low-key about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

An extremely melodic frontman, Jeff has an affinity for bluesy material. \u201cI really come from that,\u201d he shares. \u201cI think in a sense, I sort of combine the blues element of a lot of bluesier rock singers with the melodic sense of coming from a Beatles background \u2013 I love The Beatles. I think I fuse the two. At least that\u2019s what I attempt to do, because that\u2019s my personal taste. I try to do what I feel strongest about. Kind of a hybrid is how I view myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Largely a bassist throughout his career, Jeff simply views himself as a musician. \u201cI don\u2019t look at classifications as much,\u201d he emphasises. \u201cYou have specific functions that you do. When I\u2019m playing with Foreigner I\u2019m pretty much a bass player, but I get to do a lot of arranging in that band and I sing a lot of background vocals. It\u2019s not about being one thing, so I don\u2019t really see myself as one thing. I see myself as a multi-tasking musician, and that\u2019s kind of how I approach music anyway. When I play bass, I kind of try to play not because I want to be the most well-known bass player in the world. I just want to play the right part for the song, so it\u2019s a very holistic approach is how I try to put it. What\u2019s most natural for me is to be in a situation where whatever\u2019s called for is what I do. If I have to sing, I\u2019m up for singing. If it\u2019s playing bass, I\u2019m up for playing bass. I feel pretty natural doing just about anything, so there is no singular comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Slave To The Empire<\/em>\u2019s 12 tracks, seven are original compositions. \u201cI would just describe them as very melodic hard rock, and not too dissimilar from where we were coming from with Dokken as far as being a melodic hard rock band,\u201d the vocalist judges. \u201cThere are some slightly modern elements to it, but mostly it\u2019s pretty straight ahead melodic hard rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slave To The Empire<\/em>\u2019s \u201cmain message was to address all of the inequality in the world. There\u2019s a lot of wealth being accumulated by a very small amount of people, and it\u2019s getting more and more that way. We see that as being dangerous for one thing, and unfair on the other side. We\u2019re trying to have a very human element to what we\u2019re saying, and we just want people to be awake so they can participate in their own destinies. Let\u2019s turn things around a bit; let\u2019s make things not quite so skewed towards a very few people. The only way to do that is making people aware, and not letting them be asleep at the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Slave To The Empire<\/em>\u2019s cuts, \u2018When Eagles Die\u2019 is the rhythmist\u2019s favourite. \u201cThat\u2019s a single favourite, but it\u2019s a little bit like asking which child you like the most,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cThey\u2019re still pretty new, so I\u2019m still pretty excited about them. I think if I had to single one out though, I would say \u2018When Eagles Die\u2019. George\u2019s solo on that is just so great, and I love all of the textures involved. It\u2019s a little musical journey, which was real fun for us. I felt very cleansed after we wrote that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although five Dokken re-recordings appear on the full-length in all 12 were laid down, the 12 arguably comprising Dokken\u2019s greatest hits. The five which appear on Slave To The Empire<\/em> are \u2018Tooth And Nail\u2019, \u2018It\u2019s Not Love\u2019, \u2018Alone Again\u2019, \u2018Kiss Of Death\u2019, and \u2018Into The Fire\u2019, the first four including guest vocalists. The guest vocalists in question are King\u2019s X\u2019s Doug Pinnick (\u2018Tooth And Nail\u2019), Warrant \/ ex-Lynch Mob member Robert Mason (\u2018It\u2019s Not Love\u2019), ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach (\u2018Alone Again\u2019), and erstwhile Judas Priest alumnus Tim \u2018Ripper\u2019 Owens (\u2018Kiss Of Death\u2019). <\/p>\n

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Dokken 1986 (l-r): Mick Brown, Jeff Pilson, Don Dokken and George Lynch<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cWe just contacted people whose voices we loved and whose work we loved, and that we thought would be really appropriate for the Dokken material and would bring something interesting,\u201d Jeff explains. \u201cThe way we chose the five that we did was we talked to the singers, and told them what songs were available. We let them decide what they wanted to sing, and that narrowed it down to the five. The other seven we\u2019ll hopefully put on record number two. I can tell you Mick Brown sang a version of \u2018When Heaven Comes Down\u2019 that\u2019s gonna come out on the next record, and that is absolutely amazing. He just did a fabulous job on the song, so that\u2019s one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe others you could probably pretty much imagine, because we pretty much chose the obvious 12 that you would choose I believe. We couldn\u2019t be happier. We got an interesting range of singers on this record who all did an incredible job. Like I say, I\u2019m very, very pleased with the results. Hopefully we\u2019ll get some guest singers on the second as well. I think it\u2019s gonna be real fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, no material has been written in preparation for a second T&N studio outing. A tentative date of issue isn\u2019t currently scheduled either. \u201cWe\u2019re still promoting this one,\u201d the singer laughs. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely gonna do one, but we haven\u2019t actually sat down to write anything new for it yet. There are a couple of leftover things from the last record, but knowing us, writing has never been a problem for us. The quantity of material has never been a problem, so my guess is that we probably won\u2019t revisit any of the ones that we didn\u2019t use last time. We\u2019ll probably just write new stuff, but having said that, there are a few little ideas on there that I could see us finishing off. We actually had a couple of finished songs that we didn\u2019t use though, and I don\u2019t see us using those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff really hopes that Glenn Hughes (Black Country Communion \/ ex-Deep Purple \/ ex-Trapeze) will guest on T&N\u2019s sophomore release. \u201cHe\u2019s my favourite singer in the world,\u201d he beams. \u201cThat would be great. Other than that, we\u2019ll have to see. We\u2019re thinking we might find somebody in a younger band to tie together the two generations, because there are a lot of younger bands that are into the whole Dokken kind of sound now \u2013 at least they are influenced by it. We\u2019d love to find somebody from that that could step up and deliver nicely on one of these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

T&N harbour aspirations to be a touring outfit. \u201cOriginally we hoped to be touring in November and December, but for various reasons that didn\u2019t really happen,\u201d the four-stringer laments. \u201cThere aren\u2019t any plans at the moment. What we\u2019re hoping to do is to be able to do it for the next record, whenever that may be. In the meantime though, we have a couple of unplugged situations that we\u2019re gonna do on TV and radio. We\u2019re gonna be on Rockline on December 12th, which I\u2019m pretty sure is available over the internet, and we\u2019re gonna play a couple of unplugged songs for that. That is probably the principle way we\u2019ll be playing live until the next record, but we would definitely love to tour the next record. That\u2019s the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff views T&N as more of a long-term venture. \u201cLike I say, that\u2019s the beautiful thing about it,\u201d he reiterates. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have limits to it. George and I have been friends and worked together for almost 30 years, so that\u2019s not going anywhere. With Mick Brown, the same thing. Brian Tichy, I\u2019ve been working with him for a long time now. We have great relationships amongst ourselves, and again, the objective of T&N is to be a creative outlet. Why wouldn\u2019t we continue this for as long as we possibly can?\u201d<\/p>\n

T&N aside, the frontman has other musical endeavours in the pipeline. \u201cI\u2019ve been not directly producing but dealing with the people in the group Benedictum who have a record coming out, and I\u2019m trying to do some writing with them,\u201d he reveals. \u201cI just produced a record for Steven Adler and his band which is called Adler, and that will be coming out sometime in 2013. It\u2019s a friggin\u2019 great record. Steven is playing amazingly; he\u2019s got an amazing band around him with a fabulous singer and guitar player who are just really, really great. That record\u2019s called Back From The Dead<\/em>, and I\u2019m very, very excited about that. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThey just got done doing the Kiss Kruise in the Bahamas. They actually ended up being in Mexico, but my wife and I went along. It was really fun watching the band play some of their first shows live. It\u2019s great, so 2013 is gonna be a good year for Adler as well. I\u2019m actually producing a Starship record which is gonna come out probably late spring 2013, and then hopefully another T&N record. I\u2019m also gonna be doing a full year of touring with Foreigner in 2013, that\u2019s for sure. Lots of stuff on the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foreigner have no recording plans \u201cin the immediate future. We did just record a live unplugged show at the GRAMMY Museum (on October 30th, 2012), which was a great show. It was actually aired live on AXS TV<\/em>. We recorded and filmed it, and it was a really magical show. My guess is that something will happen with that in the next year because like I say, it was a really special night. I\u2019d love to see that happen, but other than that, there are a couple of little ideas for Foreigner that haven\u2019t really germinated yet. I probably shouldn\u2019t tell you anything, but we\u2019ve got some interesting ideas for 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

In various interviews, Dokken mainman Don Dokken has confirmed that 11th studio platter Broken Bones<\/em> \u2013 issued September 2012 \u2013 will be the group\u2019s swansong studio effort. \u201cIf Don isn\u2019t inspired to do another record, he shouldn\u2019t,\u201d Jeff agrees. \u201cI\u2019m glad he\u2019s opting out rather than forcing himself to do a record if he doesn\u2019t feel it. You\u2019ve got to respect somebody who does that. He sounds like he\u2019s got some other interesting things going on. I believe he\u2019s working with Michael Schenker on something, so I can totally understand him wanting to try something different at this point. I completely support him in that. There\u2019s a part of all of us where you\u2019d hate to see Dokken go away, but I don\u2019t think it ever will. I think it\u2019ll always kind of be in people\u2019s hearts and minds to whatever degree, so I applaud Don wanting to try something creatively different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bassist has heard parts of Broken Bones<\/em>. \u201cI heard the song that they have a video for (\u2018Empire\u2019) and a couple of snippets of other things, yeah,\u201d he confirms. \u201cI thought the song that they did a video for was really good, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Lynch and Don Dokken sadly have an acrimonious relationship. \u201cSure, there are reasons they don\u2019t get along,\u201d Jeff divulges. \u201cI could go into all sorts of psychological explanations for why. Things have happened over the years (laughs). We were kind of a volatile band for many years \u2013 there was a lot of stuff going on. The easiest way to sum it up is just egos. I think it was just a battle of egos all of the way through. Sometimes George says things that he shouldn\u2019t say, but he\u2019s pretty much a from the heart kind of guy and he pretty much means what he says. He says things sincerely which people don\u2019t get, and that\u2019s the problem sometimes (laughs). Overall though, he\u2019s a very from the heart kind of guy. It\u2019s a shame that they don\u2019t get along, but I think a lot of that has kind of dissipated over the years. I think they get along better than people realise now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, a reunion of Dokken\u2019s classic line-up cannot be ruled out. \u201cIt\u2019s always a possibility, but timing and scheduling has been really tricky for T&N as it is,\u201d the vocalist cautions. \u201cWe\u2019d love to tour this thing, but certainly my commitments with Foreigner make it very difficult trying to tour. That was kind of the case the last time we tried to do a Dokken reunion; I just wasn\u2019t able to devote the time to it that would\u2019ve been necessary, and I don\u2019t see that changing any time soon. You never know. If we were to do Dokken it would be a fairly intensive commitment though, and I just don\u2019t see that happening right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

George\u2019s and Don\u2019s relationship isn\u2019t an obstacle, Jeff feels. \u201cIf they were in a room together right now, they\u2019d laugh and it\u2019d be fine,\u201d he adds. \u201cI won\u2019t say that there haven\u2019t been some hiccups in the last couple of years (laughs). There have been a couple of times when things have been bad, but the last I heard they were fine with one another. I think they even spoke not that long ago, and it was fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slave To The Empire<\/em> was released on October 31st through Rat Pak Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in November 2012<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T&N – Into The Fire Yet Again Anthony Morgan November 2012 T&N (l-r): Brian Tichy, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown Pic: Alex Solca In early 2011, guitarist George Lynch contacted erstwhile Dokken bandmate Jeff Pilson with the express purpose of co-authoring material for a future Lynch Mob album. Jeff agreed to participate, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,396],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dokken","category-tn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7417"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7438,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7417\/revisions\/7438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}