In July 2009,Vaughn released a new live album entitled "The Road Les Travelled". Recorded in Newcastle, England in December 2008 the album features Vaughn & band run through an unplugged set of songs from throughout the singer's career. The album was released via UK rock website HardRockHouse.com and is available exclusively through the site.
Below you can read the interview that Danny Vaughn gave to Heavy Paradise and talked about his earlier days, present but also about the forthcoming Tyketto album! Enjoy!
D.V. : Wow! I'm a "hero"? So why didn't I ever get a cool costume like Captain America? LOL! Thanks very much Vassilis, it's my pleasure.
Heavy Paradise: Firstly, do you want to tell me what's new in Danny Vaughn's camp?
D.V. : I just finished a short solo tour in the UK, which is becoming something of a Christmas tradition. We played a lot of solo songs from the "Soldiers And Sailors On Riverside" and "Fearless" albums as well as a little Tyketto and Waysted. Recently, I've gotten the rights back to those first 2 solo cds and have re-released them as one, 2cd set called "Reprise". It's nice to have these 2 albums, that I love so much, back in the family. During the tour, we also did a number of cover songs. It was called the "Inspirations and Aspirations" tour so I was choosing covers form bands that influenced me throughout my career. Some unusual choices of bands like Mr. Big, Dio, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Grand Funk Railroad. I think it went over really well and it was a real change from previous tours.
I also finished up a tour with The Ultimate Eagles, a wonderful Eagles tribute band that I'm proud to be part of. We're planning our Spring tour of the UK right now.
Oh yes, and I'm working on a brand new Tyketto album!! Busy enough for you? ;-)
Heavy Paradise : Yes :-) , So, how did you get the name Tyketto? ..hahaha I'm just kiddin' . Back then Tyketto had a major success with only two albums! How so and you guys didn't continue for a third album? Was that a band decision or you wanted to do something different?
D. V.: I don't know if you can call Tyketto a major success. To be honest, everyone knew our name but we didn't sell nearly as many albums as our contemporaries like Poison, Danger Danger, or Mr. Big. We had a great reputation for our live shows and that kept us fresh in the fans minds for many years. After 2 albums things were getting harder and harder. We lost our record company since grunge had come on the scene and musical tastes changed drastically. I was in a position where I was watching the band that I loved so dearly playing to smaller and smaller crowds and working harder and harder to do it. I got burnt out and discouraged with the music business in general so I decided to stop making music altogether. Tyketto continued on without me and did a great album with my good mate, Steve Augeri on the vocals. He's awesome.
D.V. : I miss being younger! Lol! I guess back then I was more of an idealist than I am now. You learn your lessons the hard way.
Heavy Paradise : If you had the chance to go back to these days, is there anything that you would like to change?
D.V. : Some of my clothes!!!!! Green spandex? What was I thinking? I guess if I could change anything I would turn back time and get the first Tyketto album released in 1988 instead of 1991. I think the band would have been huge if we had come out a little earlier.
Heavy Paradise : Nowadays more and more 'old' bands are coming up with comeback albums! I think that Tyketto is also planning a new record in the near future. How do you see the situation with the comeback albums?
D.V. : The most important thing is the realization that the audience is still out there. If you live in America, the music business would have you believe that everyone that ever bought a Def Leppard or Whitesnake album left the planet around 1998. It's not like that in Europe and Scandinavia. The fans are still out there and they still love music with melody and DON'T like a lot of the crap that we are being fed on X Factor and other awful tv shows.
Tyketto have been offered to make a comeback album many times but, as always, we are a stubborn bunch and were never interested in doing it for the money.(If there WAS any money). It had to be an exciting idea to us first and foremost. Recently, Brooke, Michael and I got together to try writing again and we really liked what we were coming up with. So now we are ready to give it another go. Succeed or fail, we are doing it on our own power. That always feels good.
D.V. : It's never quite the same thing twice. I tend to write the song first and then decide if it's a solo song or a Tyketto song. I've got a lot of songs no one has ever heard because they are very different from both of those. Someday I'll make an album of those songs too. I tend to write about things that are close to me. Things that directly affect me or stories that I've heard from people close to me. The way we live our lives makes for such an infinite variety of stories. I love collecting stories.
Heavy Paradise: Your solo album, 'Fearless' is one of my favorite albums ever! I think these songs could easily appear in a Tyketto album. Were these songs planned for the third Tyketto album?
D.V. : Not really,no. They were written pretty quickly after the release of the previous album, "Soldiers And Sailors On Riverside". That album did pretty well and my record company wanted a follow up fairly quickly so a few of those songs were written in a day. But it is a lot of people's favorite of my albums so that's a really good feeling. I guess we work well under pressure.
D.V. : Like I said, we didn't feel the pull to go and do it. It's something you have to want for yourselves, not just for the promise of a paycheck. These days you don't do it for money. If you happen to make money, well that would be nice, but there's no guarantee. So it toughens you up and makes your decisions more powerful. We are going to make this album because we're happy to write music together again. It has to be exciting to us first. Only then can it be exciting to the people that listen to it.
Heavy Paradise: Closing the Tyketto chapter I have to say that your live performance here in Greece (Thessaloniki) in 2004 (I think..) was a hell of a live! How is the reaction of your fans when you are on stage? I think that they want from you to play Tyketto tunes all the time :-) ?
D.V. : Thessaloniki was a wonderful experience and we hope that we will come back to Greece with the new tour next year as well. It was amazing to realize that the music that we made had travelled all the way to a place as far away as Greece. Greece has always been a place of myth and legend to me. I grew up reading about Zeus and Herakles as a child so to be there was simply amazing.
Yes, people do expect me to play Tyketto songs whenever I play but I like that. It is part of who I am. Luckily, I have really great and understanding fans that also like to hear my solo songs so I get to mix it up a lot.
Heavy Paradise: With the 'From The Inside' you have released two superb melodic albums. Are you planning for a future release?
D.V. : Thank you! Those were fun albums to do. There isn't anything planned right now for any more of them.
Heavy Paradise : From all the projects/bands that you were involved with during your career which is the one that has a special value for you?
D.V. : In some way, all of them are special. You put as much of yourself into each thing you do as you possibly can. The "Traveller" album was very special for me because I was involved in all aspects of it. Planning the budget, booking the players and studios, and most of all, I was co producer. So I had my heart and soul into that album from start to finish.
D.V. : It's hard for me to say. I feel like an outsider looking in. I do feel that there is a new audience for this music. But I also worry that there aren't many bands doing it that are writing from the heart.
I'm sorry, but I can't accept bands like Steel Panther because it's all a piss take. They are playing up the aspects of melodic rock that everyone laughed at. There's no passion in it. Listen to "Still Of The Night" by Whitesnake or the "Slang" album by Def Leppard. That's passion. There are new bands, like "The Treatment" that are really serious about what they are doing and it shows. Very real rock and roll. Some of this other stuff, though, is just a weak joke.
Heavy Paradise : What are Danny Vaughn's influences?
D.V. : So many!! The list would take all day. I think a musician must always be listening to all kinds of music and then draw from the aspects of it that have meaning to them. I will be influenced by anything that has passion. Quite often it will be blues rooted music. But that can include great, newer artists like John Mayer, who is brilliant.
I love Cheap Trick, The Beatles, Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, King's X, The Stones......these are just a few that I look to for reference when I'm thinking about great songwriting.
Heavy Paradise : Can you tell me your three favorite songs of your career?
D.V. : It's hard to pick. I have different favorites depending on what day it is. But usually I'm most proud of my lyrical work on the songs that I love the most so I will say... "Lifted" from the Traveller album. "Handful Of Rain" from Soldiers and Sailors On Riverside and "Fearless".
Heavy Paradise : Are we going to see Danny Vaughn, with Tyketto or not, performing live in Greece again?
D.V. : Oh yes, I think you will!
Heavy Paradise : What are your future plans?
D.V. : After Christmas I am going to be very bust writing and recording the new Tyketto album. That's priority one. Then a Spring tour with the Ultimate Eagles. Then the Tyketto tour in October 2011. If I find anything else to do along the way.....why not?
Heavy Paradise : Any message to your fans?
D.V. : I am very grateful to still be able to follow my passion because my fans allow me to. You are the ones that come to the shows and buy the cds, which means we can keep making music together. We make a good team!
Heavy Paradise : At this point, I have to say a big thanx Danny for this interview and to wish you all the best with your future plans!
D.V. : Thank you, Vassilis, and Happy Christmas to everybody out there in the land of Herakles!! See you soon......
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