With almost four decades spent fronting both Warlock and her own solo band, Doro is the undisputed metal queen. Making waves in the '80s with the celebrated metal act, Ms Pesch was the fist woman onstage at the Monsters of Rock Festival in the U.K., a fact she still finds hard to believe even today. Taking to the stage at Stonedead Festival, we sat down with Doro for a chat about her current work, plans for the future, the messy court case that ended Warlock, and working with Gene Simmons. Burning the witches; Eamon O'Neill.
Photo: Adrian Hextall Mindhex Media.
Hi Doro, welcome to Stonedead Festival; how are you?
Very good. Sweaty, because, yeah, I've just came off stage, but we had such a great time.
It's been a while since you last played in England.
Yeah, we want to play you more. It's like, I always have to kick our booker! I love England, and it means a lot to me, because I was born and raised with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, so yeah, I love playing here. I love the fans.
You're here at Stonedead Festival, which is set up in the ethos of the original Monsters of Rock festivals. This seems so archaic to say, but you were the first woman on stage at the original festival, right?
I guess the first front woman, yeah! Man, I didn't realise it back then. It was just awesome, because it was our [Warlock's] first big festival. We had no idea that it was so huge because back then, because you know, there was no internet, no cell phones, no computer, just some fanzines. We thought maybe it's a small festival, like, maybe four or five thousand people, and then I hopped on stage, and I think it was like, what was it, maybe eighty thousand? It was awesome, and I think we did pretty good. The fans were on fire, and it was so great. And then people said; "okay, let's give this band a shot", and then we could go on tour with Judas Priest, and it was my favourite band, and it was a dream come true. We went on tour with Judas Priest all over Europe in '86, and in England with WASP. WASP was another band of mine I love, and then the next tour was with Ronnie James Dio. Then we came back here to England, so the best memories.
I think you were almost something different back then, because you seemed to escape your sexuality being exploited; you were just a singer in a metal band.
Yeah absolutely, and I'm still a metalhead! Yeah, back then in the 80s, I remember every video had like these sexy girls in the background, and it looked very pretty and sexy, but I think it wasn't so dignified. So I thought; "oh no". but I remember I had this one photo session, it was here [in England], and then the photographer said; "you know, now you have to take off your shirt, yeah?" Why? "Yeah, that's the way to do it", and I thought; "oh, no, I don't want to do it", but, you know, I was so young, I thought; "oh, man, is that what they expect you to do? Oh, I really don't want to do it", and then I had my jeans jacket, I put my jeans jacket on, and then the photographer was all like, you know, he was frustrated, but I thought, well, yeah, I want to do it like I feel good.
Warlock had some stunning artwork, including the 'Triumph and Agony' cover, which I can see on your bag over there.
That's a bootleg. Oh man, sometimes the bootlegs look so good, so I had to get it. Yeah, that's still one of my favourites.
The whole look is fantastic, with that iconic logo.
Yeah, and that logo, I designed the logo. I was a typesetter before, and it's a little bit that, it's like, made of steel. It's a little bit dolled up, but, yeah, but I did it.
The imagery that Warlock had then, it stood up to the likes of Iron Maiden and Dio.
I thought, yeah, Eddie of Iron Maiden, the Warlock, yeah, and I still love it! And we still have it in our usually record covers. You know, when it's a metal album!
Very good. Sweaty, because, yeah, I've just came off stage, but we had such a great time.
It's been a while since you last played in England.
Yeah, we want to play you more. It's like, I always have to kick our booker! I love England, and it means a lot to me, because I was born and raised with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, so yeah, I love playing here. I love the fans.
You're here at Stonedead Festival, which is set up in the ethos of the original Monsters of Rock festivals. This seems so archaic to say, but you were the first woman on stage at the original festival, right?
I guess the first front woman, yeah! Man, I didn't realise it back then. It was just awesome, because it was our [Warlock's] first big festival. We had no idea that it was so huge because back then, because you know, there was no internet, no cell phones, no computer, just some fanzines. We thought maybe it's a small festival, like, maybe four or five thousand people, and then I hopped on stage, and I think it was like, what was it, maybe eighty thousand? It was awesome, and I think we did pretty good. The fans were on fire, and it was so great. And then people said; "okay, let's give this band a shot", and then we could go on tour with Judas Priest, and it was my favourite band, and it was a dream come true. We went on tour with Judas Priest all over Europe in '86, and in England with WASP. WASP was another band of mine I love, and then the next tour was with Ronnie James Dio. Then we came back here to England, so the best memories.
I think you were almost something different back then, because you seemed to escape your sexuality being exploited; you were just a singer in a metal band.
Yeah absolutely, and I'm still a metalhead! Yeah, back then in the 80s, I remember every video had like these sexy girls in the background, and it looked very pretty and sexy, but I think it wasn't so dignified. So I thought; "oh no". but I remember I had this one photo session, it was here [in England], and then the photographer said; "you know, now you have to take off your shirt, yeah?" Why? "Yeah, that's the way to do it", and I thought; "oh, no, I don't want to do it", but, you know, I was so young, I thought; "oh, man, is that what they expect you to do? Oh, I really don't want to do it", and then I had my jeans jacket, I put my jeans jacket on, and then the photographer was all like, you know, he was frustrated, but I thought, well, yeah, I want to do it like I feel good.
Warlock had some stunning artwork, including the 'Triumph and Agony' cover, which I can see on your bag over there.
That's a bootleg. Oh man, sometimes the bootlegs look so good, so I had to get it. Yeah, that's still one of my favourites.
The whole look is fantastic, with that iconic logo.
Yeah, and that logo, I designed the logo. I was a typesetter before, and it's a little bit that, it's like, made of steel. It's a little bit dolled up, but, yeah, but I did it.
The imagery that Warlock had then, it stood up to the likes of Iron Maiden and Dio.
I thought, yeah, Eddie of Iron Maiden, the Warlock, yeah, and I still love it! And we still have it in our usually record covers. You know, when it's a metal album!
You've always maintained an identifiable visual aspect, right up to your most recent release, 2023's 'Conqueress Forever Strong and Proud'.
You've got to do it. We were thinking about the title for this new album, and then the painter - Jeffrey Gillespie is his name; he's from England. Actually, he lives in France, but he's English gentleman - but he's great, and very, very creative, and I called him, I said; "I have a new album in the making, and it sounds like a metal album", and he said; "well, I have something already". I said; "you painted something already?" He said; "yes, you want to see it?", and I said; "yes!", And there was this one album title. He always has some some funny things, and some titles where he thought, you know, it could fit, and it was called 'Conquistador', and I thought; "oh, that's Spanish, and that sounds so cool, but I don't know if people would know what it is". And then we said; ah, maybe 'Conquest' or 'Conqueror', and then 'Conqueress', even better, yeah! So that's the reason, how it came came about.
Going back a little in history, and I wanted to clear something up that's a little muddy; the 1989 Doro 'Force Majeure' album; do you see it as a Warlock album?
Yeah, actually, yeah. While we were doing it, suddenly we heard that our manager - who was the first manager in Germany, but he died - he suddenly took the name. Then we went to court, and, oh, man, it was heavy. It was so stressful. The judge, he was totally unfair, you know, we were all like, long hair, metalheads, and then the manager, he looked like, you know, a suit and tie look, and actually it was kind of criminal, but he took the name, so that's the reason why the first album, 'Force Majeure' was called Doro. I thought; "okay, I don't like to do it, but if we have to do it, okay, let's do it", and I thought; "okay then, the next album we will solve the problem", but it took 20 years to get the name Warlock, again.
So 'Force Majeure' is certifiably a Warlock album?
Yes, yes, yeah! We tried to put a little sticker on it, and when we did a tour, then it was Doro / Warlock, but we got in trouble again, so we had to take the poster off, but I think many bands, they went through that.
Similar tales, with bad management deals?
Oh yeah, bad deals. You know, like when you're a teenager, you're so happy to have a band, to have a record deal, to to go on tour, and you don't think of the legal stuff. You're happy when somebody says it's all taken care of, but I lived and learned.
You've got to do it. We were thinking about the title for this new album, and then the painter - Jeffrey Gillespie is his name; he's from England. Actually, he lives in France, but he's English gentleman - but he's great, and very, very creative, and I called him, I said; "I have a new album in the making, and it sounds like a metal album", and he said; "well, I have something already". I said; "you painted something already?" He said; "yes, you want to see it?", and I said; "yes!", And there was this one album title. He always has some some funny things, and some titles where he thought, you know, it could fit, and it was called 'Conquistador', and I thought; "oh, that's Spanish, and that sounds so cool, but I don't know if people would know what it is". And then we said; ah, maybe 'Conquest' or 'Conqueror', and then 'Conqueress', even better, yeah! So that's the reason, how it came came about.
Going back a little in history, and I wanted to clear something up that's a little muddy; the 1989 Doro 'Force Majeure' album; do you see it as a Warlock album?
Yeah, actually, yeah. While we were doing it, suddenly we heard that our manager - who was the first manager in Germany, but he died - he suddenly took the name. Then we went to court, and, oh, man, it was heavy. It was so stressful. The judge, he was totally unfair, you know, we were all like, long hair, metalheads, and then the manager, he looked like, you know, a suit and tie look, and actually it was kind of criminal, but he took the name, so that's the reason why the first album, 'Force Majeure' was called Doro. I thought; "okay, I don't like to do it, but if we have to do it, okay, let's do it", and I thought; "okay then, the next album we will solve the problem", but it took 20 years to get the name Warlock, again.
So 'Force Majeure' is certifiably a Warlock album?
Yes, yes, yeah! We tried to put a little sticker on it, and when we did a tour, then it was Doro / Warlock, but we got in trouble again, so we had to take the poster off, but I think many bands, they went through that.
Similar tales, with bad management deals?
Oh yeah, bad deals. You know, like when you're a teenager, you're so happy to have a band, to have a record deal, to to go on tour, and you don't think of the legal stuff. You're happy when somebody says it's all taken care of, but I lived and learned.
I wanted to touch on the first proper Doro album, your self-titled release from 1990; what was it like working with Gene Simmons on that?
I'm a big, huge KISS fan, and actually, and I talked to my two managers; the one who died, and then another one in New York. Alex Grob was his name, and I said; "Alex, you think it would be possible to meet KISS?", and he said; "ah, don't", you know; "drop it. That's a stupid idea. I don't have any time for that!" So then a promoter of the German Monsters of Rock festivals called me, and the guy said; "hey, Doro, I heard you're a big KISS fan; would you like to announce KISS in Germany for the Monsters of Rock festivals in 1988?", and I said; "oh yes, I would love it!" So I flew over to Germany. I was in America, and I flew over to Germany, and I introduced KISS. Thar was a big deal. My heart was pumping, you know? And it was like, it was just an introduction. So I met KISS for the first time, and Gene Simmons was super nice and cool.
How did that lead to your working with the KISS demon?
So a couple of months later, I said to my manager; "man, it would be great to do a song together, or maybe I can cover a KISS song?" And he said; "well, it's..." you know; "drop it", he said; "that's a stupid idea. They have definitely no time for that". So a couple of weeks later, my phone rang early in the morning, and I'm late - I'm a night person, so I usually sleep in as long as I can, and I work all night - so early in the morning, the phone rang, and it was my manager, Alex on the phone. and he said; "do you want to meet me at the park, at the Meridian Hotel in New York City? It's like 53rd or 57th Street?", and I said; "why?", and he said; "well, there's a surprise. Somebody is waiting for you", and I thought; "okay", so I went there. I hopped in a taxi, and then my manager was waiting in front of the hotel, and I said; "Alex, please tell me, who is it?" I thought it's maybe somebody from Germany. and he said; "Gene Simmons", and I said; "Oh my God, Gene Simmons?! You didn't tell me!" And I didn't have any make-up on, and I'm a girl, in this weather! On No! So I had to run three times around the block - it's a big block - and then we walked in, and Gene was there.
So how did the meeting with Gene go?
He said; "so I heard you want to do a new album". I said "yes", and then he was very nice, very caring, and he wrote everything down. He said; "do you have any ideas?", and; "what kind of sound would you like to go with?", and then, yeah, he wrote everything down. He was very, you know, I was so surprised that somebody was listening! Usually, you say something, and then they say; "yeah, yeah" [in an uninterested manner], and it was so cool.
Tell me about working with Gene.
We started working in New York City, and Gene always came to my apartment. I had an apartment in the village. Gene was there, we were talking, and exchanging ideas. He was playing me some songs he wrote, and then he let me listen to 'Only You' [KISS track originally released on 'Music from "The Elder", 1981], and he rewrote the lyrics a little bit, and I thought; "I love it. I want to do it". So we recorded 'Only You' and many songs Gene wrote. We recorded actually, in L.A., in the Fortress studio. That was where KISS recorded 'Hot in the Shade', and for me, it was a dream come true, too. And you know, I could definitely tell you, if someone told me I could work with all my favourites, all my heroes, that I could work with Judas Priest, and with Lemmy of Motorhead and Gene Simmons, and touring with everybody? It's been a dream.
I'm a big, huge KISS fan, and actually, and I talked to my two managers; the one who died, and then another one in New York. Alex Grob was his name, and I said; "Alex, you think it would be possible to meet KISS?", and he said; "ah, don't", you know; "drop it. That's a stupid idea. I don't have any time for that!" So then a promoter of the German Monsters of Rock festivals called me, and the guy said; "hey, Doro, I heard you're a big KISS fan; would you like to announce KISS in Germany for the Monsters of Rock festivals in 1988?", and I said; "oh yes, I would love it!" So I flew over to Germany. I was in America, and I flew over to Germany, and I introduced KISS. Thar was a big deal. My heart was pumping, you know? And it was like, it was just an introduction. So I met KISS for the first time, and Gene Simmons was super nice and cool.
How did that lead to your working with the KISS demon?
So a couple of months later, I said to my manager; "man, it would be great to do a song together, or maybe I can cover a KISS song?" And he said; "well, it's..." you know; "drop it", he said; "that's a stupid idea. They have definitely no time for that". So a couple of weeks later, my phone rang early in the morning, and I'm late - I'm a night person, so I usually sleep in as long as I can, and I work all night - so early in the morning, the phone rang, and it was my manager, Alex on the phone. and he said; "do you want to meet me at the park, at the Meridian Hotel in New York City? It's like 53rd or 57th Street?", and I said; "why?", and he said; "well, there's a surprise. Somebody is waiting for you", and I thought; "okay", so I went there. I hopped in a taxi, and then my manager was waiting in front of the hotel, and I said; "Alex, please tell me, who is it?" I thought it's maybe somebody from Germany. and he said; "Gene Simmons", and I said; "Oh my God, Gene Simmons?! You didn't tell me!" And I didn't have any make-up on, and I'm a girl, in this weather! On No! So I had to run three times around the block - it's a big block - and then we walked in, and Gene was there.
So how did the meeting with Gene go?
He said; "so I heard you want to do a new album". I said "yes", and then he was very nice, very caring, and he wrote everything down. He said; "do you have any ideas?", and; "what kind of sound would you like to go with?", and then, yeah, he wrote everything down. He was very, you know, I was so surprised that somebody was listening! Usually, you say something, and then they say; "yeah, yeah" [in an uninterested manner], and it was so cool.
Tell me about working with Gene.
We started working in New York City, and Gene always came to my apartment. I had an apartment in the village. Gene was there, we were talking, and exchanging ideas. He was playing me some songs he wrote, and then he let me listen to 'Only You' [KISS track originally released on 'Music from "The Elder", 1981], and he rewrote the lyrics a little bit, and I thought; "I love it. I want to do it". So we recorded 'Only You' and many songs Gene wrote. We recorded actually, in L.A., in the Fortress studio. That was where KISS recorded 'Hot in the Shade', and for me, it was a dream come true, too. And you know, I could definitely tell you, if someone told me I could work with all my favourites, all my heroes, that I could work with Judas Priest, and with Lemmy of Motorhead and Gene Simmons, and touring with everybody? It's been a dream.
Bringing things right up to date, and what's happening next for you?
We're touring to the end of the year and then I'm working on a new blu-ray / DVD. It's like the 40th anniversary. I did two big shows; one in Waken, this big festival in Germany, and I had many guests there, like everybody was there, all the people you know, all people we love. And then I did another show in Düsseldorf, my former hometown, and Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy was there, Mille [Petrozza] of Kreator was there, and many, many guests. So we're working on this blu-ray, DVD, live CD, and then next year, probably working on a new album, doing some other festivals, and coming back to England again.
Doro, thank you so much for talking to eon music.
Thank you. [Speaking to camera] I love you all with all my heart!
We're touring to the end of the year and then I'm working on a new blu-ray / DVD. It's like the 40th anniversary. I did two big shows; one in Waken, this big festival in Germany, and I had many guests there, like everybody was there, all the people you know, all people we love. And then I did another show in Düsseldorf, my former hometown, and Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy was there, Mille [Petrozza] of Kreator was there, and many, many guests. So we're working on this blu-ray, DVD, live CD, and then next year, probably working on a new album, doing some other festivals, and coming back to England again.
Doro, thank you so much for talking to eon music.
Thank you. [Speaking to camera] I love you all with all my heart!
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