At the tail end of 2002, as Doro Pesch’s mammoth Fight tour neared its conclusion, the Metal Queen talked to Classic Rock about keeping fit on the road, her passion for art, the magic of crystals and the wonder of Indian cooking.
Almost everything I do is connected with music. If I’m in pre-production, I’m in songwriting mode. In recording, then I’ve got the music on my mind; and if we’re going on tour, then I’ve got rehearsals to deal with. It’s always like that. It really feels like I have no private time for myself. This tour started in January, and we’re only closing it in the next few weeks, so that’s almost a year on the road.
I love sports, always did. I do Thai boxing when I’m home, which is in New Jersey, and I also have a place in Düsseldorf. I train twice a week and jog every day. I need to do that to survive the training, because it’s so demanding. It helps when I go on tour, and I feel so much fitter. I also love to watch boxing fights; I love to go to them.
Living in America and Germany isn’t really that difficult. This year the whole band were in Germany, which was a bit strange. I tend to live in New Jersey a lot more, though I prefer New York. The American way of life and the German way of life are a bit different, I guess. When I’m over there, I miss Germany, and when I’m in Germany I miss the States. Normally I’ve got at least one of the guys from the band with me, working on something. It’s not like a private life, is it? No husband, no kids…
I always tend to go to bed at about six or seven in the morning and get up about two in the afternoon. If I have to get up at nine, then that’s fine too. I like to go to bed when the birds are singing. When I get up, I do my stuff. Usually it’s spending like half a day on the phone, even without interviews.
I always like to go to the gym. We have a 24-hour gym, and | like to go at about three o’clock in the morning when nobody’s there. I have stuff at home too, but I prefer to go to the gym. It’s a very small apartment, and always a total mess.
I used to draw and paint a lot. And I was very interested in typography. I loved doing that. It was actually my profession before I started doing music. And it came in very handy for all the posters and logos. I still do a bit.
I’m really into this collective from around the world who do weird stuff. One guy is a body artist, another is a photographer who does this weird, dark stuff, and another one does this great fire-breathing act. I met them four years ago, and they helped me translate my favourite songs into photos. It’s a little underground scene.
I’ve always had a passion for art. My favourite artist is probably Dali. He’s so different. And a sculptor from Germany named Gunther Jantsch. He was very underground – he’s dead now – but his stuff is really powerful too. Fortunately I can combine my love of art with my job, whether it’s coming up with ideas for photo shoots or stage sets. It’s a gut instinct thing. If I feel it’s important, then I make time. I love going to museums.
I like films, especially independent movies. In New York there was this guy, Soban Falkner, we wanted to do a little horror movie with. He used to be a big star, though he wouldn’t tell us which band he’d been in. And there’s this guy in Germany called Peter Sempel, who did the Motörhead film, called Lemmy, and a film with Nina Hagen. We got connected a couple of years ago, and we want to do something together. My favourite movie is a Mexican film called Amores Perros [Love Is A Bitch]. I really like the realistic stuff.
I used to read a lot. When I first went to New York, where I lived for seven years, I had no friends, so reading helped me through some pretty tough times. New York is great, but it can be really lonely too. I like the spiritual kind of stuff. I feel it’s kind of soul food. I get bored with normal stories. My favourite book is called The Seat Of The Soul, by Gary Zukav. It’s a tremendous book. It’s deeply spiritual, pretty heavy stuff. I’m also very much into crystals and the positive energy from them. That all started when I went to New York.
I met this woman who told me that when I was on tour I was expending so much energy and I needed to replace it. She asked me if I was interested in crystals, which I was from way back when. I liked them, but didn’t really understand the energy side of things from them. She suggested that I get into it, and I did. It totally helps, too; obviously not when you’re severely sick, but it can lift the spirit or solve some problems.
It’s good for clarity, too. I remember this time I bought a load of crystals for friends from this little Christmas market stall, and I had them at home. And after a couple of days I noticed that the whole room was really sparkling and had such good vibes and energy. At first I didn’t connect it to the stones, but it got stronger and stronger every day, and I ended up not wanting to give the stones away. But I did, of course.
I sometimes take crystals on the road with me too. But I’m a total mess. I have stuff bunged into three plastic bags – all my make-up, medicine, everything. I remember playing the Bang Your Head festival in Germany, and I went into the dressing room, and they’d gone. I found out the cleaning woman had thrown them all into the garbage! All these expensive crystals and jewellery were in there. And yes, I still have all my stuff in plastic bags.
I’m a hopeless cook. I’ve never really been good at it. But I do like food. The Indian food here in England is absolutely amazing, the best out. I always look forward to coming here for the Indian food.
I’m really into this spicy food that’s a mixture of Indian and Thai food and health foods. It’s an old tradition, like some 5,000 years old. I got into this food when I went to New York. There’s this street with hundreds of Indian restaurants. That was back in 1986, and I don’t ever recall seeing an Indian restaurant in Germany back then. They’re a lot more common today.
Doro was speaking with Jerry Ewing. This feature first appeared in Classic Rock 50, published in February 2003.