Timeless Echoes: Danny Vaughn Shares His Insights on Endurance in the Music Industry

Behind the Curtain: Danny Vaughn Unveils His Journey of Inspiration and Musical Rebirth...

Interview and Pictures: Adrian Hextall / MindHex Media

 

 

 

MGM: Really appreciate it, especially with you being out on tour as well.

Danny: Oh, not at all. Not at all. It’s good timing. We got into the hotel we’re staying in, so it’s a quiet moment.

MGM: Excellent. Whereabouts are you guys at the moment? Which city have you gone to now?

Danny: We’re just outside of Newcastle.

MGM: So where are you tonight then? Are you playing Trillions?

Danny: Not tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be at the Riverside.

MGM: Oh, yes. I know the venue. I think I’ve got friends that will be there. So that’s very cool.

Danny: Yeah, very cool.

MGM: Listen, my friend, thank you for doing this. It’s really appreciated. Let me dive straight in by saying that watching you guys at Maid of Stone and also at the London show, you seem to have a newfound love for all of this again. I don’t know if you’d ever faded, but at the moment, with the band that you’ve got, the smile never seems to leave your face.

Danny: Yeah, I think you’re right about that. We’ve been kind of all sort of talking about it. And by “all,” I mean all three bands. We’re just lucky enough to have three bands and their individual crew members. There doesn’t seem to be a bastard in the bunch, so we’ve been very, very lucky. It was a really good choice of running mates. Dan Byrne is definitely on his way up and really appreciates each time somebody comes up to him and says, “I’ve never heard of you before. Oh my gosh, I love you.” Little Caesar, like ourselves, has been around for 30-plus years and knows the ups and downs of communicating music to people. Like us, they are also really appreciative that regardless of economics, people make the effort to come out and do what we do.

MGM: I can understand that. From your own personal enjoyment, I was taking photos at the London show and watching you upon the balcony, watching both Dan and Little Caesar. You were having as much fun as the crowd, even before you set foot on stage.

Danny: Without a doubt! I’ll never stop being a fan of music. It’s the most powerful force on earth, I think. Dan is a new discovery for me, but I remember Little Caesar; John Kalodner handed me their album before it came out and said, “Here, check this out, you’re going to like this.” And he was absolutely right.

MGM: Is having them on the tour with you one of those bucket-list moments for you? Because I felt like you were a massive fan of theirs as a result of that moment from John.

Danny: Yeah, absolutely. It is kind of one of those little dreams come true. I live in the south of Spain, and maybe eight years ago, I was walking through a small Spanish port town of Estepona. Well, it’s not so small anymore, but it was smaller then. There was a tiny little sign on a lamppost saying, “Appearing tomorrow night in Estepona, Little Caesar.” I thought, “You are kidding!” So, Mrs. Melissa and I went straight down to the venue. We knew everybody down there, and we went down when we knew they’d be loading in and introduced ourselves.

MGM: That’s a nice touch. Did the opportunity to tour together come about almost organically, as opposed to it being something management had to arrange? You guys just got talking, did you?

Danny: Pretty much, yeah. When we were putting together last year’s tour, we recognized we were doing the right thing with the triple bill. It was Tyketto, FM, and Dare, such a strong bill. I think it was value for money, and people really came out for it. So when we talked about this tour, we were again considering a triple bill. We hadn’t filled in the middle slot yet. I thought, “Well, they’re not going to come all the way from Los Angeles; it’s not cost-effective.” But knowing Ron the way I do, he is driven to play. This is what they live for, just as we do. So I thought, “Hey, if I don’t ask, I don’t get.” Five minutes later, it was like, “Absolutely, we’re in.”

MGM: Fantastic! That’s exactly what you want. It makes for a very friendly tour when the bands aren’t forced together. You’re all in the same space, not on each other’s toes, and you actually get along.

Danny: Exactly! Last night, during loading, Lauren, Marlon, and Ari came up to me. We were chatting, and he said, “Listen, I don’t know how you feel about this, but we were talking in the van. The song ‘Cajun Panther’ has harmonica in it, and Ron tells me you play.” I said, “Yeah, I dabble.” He asked, “What do you think? Want to come up and play on that?” I was like, “Yeah, twist my arm!” It was a fantastic moment for me to come out and join them for a song.

MGM: I can imagine. Speaking of who you’re playing with, you’ve assembled quite a lineup now. Not that you’ve ever been lacking musicians, but this lineup is something pretty special. I mean, you’ve known Johnny for years, and having him behind the drum kit must be pretty special.

Danny: Absolutely. When Michael and Chris decided to retire, my pride comes from the fact that there was zero drama involved. They came to me and said, “You know, COVID has allowed us to spend time with our families. We want to be there.” I get it. They encouraged me to go on without them, and I thought, “Well, that’s it; fold up the tent.”

MGM: Right.

Danny: When I started thinking about drummers to replace Michael, it was a double-edged sword. Michael is my best friend and my business partner for 30 years. In a spiritual way, he’s still very much part of the family. I consult him on stuff all the time. I had a few people in mind, but I thought, “I’ll ask Johnny Dee.” I hesitated, thinking he was too busy with Doro. Many musicians don’t get phone calls because people assume they won’t get involved. My message is always to call because you might be surprised.

MGM: Absolutely.

Danny: I decided to call him. He could have easily said thank you but can’t. Instead, he said, “Absolutely! I’d love to do it.” And then Harry—I knew him through Cain, who opened for us on two tours. He was part of that very special evening we did in Wales when we filmed “We’ve Got Tomorrow, We’ve Got Tonight.” Chris got very close with him, and when it came time to find a replacement, I asked Chris what he thought of Harry. He said, “That’s absolutely who I would have recommended. The boy’s got skills he isn’t even aware of yet.” They immediately got how we work, how we treat our fans, and they fit right in without any friction whatsoever. That’s part of the smile you see on my face.

MGM: Wonderful! With Harry specifically, it always makes me smile that he gets all the screams as he walks on stage from all the ladies. I mean, he gets some proper appreciation!

Danny: Yeah! You’ve got to have a little eye candy up there. My time has passed for that.

MGM: Speaking of time, that’s a nice segue into one thing I wanted to ask about—your voice. I just finished watching that documentary series on Disney about John Bon Jovi and all the troubles he has gone through with his voice. After taking photos of you in London, I stood at the side of the stage just listening to the notes you’re still hitting. I can’t tell the difference between now and 30 years ago when I first saw you. Your voice seems as strong as ever.

Danny: Thank you! I don’t say this out of arrogance; I actually think it’s a bit better because I’ve learned some things. You get a chance to improve at your craft. I’ve kept my range. I could guess at a thousand different reasons why, but I just know that it’s there. I watched that thing on Bon Jovi too, and as a singer, it’s heartbreaking. The announcement that Steven Tyler made broke my heart because we identify with that. It feels like, if your superpower isn’t functioning anymore, you’re just a mere mortal now.

MGM: Right.

Danny: It’s a weird thing we singers do to ourselves. I have people come to me often and say, “Why is Bon Jovi still doing it? You can do it; he can’t.” I think, “Hang on a minute!” For 30 years, there was a period where Bon Jovi didn’t stop touring for two and a half years. The human voice can’t take it. For better or worse, I never had the luxury of being in the most popular band on the planet, which means working all the time. So, I watch that, and I feel I am in no space to judge because I don’t know what he’s seen or done. He’s obviously going to have the best doctors. Some of the stuff they had him doing seemed weird, but my knowledge of the voice and its mechanics is limited. It’s such a huge mental game as well.

MGM: There was a great quote from Danny Bowes when Thunder retired for a while—like seven, ten years ago. They took a break. He said, “At last, the worrying can stop.” I get that entirely. That’s all we do is worry. I imagine for you, in that case, it’s almost as if your voice has never been able to come out of the gym and relax because it’s always in the gym to stay in shape.

Danny: Pretty much, yeah. And again, I’ve been fortunate, but eight to ten years ago, I was diagnosed with Laryngopharyngeal reflux, and it took my voice away. If I hadn’t found a way to counter that, which was through diet, perhaps that would have been the end because my voice was gone—it didn’t gradually go; it just stopped working. I got very, very lucky because I saw a specialist in Sheffield who knew what he was doing. He put me on the path of not drugs, but food. He said, “You have to treat this the way a footballer would treat his knee.” So, yeah, it’s your whole life; you’ve got to wrap yourself around it.

MGM: I can understand that. Once this particular tour is complete, what do you see yourself doing next?

Danny: Well, we’re absolutely committed to a new album next year. After this tour, I’m going to the U.S. to do a bunch of acoustic shows with a couple of friends of mine, Anthony Corder from Tora Tora and Terry Illous from XYZ. In November, we’ve got our last show for Tyketto at Lion Fest in Leon, Spain. Then, really, the intense writing process begins. My intention is to pretty much lock myself in my room for the second half of November into the end of January to get the new album written.

MGM: Gotcha. And does that responsibility fall on your shoulders, or is it a team effort?

Danny: It’s a team effort in that everybody is submitting music to me, and I’m just keeping it all in files. I get to decide what’s Tyketto and what isn’t. I tend to want to be the guy that always does the lyrics and melody because I have to believe in what I’m singing. Harry has submitted some loose lyrical ideas, and I’ve thought, “Oh, I can work with this.” It’s not really a question of arrogance; it’s just that I’m the vehicle that these songs have to get through, so I need to understand or believe in what I’m singing. Musically, we’ll all bang our heads together, and hopefully, that will all go relatively smoothly. My plan is to have us in the studio by April and an album out by September or October next year.

MGM: Fantastic! That’s encouraging because it’s something that I’m sure your fans all want to hear. What’s the likely approach in terms of style? A lot of your fans, myself included, naturally gravitate toward the first two albums because that’s where we started off. Your first time is always your best one, as they say. Is there a desire to break out into something a little different just to keep it interesting, or is there an acceptance to look back to what was and see if you can capture “Don’t Come Easy” or “Strength in Numbers” again?

Danny: That’s kind of a constant push and pull as far as when we get in the room to discuss what this album is going to be like. I’m going to do my best to keep the process natural—not look back too hard and not run away too far. The way I tend to structure choruses will always keep it recognizable as Tyketto. When grunge took over, there were a few bands that made wild left turns to stay relevant, but history has proven that doesn’t work. It would be loads of fun for me to make an album like Alice in Chains, but that wouldn’t be doing a service to our fans and what we’ve established. There’s always the discussion of wanting to give them another “Don’t Come Easy,” but you can’t. It represents a period in time that is long gone. I can’t write songs quite as innocently as I used to, and there are musical influences as well. Harry’s method of playing guitar is different from Chris’s and Brooks’s. You have to allow that to assert itself, which will dictate some of what our album sounds like. Given Harry’s age, Chris could well have been Harry’s influence growing up, whereas Chris’s influence would have been someone like Hendrix.

MGM: Funny enough, both Harry and Chris were influenced by Brooks.

Danny: Yeah! Something Harry said to me sticks out—he mentioned the first time he heard a Tyketto album, he was six years old. Just let that one go and carry on. It tickles me, it really does. The fact that he is so excited to be in this band that he basically has loved—it’s amazing. He told me once, “Tyketto got me through school; it was my go-to all the time.” That’s a nice thing, and I’m getting great returns on it now.

MGM: Definitely! He’s going to play with a certain love that you don’t get from just being a musician in a band. He has that love because those songs meant something to him before he even started playing them.

Danny: 100%.

MGM: Danny, I’m conscious I’m up to my 20 minutes with you.

Danny: No, I’m not concerned. I’m just laying in a hotel bed.

MGM: Fair enough! In that case, I’ll fire the final question. You’ve probably been asked this before, but let’s come back to the time you spent on stage at Maid of Stone. As you wrapped up the show, you introduced that song with a bit of wistfulness, saying, “This song has been good and bad in equal measure.” I realize everybody wants to hear it, but it’s clearly not been your friend all this time. Is it really that tough for you?

Danny: No, it’s funny you have that impression of wistfulness. I have had a very push-and-pull relationship with “Forever Young” over the years. There was a time years ago when I was downright resentful of it. We make rods for our own backs, don’t we? I can do a great show all the way through, but if I can’t hold that long note at the end of “Forever Young,” I feel like I failed. It’s a terrible burden I put in my mind. Funny enough, “Forever Young” is not the most difficult song in my catalog to sing, but realizing years ago, with help from my wife and a few others, that it’s not about me—that it’s not my song—has changed my perspective. If you put a song out into the world, it belongs to the world now. I’m now at the opposite side, watching the happiness on the faces of the audience, the phones come out, the jumping starts. When I went to Brazil, I did it with a pickup band—just me and Brazilian musicians—and people were crying. I didn’t get it at first until someone explained, “Listen, I’ve waited 32 years to hear you sing that.” You think, “Oh my God, that’s a responsibility almost.”

MGM: That must make you think, “We should have come here more often.”

Danny: Oh yeah! If you could figure out the finances! We’re talking about going back, and honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with Tyketto right now, but it’s obvious we’re actually growing after all these years. The phone is ringing from territories that haven’t called in many years. Scandinavia— we’ve done our first Australian trip, and they want us back. I’m not questioning it as long as I can do it to the level that I’m satisfied with, which is pretty high.

MGM: It comes back to the range in your voice. Many bands from that early ’90s era are still performing but can’t hit those notes. You just have to look at Guns N’ Roses—Axl’s voice has changed. Going to see a G&R show now isn’t the same as when they first came back in 2017.

Danny: I didn’t realize that. That seems strange to me because when I filled in for AC/DC, I thought it was great. When I couldn’t do that, I would’ve been like, “No, pass. I don’t have that range.” 

MGM: But you nearly filled in for Eric at Maid of Stone. That was a last-minute save on his part, wasn’t it?

Danny: Yeah, bloody inconsiderate of him, wasn’t it? It would have been an interesting show with me filling in. There was so much tension backstage, and I was just relieved for all of them because you could see the panic in their faces. They’re all good guys, and they’re one of my favorite bands ever. I was there because I wanted to see Mr. Big one last time before they hang up their boots, so I’m glad I got to see what I came for.

MGM: Same here! I thoroughly enjoyed that show. You could tell Eric was wincing and stretching his back a bit, but he managed to put on a full show, smiling and singing to the crowd. It was fantastic.

Danny: Wow, I was impressed he was standing upright.

MGM: What could have been, eh?

Danny: Exactly! The irony is you’re referring to a point in time I was still operating on faith. That gig was a bit last minute, and it got in my head. But I love Mr. Big, and I couldn’t have turned down the chance to play.

MGM: Wise move! You never know what’s around the corner, and I suspect it’s going to be all-around good things for you and Tyketto.

Danny: Thank you!

 

 

Website: https://www.dannyvaughn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dannyvaughnvox

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdannyvaughn/

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJF8p1xLoP0boqT4SdIKQFw

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