In the middle of their tour of the UK and Europe, Italian rockers Dobermann took a break after their gig at The Railway in Winchester to chat with Rock Chic writer and fellow musician Dave Roux – frontman of The Outlaw Orchestra, to discuss life on the road……
David explained: “Did I say lead bass guitar, lead guitar and lead drums? Of course I did. Dobermann is a powerhouse trio who are a treat for all the senses and a fest of sonic delights. A collision between T-Rex and AC/DC with Aerosmith refereeing. All the swagger of Captain Jack Sparrow and the musical Muppet show of Motley Crue, Van Halen, Hanoi Rocks and Sesame Street rolled into one……what’s not to love?
With that in mind, go and YouTube or Spotify Stiff Upper Lip or Rock Steady, then as you listen read this following interview – one night after they’d taken the stage at Hard Rock Hell with Skid Row and my own band The Outlaw Orchestra.”
RC: You guys are a trio, like my own band and like so many bands we saw just a night ago at Hard Rock Hell. I know it’s harder work, but what’s the best thing about trios and are you not tempted to get another band member?
Paul: Four musicians, four times the trouble, five band members five times and so on. Three band members you can fit in the van, the money goes a little further and more room on stage. We create a big sound so I think all bases are covered! Bulls*** times three is better than bulls*** times five!
RC: No management, no agent…are you not tempted to hand the control to somebody else and free up some time?
Paul: No. It's not mandatory anymore. You can reach out to the people who come and see you easily these days and personally make friends.
Valerio: Maybe you can give this job to somebody who puts you on top for a little while, makes the social media bigger quickly but further down the road we will meet someone and have met people who do the right thing, say the right word at the right time and it pays off then.
Paul: Its takes a decade of hard work and many miles, it’ll pay off.
RC: The name Dobermann, does it represent you? What’s the deal there?
Antonio: We are a pure breed.
Valerio: We have teeth.
Paul: Depending on the day of the week (laughs).
RC: I have been in rock bands with Italian musicians and they can have a hot temperament but their mothers even worse, care to comment?
Paul; It’s true but the mothers feed you! (Laughs all around).
RC: The most rock ’n’ roll thing that’s happened on the road?
Paul: We stayed at a place in the UK, it was filthy. Ok I’ll take the floor you two can share the bed then a rat joins us….
Antonio: And they were big rats, like not normal size. (More laughs)
Paul: And the time we were locked into the venue! Well Antonio and Valerio were locked in, into the bar.
Valerio: So me and Antonio said well we’re locked in man, we’d better celebrate the gig, celebrate life, celebrate being locked in here whilst everybody else has gone to bed. We called Paul, who eventually came downstairs and saved us but we made sure we had more than enough time to party…..hard.
RC: I have an inflatable single bed we keep in the van, I can plug it in and immediately have a hotel quality bed, the other two can share for all I care.
Paul: So a couple of years back we played a gig and we were partying hard afterwards. Antonio was saved, literally saved by a Yorkshire Terrier dog. He wasn’t feeling so well, over partying, and he says “I’m going to get some fresh air.” Minutes later this Yorkshire Terrier comes running in, seriously….(laughs) seriously……. It’s February, it’s cold. We follow the dog outside and Antonio is passed out, I mean out for the count, pale as a ghost colder than the Arctic. Man we were about to head to bed, he’d never have made it, then the little dog was gone.
RC: Dobermann saved by Yorkshire terrier! (LOUD Laughs). Ok what’s the toughest part of touring?
Valerio: Drinking and then we can’t drive, so tonight it's your turn to get s***faced, tomorrow mine.
Paul: Putting together enough gigs with a sensible routing. When you have that, you're good to go.
Antonio: Being together all the time (laughs).
RC: You are set to play at The Corporation in Sheffield (in Yorkshire - see the link I did there between the Terrier and the county?) Have you played in Yorkshire before?
Paul: Yes we have some good friends there, we have a great following in Pickering. It’s a small town but they are passionate rockers.
RC: Your track Rock Steady - what a groove. It has the disco-rock beat of Stevie Wonders Superstition. I watched the audience at Hard Rock Hell and it changed from head banging to sexy hip swinging moves. How did that song come about?
Valerio; Actually I think I woke up with the guitar riff and sent it to Paul who had this killer chorus.
Paul; I had a chorus and to be honest we had all the magic and then just put it all together.
RC: Do you listen to movies, hear a great line and think “I’m having that, that is going in a song”? Because I sure as hell steal lines every day from soap operas to spaghetti westerns.
Paul: All the time, all the time. But you change it around. Or it makes a great song title and then the song writes itself.
RC: Is it better to be an Italian rocker in the UK or an Italian rocker in Italy?
Paul: In Italy we have good food (laughs) I mean the best food. But we don’t have the English rocker swagger unfortunately. Maybe we are seen as exotic? I don’t know but it works.
RC: Finally a question from my girlfriend; What can a rocker do to maintain his machismo as he ages? I think she is asking because I need all the help I can get.
Valerio: Drink as much wine as you can……. (laughs), the more you party the more you need to work out. The harder you party the harder you have to work. But above all never lose focus, it’s a rollercoaster ride and Dobermann love what we do, look like a stallion on stage but above all deliver the goods on stage that is where it counts most of all.
Dobermann continue their UK tour throughout November, check their dates on their web site:
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