DOKKEN‘s new album Heaven Comes Down is now out. The band has released 3 singles from it, and has upcoming shows in the US in November (dates can be found at www.dokken.net). I recently exchanged questions and answers with guitarist & songwriter Jon Levin about Heaven Comes Down and a bit about his past. As well I’ve added on a brief exchange I had with co-producer/engineer Bill Palmer. Enjoy the read, check out the clips & the new album, as well as the links below!
Heaven Comes Down is the first Dokken album in 10 years. Can you kinda talk about some of the things that went on over the last several years that set the band back (health issues..)?
Yes, unfortunately we had some physical issues to overcome, but
everything seemed to work out! For me, no matter what happens I always
look at it as there are other people that have far worse, so I just keep on
plugging along and try and keep a smile on my face and move forward.
How did Heaven Comes Down come together, as far putting songs
together, recording time, and signing with Silver Lining?
In the past Don and I would always get together and write collaboratively. But due to the Covid pandemic, on this particular album, we were not able to do that so we both wrote independently in our own studios and would email each other ideas. After the Covid vaccine was available, Don flew out to me and I would play music that I had here and we would work. It was a completely different process than we had in the past as in the past we would always get together, because Don used to live near me. As far as Silver Lining, I knew Rod Kukla, who is a VP at the label since I owned a label of my own back in the late ’90’s. We ran into each other when Dokken played the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2018 and that’s how it came about.
https://www.hellfire-magazin.de/02-08-2018-dokken-live-wacken-2018/
How does a Dokken song come to the recording stage – do you guys
collaborate or write separately and bring ideas in? Are lyrics usually or
always Don’s or do you both contribute fully written songs?
Well, it was during Covid and we were all quarantined. I spent a lot of time in my home studio, writing and recording and Don did the same on his end. I think the vibe of the world created from the Covid pandemic created musical inspiration for me. We would work via the internet. At some point after the vaccines were available, Don came out to my house and we worked in my studio. We have a truly special writing chemistry together. He is my musical soulmate. As far as lyrics, Don writes them on his own. Sometimes I play him a track and he comes up with them on the spot!
Heaven Comes Down is a solid hard rock album, and although there’s no
blazing metal anthems (ala ’80s), the songs really suit Don’s vocals. Can
you tell me if what sort of ideas or directions you guys discussed taking on this album?
We both wanted a heavier record but you just write and it is what it is. You can’t really force anything. Somehow on this one, I think we just managed to get lightning in a bottle. Since I am a long time Dokken fan, I think that I naturally write in a style that fits into the direction that seems to work. I understand that the music needs to fit into what fans are used to hearing from us and if I come up with something that I don’t think fits, I usually won’t even play it for Don. That said, I had the tracks for “Over the Mountain” and “Saving Grace” – neither of which I were going to play for Don; I said, “hey, I have 2 tracks that I don’t think will work”, and Don said play them for me anyway, so I did. As soon as he heard ‘Over The Mountain’, he sang the first line of the song and said it reminds him of old Gary Moore, “I like it.” So he finished it right then! Same for “Saving Grace”. They were both supposed to be throwaways.
Can you give me any stories, antidotes, … on some of the tracks(?) I love
‘Gypsy’ (and Don’s story behind it), but also ‘Fugitive’, ‘I’ll Never Give
Up’, ‘Saving Grace’… Any tracks you’re particularly excited about?
For ‘Fugitive’, the intro riff came to me while on an airplane and it stuck in my head. When I got off the plane, I immediately sang it into my voice recorder. I demoed up the track and Don came out to my house and I played if for him. Here’s what amazes me about Don. There was a mic set up in front of him while he was listening to it and he started singing the lyrics and melodies to Fugitive on his first listening. Right off the top of his head he sang “I’m a Fugitive from life.” Fortunately, I was recording while he was singing. I knew I loved it right away and said , dude that’s freakin great!!!! Don is much more than a singer. He is a true instrumentalists and musician. It’s remarkable to watch him come up with lyrics and melodies on the fly like that. I’ve never seen anyone else do that. It’s truly something to see and it’s really exciting when we’re in a room together and that happens. We have a truly special writing chemistry together. About 4- 5 tracks came together that same way, one of which was “Gypsy”.
One track that really stands out is the last one – ‘Santa Fe’. Love the song and ending the album with such a unique song. Can you tell me a bit about putting that one together, and how it suits the record?
I had nothing to do with ‘Santa Fe’. Don did that one alone on his end and
our engineer Bill Palmer played guitar on it. Don sent it to me and asked if I wanted to redo the guitar parts. I thought it was great and told him there is no reason for me to replay this.
Having such a lengthy and cool catalogue of songs to choose from, is it a challenge to put together a Dokken live set, particularly when you have something new out?
It is a challenge, because if we add a new song in, that means we have to
take a classic song out. Either way someone is upset. We will be playing
songs from ‘Heaven Comes Down’ for sure though.
Over that time away from recording any new Dokken (prior to Heaven
Comes Down), were you involved in anything else (recording-wise…)?
I am constantly recording. I amassed about 2 other records worth of
material during COVID. It is just not the right material to present for
Dokken. I just write what I like. Sometimes I record ideas I like but for
example, they are more instrumental, or stylistically, just not the right
direction for Dokken.
Going back to your time before Dokken, can you tell me what sort of bands (any recordings) you were involved in, and can you talk about what lead you to go in law, And then get back in to playing in bands (w/ Dokken) in the early 2000s?
Before Dokken I played with Doro in the late ’80s. After that, I was in
another band that got signed to Atlantic records which also was ’80s rock type material. After that didn’t work out, I moved to Los Angeles and had yet another band. Then grunge rock hit the scene and as soon as that happened there was really no more guitar soloing. I didn’t know what to do so I went to law school. It was just by chance that one day in 1998 Jeff Pilson called me and asked if I would play some solos. When I got that message, I was at my father’s house for dinner and he convinced me to go down and play. I really didn’t want to because I hadn’t played much Guitar for years at that point. I had a record label and a law practice. I had no idea it was for Dokken or frankly, I never would have gone. When I went to the studio to my surprise the whole band was there. I was still in a suit and tie from having been at work that day! I remember Don opened up the studio door, handed me a Guitar and told me to play. I ended up playing a solo on the demo for what later became “Maddest Hatter”, and on a song called the “Irish Song”, which was released as a bonus track in Japan. A few weeks after that Jeff called me and asked if I could play a show at the Dallas Starplex with the band on July 4, 1998, which I ended up doing.
Can you give me a few of your favorite players and bands from growing up, as well as a ‘top 10’ favorite albums from your younger years?
Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Randy Rhoads, George
Lynch, Michael Schenker and Nuno Bettencourt. Favorite albums, in no
particular order:
- Van Halen
- Van Halen II
- Van Halen “Fair Warning”
- Van Halen, “Diver Down”
- Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz
- Ozzy Osbourne, Diary of a Madman
- Lynyrd Skynyrd, “One More For The Road”
- Dokken, “Tooth N Nail”
- Dokken, “Under Lock And Key”
- Dokken, “Back For The Attack”
What are you listening to these days?
I just go on Youtube and find live clips of bands I like Jimi Hendrix, Michael Schenker, Eric Gales, Joe Bonamassa, etc…
From BILL PALMER : Bill Palmer co-produced Heaven Comes Down, as well he played the acoustic guitars on the final cut “Santa Fe” (something I hadn’t realized when I sent questions to Jon). I wrote Bill and he was kind enough to give some insight to the song, and it’s direction. Bill works as a producer & engineer out of Austin, TX, as well as his studio in the border town of Terlingua. “There’s an old church that I make a lot of records in. People come out here to get the desert border vibes. It’s magical! Very remote.” Bill is on Instagram (see below), and I’ve tagged on a local article about him. I asked Bill how the track “Santa Fe” came about, and kept as just an acoustic song to close the album – “Don had the idea that he wanted to do an acoustic “western” type song that painted a picture of his life and his move to the desert, a sort of spiritual journey. It doesn’t really have a chorus until maybe the very end. It just unfolds, much like his life….Don told me what chords he wanted, and I played the part. When it was all said and done, they liked what I played, and we left it”.…I like it. If anything, I hope he might do more of this type of songs in the future. “We’ve discussed it. The way his voice sounds nowadays really suits that type of sound.” I think that would be an awesome direction for him, especially with story-type things like ‘Santa Fe’, and ‘Gypsy’ or ‘Fugitive’ – “When we were starting to make the record, Don and I discussed songwriting and how he had so much to say. Hence the story songs on this one.”
https://www.instagram.com/billpalmer73/ https://www.abqjournal.com/things-to-do/from-writing-to-producing-bill-palmer-is-a-creative-force/article_4ff4effe-11c9-5229-abb2-99bbfa7beab4.html
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/DokkenOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/dokken_official/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/officialjonlevin/
https://www.instagram.com/jonlevinofficial/
https://allthatshreds.com/jon-levin-rokken-with-dokkens-axe-master-the-interview/
https://blabbermouth.net/news/don-dokken-is-very-proud-of-upcoming-dokken-album-heaven-comes-down
Outsider Rock 