LYNCH: My Problem With DON DOKKEN Has Always Been That He Was 'Not An Honest, Trustful Person'

Marko Syrjälä of Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SOULS OF WE). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal-Rules.com: What's the situation with [LYNCH MOB singer] Oni Logan now? I mean, he's been on and off from this band and lately you used other vocalists in the U.S., but now Oni has done the whole European tour, so what's his status in the band at the moment?

Lynch: I know. He is… He's going through some personal stuff and he had to come back to Switzerland to deal with those things, and we had to work, so we had dates that we couldn't cancel, so we went to Canada and then we did some… we did a tour in Canada and then some dates in the States that we used a couple of different singers for, one being Marq Torien from the BULLETBOYS, the other Keith St. John from MONTROSE. Which are, they're both great, but they're not Oni, so...

Metal-Rules.com: So Oni is the lead singer of LYNCH MOB from now on?

Lynch: Yeah, Oni is back.

Metal-Rules.com: Okay, that's good to know because there are lots of rumors flying around about anything and everything and…

Lynch: Truth, yes, truth is always a good thing to know.

Metal-Rules.com: Actually, you and Oni are… you have a long history together? How you actually kind of reconnected now after so many years and, when you tried to work together in the late '90s, why it didn't work out then?

Lynch: Yeah, the mistake we made in the '90s is that instead of doing a new record, we went right out, the agent convinced us to go right out and tour. And it was not an easy tour, so you know, tours can be bandbusters, you know, and bandkillers, and it was, it was a tough tour. We had Jimmy D'Anda from BULLETBOYS on drums and Chuck Garrick on bass, it was a good band, but we ended up disbanding after the tour because Oni got back together with Rowan Robertson, as he did in DIO's demise originally, and they started working together again, so there went LYNCH MOB. So, I don't know... I guess it was kind of a false start. But this one has more staying power this time because he's really decided in his mind, he's committed to it. And we've gone through a lot of obstacles in the last three or four years we've been back together, so if he's endured all this then he's around for the long haul I feel, and so I'm pretty, if he's dedicated, I'm dedicated.

Metal-Rules.com: So far we have talked about LYNCH MOB and your other projects but hardly a word about DOKKEN so I have to ask about what's going on with DOKKEN reunion plans?

Lynch: You know what, some people never change their spots. And what I got a feeling is happening is, Don [Dokken, vocals] has been making noises, and we've been having meetings, and we've been doing shows together with LYNCH MOB and SOULS OF WE, we did [the] Loud Park [festival] in Japan together and all this stuff, and it's like, and he said, "Okay, I'm committing to it," but we never put it on paper, and so my last few conversations with him is that he sounds like he's trying to get me to be a hired gun. And I told him, "Dude, I told you from the first moment I'll never do that, I'm not a hired-gun guy." So I think it's maybe not going to happen. But we... Actually, the whole original band got together before we came on tour in Europe and we agreed to do a world tour in 2012.

Metal-Rules.com: Okay, so ever further, there were rumors that you were going to play some festivals next summer already.

Lynch: I think he's just using that to get the rumor going to increase his audience attendance and get some excitement going. And I really resent that because I'm an honorable person, 99.9 percent of the time, I try to be. I'm fallible, like all human beings, but I mean, I really... That was always my problem with him — that he was not an honest, trustful person, and I... He never said what he meant, and never did what he said. And that, to me, is a lack of character, and I don't like playing with people with no character. So, you know, it wasn't even his vocal abilities, it wasn't just hanging out talking like you and me right now; it's all fine, everything is good. It was that, and that was all related to money. So, it's all a bad way to conduct yourself.

Metal-Rules.com: So this is end of all those stupid rumors because the best ones keep on saying, yeah, half of the new album is already finished, and the next one will be finished on the spring, and then there's world tour coming? I wonder who keeps on putting those out.

Lynch: Me and Jeff [Pilson, bass] got together, we wrote three new DOKKEN songs, and they were great, and then Don just started playing his games so, we just said, "Fuck that!" and I've been hanging in there, but after these last few conversations I think he feels like I really need to do that so he's going to grind me down, and I don't need to do that. I do okay, I don't need to [deal with that].

Metal-Rules.com: But, like you said, you do have plans for year 2012. Do you know if it's going to be just a tour or is there going to be a new album as well?

Lynch: Well, we're talking about doing an album as well, and like a two-month world tour in the summer or 2012. But who knows?! That's a long way away.

Metal-Rules.com: Nobody knows what's going to happen for sure. That's understandable.

Lynch: Well, the ball is in his court, but if he doesn't play fair and doesn't tell the truth, then no.

Read the entire interview from Metal-Rules.com.