Darryl
Donald
upfront and
uncensored
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When you were a kid, was there anything (other than rocking) that you wanted to do when you grew up?

Oh yeah, the usual-- fireman, policeman, astronaut. But once I got into entertaining peeps, that’s what I wanted to do. My first role was playing “The Fonz” in a 2nd grade variety show and at home I used to dress up like Rod Stewart and lip-sync  “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” whenever my sisters had friends over (I have 3 sisters, I’m the only boy in the family). As I was also the comic relief at the dinner table--- my favorite act was pretending to be a bird of prey and regurgitate food like they do.

Did you ever work any odd jobs along the way to fulfilling your dream?

Oh dood.. what haven’t I done should be the question.. I did telemarketing, pulled weeds, painted houses, picked up dog shit, delivered subpoenas to hard to serve freaks, mover job, put up fencing for llamas, climbed under houses in really dingy and small crawlspaces and repaired rat-chewed air conditioning ducts, bought Metamucil in the middle of the night for rockstar friends, personal trained a movie star by tossing a Frisbee with him for like $100 an hour at midnight…. Did lots of crazy jobs and still do!

Was it a tough transition for you getting up on stage the first time?

Yeah, I was a shy kid and played sports before I got the entertaining bug… but once I got the kudos of getting’ a response from a crowd, I was very into getting up and being a ham. And as a freshman in high school, I got cast as the lead in the spring Play production (Eugene O’Neil’s “Ah, Wilderness”)… it all started there, the rest is in my sporadic resume of kickassery.

What did ma and pa Donald think about you going into show biz?

Well, Pa is a brainiac structural engineer, PHD from MIT, so the creative arts were sorta foreign to him, but he has come to embrace the idea. My Mom has always been supportive… I get my creative genes from her side of the tracks. All in all, my family has been behind me, though they worry about me… my sisters all have steady 9-to-5 careers with health insurance and their own homes… I’m the black sheep of the familia, but they luvs me lots and are very encouraging and have also been financially helpful at times….thank goodness and thanks to my loving, supportive family.

Where does Darryl Donald go for musical inspiration?

I go to classic rock. There are a few newer bands that I appreciate like Kings of Leon are kickin my arse right now.. and I like Guided by Voices, My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, Built to Spill, Pavement, The Pixies… but when all else leaves me feeling empty or under satiated, I head to classic rock—Beatles, Zep, Clapton, Velvet Underground,  Sabbath, ELO, Hall and Oates, Air Supply, Kenny Loggins…ya know the classics…

Are there any lyrics that are especially meaningful to you?

In “The Tip” I scribed: “I have been to war, shot down, been hit before and Cupid has got me with his blade..”

What where you thinking when you wrote them?

About how many times I’ve loved and lost and been burned by the torch of love, brother

Now Klip gave me his interpretation on this, but what did you mean when your wrote the lyrics “You run with white lions, you eat better cheese”?

Easy sleazy---- it basically is about choosing your friends wisely and being selective in who you hang out with. If you run around with the bad crowd (i.e. losers, “hound dogs”), you’re gonna experience bad things and be jolted into bad situations… when you run with the winners (the white lions) youz gonna not only eat delicious cheese from bountiful party platters (literal meaning) but you will yourself matriculate to higher ground and experience greater achievements in life. Birds of a feather flock together, yo.. so pick good ducks to fly with.

Klip kinda talked a little smack about you in some of the previous interviews, do you have any dirt on him you'd like to dig up?

Klip has some issues he’s struggling with and if it helps him to point his scepter towards me, so be it. I know he loves me and appreciates what I bring to the table (as I do with him)…and yet he has nasty-man tendencies like his cousin, KG from that weird 2-man folk-rock act…hmm, I wonder if his cousin might be influencing him with his own power-strugglin’, creative arm-wrestling issues…hmmm…..

Are you aware that medical research has shown that tight pants can impair your ability to have children?

So I hear… and I’m not too concerned with it. Last time I checked my sperm count was over the normal tablespoon yield. And the plumbing still works when jerked. But I know from my personal polls that the ladies love to see a tight-panted derriere.

Is that a risk worth taking in order to rock?

Of course… but to keep it real, I wear STRETCH wranglers… they give a little where ya need ‘em to.

What’d you do for Halloween this year?

Well, not to name drop about these famous folks in my neck o’ the woods—but I went to my buddy David Schwimmer’s for Halloween night, we dressed up his mansion’s yard and scared the kids when they came to get candy (a shrub-lined walkway makes for a good place for demons to hide-out and pounce from) and then the night after, I went to Dave Grohl’s Halloween party at his palace/mansion and hung out with the rockers.

What’d you dress up as?

I went as Hulk Hogan…. Complete with the blond handlebar moustache, yellow dew-rag with the wispy blond hairs comin out the back, wrestling tights/slash-torn sleeveless t-shirt, a championship belt and I had the voice and demeanor down, yo… I won the contest at Grohl’s, hands down… runner-up was Roy Horn with his killer white tiger, bloody neck and all—tasteless but goooood.

Are you looking forward to getting back out on the road?

I love the road. It’s tough out there, but I love to travel, love to rock and I love to spread our seed.

I heard that you went through some heart break on this last tour?

Yup, had a lady I took on our eastern tour whom I was steady with who shattered me with infidelity within the ranks… that’s about all I’m willing to cher, sonny.

Did going through that inspire you to write anything new?

Oh, it will…. still distancing myself, detaching and gaining perspective. Lance already wrote a tune about it, which may or may not make it to the set list…its purty poignant. But yeah, I find most of my songwriting is inspired by issues with the ladies, love and loss.

What does Darryl Donald look for in a woman?

Devotion, humor, intelligence and the ability to stay focused on me. A strong libido is also a prerequisite and I have a thing for the younger chicas… they make me feel full of youthfulness and them young lassies can keep up with my need to breed (or go thru those motions, yo). I also appreciate a lady that likes to hike and camp… a lesser-known hobby of mine.

Are there any women that are in your sights right now?

Nope, I’m single as a shingle in a storm. Gonna wait til I get a few roof tacks in me and then I’ll be ready to pursue opportunities back down on ground level. 

How did the live album recordings go?

Went well, but they just don’t sound as creamy as the studio stuff… but it’s LIVE. Peeps will get to hear all the sour notes and clunkerty clangs of the instruments… but then we’ll swoop in with the studio album and blow some doors down. And ya know, Joe—Peter Frampton debuted with a live album before the studio one… and ooh, baby I love his ways…everyday….

Were there any mishaps in the recording process?

Oh, nothing major… the recording device chose not to record a part of the “trainwreck themesong” both nights at the Viper Room…so we gotta choose that one from the 2 nights at Largo. We also had a psychofan chick jump up on stage and sing sour into the mike at the Viper one night…but she was hotter than a skillet full of bacon, so I let her hang around…. Though she stole my wristband, promising to bring it back the next night…didn’t… I got punk’d…two-times! (no lovins and lost my custom-made power wristband)… beeeeeeatch!

How long do you think it’ll be before that’s available to fans?

Not real sure, but I’d guess within a month or two. Not a lot to do other than choose the tracks… a little mastering can be done, but we wanna keep the integrity of the “live” album, so it should be ready-to-serve sooner than later.

What’s it been like working with John King?

Jebidiah Kingfisher (his T-wreck name) is the man. I wouldn’t want to work with any other producer… he lives just 3 blocks away from me and I’ve been a huge fan of his work… which includes Beck’s “Odelay” (as he’s also doing Beck’s next album). Beastie Boy’s “Paul’s Boutique,” The D’s album of coursenheim, and he produced Hanson’s
“Mm Bop”…. Can’t beat that resume or his part in those gems of rock history.

Do you think mainstream music is ready for Trainwreck?

No, and were not ready for it. But when we get done with this album we will have created music for all posterity to rumpshake with. And other than Elvis and Billy Ray Cyrus, you got us to contend with… and pound for pound we outweigh and outshake those aforementioned acts…so we’ll be a must in any rockonateur’s collection (is that a word?)

Is there anything new going on with the Wreck lately?

Well, were putting together a little TV show and were all excited about that possibility. Imagine the Partridge family smashed with Scooby-Doo and you might get an idea for it. Its’ gonna be the Wreck on the road falling into various shannanigans and having to save the day… though at the end, things will always be a trainwreck… comedy, music, magic…and lots of our famous friends jumping in to be the guest stars… could be the best thing since the Monkees… and that’s not saying much but stay tuned, our genoid writing staff could make this an excellent adventure.

What do you envision as the next steps for the band in the upcoming year?

Gonna release the Live album, which will hopefully be followed soon after by the studio album and then we will tour the world. We're anxious to get label support, a kickass, fully loaded bus and then just take it to the peeps here and then in Europe. Might have to take some time off to do the Tenacious D movie, but then we’ll be back on the tracks and serving it up. And hopefully we will have the T-WRECK TV show on a cable network and springboard our little huckster fandango into the higher stratospheres of rock domination… stay tuned and keep up the eggcellent work, Joe--- you the man with the cyber plan and we luvs ya. Choo-fricken-choo!
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