Side Stage Magazine got the chance to talk to Marco Mendoza from The Dead Daisies about their upcoming US tour ‘The Dirty Dozen’
Side Stage Magazine: Hi Marco, Thank you for taking time out to have a chat about The dead daisies upcoming Dirty dozen tour. Firstly you all have recently got back from having a successful tour in Europe, Japan and South America, How did this tour differ from others you have been on?
Marco Mendoza: The other tours with the dead daisies you mean,
Yes
This lineup got together for make some noise back in 2016 and so we’ve been hanging out for a bit you know and the more you hang out the better you get and tighter the band gets, were working constantly, it’s a work in progress because we’re trying to improve the performance, trying to keep everything in check and working on the setlist and making sure the audience get what they need and want. so I would say it’s been running very smoothly because we’ve been putting the time in. Like anything else when you have a new lineup in a new band it always takes a minute to kind of get everything moving along smoothly you know so it’s moving along really well right now and we can’t wait to get into the studio to release something next year which we will be doing here in November and December. But the tour we’ve been getting momentum and that’s a cool thing and it seems to be working and we’re having a blast.
So before we talk about the dead daisies upcoming US tour, you guys go back to Poland for Woodstock ‘Concert for Freedom’ with a 60 piece orchestra, how did this come about?
Well we played there last year in 2016, we were performing Make Some Noise at a festival it’s called Woodstock Poland in excess of 500 thousand people show up in any given moment, it’s pretty massive and it’s a landmark event that covers that whole side of the eastern block so people come from all over Europe and it’s a celebration of art, craft and music and bands it’s a very cool event and we got invited and we had no idea what to expect so we show up and we realize it’s a massive thing. We shot a video and we released it in response from the audience there which was way over the top so at the end of the year we met the promoter and he was so blown away and so happy he said you have to come back soon and usually you play festivals one year and then let one year go by before going back, but the reception was so good and he was so happy so we said ok let’s go back and do something cooler, do something different. I give management a lot of credit, David Edwards he’s the one that’s head of this whole thing and he’s always coming up with ideas and new angles and he’s looking at the bigger picture from the outside looking in and so we started talking about it and looked into it and cool we’re going to do that.the Concert for Freedom in Poland is very appropriate for that side of the world and we can’t wait and we are going to document that whole event and if things go well maybe release a documentary of it.
I was going to ask you if you were going to document this.
Yeah the real cool thing about The Dead Daisies is every step along the way we’ve been documenting everything and it’s great, people are digging it, the fans are digging it, everything is social media these days. what we like to say and David Lowy the founder, he says we want the fan base to be part of the shooting so it’s why we do all the things on social media to keep them in the loop and experience everything every step of the way. we’ve had a ton of people joining the fan club.
So with the Poland gig is it going to be a rock show or how that’s going to work?
Yes it is a rock show and we are going to be playing our normal set excluding a few songs because we wanna make this a special event, I don’t want to say a whole lot about it, you know I don’t want to spoil it.. but we have a few surprises in store. It’s a pretty massive event if you can imagine.
Yes and I know the fans will be happy and obviously if you’re documenting everything that will be great to see. Yeah and we actually leave tomorrow, we got back a few days ago, no rest for the wicked!
Yeah haha.
But I am enjoying my time with my kids and my wife and enjoying the California weather and back to work tomorrow. I’m one of those guys that feels very lucky and very blessed, we have the best job in the world.
And that you do and it’s great that you can see your family and everything before you go back out.
Yeah, you know the days of being gone, I remember a tour for 7 months something like that, I think the most we leave is I would say 10 weeks at a time then you come home then you have 2-3 months then you go out again and it seems to work for our families and I ain’t about to change careers right now.
So you’re not going to change your day job to something else?
Well not if I can help it, like I said I feel very privileged and very lucky and blessed to be doing music and playing around the world, c’mon it doesn’t get any better.
Oh yeah i know and you’re doing something you love as well.
Yes exactly.
The Dead Daisies have their upcoming ‘ Dirty Dozen Tour’ with special guest The Dives, a 12 date headline tour including a show in Toronto, what can your fans expect on this tour?
well you know it’s the same question that people ask over and over, all I can tell you is without sounding too pretentious we’ve been around a few years and played with quite a few successful bands with years of experience this band is unlike anything out there in that we all a little bit wiser, little bit older, we’re parents,we’re husbands,we are professionals, we feel very privileged and lucky. we have this conversation every so often to be doing music and something we love first of all and making a living off of it and everybody is really passionate about what they do and we have just to mention some names like Doug Aldrich on guitar over the past couple of decades he one of the guys on the map for guitar players, he’s up there, he’s legendary and he’s acquiring legendary status, he’s a great guitar player and we are glad he joined the group last year.
I’m playing with the best drummer around and very lucky and Brian Tichy is no exception he’s one of the top, he’s also a father and husband. We have David Lowy, a very accomplished business man, very mature, he loves his rock and roll and he put this whole thing together, he’s the founder. he runs it like a very oiled machine. On top of that I’m here I do what I do and I have fun, I enjoy music and performing and being on stage. You put that together and you throw in a little bit of management, a manager that’s on top of his game, doing everything possible to connect the dots and that he does, I’ve never been busier with any other band to be honest so we are working very hard and focused, we also have a great crew. Everybody knows their job and does their job really well. On top of it all it comes down to the music and the songs, and without sounding pretentious we have some great songs. So it’s like Bob’s your uncle we’re just putting one foot in front of the other and do the best we can and like I said earlier it’s awesome to have the response that we get a lot of support and we get noticed, it’s very cool.
Well you’re all doing an awesome job
Yeah and then we have people like you who want to find out what’s going on and get the info out there to the fans out there, to the fans at large so thank you for your support and your curiosity..
No problem at all we want to support and help get word out.
But i promise you if you come out you will be understand what i’m talking about, it’s a great live band.
I’ll be there, I’ll be coming to the Atlanta Show.
Then you can do a review on that, it’s a great band and again I hate to not mention it but it’s true it’s all about the fans, if you guys want us to continue and want The Dead Daisies to come around you support us and if you want to have classic rock concerts and support other projects that come around and support us as well and show us then the rest is history like they say.
Yeah like I said I’ll be coming to that show and will be covering that show so it all works out.
Beautiful, make sure you come say hello.
Oh I will, I will come say hi.
So your writing for Side Stage Atlanta.
No its Side stage magazine and Brandon who runs it is in Virginia but he’s got people in different area’s.
Oh cool, we will be playing August 19th in Atlanta at the Masquerade, don’t miss it.
Of course not, I will definitely be there and it will definitely be a great show.
Yep absolutely.
And for people who it will be their first time seeing you live, is there anything you would like to say to them about this tour?
Just be prepared to be blown away and have a good time, The Dead Daisies like we said that era of rock and roll. the 70’s and 80’s and we have fun on stage and if you like no-nonsense, unadulterated, bombastic, in your face rock and roll, this is the show for you. go to thedeaddaisies.com and marcomendoza.com there’s a lot of cool stuff on there and also if you are one of the first 100 people who show up we make sure that you get to meet up after the show for a meet and greet at no cost so this is something that we started doing and the fans are loving it where you walk away with a few pieces, a poster, a picture, something signed whatever and we continue the legacy.
That’s great, I was going to ask you about that if you were going to do signings/meet and greet and you already answered for me.
At every show, no matter what country, no matter what time, no matter how big or small the venues are. we always make an effort to stop and give love to the fans and give everybody something signed that they can take home with.
And your fans will love it and appreciate that.
Yep it’s a win win situation come out and have a great time and you will get to say hello and get something signed.
The Dives if i’m correct will be opening for you on your upcoming US tour?
Yes they will be with us throughout the US run and if you go to The Dead Daisies site, you’ll notice we’ve added some more late comer’s, it’s going to be great, what can I tell you we will be at Sturgis at The Full Throttle Aug 9 in South Dakota, we’re going to be at the Arcada Theatre in Chicago another legendary venue, The Shelter in Detroit, Lee’s Palace in Toronto, The House of Independent’s, Asbury Park New Jersey. We will be at Highline Ballroom in New York, Rams Head in Baltimore, The Masquerade in Atlanta, here you go and The Basement East in Nashville, The Gas Monkey in Dallas Texas, El Rey Theater on the West Coast, Los Angeles back home and The House of Blues in San Diego and Counts Vamp’d’ in Las Vegas, Nevada and then we’ve added September 1 the Easyriders Rodeo in Chillicothe Ohio and then we’ve added September 2 at the National H.O.G Rally at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee Wisconsin.So a little bit of everything and I hope we will get close to you guys for you to come out and check it out and if you have to drive a little bit I’m here to tell you that we are glad you could make it and we will make it worth your while come out and say hello and meet us, we will take some pictures, we are going to deliver almost 2 hours of on fire rock and roll for you some good songs we will make you sing, we will make you dance and then you can say hello after the show and walk away with a little something signed and our picture.
Thank you Marco for taking time out to chat to me about your upcoming tour, I wish you and the rest of the guys all the best for this tour in the states
