TWENTY BIG ONES with 100% ROCK MAGAZINE – DAN DURACK, KING ZOG

TWENTY BIG ONES with 100% ROCK MAGAZINE – DAN DURACK, KING ZOG

With King Zog amped to blow the roof off ELECTRIC EYE FESTIVAL at Freo Social on Saturday, 4th October, we got singer, rhythm guitarist and chief songwriter Dan Durack to subject to a Zog-sized grilling.

1. How long have the band been together, what’s the lineup and how would you describe what you do?

King Zog was forged in 2013 and started gigging in 2014. We lean towards traditional doom metal but there are also NWOBHM and grunge influences that materialise now and again. Me on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mark De Vattimo (lead guitar), Martin Gonzalez (bass), Rory Keys (drums).

2. Tell us a little about your latest release. Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material that only diehard fans might pick up on?

Our latest release is Second Dawn, which came out last year on Rue Morgue Records. After it was released the Dutch label Hammerheart Records got in touch and arranged a European release with coloured vinyl and CDs.

3. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realised you wanted to be a musician?

My Mum and Dad had a solid collection of LPs when I was a kid growing up in Geraldton in the 1980s. Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, The Who and Deep Purple through to Osibisa, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. But when my uncle Tyron came to stay with us in 1987 his lime green Holden Torana was stuffed full of heavy metal tapes. Once he loaned me a comp called Headbanger’s Heaven – it began my lifelong fixation with heavy music. Hearing all those classic groups when they were making a worldwide impact made me want to get into singing and playing guitar.

4. What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?

Riffs, hooks, melodies and mood. Being taken on a journey somewhere with a song, or just monolithic mindless repetition.

5. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Black Sabbath is the obvious answer. Also Pentagram, Witchfinder General, Electric Wizard and early Judas Priest.

6. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be?

Tony Iommi.

7. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

We play heavy music, but I don’t shy away from trying to write catchy stuff that stays in your head. I can’t recall any reviewer’s comparison or a general opinion that seemed jarringly incorrect (objectively speaking), but a German chap said we’d shown no musical development between the first and second albums, which I strongly disagreed with. Told him to grow a fuckin’ pair of ears!

8. What is your favourite activity or hobby outside of music – what do you like to do to unwind?

Outside of music I love cinema / films, the supremely un-metal activity of watching cricket, and spending time with my family.

9. Do you have a best and/or worst performance anecdote you’d like to share, and if things do go awry during a show, how do you try to turn things around?

Live we used to be pigheadedly, horrendously loud. Vince (founding former bandmate and co-writer) used to refer to his and my ‘arms race’, which referred to his purchasing of ever-louder amps, trying to match my vintage Sound City 120 watt. He ended up buying the exact same model amp, and it was just brutal on the ears. They used to have bands at my local RSL but they cut the power halfway through our set, when the Vietnam vet running the show stormed towards us, yelling “you’ve alienated your own fucking fan base, they’re all sitting outside!” Which was true.

10. What’s the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?

One older musician told me not to arrive at the show until ‘showtime’, that one shouldn’t be seen to be mixing with the support bands for the purposes of ‘mystique’. What bullshit. I can’t recall too many other kernels of advice, but one friend told me to take my wallet and phone out of my pants before playing, which I still do to this very day!

11. Do you follow a process or ritual before a performance to get rid of nerves or performance anxiety?

Normally I drink, but I’m working on dealing with those ever-present nerves in other ways.

12. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Walking the streets of Hobart having just arrived for Dark Mofo back in 2018, I noticed Electric Wizard coming towards me. A parade of long hair, denim and vintage leather. No words fell out of my mouth – I just made a daft, beaming face like a moonstruck schoolgirl.

13. What’s the best thing about being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

For me the best thing is the camaraderie, the gigs, the hangs, recording. As for a dream job, that would probably be ‘professional musician’!

14. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

With our guitarist Mark living in Bridgetown and our drummer Rory residing in Toodyay, there isn’t a lot of time for hanging out between rehearsals and gigs unfortunately. But it’s a very funny and astute bunch of guys with years of performing behind them – the musical references and the laughs come thick and fast.

15. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep, or you would like to be able to “do over” even if it didn’t change your current situation??

I’ve always been lazy, and I wish I’d pushed myself harder when I was younger and had more energy than I do as the grizzled, perpetually worn-out Dad I am today!

16. If you were made ruler of the world, what would your first orders be?

“Bring me a tray of choc caramel slice and a magnum of champagne!” Likely proves I’m not really the man for the job.

17. What is your favourite rock n’ roll movie, and why?

Blues Brothers comes close, but Spinal Tap is my number one. Hits in all the right places. Great songs, too.

18. Talking about songwriting, where do you think the magic comes from?

I wish I knew! It sounds wanky but the best ideas are like gifts from the celestial plane. In that dreamy time just before you go to sleep, or wake up. Songs that need heaps of work often result in sounding like it, trying to hammer something into shape. You can’t turn shit into gold, but you can cover it in blood and glitter.

19. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I would choose Black Sabbath, Vol 4 (1972). It’s my favourite album of theirs, and it was the first one they recorded outside of the UK, in a blizzard of cocaine. It’s such an adventurous record, by a band at the top of their game. They could convey such desolation and alienation. The record means everything to me, and it’s the only LP cover I have tattooed on me.

20. What, for you, is the meaning of life??

Still trying to work it out, but it probably has something to do with trying to be the best version of yourself so that you can be a positive force in a world that’s going to hell right before our very eyes.

marchofkingzog.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/marchkingzog

Category: Interviews