 What's happening everyone? This is Neil Turbin. We're here at the Whiskey of Go-Go with the amazing band Killer Dwarves The whole band is great to be here. How you doing? Great to see you Darrell. How you guys doing? Yeah, good to see you buddy. It's a pleasure Neil So how's the road been treating you guys? Well, it's been amazing actually. We're obviously happy to be back After the covid experience, which was fucking hell. So it's been some years. Yeah, we were off for two years And uh, we're fully back now. Well, we have some new music in the can Amazing and we're we're doing a 60 city tour. It's our 40th anniversary tour if you can believe that congratulations the other 40 years as a band and uh, you guys been around Since the 80s. We're older than dirt. Yeah MTV generation, right? You guys were on MTV. Yes, we were MTV and and much music of course in Canada, which were a Canadian band And uh, much music was a big catalyst and breaking us in that country for sure and it bled over into MTV Actually, and then when we finally got signed epic records You know, then the American thing really took off for us back in 87 88 into Right up until Grunge hit So you guys were touring here and you know, all through the 80s late 80s into early 90s So so a question for you before we dig into some some of the deeper questions I just wondered, um, you know, what do you see differently from, you know Perspective being from canadian coming to america now back in the 80s things were Uh Like america versus canada It was always such a struggle and a big deal for a band to try to come out of toronto For example and break into the united states I mean all those big bands rush and triumph and all those bands they all struggle man to to get down here and make it You know, and they toured endlessly down here, you know before they finally got accepted kind of thing And now I find that it's not As hard. I mean america to us feels like home now You know, when we come down here, we almost feel more like home here than in canada these days So after 40 years, you know, I think things for us have gone united states That's right. We tried to tour america as much as we can I mean canada there's only about 10 cities to tour to You know, and I would imagine you guys have played with a lot of the well-known canadian bands and some lesser known ones as well But I mean, there's certainly some great bands out of canada So I mean have you guys played a lot with the some of the real heavier bands the razors and the Exciters, uh, well, there's a band called diamonds. They're really amazing We played with them. Yeah, we played with them just really hot and you sprunt front woman And you had mentioned that you're playing with we played with anvil we played with exciter We played over the years. Yeah, we played with a lot of canadian sacrifice Not them But a few of the interior bands and and helix. Yeah helix lately. We've been playing with Over the last few years we've been playing with kickaxe too And remember them and kickaxe and helix and and and the dwarfs are seem to be a really Great package of bands. I mean, yeah, I don't know fan wise that everybody believes those shows just totally happy How about in the past have you played with april wine? No, love april wine Love the band Not not a canadian man. They're almost fashions canadian. Yeah Well, that's cool. So tell us about the new material that you're working on Is that uh, something that you're in the studio recording or have record started with or is it pre-production or no? We actually have recorded a few tracks. Okay, we're kind of We're on we're on we want to try them out on the fan base. It's been a long time since we've recorded an owl and So we we've actually recorded two tracks for sure and we're we're kind of Indecisive right now on whether we're going to go all the way with a full album Or are we releasing tracks like a lot of bands are are just releasing downloaded tracks now one at a time Maybe you know as opposed to a full record. So we're still we're still throwing that around But there's there's a couple we're excited about there's two songs for sure right now that We have recorded. That's awesome. So is that in the you know, as a fan Is that something that's you know, kind of in the the theme of or feel of you know, recent More recent albums or is it back to the older roots or how would you that was the exciting part about it because When you think about it our last record was start at one Right and that that was recorded 20 years ago Right. Yeah, so that was our last effort and we recorded that after method of madness But It got shelved because the whole grunge grunge movement came in and we decided we shopped it to a few labels metal blade couple labels back then but nobody was buying anything that was metal there when once nirvana got Came out that was it right? So we decided we need to do a hiatus anyway So we just we just shelved the record. It was done and it just sat in the studio vault And then when we came back out to tour again in 213 It was a great opportunity to to dig that elbow mount and mix it and get and listen to it and we realized how good it was and it was kind of an extension of of method of the madness but We toured behind that for the last 10 years and this new music is exciting because we It's like we didn't have to work so hard No to come up with these tracks, but we still didn't know what kind of animal it was going to be and we were really relieved to Listen to it back and say that's the dwarfs That's us man. Well, we're playing one of the songs in the shows now We'll play it tonight And initially it was sort of something we were referring to as the cheap trick song It's sort of send a little bit like something like that But when we got together and played it together and worked on it together It sort of turned into a A dwarf song like it really sounds like a dwarf song and you're hoping that would happen Yeah with the band like us it's been together that one. You just it's almost like putting your stamp on something And it evolves into what you hoped it would But like Jerry said it kind of had a cheap trick flavor to it Which we're not cheap trick, but we like cheap trick, but we're not that bad So it's just melodic tune. It's a cool tune. And I really like the two songs we have right now that were That we could play live actually, you know, they're they're great tune. You guys are rocking writing New new creative ideas. It's great. Time is a really bizarre animal, you know Time like 40 years I've watched the band evolve and all that but it's It's so odd that it's just It's not that long It doesn't feel like 40 years and like the past 10 years we've been out touring the other right now pretty solid That's gone by way too fast in my world So either I'm aging myself and time is speeding up. Which really fucking sucks It's odd man, I I can't believe how fast the last 10 years And I'm a little freaked out about it. So 40 years I don't know how much longer we're gonna tour I can't say we have no plan to stop touring So you guys are going to do like a a couple of farewell tours that last like a few decades, you know, like some bands do That won't happen with us. No, we'll probably I mean, we have like I said, we have no plan to use the r-word and retire Like I in myself like just speaking for myself only as a drummer Um, drumming is a very demanding instrument and it's very physical and The older you get you start getting, you know injuries different things Arthritis things start creeping up on you, right? So I have a personal goal. I try to work out in students best shape as I can my personal goal I'm gonna play till I can't That's my goal So I'm gonna keep drumming until I can't till like if I if my knuckles start swelling and I get arthritis Whatever for example, right and I start dropping sticks. I'm done and like Phil Collins is a great example It's a sad situation with them mostly because he had back surgery and all that but he he I heard an interview with him and he said I I couldn't hold on to the sticks anymore. This was before the back his hands like he had Couldn't hold on to him. He had tendonitis different things So you just have a trouble holding on to the sticks and I get that right? So I'm not to sound I'm not trying to sound like a bomber or anything here. It's good. It's a good thing You know, I mean, but I'm fucking 61 man. That's a reality. So I'm gonna rock as long as I can that's it and hopefully the dwarfs you guys hopefully the fans see another album and They see another least eight years touring out of this You know kind of a point about Phil Collins. I mean he took it as far as he could take it as far as playing live And he saw it down and toured in a chair like I heard like the guys from anthrax saw that show speaking anthrax Right, uh, and they I think uh, one of them said they started crying because it just it was emotional to see Phil sing sitting in the chair and I just said he's actually crying it was You know that's fucking intense. But gotta give it to him. He went out and did that last tour with genesis They just ended it in England So is there a name for You know the The title or you know, if you are going to come out with this new recording Is there a song title or an album title or is that something you can share with us or any album title? There's song titles, but uh, yeah, what's the song? Do you want to share it? Yeah, I don't remember. He died at midnight Tell me Way to the world is the track that we we actually have been playing live Nice, we didn't intend on playing anything live till we released it But we just started kicking it around at one show in canada and it just felt so good That we continued to do it and we were actually want to try it out in the fans You know to see their reaction and they've been going right on that's a fucking cool new tune They got a new tune out of it, right? So you guys are going to play tonight here live in the wisdom We are weight of the world the weight of the world That's not released And you guys, uh, you know one thing that I I noticed uh when I first just met you guys Is that I'm still I haven't seen any dwarfs though Because I've been to disney because the dwarf went back to the hotel You should be here doing the interview rust dwarf. Oh, that's right that little bastard Again skips out yeah Leaves us to do this all the work. Well, I'm just kidding. I just I know I was like on that note. I'm gonna go have a beer So the front the front three guys were kind of small five Three, you know, that's how it all started. Yeah, the front line was like acdc guys like short little guys They are right and you were sitting down and I sat down So nobody could threaten to cut my legs off. So when did the dwarf start growing? bigger I didn't know that was the way it works, but apparently so As people got replaced larger people came into and more intelligent the better looking Right. Well, that that helps jerry here. Yeah jerry's been in the band 30 years 32 years Isn't that crazy 32 now? Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's right. It's right cold. But two years of races That no, I swear to god that two years feels like it's erased for my life So I'm forgetting that two years every time I'm going no, wait a minute. That's there's two more years Stand tall Yeah, I was just wondering if that's gonna be gonna have a re-release possibly because I heard it's kind of hard to find out there That album. Yeah There's a bit of politics going on going on with that record, right? I mean, it's I can't really get into it too much about it because epic records own own the record But you know, we're we're going to get it back Actually, and we we can get it back. So that's just something that's a work of progress We have people working on that But in the meantime that records become this big record, you know, it sold 70 000 records in the u.s When it first came out It's a popular dwarf record and and fans now clamor for it to buy it on ebay for 900 bucks Which drives me crazy, but it's a sought after Album to get a good lp of it the full lp whether it's on grudge records In america or maize and candidate was on so if you got one of those, yeah, it's it's worth money It's a good investment It is right now And then it's like the market, right the stock market and then once we get it back and put it out of the gold It won't be worth shit We get it, right? Yeah, I'll be selling my own. We'll be able to buy thousands of them off us Now you guys were uh, you also were doing something with uh, Dave Ellison at one point was that A project was out here Well, yeah, we released a live album on his label. Okay, we weren't we weren't completely Locked in on anything on that deal with it, but he he we We gave them the live album And started one to put it out on his label to release it worldwide You know physical copies and we were going to record new music as well but His label went south as you know, right from his Unfortunate experience Not knowing how to turn a camera off on the internet. I guess I don't know what what exactly how that went down And it's none of my business whatever happened today. I don't know. I feel bad for him actually and I love master painting I don't know Well, Dave Dave's got his you know, Dave's got a couple things I know he's got deep deep was a deep D. If I could pronounce that right one of the bands that just got recently signed an apom and then And also, uh, you know, he's doing um kings of thrash Yeah, with uh, you know with chris poland and jeff young right and and such I think they're doing shows this weekend actually this week. Yeah, I think it was unfair that he got fired from the band I No, I do I don't know I mean, it's it was so harsh Like he got fired at whatever man like people kill people and still get their gig true That's a that's true. Well, I don't know. I just thought I was on his side You know, I'm gonna just be honest. I'm being honest like well, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to that whole Thing when it went down But then all of a sudden Dave and staying comes out. He's no longer with us like a holy crap I don't ask this gig. I mean mega death was a pretty tight unit with him in it You know, they were they did a lot of touring together Oh, yeah, huge. They did out, you know hit records. It was absolutely hit mega death records Yeah, so that's my take on that. That's my take on that. Otherwise, you know, we're free of the contract It's all done Great. So um, so what's uh, the you're mentioning earlier about the touring plans For the killer dwarves. So you guys are in the midst of a tour right now north america and Is there other? Well, the 40 like I said, it's the 40th anniversary tour. It's totally ongoing. This is a worldwide tour Uh, Europe is is definitely in the mix for next year There's already some anchor dates in like belgium and different places that we need to work around So there's my management is is uh Seeking out the proper promoters because we haven't been to europe since iron maiden in 1988 So right you guys did tour with iron maiden. We did over there and a big tour the seven sun tour So my point to you is it's we're so overdue to go to europe and I see everybody going to europe and touring over there. So I don't I just don't understand There's really no reason why the killer dwarves. I know we've sold records over there I know it. I know the numbers we did on stand tall in germany alone It was stand tall sold a lot of records in germany. There's no reason if we've never played there. That's dumb to me So do you see festivals also as well as venue dates? I'm hoping all it would be more festivals I'm not they sure have a lot of them. I don't even like playing clubs at all anymore to tell you the truth I'm just they still like doing it. So every chance that I that The band can get on something like a festival like we just did some in minnesota and stuff I mean, it's just you reach so many more people. It's just It's just where you want to be either want to be doing casinos or festivals these days If your band is old as we are been around that long and sold as many records as we are But you know, we still do clubs like the whiskey, but the whiskey is a prestigious club You know, it's a it's a cool club to play. It really is. So we've limited our activities of playing bars as you call it sort of thing. I mean, we're trying to In these later years in our last tours, we're trying to make it count. That's all so the more Political things we get but in our corner and the more festivals we play and and casino is the happier we are We're happy dwarfs when we do that. So With iron maiden and 88. Mm-hmm. What was the I guess before the first show maybe if you can think back What was the feeling with the band when you guys nervous at all that? Hey, you know, we're on this big tour and it's iron maiden and We got to go out there and uh throw down hard and it's a good question That's that's a good question Tell you how it went down and how did how did the feeling change? Like after you've done the tour after you've been on the road with them for weeks Or months and at that point, you know, did you guys feel the same way that you felt the first day? In other words, we used to we're intimidated where it was there, you know Like oh gosh, we got to bring our a-game, you know kind of you want to know the truth the killer dwarfs Especially when we were younger We were full of piss and vinegar and we weren't afraid of fucking anybody or anything And we would go out in front of any band whether it was priests or remember we toured with d o we toured We did shows with all those bands We had no fear man and that's a cool thing and we just went out and kicked ass We were so fucking excited to open for maiden in the uk and steve harris loved us and it was so positive Everything was so positive. So we come out and our first show was in wales We come out fucking guns ablaze and Rust comes out fucking the tricycle the whole thing right like just ballistic right we open up with I think it was like It was like something fast. I can't remember what it was actually Because dirty weapons wasn't out yet. Oh, I think it was like all that we dream of No, no, that's dirty weapons. It was off. It was it was a song off big deal I think it was starting to shine or something like that a big deal. That's what we open with and so we come out and within Two minutes of the first song all of a sudden we're getting spit on Right like gob like thousands of slobs of gob It's almost like I'm playing well, what the fuck is going on here. I mean these these fucking limies are like Fucking gobbling like big gobs and they're hitting Shots guys. What's getting all over fucking mikes guitar What the fuck is this? I didn't know what it was at first It was spit. So after that barrage we go into the second song then it's coins All of a sudden boom. Oh, fuck the head, right? Pound coins You guys are strippers you're getting money. They're not they're not coming to dollar bills. They're not like an american dime All right. Oh, yeah, they're big. They're like it fucking hurts like a hockey parking I'm getting pal playing getting piled up with coins all of a sudden so all of a sudden coins are coming up So we're going You know what happened the next song by the third song we only did seven is wrong You went to the bank with like Steve Harris 300,000. No, Steve Harris walked out on stage, man And grabbed the fucking mic and I gained a whole new respect for that guy and that's why I love them to this day He said you motherfucker stop fucking throwing shit at these guys these guys are a guest Now fuck off and stop doing it and he walked off and whatever Harry gets That's what Harry says The motherfucker settled down. He stopped and watched her show Well, that was a class stand-up thing to do. Tell me about it And it never happened again and all the rest of the tour went smooth And prats came out like karang and they go these guys are winning over the maiden fans and Maiden fans loved us after that. It was just that one city That was it. You guys everywhere else was fucking great But it started off horrible You guys go out there and then, you know You have the the mentality of like, you know, expect you unexpected, but it's one of those things that's hard to expect Well, I've never seen that before like I mean, I've seen you know Some american fans they can boo you and do shit like they're giving the finger But to actually physically gobb on you and mask them out Fucking whip fucking pound coins at you like rocks Yeah, that's That doesn't sound like too much. You got like 10 000 or no, the the the venues are smaller over there. It was Maybe six thousand at this gig Like we did the Hammersmith three nights in a row right because the everywhere we played We were doing two and three nights in a row because Maiden's huge but the venues are smaller right At least they weren't hauling, you know, like hurling jugs of uh, who knows I could have heard about that kind of stuff. I don't know all those kind of things. I just never know man But anyway, I'm just making a point that that really did happen to us So we came running out really we came out on stage thinking this the wickedest thing ever and then it turned into a fucking scary thing But then to see steve command his fans like I was pretty intense. Do you remember what venue what venue that was at that particular one? It was in wales um I can't remember the name of the venue like like I remember the nec and the birmingham and all the those ones but that one I just I can't remember you can find it on one. Yeah, well, it's where archives of that tour is online. So it's just Sorry, I can't remember the name cool, well, uh, thanks for sharing that and um so so as far as um You know the the next part of the tour is that going to be based primarily in north america Right now. Yeah, absolutely. It is and you know, we winter is coming right unfortunately. So, uh We kind of wind down in canada for winter for the holidays and all that so We're probably only going to play into december. There's a show announcement for toronto For new year's eve that I can't tell I can't announce it yet and um Then we wind down for the holidays and shut that down And then I think we're looking towards warmer climates for february like texas and places like that will be back here again Excellent. Okay. Yeah. So europe is supposed to be next year in the summer So so the festival is over there. So would you say that the uh that iron maiden show in wales that was one of the most uh I guess uh shocking. Yeah, or or kind of like uh extreme Events or was there other shows that you guys have had that would even top that? No, there's we've we've never had a show like that before We've never had anything thrown at us. We're a pretty fan-friendly band. I mean, that's why it was that's why it got us off guard But but then again, we were kind of ready thinking that maiden fans are maiden fans into this day they're They're not there to see an opening. They're there to see maiden and that's it I think there's certain bands that just have that kind of built in Yeah, you know acdc or rush or you know, they're those dream theater Fans don't give a fuck who the opening act is they want to see I'm the irons. They want to see maiden and I understand motley crew kiss, you know That's why the tour was so successful for so and steve told me himself. He goes like you guys One you won our fan base over in the uk Good for you because that doesn't happen very often Yeah, I see him I see him say that in an interview about that tour so There's another thing bringing up about touring europe again the uk if we did so well over there Why are we not there now? We should be touring the uk right now getting that fan base back that saw us every night, right? So, I mean, I think we're a little overdue On some of these things. I think we're a little overdue and we better get doing it before i'm fucking dead And how about latin america you guys uh tour over there or is latin america? I'd love to go anywhere anywhere latin america brazil and stuff all those Those places are insane those festivals. So what did I see of those festivals? Like I saw the most reason. Unfortunately, taylor hawkins died. That's a sad thing actually And but I saw a bunch of footage of foo fighters before he died doing those shows down there and like Holy crap. I know made and goes there all the time too and There's like 80,000 100,000 people going insane great countries, you know, why you're why a huge festivals and shows like Ecuador that's on tap for us. I'd love to go there anytime so Great fans over there. Well, absolutely. Well, there was a guy here tonight from There's an argentina tonight. He had like 10 out 10 of our albums. I signed a bunch of stuff for him He's he's here to see us tonight and mexico's, you know a lot of a lot of cities a lot of great, you know places to play over there Mexico, you know great festivals great concerts venues the warm weather man. Take me where it's warm Yeah, there's some resort cities over there too get me by the pool. I'll play a show so So it's just you know, I really appreciate the time that you guys took to Absolutely. Well, I appreciate the time of voice tonight. I appreciate the time for you to drive down here in the traffic and do the interview Yeah, well, it's great to get to see killer dwarfs because And that too because you guys are from canada and we don't always get the imports from canada. Have you ever seen the band? I actually haven't. Oh, wow I've seen some bands newbie. Yeah All right. Well, we should have fun. I've seen you online, but I have you know on YouTube and stuff unless in the albums Same to see in a band live And we miss russ I know In all fairness to russ singers And he needs to chill out man and just not talk like he's one of the best Remaining rock singers in rock right now And I can honestly say that not because I'm in a band with him But he has a great voice still at 61 years old Like you'll see tonight. It's fucking powerful for his age and he's He's got great pitch. He's just a great singer. He is and there's not many of them left, man I'm telling you right now. I don't know. I I could I got a hand I'm not going to put anybody on a chopping block here. There's I could tell you a handful of 1980s Metal singers that still bring it. There's not a lot of them left That's the truth. I'll tell you that well, thank you guys so much and uh any any uh You know as far as where we can find killer dwarves online and where's the best place to you know purchase We are we are well our merge. There's just one site because I find it's just better to Direct everybody to one site as far as our stuff our personal personal Merch, you know what I mean? And that's at killer dwarves band.com There's a store on there that you can go to get our latest merge of our touring merge Some of our past merches on there. You can go there And we are everywhere on social media And very approachable all all all the band members have pages. So I'm talking Facebook Twitter Instagram And I'm a big tick tock horror now. You want to see me on tick tock doing some crazy stuff You'll find daryl dwarf on tick tock Yeah So go go go all social media and we have killer dwarves pages to ban pages as well as personal Jerry finn moyshafenstein is his handle because he's just a nut bar. It's not his real name, but Moyshafenstein and uh, there's russ russ gram on there or russ dwarf for the killer dwarves He's got two accounts on facebook and i'm daryl miller and daryl dwarf everywhere Well, congratulations on the 40th anniversary For killer dwarves the 40th anniversary tour. Thanks, brother the new material coming Yes, and it's great to see you here in los angeles the whiskey in hollywood. Love l.a How can you not? It's so nostalgic here It's just it's amazing here. I love l.a. I lived here years ago I love it. You're thank you and uh, we're looking forward to seeing you guys rock tonight. All right great. Thank you You