RockRevolt: Lets talk about Wicked Sensation Reimagined. Many bands will remaster classic albums, add bonus material and even repackage them as an anniversary addition. You took it a step further by reworking and re-recording the album with a new twist, what made you decide to do that?
George Lynch: A company called Rock Candy had already released a remastered version of Wicked Sensation a few years ago. I personally do not have any interest in that. It’s just a money grab, I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. When I buy classic records I don’t like the “new improved” versions, I prefer the original versions of them. There really wasn’t any point in doing something like that. On the other hand the idea of taking these songs we are so familiar with and played so many times and have fun with them we thought would be enjoyable experience and also fun and interesting for the fans to listen to. It doesn’t distract or take anything away from the original. I can’t stand it when I buy an old ZZ Top record or some classic rock record and they quote unquote fixed it. I liked it just the way it was. We didn’t want to do that. What my idea was to go in and have fun together. What invariably happens with these songs you play for decades is you end up changing them a bit over time. I think if anything we played it a little too safe. Quite a few of the songs are done in the same fashion as the old songs. 30 years later we’re playing different equipment, more stripped down, less produced. A little more real for a lack of a better term. They are still done in a similar arrangement. If I had to do it over again I would have done every single song dramatically different. That’s what makes it interesting. But we didn’t do that, we left about half the songs with same tempo, same arrangement. My favorite songs on the record are the ones we really took a departure and took some chances.
RR: Describe to the fans what the Reimagined version is like, especially on the songs you really took a departure from the originals. Was there a particular influence?
GL: We operated on a case by case basis. We didn’t have a blanket philosophy about how we were going to change it. We took each single independently and dealt with it in a unique way. And that’s what makes the record so interesting. For instance “Wicked Sensation” was based on this “Voodoo Child” wah wah vibe. So we ran with that. When you first hear the song you think it’s “Voodoo Child.” “For A Million Years” was done with an electric 12-string. Way different than the original in that respect. “All I Want” is an open-G slide, ultra-swampy. “Through These Eyes” is done purely acoustic. “Hell Child” is probably the biggest departure. Other than the hook it’s a completely different song. Kind made it into one of the old Dokken songs “Til the Livin’ End” , took that and put it together with “Hell Child” and came up with the new version of “Hell Child.”
RR: How did you go about recording the record and who did you work with on it?
GL: It initially started it with ideas we had on the road. In soundchecks and hanging out. That’s how we got some ideas for the songs. Then Brian (Tichy – drums) and I went into his studio as he lives close to me and he mapped everything out. We recorded the drums over at his place the brought it back over to my place. That’s where we did the guitars and bass. Everybody in the band was there; Oni (Logan – vocals), Robbie (Crane – bass) and Brian, we were all together. This was right before COVID shut everything down. This is our last hurray. And Brian to his credit really performed the producer function on about half these songs. He brought so much to the table. He really guided the bass sessions. Worked with me on quite a few songs on the guitars with ideas and feedback. He did some of the engineering as well. He played a really big roll in this record. A lot more of a producer than a lot of actual producers I’ve worked with. I have to say Robbie killed it, these are the most exciting bass tracks I’ve heard in a long time. Phenomenal. He channeled Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), this guy and that guy. He was all over the map with so much energy it was phenomenal. And there are moments where Oni just goes over the top. “Hell Child” is my favorite vocal performance on the record. He was very pumped. He’s singing so hard he’s just unleashing the inner banshee on that track. We had a blast making the record. It was done relatively quickly but with a lot of love, passion and energy.
RR: Being a limited edition how many copies will it be limited to? And can the fans expect anything else on top of the reworked songs, such as bonus tracks or anything like that?
GL: There really hasn’t been talk of a video or anything like that. I’m not sure how that’s all going to work. Obviously these are challenging times to get together so I’m not sure how we can pull that off. We’d like to find a way to do that. Obviously all touring has been postponed for this year.
RR: How do you think this version would go over 30 years ago?
GL: I don’t know. Hard to say, I don’t have crystal ball. I’d 1990 we made the best record for that time. We are all very proud of it and wouldn’t take anything back. Having said that, that’s the whole point of making the 30 anniversary version of it. A lot of times you think about it and I think it’s very fitting because we are really retiring the band at this point. So it’s really the swan song and I think a very fitting one. A nice way to put a bookend on it. Exactly 30 years later we come back with answer. We put out the question in 1990 and put out the answer now. Ride into the sunset with that. So I think it’s an important record. I’m very proud of each end of the spectrum and everything in between.
RR: Now you had some dates lined up with Dokken for this year, correct?
GL: Yes, the whole year was booked as a Dokken/Lynch Mob reunion kind of event. It is very disappointing to have to cancel that. We were doing the shows and they were going great. Playing our asses off. People love it when I come out and do 3 or 4 songs with Dokken. Unfortunately now it’s not going to happen as far as I can tell anytime soon.
RR: How about next year, would Lynch Mob do some additional dates with Dokken if the opportunity presents itself?
GL: I’m not going to use that name anymore. I’m retiring the name. I’ve struggled with it for decades and at this point I can’t really justify or rationalize it anymore. And the pandemic gives me an opportunity for an out. We are all taking a rest anyway. We came out with this record, so if feels good to do this now. I’ve got so many other avenues I can explore, projects such as KXM and The End Machine and a lot of other things. It really doesn’t matter, I don’t need to keep that name alive. It’s got too many negative connotations tied to it.
RR: Especially in this day and age.
GL: Really any day and age but now really there is no excuses.
RR: You got ahead of me George. You obviously have a ton going on but I wanted to get back to KXM, what’s currently happening with that project?
GL: Well we’re talking about doing a forth record, just not sure how we’re going to do it. We’ve made some initial inroads into pre-production at this point which is something we’ve never done as a band. The whole concept of KXM was always get together every year and a half. Squeeze ourselves into a studio for two weeks and make a creative album from scratch. That’s what really defined us. We are talking about potentially not doing it that way out of necessity. And maybe this is a new chapter for KXM, we’ve done three records like that. Lets try doing a record, out of necessity, which is a little more traditional. Take some time to write the songs remotely. It wouldn’t be the product of a jam. It’s kind of sad, I like the process that we had. But if we’re going to do another record we can’t really do it like that. We can’t be around people and work in a confined space for a long period of time. It’s just not going to happen. We are exploring our options. I think we’re going to be doing a forth record this year with it coming out next year.
RR: Obviously touring is at a halt at the moment but have you talked about doing some shows? Even doing something in conjunction with a Korn tour or something of that nature?
GL: We’ve made attempts. We actually had a tour schedule at one point in time and it got pulled out from under us. I don’t want to get into the reasons why, it was purely political, we had the rug pulled out from under us. It’s a challenge with everything going on in the universe. I don’t think it’s anything anyone will be thinking about for a while.
RR: You’ve collaborated with numerous musicians but is there anyone out there that you haven’t that you’d like to? Who would be at the top of that list?
GL: I’d like to put a bigger band together. Something that has percussion and synthesizers maybe horns. I’m not saying all those elements. Maybe two guitar players as that would cover more ground, add some layers. Explore and play different styles of music not just straight rock. Maybe go deeper, play acoustically. Have more variety.
RR: Is there anybody that stands out?
GL: I work frequently with Pancho Tomaselli, bass player from War and we still work together on other projects. We were obviously together for Ultraphonix with Corey Glover (Living Colour) and Project NfidelikAh with Angelo Moore from Fishbone. He comes from a much different background thank I do. I love playing with him because he brings the percussionist and the horns and the different players from genres that I’m really not getting exposed to very often. It’s a whole different world for me, which is challenging and very exciting for me. I think we are planning on doing something, a little early to talk about.
RR: Finishing up, obviously Dokken comes up all the time. Do you and Don have a friendly relationship or is it strictly business? How is it these days?
GL: We actually have a very positive, healthy relationship. We don’t have much of a relationship but we still text and get on the phone every once in a while. We always have things to talk about as we have a lot of history and we have business that comes up every once in a while. We have other things in common now. He lives in New Mexico and that’s my favorite part of the universe. I have a deep love for that part of the world. We have that in common. I think we have a good, healthy, respectful relationship.
RR: And Jeff (Pilson) and Mick (Brown), you keep in touch with them?
GL: Not Mick, he has retired and from what I heard is extremely happy, doing very well. He’s decided to leave the theater (laughs). And the healthiest thing for him to do. From what I hear he’s doing great.
RR: In end with this, not music related but with everything going on in the country today with the Black Lives Matters movement, thoughts on that as well as the political environment in the country overall?
GL: This is always tricky because you risk alienating people. I’m a political animal as we all should be. I believe we all have a responsibility to work for what we think it right. I think we also have a responsibility to know what’s right and admit what’s right. Be honest with ourselves and use the tools that we have as human beings to advance goodness and things that benefit the most people most of the time. I think that’s the litmus test, what benefits the most people most of the time? Those are the policies we should pursue and support. We should use rational science to get there. We should cooperate with each other and not compete with each other. That’s why we are successful as an organism and when we veer from that we are not successful. We need to help each other out, stick together and work together. Not be polarizing. Use the tools we’ve been giving to advance what is right and what is good. It’s not a left or right thing, it’s the right thing. We know what that is inherently. I think indigenous communities had it right in the sense they connected in the natural world. Their actions had consequences well beyond their own lifetimes. They had a long view of their actions. It’s an ethos I think that would serve as well now. It calls for unselfishness, think beyond two feet in front of you. Think in terms of your children’s children and try to place importance on people you may not live next to. Does a goat herder in Syria carry as much weight as your neighbor next door or your relative. They should, they are human beings. We need to stop dehumanizing others. I don’t want to get into a whole political rant here so lets just leave it at that.
RR: Thanks for taking the time to speak with RockRevolt today. Look forward to Wicked Sensation Reimagined.
GL: Thank you.
