Compare your latest album, "Wrecking Ball" to your first album, "Early Warning". Do you see "Wrecking Ball" as an improvement over the first one, or just a continuation?
Wrecking Ball was a huge improvement to be sure. Early Warning was really more of a demo-type recording. The songs were all written over a year-and-a-half time frame with minimal production. It wasn't really meant to be heard by so many people, it all happened quite by accident. I sent out a few copies just to get feedback, and then all of a sudden people heard about it through word of mouth and wanted it. Then it got a really good review in Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles magazine, and things snowballed big time from there. I think song-wise the two are very similar, though, but production-wise it's night and day. That's why, and you have the exclusive here because I haven't announced it anywhere else yet, Scot (Goacher, drums) and I have been in the studio during the Christmas downtime re-recording Early Warning! We aren't really ones to sit around much, and we both had a little R and R planned over the holidays so we decided to use it to bring EW up to where it needs to be. It's going to have all new artwork as well and I've even dug a few songs out of the demo bin to be added as bonus tracks! The only problem is that it sounds better than Wrecking Ball now! It's going to be killer, though, and I think people will get a big kick out of hearing the songs the way they should have been recorded in the first place.

You`ve recently released "D.O.A.", which is an album of [mostly] cover tunes. What prompted this, and how did you decide which tunes to cover?
Well, things have been going so well for me that I wanted to give something back to all those who have blessed me with their support. I talk to bands all the time that can't figure out why they play live constantly and yet can't move any merchandise, but they don't really try and connect with the folks that they are trying to market to. I don't play at all right now, and haven't since before EW came out, and yet I have people contacting me everyday for interviews, or cds, or even just to say hi. I'm not sure why that happens, but I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I am just like them.just a guy that loves music and I get just as excited when someone e-mails from Europe or Asia or right here in the U.S. and wants to chat as when I sell a cd! I get tired of hearing all these bands saying how if they were on a big label they could make it.that's an excuse to be lazy if you ask me. If you work hard, do good work, and keep a line open with the people that you want to support you, you will be successful, end of story. People don't care if you are on a big-name label or not, they just want to listen to good music. Anyway, I'll climb off my heavy metal soapbox now and get on with the question. As I said, I wanted to give something back to everyone who supported me, and at the same time I was talking with a couple of old friends of mine that I used to play with, and we were kicking around playing together sometime for old times sake. It hit me that I could kill two birds with one stone.if we were going to be playing anyway, why not record it and give it away for free as a "thank you" cd? Unfortunately, all the schedules didn't work out, but one of my friends, Dean Taylor, was able to come by the studio and play on a couple of songs and that was a blast. Scot was able to absorb the drum duties, so everything came together in the end, and for throwing it together in a few days, it turned out pretty well. As for which songs to choose, that was tough. I wanted to give people an idea of where I was coming from musically, which is a pretty wide-open place. I had to include Priest and Maiden for sure, but a lot of what comes out in my writing are things that were influenced by more melodic bands such as Thin Lizzy and UFO. So basically what I did was glance over at my "go-to" cds.which is a group of cds I keep together for when I need to listen to something to get me recharged, and those bands were the ones that made the cd. I let Dean pick a couple of the songs, since he was my guest, and we both grew up playing this stuff together. The cd's title, D.O.A., was chosen by Jason Walker, the artist that did the layout for me. We were throwing out possible titles to give him some ideas to work with, and he comes up with the whole D.O.A. theme out of the blue. I thought the title was cool, so I went home and wrote the song to go with it. I plan on doing a volume two sometime this year, and this time I'll showcase the more obscure bands that I love, such as Diamond Head, Tygers of Pan Tang, Waysted and Saxon along with bands like Dio, Sabbath, and Accept. So many great bands, so little time.

Primal Fear`s Stefan Leibing contributed solos on "Human Race" and "Down To London". How did this come about?
First let me say that Stefan and all of Primal Fear are the nicest guys in the world. If you are looking for an honest band that loves the music and truly cares for their fans, this is the band. These guys are going to be huge in the near future, probably with their new cd "Devil's Ground" coming out in February. If they could get on a good US tour, they would make it to the next level quickly. I have been a fan of Primal Fear since the first cd.these guys blew me away. When I was recording Wrecking Ball, I had a song called Human Race that I liked a lot and knew I wanted to do something special on it. One day I was sitting around listening to Black Sun by PF, and as a solo was ripping, I thought "What if.". So I contacted Stefan, not really expecting anything to come of it, and we talked and I gave him a couple of songs to listen to so he would know where I was coming from, and he was totally into it! I couldn't believe it.so we spent the next week or two talking about where I wanted him to play and he sent me a few ideas he had and it worked out great. He recorded it in Germany, sent me the files, and that was it. Got to love the net! The best thing that came out of it was finding friendship with such a great person though. Can't wait to see them in Cleveland this year!

In addition to vocals, you play all the guitars and bass, as well. Does this make things easier or harder for you?
It's a lot of work, but it does simplify things quite a bit. When I write my music, I have a pretty clear picture of what I want and where I want it to go, and that can sometimes be hard to convey to other people. Scot has played with me for so long that he instinctively knows what is going to happen most of the time and understands my style, so that end of it is very easy. I miss having a band, though. I love that teamwork, the chemistry of having several people feeding off of each other and being able to enjoy the finished project together. I am actually getting ready to start putting together a team now for some summer shows, so maybe the next cd will feature more players.

Have you played any of the new material live yet?
No, but I have been rehearsing some of the material and seeing which would work best in a live setting, because I've been offered some shows and I need to be ready. So much of my stuff has 4 or 5 different guitar parts and 3 or 4 vocal parts going, so it's going to take a lot of work to pull it off.

You`ve used drummer Scot Goacher on all your albums. Can you describe how you guys work together? [songwriting, recording]
Scot and I have known each other for over 20 years, and he is really more like a brother to me rather than a friend. We grew up in bands together and just have a solid feel for what the other one is going to do. He's one of the few people that I can really count on to tell me when something sucks, and likewise I have complete freedom to tell him when I want him to do something different or if I feel he can do something better. That doesn't happen too often though.he pretty much just sits down and rips and that's that. Usually I give him a demo recording that is pretty much completed, and then he'll throw down a drum part, and I'll re-record my stuff to his drums. Sometimes he'll send me a drum track that he likes and I'll write to it and then we'll modify it to fit the song. We used to record all the drums in my studio, but we work so much we ended up setting him up a studio in his basement, and now he does all the drum work there and we FTP the demo files back and forth. For the finals he burns them on cd and I import them into my setup and go from there. We talk pretty much everyday, and we share a lot of ideas. Many never get used, but we keep them all just in case.

Name a few early influences; the ones that made you say "Yeah, I wanna do this!".
Elvis was it for me. Still is. I would watch him religiously anytime he was on the TV, whether it was a concert, a movie or special appearance. I have never seen anyone that could even come close to the sight and sound of the king. On the rock side, it all has to start with KISS. When you are in junior high and there's a band that has a guy spitting blood and breathing fire, you go "I'm in!" That was my first concert, KISS with all the original members in full makeup. But what really got me was the opening act, who I had never heard of, which was Judas Priest. Rob comes out on stage and lets out a scream and I just went "Oh my god.". Of course I went out and bought Unleashed in the East, and that made me start searching out other bands in similar styles. Same thing happened when I picked up Killers by Iron Maiden. I listened to it over and over. I never got to see them with Di'Anno, but then I saw them with Dickinson on the Number of the Beast tour, and it was like seeing Priest all over again. So much power coming off the stage. I've always been drawn to bands and especially singers that are unique and powerful, like Halford, Dickinson, Dio, Di'Anno, Ozzy, Ralf Scheepers, Lemmy, Tate, John Arch and Phil Lynott. John Arch should make a comeback.he should at least appear on my next cd!

List 5 of what you consider to be the best Metal albums of 2003, and name 5 you consider to be the worst!
Oh my god, that's a tough one.my favorites for 2003 would be John Arch - A Twist of Fate, LA Guns - Waking the Dead, Zakk Wylde - Blessed Hellride, Train of Thought - Dream Theater, Audioslave - Audioslave

My biggest disappointments for 2003 are - Metallica - St. Anger, Iron Maiden - Dance of Death, Metallica - St. Anger, KISS - Alive 4, Metallica - St. Anger.did I mention Metallica - St. Anger????

What equipment are you currently using?
Guitars - Gibson Explorer 2 (1976), Gibson Les Paul Custom (1990), Gibson Les Paul Studio (1999)
Bass - Modified Fender Rogue Bass
Amps - Just got rid of my modified Fender head.not sure what it will be replaced with.
Effects - POD and Johnson J-station with custom Johnny Lokke patches (which can be downloaded at johnnylokke.com), Crybaby Wah, Boss DS-1

It seems that REAL US Metal is picking up steam again, at least on the Underground level. Do you think it will ever get back the the dizzying heights it reached in the mid-`eighties?
I hope so, but it really depends on us musicians. It's getting to the point where bands put out one or two cds and then disappear, or jump ship to the latest trend. There isn't any longevity anymore. That makes it hard for people to latch on to a band and grow with them and it makes it hard for bands to have a significant impact on the metal world. We need some strong leaders in the metal world right now.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to take the "Do It Yourself" route that you`ve chosen?
Go for it, but be prepared to work at it full-time and spend a lot of money. People don't realize that making the music is the easy part, even if you are playing all the parts. After the cd is done, that's when the real work starts. You have to constantly seek out forums to get your word out, to get your name in the public eye. You have to be prepared to answer every e-mail and letter you get. You have to send out cd's all over the world and keep things moving constantly. I bet I put in on average a good 3 to 4 hours a night on public relations work alone. That's in addition to writing, recording and practicing. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way though. I'm a workaholic. I'd go crazy waiting around for someone to come to me to tell me what to do. I like to hear from the people and chat and do interviews.the whole nine yards. Best life in the world. It helps that my wife and son love it too. Without their support and the support of my family I couldn't begin to do what I do. I'm truly blessed with this life.

Which tracks from both "Early Warning" and "Wrecking Ball" would you say best represent the "Johnny Lokke Sound"?
All of them I hope. I get comments from folks all the time that tell me my stuff all sounds different but they can tell it's me when they hear it. That's cool, because it tells me I've made my own sound, found my own way. In this style of music, you have to stand out. You're always going to be compared to the Priests, the Maidens, the Sabbaths, but you have to have that little something extra that makes people stop and go "Yeah.I like that.it's familiar but different". You can only go so far if you don't have originality. You have Pearl Jam, then you have 20 Pearl Jams. Two years later, you have one Pearl Jam again.

How`s the Metal scene in your area? Any other local bands/artists to recommend?
The metal scene around Kansas is beginning to grow again, but I'm usually too busy doing my own thing to catch a lot of it. The thing is, if you play your music well and you write good songs, it doesn't matter a whole lot what the scene is like, people are going to find you.

Do you have any touring plans?
I have been offered several shows coming this spring and summer, but it all depends on my being able to put a viable band together and how tight we can get it in just a few months. It's been quite a while since I was onstage.there's a lot of rust to blow off the pipes. In the studio, you can always go back and redo a missed part, but on stage, it's there or it isn't. I'm hoping to be able to get out and do it though.

Last word, Johnny!
Most of all, I just want to continue and thank all the people who have joined the Wrecking Crew and offered their support, whether it's through buying the music, writing reviews or interviews, or just spreading the word. It all means a lot to me and is very appreciated. I also want to wish everyone a happy new year and hope they are blessed with health and success in every way. Lastly a big thanks to all the brave men and women in the armed forces for risking their lives daily in the name of freedom. I think of you and pray for you daily.

West Side Dave Rules! Good luck in 04!