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Saxon: Stalking Doug Scaratt

For decades Saxon belong to the top of the NWOBHM-movement. After their less successful nineties the Brits recovered their strengths and please us with potent albums and even more potent live-shows, which are little shorter than 150 minutes. At Wacken Open Air we were squeezing guitarist Doug Scaratt about himself, his musical drives and his future.

Doug, give us a short overview of your childhood!
I had a brother and a sister. We lived in How in south England. I already listened to a lot of radio in that time and learned about the power of music very early.

Describe a typical day in your life, when you`re on tour!
Well, I have a 7 year old kid and a wife, who works, too. My wife cares about our child in the morning and then leaves the house. That`s when I`m waking up and go jogging for an hour. It`s around 9 or 10 in the morning then. After that I sit down on the sofa, listen to music or play guitar. My taste in music is quite diverse and goes from Metal to Jazz.

When and why did you decide to become a musician?
I think it happened as I was 12 or 13 as I first visited a concert. Besides I was very motivated to learn guitar by Robin Trower from Procol Harum.



Do you still remember your first concert?
It was with friends at our church. They did a dancing evening and we played 20 minutes hippie- music. It was horrible!

How do you prepare yourself before a concert?
I try to relax as well as possible. I drink a little bit, but not too much. Otherwise playing won`t work out later, haha.

I`ll give you some catchwords and you just tell me what comes to your mind spontaneously!
Heavy Metal:

Loud.

Wacken Open Air:
Fantastisc.

Internet:
Confusing.

Drogen und Alkohol:
I don`t like drugs, but I sometimes like to drink alcohol.

Music business:
Hard.

Imagine you`d go on pension! How would you spend your time?
I don`t know if I could get my fingers off of music. Otherwise I would keep myself busy with painting and drawing.

Which Saxon song you like to play on stage most?
That would be `Witchfynder General` and `State of Grace`. These are very fast but still have slower parts. That`s just fun!

Tell us a funny story about the last tour!
On the last US-Tour we forgot Paul (Quinn, Gitarre –d.Verf.) and our tour manager at a gas-station in the middle of the night. It was somewhere near Albuquerque. We stopped there for a second. As the driver was ready he just drove on without looking if everybody is back on bord already. Somewhen we started asking ourselves where they`re gone. Eight hours later we had them back. In jeans and t-shirt, just like they went outside.

Which Saxon album do you like least?
Somehow every Saxon album has its preferences. I think I would choose one out of the nineties. Maybe Destiny.



Please finish the following sentences:
To play with Saxon is…

…like being part of a hurricane.

Playing guitars is…
…like going on vacation.

To see myself on DVD-recordings is…
…weird.

to listen to old Saxon-recordings is…
…funny.

If we talk about global problems like poverty, climate change and terror, are you rather hopefully or anxious?
I am really worried about the future of the world. I`m not sure if we can solve all these problems. I think at the time we are losing control.

Imagine you could do anything you want for one day! What would you change first?
There would be a lot of things to do. It wouldn`t be possible to do in one day. But I would start with the unfair division of wealth. You´d have to put a lot of things straight there.

What is your personal goal or personal dream?
I think I can say about myself that I have lived my dream. I can make music and make a statement with it, which stays forever. It`s nice to create something for eternity.

Is there a last word to your fans?
Thanks that you are supporting us and that you made Saxon what we are today. It`s good to see that we are now even more popular than in the eighties. Thanks!


Author: Timo Päßler, transl. Katrin Dietl, photos: Timo Päßler
Date: 2007-09-12

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