GEORGE LYNCH: Bodybuilding Was 'One Of The Silliest Things I've Ever Done'

Jay Nanda of Revolution Magazine recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SOULS OF WE). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Revolution Magazine: You and Don [Dokken] said on "That Metal Show" recently that your dislike for one another was fabricated by the record company. So how much of your struggles and disagreements were genuine?

Lynch: Well, it's hard to differentiate between real disagreements and constructions (chuckles) of disagreements. Even for me, and obviously, I was part of the inside problem. I would say there was a definite conflict with philosophy. I was interested in having an all-for-one, one-for-all band as brothers. Don was more interested in having the band revolve around him.

Revolution Magazine: Yet DOKKEN was so successful. What sticks out the most from that period of time?

Lynch: To be honest, I was blindsided by the success we achieved. I didn't think we had the best chemistry from Don and myself, and I was wrong. We sold all kinds of records, and the fans were all over. I never got it (laughs). When DOKKEN broke up, I started LYNCH MOB with the same intent, and it didn't have as much success. So much for that. You know, it shows what I know. When POISON came out and KING'S X came out, I thought KING'S X would be the next big band and that POISON was a joke. Shows what I know.

Revolution Magazine: How does it make you feel nowadays when DOKKEN performs and people say, "Well, it's not really DOKKEN without George?"

Lynch: There's some gratification in that, but it's been a long time. But SOULS OF WE and LYNCH MOB have done shows with DOKKEN. I will say it is very surreal sitting in a dressing room listening to songs I had a hand in writing (chuckles),listening to others on stage playing what I had a hand in. But in all these shows we did, I'd go on after DOKKEN and rock out a song or two with them, and it makes the crowd happy. We played Loud Park in Japan — 30,000 people — right after his set, and the place blew up.

Revolution Magazine: Are you a perfectionist or difficult to work with?

Lynch: Depends on who you talk to (laughs). Some might say I am, but I don't think I am. I like to work as a band and have everybody's involvement. When I do my guitar parts, I like to have someone there from the band that knows about guitar and can offer me feedback. I like writing with the band. This SOULS OF WE record, we wrote in 10 days in a room. You know, that's fun. I don't like working in a vacuum. That's the rewarding part of being in a band and focusing on songs.

Revolution Magazine: I've had the pleasure of recently interviewing Rob Halford, Geoff Tate and Ted Nugent — guys who, like you, were part of the 1985 HEAR N' AID project with Ronnie James Dio. What do you remember most about Dio and that experience in general?

Lynch: I was pretty nervous. It was right at the height of the '80s guitar mania, and here is every freaking guitar player. We were outside Charlie Chaplin's old movie lot in Los Angeles. Everyone was there — Yngwie, Neal Schon. And I was like, "Oh my god." I was totally unprepared. We're all sitting outside, and you get your 30 minutes or hour. It was a lot of pressure. But I gotta say if you listen to the audio recording of it, you can't really differentiate one guitar player from the next. But if you watch the video, it's really cool. Everyone's taking different takes. It was a great experience. As far as Ronnie, Oni [Logan, LYNCH MOB singer] is very tight with Ronnie. He lives with Wendy at her house. We've done tours with Ronnie. He was a gentleman and gracious human being.

Revolution Magazine: Are you still bodybuilding?

Lynch: No, that's one of the silliest things I've ever done. I felt so anti-musical. Even the guys from VH1 were making fun of me. It also makes it difficult to play. But no, I just work out now to stay in shape.

Revolution Magazine: Are you happy with your place in the guitar world?

Lynch: I gave up the idea slowly of being the world's greatest guitar player. I was consumed with that in my younger days, when you're full of testosterone. You think that, and it drives you when you're younger, and I didn't want to be like some of my heroes. When they got older, they got rich and lazy and comfortable. But there's always somebody faster, and ‘better' is subjective. But I've been able to create my own sound, and focusing now as a band and the unity that we all share, bringing people together and making them happy.

Read the entire interview from Revolution Magazine.