Reproduced from DMA Vol 4, Issue 10, November 1996

Many people, including DJs, are surprised that Dead Or Alive is currently, on a promotional tour supporting "Nukleopatra".

We're not actually promoting anything; we're on tour because we want to be on a tour. The CD has done very well as an import all over America; We've never just gone on the road to promote a current release; we tour when we want to, really; we're fortunate enough to get bookings with or without a release. The tour has been quite successful; although it's been from one end of America to the other—I've never done so many dates.

Do you foresee an American, record deal soon?

Well, there's definitely interest out there. There's been interest all along. We're just searching for the right record label to come along. The record companies would have to be stupid not to see the potential, especially if all our shows are sold out. There's a really big fan base out there!

Are there any labels in particular, you've talked with. Some of the independent "dance music " labels sound like a great match for DOA.'

"It' s kinda scary the idea of signing to a solely "dance orientated" record label because, what if three years down the line we don't want to do another dance record? I'd like a label with a bit larger scope perhaps one with a very strong dance department.

Is this a reflection of your experience wish Epic records?

After our experience with Epic records, it makes you wary of being with a record company again. The most fun we ever had was when we were doing it on an independent level. Once you get into the wheels of a big company like Epic, it turns into a bit of a nightmare. You just become a product in every way... your personality becomes product, your look becomes a product, and your music just gets thrown into a big stew. I gotta say, all the years that we spent with Epic records were a complete nightmare!

How do you account for your huge following in Japan; do you tour a lot there?

No, we go basically once a year; we do 70,000-seaters like the Tokyo Dome. I really don't know how to account for it. Sony has been brilliant in working the record, instead of focusing on the publicity angle of the musicians and the band - they just solely sold the record. This, in turn, makes you more cooperative with the promotional aspects.

Are there plans to release any singles off of "Nukleopatra"?

Yes, I see one coming out very soon as a domestic release.

The title track?

It may be, or it may be "Rebel, Rebel."

How did the project with Glam come about?

They wrote me a letter. I had never really worked with anyone else and was getting bored. I hadn't written anything for some time. They couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Italian; but they sent me a very loose backing track, and me and Steve (Coy) put it into some sort of pop format - it turned out to be quite a good song, actually.

Besides the creative process of songwriting, how involved do you get with the technical aspects of your music such as producing and remixing?

'Very early on, during the first albums I was extremely involved; then it got to the point where Steve [Coy] (the manager, drummer, producer) sort developed almost a psychic link. When I spent so much time in the studio I couldn't bear to go out and promote it because I had heard it far too often; It really started to get to me. There got to be a point after "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous To Know," where I didn't ever want to see a recording studio again because we were in there so long. In order to motivate me to work, Steve took over that side of it. He doesn't lock himself away in a studio, bring it home in a box and say 'there it is,' I am involved in, 'yes, this is right, or no this is wrong.'

'You've also done some of the most memorable dance music videos, are there any plans for videos from "Nukleopatra"?

There definitely will; we've already done one for Rebel Rebel as well as rough cuts for a few other tracks, because we tend to experiment a lot with the camera ourselves. All can say is things will become available... if not on domestic release very soon, somehow through the fan club. We'll do it because there is genuine demand out there.

In your videos, you look like you really enjoy the process...

It's very easy for me; We've never done longer than a one-day shoot, we edit all our own videos as well. There is a video for Rebel Rebel out now available through Japan and the fan club. We've been doing it for so long that it's hard to put yourselves in the hands of a video director. We have such a strong identity and a strong sense of self, we're not really malleable, no one can really change us.

Do you have a stylist to help you come up with your different looks?

It's just a natural, organic process. I don't do it just for a video or anything. That's the way I live my life really; I've always treated my body as a house or something. If I want to look different, I'll look different— it's not motivated by any sort of fashion movement. Again, we all tend to have our own identity and attract flamboyant people.

You've worked with a lot of influential producers/remixers on your songs, are there any who you currently admire?

The last records that really impressed me were by the Utah Saints. Since then. they've sort disappeared, which I admire. .. they didn't saturate the market.

It seems nowadays that production and/or a remix can make or break a song—no matter if there's any substance there or not...

You see, that's really silly, because a lot of it has to do with the remixers name. We say in England, ‘You can't polish a turd.' If the track isn't good, a remixer shouldn't be able to gain any more attention than the record deserves. This is something that we've tried to resist; but eventually the record companies will pressure you to work with certain remixers, I will assist and have the final say; if it's got some remixers name on it but isn't good, it isn't going out.

Musically, who do you listen to?

At the moment I like Prodigy's 'Firestarter'. However, that's not a musical direction I'd like to go into myself. I tend to like things that don't sound anything like us.

Upon listening to your first string of successful dance tracks like '"You Spin Me 'Round", "Something In My House," and "Brand New Lover," they were clearly ahead of their time, did you know that when they hit, they'd go on to become some of the most successful dance songs of all time?

No, it just seemed to be the right sound at the right time. Although the producers Stock Aitken Waterman tend to take credit for the sound, it's something that we'd labored on for awhile. They did not add or subtract a thing from our sound; it's a mere record company formality that we had some producers name on the records. I would say we contributed very largely to the sound that Stock, Aitken Waterman eventually gained success from. . . I'd have to say that to this day there's a little bit of bad blood in the air.

After a string of hugely successful worldwide hits, you seemed to switch gears a bit in 1988, and capitalized on a popular sound with roots in the states: The Miami/freestyle movement of the late 80's.

We had spent a lot of time in America and all of a sudden out of the blue there came a slew of records that really impressed me by the Pantera group...

...Lewis A. Martinee!

Yeah, they did a couple of records by Expos . I remember listening to the Expos records and thinking what a great sound it was—then we tuned into the radio stations and heard all those songs with 'The Miami Sound.' It was then that I wanted to do something like that.

Come Home With Me Baby was, and still is such a terrific song!

Thanks, I agree that it was a different sound—everyone that reviewed it though said it was exactly the same stuff we'd always done. There are many dimensions to dance music. Journalists try to de-value it. English journalists, especially dismiss dance music as crap.

How did you come up with such a visually and phonetically appealing title for your current album Nukleopatra?

I came up with it using ‘nukle' as in bomb, and I'd also been reading things about ancient Egypt and their blurred gender lines.. . I just went from there.

Are you still married ?

Yeah.

When you're not touring where do you call home?

London but with all the touring, we're thinking about moving to New York.

Are there any projects DOA is currently working on?

Yeah, we're writing at the moment. Steve also wanted me to tell you that we're going to re-record 'You Spin Me 'Round.'

Anything else that you'd like to say to your adoring fans?

We'll be back in the states touring through December and there will definitely be a Greatest Hits package released.

Will this coincide with an a record deal?

Well I'd like it to and if not, somehow we'll get around it. We've functioned before a record deal and fortunately kept a loyal fan base.

Special thanks to Lin Benfield and Randall Warren at Central Records and Jodi Sullivan of The Baha nightclub in Charlotte, N.C. for their efforts in arranging this interview.