Dave Davies
Right: Dave Davies...now

E.C.: One thing I noticed in your book was your mention of being uncredited on MANY Kinks songs. This has happened in the past with such artists as Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones and Mike Love of the Beach Boys. In fact, Mike Love recently sued Brian Wilson for his contributions on many Beach Boys hits - now he is not only credited, but also receives royalties. Would this ever be a possibility with your Kinks contributions?

Dave: Well, you see, the thing is the songs like You Really Got Me in particular and All Day and All of the Night would never have been the songs they were without my input. Theres quite a few songs, I mean I dont want to take anything from Ray  with songs like Waterloo Sunset, we collaborated on so many songs. The thing is its like the left hand and the right hand, you need both hands. In a way I dont think that in the end when you look back over the work  I think the work is more important. Im very happy that I was able to be a major collaborator in such a great body of work. And obviously the majority of the writing was Ray, but I think it was a little bit sad that I didnt get credited with more input on a lot of the important songs. The main thing is I think, is that the music stands up on its own and it was a body of work that Im very proud of.

E.C.: I'd like to ask you a few questions about your solo career. At the time that "Death of a Clown" came out in 1968, there was talk of a Dave Davies solo album that of course didn't happen. In hind site, do you now wish that you had released one at that time?

Dave: Well, not really, I think that things happen for a reason. At the time I was enjoying being in a band. I mean Ive always liked being in a group. I enjoyed the camaraderie and the collaborative thing. I really want to do it [solo album]. But, I had some songs I wanted to write, like Death of a Clown and quite a few that never saw the light of day and eventually, some of them did. I think the main thing was, that I just really didnt want to do it. I wanted to be in the band, the Kinks were doing really well I was enjoying it. The record company were really pushing me to do it, put me in a cheap studio and I thought, this isnt what I wanna do. I dont like people telling me what to do, or trying to MAKE me write songs. It was really that basically, I felt like I was being made to do it and I didnt like it.

E.C.: There is a current trend where "lost" albums of rock 'n roll are being "finished" and released officially, such as Pete Townshend's LIFEHOUSE project from 1971. I once saw a copy of a bootleg album called "The Album That Never Was", which was supposedly all the tracks of your "lost" solo album. Have you ever thought of officially releasing the tracks that would have comprised your first solo album?

Dave: No really because I think that there as they are they are kinda like pieces for their time. Everytime you do something you think, oh shit I wish I had done that or I didnt like doing that, but the fact that it happened when it happened. If you had a Van Gogh painting and when he was alive and you think oh he could have done that different, we better change that tree, his face looks silly I mean I dont see the point. You can always improve on something, the technology is different today, but I would leave it well alone. If there was something that was incomplete, that might be interesting because I do that on my website. Ive got demos on my website and I think its exciting that these finally actually get out, for people to listen to it. I think thats a good idea, but theyre not really remastered because a lot of them are just 2-track tapes.

E.C.: Is touring/live performance still satisfying for you? I'm just curious as to how long you can see yourself performing live?

Dave: Well, I dont know I mean I love playing live now more than ever. Ive got a great little band and were organizing tours for next year [2003] and Im very much looking forward to it. Hopefully going to Europe and doing some promotion when BUG comes out. I enjoy it, I think it keeps you young.

E.C.: Your book (KINK) came out roughly around the same time as Ray's (X-RAY). Were each of you aware of the other's book plans? It's been 6 years since your book came out, is there anything that you would add or change to your book if you had the chance?

Dave: No, thats funny, I mean Ray is very secretive about his ideas  why not, the times that the Kinks have been ripped off, especially in the early years, it makes you a little bit cautious about telling anybody what youre doing. And thats understandable. But, I thought that it was a strange coincidence because I had no idea that he was working on a book. I was about three-quarters of the way through the book here in America, I flew to England to me my publisher-book agent because we wanted to get it placed in the U.K. I get off the tube train in Piccadilly and I see and advert for X-RAY! (laughs). I thought, I cant believe it, what a weird coincidence. It was totally weird that we were both writing  I mean we arent the same, Rays was thankfully a totally, totally different book which was kind of written in third person. My book I wanted to get a lot of the facts straight historically get it right because there have been so many Kinks books that got it wrong! So thats really what motivated me to do it, to get some of the information  the right information out.

E.C.: Do you foresee a second book?

Dave: Well, Im in the process of writing at the moment and its not a continuation, its all antidotal episodes in it theyre autobiographical. But its a work in progress.

E.C.: Do you think the Kinks will ever do a reunion tour?

Dave: It would be nice, I know that Pete is a little unwell, but he is fit. I think it would be nice to do something when you consider that the original Kinks lineup are still alive. It was really sad to hear about Joe Strummer today

E.C.: What? (I hadnt heard yet that Joe Strummer had died of a heart attack).

Dave: Joe Strummer died today its devastating, I couldnt believe it. I just heard it, someone just posted it one my website. Fifty years old a mere youngster.

E.C.: A section of your official website has an area for metaphysical/spiritual discussion. Have you ever thought of writing books on the subject?

Dave: Yeah, in fact the book that Im writing  its to do with my life as a musician and writer and the spiritual side of my life. But, its something thats ongoing and Im meeting with my publisher in London when I go back. Yeah, there are a lot of people who have asked me about that and its something that Im interested in and working on. Particularly from the perspective of the life experience that Ive had  my perspective might be helpful to a lot of people. A lot of people that embark on spiritual endeavors tended to, especially in the 60s and 70s they tended to give up what they had before and cut themselves off from their lives, previous life as it were. But, I dont think that one should do that. Spirituality can make you more aware of what is going on around you as well. Not to hide away from what is reality. What is reality anyway (chuckles)? To be very much a part of whats going on in the world. My perspective is that you should be IN the world, but not OF the world.

E.C.: How has the belief in religion helped you to be a better person or a better musician?

Dave: I have no idea I think well, its not religion, I call it spirituality. What I believe in touches many aspects of religious and spiritual thought. Mainly Im influenced and inspired by the eastern yogis aspect of mysticism. Which is, I think, the future. Concepts and methods, which were derived thousands and thousands of years ago to help people. And they might have been misused or discarded and I think people are turning inward more now cause the worlds got in such a weird, crazy state. I think its making people think more about their life and what it is really that they are doing. And how do we interact with a world thats going crazy? Its a very important time.

Right: Dave Davies...then

E.C.: How would you describe your take on spirituality?

Dave: I guess Id like to think its all encompassing, I think that what went wrong with religion is the same thing that went wrong with politics. Is that it became too money based and too controlling. Its just a weakness that we human beings have for control  we want one thing and then we want more and then we want more. Weve got ten people, weve got thirteen people in a spiritual movement like Jesus had. And people get ahold of the idea and say, hey, this could make a lot of money. (laughs) Whats all this thing about converting people? People should be shown a method to spiritual survival, its not about ownership and control. I mean these are things that we always keep doing, weve got to break these cycles. Were going to war again, another cycle. Its like a high-tech version of the Roman Empire all over again. We wont break these cycles until we start going inside and questioning our own selves  what am I, where am I, where is my spirit, where is myself. We keep looking outside for answers, when really the solution and the answers are inside us all. So, thats really what I think and it takes onboard a lot of questions about reality or this 3-D reality that we live in. And thats the only way were gonna move forward. A great mystic once said, if you change yourself youve done your part in changing the world. And I very much believe that. I mean, one person can make a big difference.

But, without saying, Ive seen the light, its beautiful, come with me  I dont think thats good, people have to have self-realization. Ive got enlightenment or I think I have. Or Joe Smith says Ive got enlightenment and you should have it. You should do it yourself, but you cant get it for nothing. Thats why I think theres been a big problem between religion, or organized religion and spirituality. Spirituality to me seems like self healing, self development. A lot of orthodox religions say, come on to me, well take care of your problems and Im afraid thats not good enough.

E.C.: Is that the reason why you dont put these themes into your songs, you feel everyone should find their own way?

Dave: Yes I do but, in my album BUG, and actually there is a thread through a lot of my solo work. From my first album in 1981 which was about spiritual change, theres a song on it called The World Is Changing Hands, which is about spiritual evolution and its a theme in all my work. I touch on it in BUG. The song Bug is about removing emotional spiritual blockages, we have to de-bug ourselves to try and find a spiritual reality find what the hell we are. Thats the idea of Bug, its like a metamorphosis.

So, it is in my work, but obviously when you write songs - I like to keep it amusing if I can I dont wanna bore people to death with it, because Im an entertainer. I want people to be entertained and have a good time as well as that there being an undercurrent message hopefully that might be helpful to people.

E.C.: Do you still pursue UFO sightings?

Dave: Yeah, I think theres some real stuff happening. Im very much interested in  Im not so much interested in all the loonies that are attracted to it. Because Ive met, since my interest in UFOs which goes back like twenty years, Ive met a lot of loonies. (laughs) You probably think Im one anyway, but I dont care anymore (laughs) theres loonies and loonies, you know what I mean? People that have had genuine abduction experiences that Ive met that seem very genuine to me, but theyre just confused about why it happened. Ive met a lot of people like which I regard as being very genuine but theres a lot of crazy people out there. They dream of UFOs and then they think theyve been abducted. Once the imagination gets hold of it, its X-Files all over again. At the same time I think theres a lot of information thats being withheld, for political reasons. Its like a political cauldron.

E.C.: Ive been out to Area 51 and I know what you mean by the loonies. It was like the Graceland of UFOs

Dave: But there is a lot of interaction going on if you wanna say like ET or a spirit-people. I think that whats going to come to light is that were gonna interact more and more with the other realm of existence. Were not just in this 3-dimensional psychical robot.

E.C.: So, you see a correlation between UFOs and spirituality?

Dave: Of course there is. Theres a song on BUG called True Phenomenon and its based on personal experience but its also a metaphor for spiritual change. To some person, its like the difference between like maybe Moses and Mohammed and Jesus and I-Ching .they didnt have all the same philosophy, they spoke in a different language and they looked different. One might be oriental and one might be black or some different backgrounds. Maybe some of these benevolent ETs are like our ancestors  weve come to a climax or the end of a cycle, a state of evolution. And theyre coming to help I really believe that. But I also believe that the best help is self-help. In STAR TREK the prime directive - what is it? Non interference. I think Gene Rodenberry had contact with these ETs. Theres a lot of stuff in his early work that indicates spiritual things happening and different ways of conscienceness.

E.C.: What is your take on the current trend of UFO movies like "Signs" or the new TV series, "Taken"?

Dave: I thought Taken was a bit boring. I thought Signs was brilliant! Ill tell you why, what was so great about Signs, was the subplot was about these people that interacted with each other like nothing was coincidence. I thought that was very beautiful. And it was almost like the alien stuff, the crop circles stuff, were secondary.

E.C.: Also there was the underlying theme of faith?

Dave: Exactly, like when the guy lost his faith and he realized that we all contribute. I love that feeling of nothing is a coincidence. And even if we are dead we help each other in some little way. See, thats why it was called Signs and not crop circles. Cause Im a great believer in omens. I try to be really very aware of the alignments in things that happen. Because I think that we are so bogged down in all the mundaneness in life and our bills and the car wont start. I think we were put here on the planet to actually have a good time and help each other. Why shouldnt we have a good time, I think we were put on here to experience bliss and joy and happiness and positive relationships. I know it sounds all very utopian, people think its a lot of rubbish, but I think people are becoming more aware of these thoughts and ideas now. We obviously need more love in the world. And we obviously need more compassion and understanding. Our leaders need to really address these issues properly now.

Signs I thought was an important film from that point of view. It gave the guy faith and made him believe in a divine force or whatever force is operating and also gave him his faith back.

E.C.: But it also had a different take it that the aliens in the movie were

Dave: Stupid! (laughs) I mean if you could fly from like the other side of the galaxy and they cant get out of a cupboard? (laughs) Its good that they had humour in it, there was some humorous stuff in it.

E.C.: Any plans on coming to the states to play live?

Dave: Yeah, Im hoping to do a U.S. tour next year [2003] Im not sure whether its going to be April or May yet, probably around that period so this is definite.

E.C.: Well, [Daves publicist] said I only had about 20 minutes and I believe weve gone over