Danny Vaughn and I should have spoken several weeks before this interview, but due to the cold that he picked up at Winters End, along with several members of the band, it’s taken a few weeks to rearrange. Danny is back on form and has just completed a couple of acoustic shows ahead of the release of Tyketto’s first album in a decade, Closer To The Sun.
One in Hastings and one in Belfast, Danny Vaughn is pleased that these shows went “very well. and were well attended. “The Belfast thing was really serendipitous because when I finished, everybody was like, you know, when is Tyketto coming back? I said, soon, and then two days later, we announced that we’re coming back. So, I had people already interested and ready to go, which was great.”
Formed in 1987, Tyketto are as popular now as they have ever been. Danny tells me it still surprises him that the band remains so popular. “On a daily basis, yes. I mean, thank goodness, it’s hard work rewarded, but after COVID, nobody knew what was going to happen. I lost two key band members to retirement and wasn’t sure if Tyketto had a future at all.
“Would the fans accept Tyketto with one remaining original member? We needed to give it time to work itself out. Now we’re headlining mid-level festivals. We’re being invited to play territories we’ve never played before. There are a couple of, I hope, very big tour announcements coming up in the next few days. So, we’re kind of more popular than ever. And that’s a really wild thing for a 35-year-old band to say.”
With more touring than ever, how does Danny Vaughn and his band maintain a healthy approach to being on the road at 64 years of age? “I’ve always kind of taken care of it, particularly the voice. So, it’s not letting the 18-year-old in your head dictate how you do things. It’s like if you go to the gym, for instance, and you’re going to lift weights, don’t try to lift what you could lift at 20. I used to be able to do this.
“Used to is a keyword. You must accept these things. So, am I running about quite as much as I used to? Probably not. But I’m also not sitting down yet. We’re putting on a solid show. I’ve got a bunch of very excited band members to join in with me. Guys who really understand what Tyketto’s been about all these years and our relationship with our fans, which is obviously completely key to what we do and what we’re doing now.
“So, I don’t have a lot of extra stress as in I got to talk to so-and-so or he said this to that person. Everybody’s naturally on the same page and that makes life much simpler for me.”
All a lot more balanced and measured than when Danny was part of Pete Way’s Waysted, back in the day. “Indeed,” laughs Danny. “Yeah, that was just… Try and keep up and when you couldn’t keep up, try and be sensible. But it wasn’t easy.”
Although it will be ten years since Reach was released, Danny Vaughn explains that it was not meant to be so long between albums. “I mean, we got sidelined for two years by COVID. We really should have put a new album out in 2020 or 2021. Then after that, as I mentioned earlier, having two key members retire and wanting to make absolutely sure I had the right replacements. I wanted to give that new band time to play together, to get to know each other.
“It would have been wrong to just, okay, straight into the studio with a bunch of guys who didn’t know how to work together yet. So, I kept delaying and delaying and pushing it off. So yeah, it stretched into 10 years.
“Quite honestly, I am as excited now as I was when Don’t Come Easy came out. Whilst I have no illusions, the possibilities are open once again. I think quite a bit of that is due to, again, a new band with new momentum, but also a new record company. We’re with a group of people that really believe in us, understand the merits of what we bring to the table and can deliver on the things they promise that they can deliver on, which is all I ever asked from any record company. You know, just don’t make shit up.”
What about the writing process? Is Danny Vaughn one who is always jotting down ideas? “For me, the hardest part is starting. I don’t know if you find that as a writer, like the blank page. I liken creativity to the old steam engines, the steam trains, because apparently, it requires 100% of the full power that a steam engine can exert to get that wheel to turn the first time.
“Then after that, inertia takes over, and it gets easier. It takes less power to do it. That’s creativity. So, if I go for a period where I’m not doing anything musical, it’s really that wheel… Come on, you know?
“I’m notoriously slow. But what happened was basically, I had band members kicking my arse, and I had a deadline, and it was like, all right, we can’t put this off anymore. Can’t hide under that whining ego of, I don’t feel like being creative.
“As Gene Simmons wisely said, fuck you, it’s your job. Get in there and write. There’s a lot of co-writes on this record, as well as a cover song. It’s the first time Tyketto has ever recorded a cover for an album.”
We move on to the reception that the songs already released have received. Album opener Higher Than High is the ideal way to start the record, an immediate marker for inclusion in the new live set. Danny assures me that it will be, along with We Rise.
The preparation for the acoustic shows was obviously less than needed for the full band. “It was a lot less shouting in the acoustic version,” he smiles. “Yeah. It’s similar, though, in that we’re all a mind of, particularly if it’s been a little while since we played together. Right, let’s ease back into it. Let’s just not assume it’s all going to come back to us.
“It’s the same thing I do with the acoustic shows. I mean, you would think, well, he doesn’t need to practice Wings. But it’s probably good that I do and get it under my hands because I’m used to singing Wings with a mic stand and a band. But then, suddenly, if I’m the guitar player as well, I tell audiences this a lot. I would love to ask really proficient players, like somebody like Guthrie Govan, do you still have those moments where you’re about to do something you’ve done 100 times and your brain goes, are you sure?
“It really messes up your flow. And the best shows are when that voice never happens, and you just are sure. And they’re not all like that. They can’t be. They’re actually few and far between those.”
On the day I was originally due to speak with Danny Vaughn, Dee Snider announced his departure from Twisted Sister and the cessation of all their live shows due to health issues. Danny is not quite in the septuagenarian bracket, but he is closing in on it. Is it something he’s conscious about these days?
“It’s there like a vulture on my shoulder,” he says. “One of the things about getting older, I think if you’re wise, is not to ignore that and to start to address it regularly. Some of the Native Americans have a saying that you walk with your death every day, and that is not a negative thing. That, in fact, is a positive thing if you have absolute knowledge that this ends.
“As far as my career and my singing, I’m kind of in avoidance. I know it ends, but surely, it’s way off yet, and you just don’t know. You just don’t know. All things being equal, this year, for instance, is the first time I think Mick Box had to duck out of doing shows. But he’s a marvel, as is Dave Meniketti, who basically does it all. That tremendous beating on your body to be lead guitar player, lead singer, leader of the band, and everything else.
“From what I understand from speaking with Dave, he’s going to go out like Tommy Cooper. He is going to keep right on playing, you know? So, part of that’s in my head as far as I will do this as long as I can do it to a high level.
“Thank goodness, I’ve not lost any of my range. That is inevitable because vocal cords thin out and dry out as we age. But I also look at somebody like Robert Plant, who is performing at a wonderful level. I’ve seen him with Alison Krauss, and he’s just like, look, ‘folks, I’m going to make this turn now, and you’re welcome to come with me.’
“That’s probably where I’ll be at some point. If I can’t sing that long note at the end of Forever Young anymore, you know? But that’s also why I do the solo stuff and the acoustic stuff. Is there a place for me to go should I not be able to be Tyketto anymore?”
Part Two of this interview with Danny Vaughn will be out next week. Tyketto release Closer To The Sun through Silver Lining Music on 20 March 2026. The album will be available on Deluxe Limited Edition 12″ Sunburst Vinyl, Limited Edition 12″ Red Vinyl, 12″ Black Vinyl, CD Digipak, Digital Download, Streaming and special D2C bundles.
Pre-orders are available from lnk.to/TykettoCloserToTheSun. For tour dates and tickets, visit Tyketto.com.
