James Kottak the energetic drummer for The Scorpions signed on after the release of Pure Instinct and the subsequent tour behind the record. James already known for his prior work with Wild Horse, Kingdom Come and McAuley Schenker Group fit in perfectly and upgraded the drumming slot return. We got an opportunity to catch up with James while he awaited a flight to Europe. It’s short but sweet and James proved to be another of the nice guys in the business. Check it and enjoy.


You guys released the new album Sting In The Tail; the most consistent album since Crazy World or Face The Heat.

Right. We’re really proud of the new album it’s a return to the classic Scorpions of the late 70’s or early 80’s the Blackout and Love At First Sting era. We weren’t really planning for the record to take that kind of direction but that’s just the course that it took. We had like 18 songs that were written for the record and I think what’s really important are the songs that we did not put on the album. Their exclusion made this record a stronger album in the end. The reception by the fans and critics has been just awesome. We can’t tell you how happy we are with the reaction we’re getting.

You touched on the songs that didn’t make on the album. Sting In The Tail is basically a greatest hits album with new hits. It’s got the rockers, incredible ballads and stuff that falls in between.

Thank you. The first four songs that we wrote for this record were actually dark. I call them dark songs because they were probably too heavy compared to the stuff we’ve done in the past. They were in the vein of “The Good Die Young” but you can’t have too many songs like that. I love “The Good Die Young” but I’m glad the way things evolved took us away from where we were headed initially in the songwriting process. We also co-wrote with our producers; Martin Hansen and Mikael Andersson who took the whole thing to an entirely different level. The project took on a fast pace and we were actually done probably within a couple of months.

What you intention that Sting In The Tail would be The Scorpions’ farewell album? And if so how much additional pressure did that place on the band to dial it up a few notches?

That actually wasn’t decided until after the record was completed. That decision wasn’t made until around Novemebr of December of 2009. We had been talking for the last year when this would all come to an end. We never seriously sat down and spoke about at length. Our manager suggested that if we were going to call it a career that we should go out with a bang since this record turned out to be so great. The timing couldn’t be better and we have an entire tour ahead of us.

Is it really goodbye? One thing that I told everyone is that The Scorpions deliver each and every time. You guys are one of the most consistent live acts that I have seen year in and year out. It’s almost superhuman at times.

The thing about us playing live when you have 10,000 plus people in front of you screaming their heads off it gives you an extra dose of adrenaline. No matter how tired you are like you said like a superman. This is the real deal after this there is no more Scorpions. I know there are many bands out there that claim that it is farewell then they never leave or they get back together after a year or two.

This tour will take you guys on a three year jaunt. How many North America legs will there be?

Well we will be here this summer and then we’ll be back again next year. If it were up to me I’d say let’s tour North America for 6 months I love here so much. I’ve been in the band for 15 years and with each album that I’ve been a part of it take at least two years to tour behind the album. In fact we just finished touring behind Humanity Hour 1 in November of 2009 if you can believe that. So to do this properly we’re looking at least 3 years of touring. We are no doing an Ozzy Osbourne farewell this is it and that’s why we are making sure we do this right. Once it’s over it’s really over.

The Scorpions aren’t a political band by any means but you guys have become this world band without being a U2. How did that happen?

The one thing about The Scorpions is that they’ve never gone away. There have been period where they’ve take 3 years off but they’ve never been away longer than that. They love what we do I love what we do. It’s way of life a lifestyle and we really enjoy it. We’re like a gang of friends and when you’re with family and friends like this you feel like you can do this forever. You always read about bands that don’t get along the travel separate because they don’t like each other and they don’t see each other unless they are recording or on stage for the show. Scorpions are like a great marriage I guess that’s the best way to put it.


As you stated earlier you’ll be touring North America this summer there was talk of Ratt opening but looks like Cinderella is on the bill for some date and Dokken on others.

We are using these bands based on availability Tesla will also be doing some shows, Ratt will be doing some shows and Dokken others. It just comes down to the bands that compliment our shows because the show first and foremost.

James I have to add that I saw you opening for Scorpions, Metallica and Van Halen on the Monsters Of Rock in ’88 when you were playing with Kingdom Come. I saw you guys at The Kingdom which has since been imploded. What a great tour that was.

Right it was. We actually just had Kingdom Come open some shows for us in Russia this past year. It was great seeing Lenny Wolf again and his band. We’ve even toying with the idea of doing something like that Monsters Of Rock tour on this farewell tour. Who knows it will happen but that would be so cool.

About how many songs of the new album will you guys are performing on the North American leg of the tour? Any twists in the set list for the fans?

I don’t want give too much away I will say that we will be doing probably at least 3 songs off the new album. We’ll be of course doing all the classic songs that you know and love. It’s just a matter of time and how many songs we can fit in 90 minutes. I think we’ll be doing 22 or so songs.

You guys recorded the Wacken show a few years back where you brought back some of the former members. If this is truly the end of the road this would be a great time to get another DVD out to document The Scorpions’ end of the road don’t you think?

It’s a very strong possibility. We want to document everything this year, next and the year after that. We want to give the fans a chance to see what really goes on behind the scenes. I’d love to have someone on the road with us for a few days that would be great. I don’t know how this will all happen but I do think this tour definitely needs to be documented.

Do you envision a concert movie then?

Definitely. I’d also like to do a few shows where we bring back Uli John Roth, Michael Schenker and Herman Rarebell and make it a family affair. This is the beginning of a long stretch and we have lots to do.

Once this whole thing winds down for good in a couple of years or so, what do you have waiting in the wings? I know you have your band Kottak with your wife Athena. Any other things that you’d like to do?

Like you said I have a band Kottak we have a new album coming out in June called Rock and Roll Forever. It will be out May 14th in Europe. That has been my baby for several years Athena and I have been doing that for a few years now. Anytime Scorpions isn’t tour or recording I do that. I’m constantly being asked to play on other people’s albums, I presume I’ll be doing a lot more of that. I’ve been asked to do drum clinics around the world, I’ve never done that do to time constraints. I will do some of that now, I’m just so flattered that people would like me to come in and talk about drums. I’m sure I’ll wind up playing drums full-time with somebody but after playing with The Scorpions playing with anybody no matter how talented and gifted they are it would be like a step down. I love writing music, I love playing drums, I love all of it we’ll have to see what comes up in addition to Kottak.

James, thank you for taking some time to answer some questions. We love the album, have a safe flight and we’ll see you in August.

Ruben it’s been a pleasure I’m glad you like the album. When you come out to the show drop by and say hello.