Drummer Dwain Miller recalls Ron Keel secretly writing country songs when Keel first disbanded

Drummer Dwain Miller recalls Ron Keel secretly writing country songs when Keel first disbanded

Keel drummer Dwain Miller was recently interviewed by Metal Mike for the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast. Miller has played drums on the last five Keel studio albums consisting of The Final Frontier (1986), Keel (1987), Larger Than Live (1989), Keel VI: Back In Action (1998) and Streets of Rock & Roll (2010).

Keel broke up after the release of Larger Than Live in 1989. Miller was asked about the disbanding of the group at that time and singer Ron Keel going the country route to which he replied (as transcribed by the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast):

“Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay were both gone. We had Tony Palmucci on guitar and Scott Warren on keyboards. Then Kenny Chaisson quit. That’s why we broke up. There was only one original member, and that was Ron. It was a good time to walk away. Ron had other plans too. He was secretly writing country songs. I didn’t care…. I supported him. I think he was trying to shock people. He does have a country background and he wanted to do it big. We kinda teased him about it and said “Dude, I like your new accent”. He was playing the part which was good. I have no problem with it. Now with country and metal, he’s right in the middle.”

In terms of recording The Final Frontier with Gene Simmons producing, Miller indicated: “That was the first album I actually recorded with band. I did the whole album in one day in the small room. Then the next day I did the whole album in the big room, so we had different drum sounds. I did the whole album twice in 2 days, which was kinda good….but then they expected it from me all the time! Working with Gene Simmons – I was star struck at first. Then I would go to studio and talk with him and I realized he was just a regular person. I heard a lot of stories…stories I can’t repeat! We had a lot of fun and we were well rehearsed for that one.”

You can listen to the interview with Dwain Miller on the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast below:

Keel‘s “Dreams Are Not Enough” video (from Larger Than Live album):