There is a group out of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada that has at times been compared to Iron Maiden and Saxon.
Formed in 1981, their debut album released in 1983 was nominated for a Juno Award.
Radio stations across the United States took notice of the band especially in Texas.
MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” put their videos in regular rotation.
The group we are talking about is “Killer Dwarfs”.
Darrell dwarf Millar talked with us about “Killer Dwarfs”
Q – Darrell, in the year 2022, where is there a marketplace for a Hard Rock band like “Killer Dwarfs”? Where does the band perform?
A – That’s a good question because that is when we started coming back in the Dark Ages of the Grunge era. We basically got together after a hiatus of probably five or six years there. The Dirty Weapons lineup of the band which is Mike, Rondo, Russ and I got back together and did a DVD in Toronto called “Reunion Of Scribes” and that’s out there. You can get it. It’s a live show. Then we went on tour. We toured throughout the U.S. and Canada for 4 years up until 2005, 2006. Then I went on another hiatus. I’ll tell you those tours we did were not great. The climate of Rock was coming back but, it wasn’t sort of back if you know what I mean. From 2000 to 2005 is when we came back again. The fan base wasn’t all intact again. We had crowds but it didn’t feel the same. It didn’t feel amazing like it used to. We kind of ran our course with those tours in the mid-2000. Then we took another hiatus and then we came back in 2013 with an album that we had recorded 20 years prior called Start @ One. We had that album on the shelf actually. So, we brought that album back and nobody had ever heard it. It really was an extension of “Method To The Madness”. We’ve mixed it and put it out and toured behind it. It was great. It was “Killer Dwarfs” from 20 years prior but nobody had ever heard it and it became new music, a new album. So, we’ve been touring behind that ever since and we put back the “Method To The Madness” lineup which is Russ and I and Gerry Dwarf. I got Johnny Dwarf the newest member. He’s been in the band 10 years now. He’s a friend of mine. I got him in the band. He’s a great bass player. A really good fit for the band. So, this lineup has just been great. We’ve had such a good run with it. The climate of Rock is really healthy. The Monsters Of Rock Cruises have created a lot of that and XM Radio helped. This has probably been the best run the Killer Dwarfs have had in probably our whole career other than touring with Iron Maiden in the late 80s. This run we are on now has been fantastic. We finally recorded new music and trying it out on some of the fans. We just got back from a sold-out show in Edmonton and we just did a run of the US. We did the Whiskey A Go Go and played in Vegas. Sebastian Bach got up and sang a song with us which is just great. Played Denver, Salt Lake City. We’ve done Pittsburgh, Philly. We’ve made a good dent so far.
Q – These are the most positive statements I’ve heard from a rock musician in a long time. Mostly I hear Rock is Dead. They are not playing Rock ‘n Roll or Rock anymore. It’s Rap and Country. You’re the first guy I spoke to who is so optimistic!
A – If you had talked to me 15 years ago (2007) I would’ve told you the climate is not good. (Laughs). The thing with us is, we’ve been around 40 years. Our fan base is still there. Killer Dwarfs are like a cult band in a way. We’re not as big as a Motley Crue but, we’ve sold enough records and had enough hit songs that were still very valid as a band. In any market in the world we can still draw people to shows whether it’s clubs or festivals or whatever we play. We’re doing a lot of casinos these days and their great. What’s happened is we’ve been around so long that we’re like a Classic Rock band now. People look at it like wow! I’ve got to see this band. These guys are the real deal. From the day. From the 80s. And we are. We’re still that band. Everybody still looks good and we’re still intact and still healthy and we’re still playing at a very high level. So, I’m very proud of the band at this point. I’m very proud that we’ve hung in actually. It’s not easy to do and we do this full-time. Rock ‘n Roll is a very tough business. There’s not a doubt about it. I feel very lucky actually, kind of blessed that we do have a fan base because these other guys that are telling me rock is dead, maybe they’re not in a band that has a legacy like we do. They’re feeling the impact of there’s so many other things going on in music. There’s so many other genres of music. Hard Rock is no longer number one in Billboard anymore. It’s not there. You’ve got a few young bands that have come out like Dirty Honey and Wolfgang Van Halen, but if you’re really not seeing a lot of new rock bands that do Metal that are surviving. So, that’s the negative side that’s probably what you’re hearing from some of these other guys whose luck maybe isn’t as good as ours at the moment. All of the 80s bands I know are back. Winger, Faster Pussycat. All the Monsters of Rock Cruise bands and were part of that. It’s like of movement.
Q – When your debut album was released the people of Texas really took a liking to that album and your band. Why do you suppose that was?
A – It was all due to one man, Joe Anthony, the Godfather of Rock on KISS FM, in San Antonio. He broke the Killer Dwarfs with airplay. That was in the days when radio really meant something. Speaking of that, even radio has changed so much. AOR radio used to command so much power. A lot of that is not the same either. How many people actually listen to the local radio stations anymore? I don’t know. Most of them listen to XM Radio right now. Things like that. Joe Anthony gave us heavy rotation on a couple of songs and the next thing you know we were opening for “Accept” at the Majestic Theater. Our very first show was in San Antonio. The place went nuts. We were like Whoa! What is this? We went from playing the Gas Works, a bar in Toronto, drove straight down to Texas and played the show and did a little tour of Texas. We ended up touring with Saxon after that and a whole bunch of bands. Texas has been just a big thing for us ever since that. And also there is a promoter there too, it’s not just Joe, it’s Jack Orbin, Stone City Attractions. Between Jack and the radio that’s why the Killer Dwarfs got big there.
Q – In the 80s, Killer Dwarfs were regularly featured on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball.” What did that mean for the Killer Dwarfs? What did that do for your career?
A – MTV and Much Music in Canada at the time were a very big deal. They went hand-in-hand with breaking bands as much as radio did. So, in the 1980s it was a real formula. You’re single comes out on the radio. It’s followed up by a video on MTV. It’s a formula that really worked. Next thing you know you’ve got a Gold or a Platinum Record out of that. It lasted for a little while, about five or six years, that formula. And, that’s how much power MTV had. We got signed to Epic Records. Next thing you know we are on MTV. It was a great thing. Our videos were really popular speaking of that, that’s why you’re talking to me right now and I’m not living in some other country not in the music business anymore. (Laughs). That’s why were still here talking because of MTV and the power of that. It’s kept us around. Once you get into the media on that level, if you stay around your never forgot. So yeah, that was a huge thing.
Q – Was the band always called “Killer Dwarfs”? Who came up with that name?
A – Well, the band was formed out of two bands. Russ and I met in Québec City and he was in a band called “Ozz”. It was an Alice Cooper Tribute band. I was in a band called “Snakes”. We were a three piece kind of like “Triumph.” We did some original tunes and some cover tunes back then in the bar circuit. We formed the Killer Dwarfs out of those two bands but, we weren’t called Killer Dwarfs right off the start. The first year we were together, or the first half year anyway we were called “Sphinx”, but, we know that wasn’t going to be the name of the band. It was a different band altogether with Russ in it. So we had a manager called Bob Connolly and he came up with the name. He got it from the book The Hobbit. We thought it was kind of dumb to tell you the truth. It didn’t hit us as something we were interested in. The front of the original band were all little guys, like AC/DC little guys. Bryce, Ange and Russ are tall, 6 foot tall. But, those guys were literally 5’3”, 5’2”. All three of them were short. So, Bob was looking at it like Killer Dwarfs. This is going to be neat. So, he kind of talked us into it. He said ‘before you say no on this name, I’m going to make up this giant poster of this troll with the club and I’m gonna book 5 clubs shows in Toronto and I’m going to send you guys out to do those dates with this poster. Let’s see how you’re received. If people dig it, if you get positive feedback-that’s your name. But, if people laugh at it or you get negative feedback, we can move on. How about that? So, we said sure. We’ll do it. We did it, and everybody thought it was a classic it was amazing. There was nothing but positive comments about the band. We realized it fit the band after we started playing shows. That’s how it happened.
Q – I take it no dwarfs ever came out and said “Hey, that isn’t funny?” Nobody said a thing to you?
A – Yeah, you know what’s odd about that. I think only one time in our whole career somebody said something or came out with a sign that was “Down With Dwarfs” or something. I don’t know. It was in the Bible Belt or something. One time only. We’ve never had any backlash especially in this politically correct bullshit time we’re living in now; you figured they’d be all over us with that name, right?
Q – Right.
A – But, no. Nobody is coming out bothering us about our name at all if anything were criticized that it’s spelled wrong. It’s supposed to be dwarves with a v. And, that’s not true I always have to correct them on their English. I say no. That’s not the case. You Google it and find out the reason why it was in the Hobbit spelled that way or “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” That’s how it’s spelled.
Q – You were at one point signed to Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s EMI label. What kind of clout does he have in the music business? Was that a big deal?
A – Well, it wasn’t really a big deal at all. All we did was kind of let him put out a couple of records that we already had out and let him distribute them. He was working with some other guy. We hardly ever talk to Dave. The other guy, I forget his name was doing all the business for him at the time. That’s all it was. We were going to record a brand-new record and let them release it. We just decided on distribution. I have my own label where I have distribution with Sony. It’s the same thing. So really to me it was no big deal. We’re not with him anymore. His label went under and we’re free of our contract. Nothing much happened with that if you want to know the truth. (Laughs).
Q – Tell me about your label.
A – I started my label for a band that I was in; I’m the lead singer of, a band called Ottoman.ca when I was in another hiatus with the Dwarfs and I put that band together. We’re still around. We have three albums out. I started working with Mega Force. They got the distribution for my label, a worldwide distribution deal. They take a cut and distribute my record and get it on iTunes and everywhere else for downloads and that’s all that is. I do all the work. I did everything. It’s a big job, man. (Laughs).
Q – Did you make any money with the Ottoman? Where did the money come from to live on one Killer Dwarfs are on hiatus?
A – I played shows. I toured with the Ottoman across Canada. Even opened for Iron Maiden in Winnipeg with that band, only toured in Canada. Couldn’t go to the US with that band. A lot of the guys had day jobs. See, I do this full-time. I have investments. I have money. I made money and make sure I kept the money. I’ll tell you right now my brother, there’s no stupid Rock stars. There’s no dumb musicians that are successful. You have to be super smart with money and other things to survive this business to begin with. Luckily I’m not a drug addict and different things that could’ve taken money like cocaine out of my pocket and gambling habits. All kinds of shit. I don’t have any of that. So, when I make money I try to turn it into more money. I’ve always done that. So, I always have X amount of dollars to invest in something like a record label, or like my band the Ottoman. At the end of the day I never made a lot of money off that band but it got me through another five-year hiatus with the Dwarfs. Merchandise is good with it. It kept me going, man. Just another iron in the fire. I always have a bunch irons in the fire, like writing books and things like that outside of the band that generates income. I have an online store called Doug’s Pirate Shop. I always have something. Any advice I can give to a young musician is its very important to a musician to do it full-time, to dedicate all your energy to your craft. When your dad, would say you need a Plan B. That’s all the parents say if you want to become a musician, be a Rockstar, right? Well, “Plan B can be a lot of things. It doesn’t have to be a construction job for eight hours a day. You just got to be smart. Think outside the box.
Official website: www.killerdwarfsband.com
© Gary James all rights reserved
