As previously announced, British band DOOGIE WHITE & LA PAZ will release their sophomore album in late spring via Metal Mind. The album entitled The Dark And The Light is set to be released on May, 27th in Europe and June, 4th in USA. The drums and most of the bass guitar parts were recorded in Gorbals Sound in Glasgow. The guitars, additional bass parts and keyboards were recorded at The Farm owned by Chic McSherry, while the vocals will be recorded at Kinman Studio in London. Mixing was done again by Rolf Munkes at Empire Studios in Germany. Chic McSherry and Doogie White (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, RAINBOW, CORNERSTONE, TANK) comment the writing and recording process:

Chic: “After ‘Granite’ was finished and released I went on holiday in Mexico, near La Paz actually. I was out on the Pacific Ocean for a few days and the constant thrum of the boat engine was just morphing into all sorts of noises and beats in my head. The beer probably contributed to that as well… When I got back from the trip the earworms just wouldn’t go away so I eventually called Doogie and said ‘I got some ideas man, I think I will make up a couple of demos.’ To my surprise he immediately said ‘Yeah – why not? Send them down when you’re ready and I’ll take a listen.’ I started to record the basic framework ideas and emailed them to Doogie as I finished them, and he kept coming back and saying 'Yep – that’s good, what else you got?' Over three weeks I wrote 11 pieces of music, 10 of which have made it onto ‘The Dark And The Light’. After Doogie and I had agreed which ones we would work on further, the demos then went to the other Flying La Paz Brothers and they immediately started adding their unique and distinctive styles and ideas to them to bring the final work together.

This is the real heart of the thing for me - I have no ambition to be judged amongst the virtuoso guitar players out there, many of whom Doogie has worked with and is still working with on other projects. I have no illusions about where I stand next to those guys, many of whom are my heroes! I have just been lucky enough to write a lot of songs with Doogie, songs that we both really enjoy and are proud of, and then we get to play them with the great musicians in La Paz. I guess that if you believe that music is an art form, you could think of me as the guy who makes the canvas upon which others can create some magic! ‘Granite’ was a great album for us to do, but in a lot of ways we were playing music that we already knew really well. This was much more of an exploration of new territories for everyone and we all have had SUCH a blast putting it together.”

Doogie: “Chic is very driven, creatively and emotionally, and I get bored when I am not working. It therefore makes for the most wonderful combination for us to write songs together. I personally never thought that La Paz would never record another album. I knew we had at least another one in us. It’s a natural thing we have. Chic knows, I know, and together we both know that between us we can write a song or two. Then when you add in the solid foundation of Big Al and Wee Paul it’s all there. Of course ‘Posh Boy’ Andy has his part to play on the keyboards to make it really become La Paz. Chic’s songs for this album have ‘traditional’ La Paz influences but we are older and more travelled and his ideas outwit the great traditions of what La Paz should sound like, shines a new light on the music we write. It was challenging for us both to write it, but we knew what we needed. For some people, a few of the songs may be challenging and unexpected, both musically and lyrically. But that’s the joy of La Paz. We came from nothing and we may return to nothing but the road we ventured on has been so satisfying and creative. We may even send each other Christmas cards this year! I think we have made ourselves proud with this record. ‘Granite ‘ was easier as it was taking old ideas and revamping them. Then we added some twists on the new songs. ‘The Dark And The Light’ is different but when all five of us are working together like that it fair brings a smile to one’s face.”

Doogie White & La Paz line-up:

Doogie White - vocals

Chic McSherry - guitar

Alex Carmichael - bass

Andy Mason - keyboards

Paul McManus - drums

Doogie White & La Paz on Facebook.