Interview: Danny Vaughn (Tyketto)

Interview: 1st April 2026

With their new album Closer To The Sun (review here) sitting at number one on the UK Rock and Metal charts, Hotel Hobbies spent some time with Tyketto vocalist Danny Vaughn.

Hotel Hobbies: Tyketto were formed almost forty years ago. It has been an interesting journey. What do you think has been the spirit and ethos that has endured over the years, no matter the line-up?

Danny Vaughn: Going right for the jugular with that one (laughing). I'm not entirely sure I can answer that correctly. I think there's been different motivations over the years. From my personal perspective, I don't know how to do anything else. Some of my fellow rock musicians have retired to something else or started a business. I was never clever enough! I have always needed to sing and Tyketto has been the best vehicle for me to do that. We are certainly in one of the most interesting phases of the band right now.

Hotel Hobbies: I completely agree. With the album having been out for almost two weeks now, you must be pleased with the reaction it has received.

Danny Vaughn: Yes. It was number one in the UK rock and metal charts and we hit number thirty-five in the French rock and metal charts. We haven’t seen that kind of reaction in quite a long time. One video is at a quarter of a million views and others at two hundred thousand. It's pleasantly unexpected.

Hotel Hobbies: I have seen a lot of positive comments from fans.

Danny Vaughn: I'm really happy about that. In many ways, we made this record with our fans in mind. We have always gone our own way but it has always been within a certain lane. We never tried to be a metal band. Melody is where I come from as regards songwriting, What we did do this time was a little different. We took a step back and looked at Don’t Come Easy. Chris Childs and I had a conversation about why this album has lasted so well over thirty-five years. We could play the entire album live and our fans would be over the moon about it. We tried to actually think about why it is still so well accepted and so well regarded. We didn’t try to copy the songs but we tried to distil a little of the spirit of the record. It looks like we succeeded.

Hotel Hobbies: You have said that this is the most fun you have had making an album. Apart from their obvious musical abilities, what is it about this line-up as a group of people that makes it so enjoyable?

Danny Vaughn: Johnny and Harry slotted in so quickly. They had a great understanding of our band ethos. We have always been the little band that could. If we are on at a festival, we are often listed just above ‘and others.’ It’s been our lot in life. No matter how good we are live, we weren’t chart toppers. We didn't sell platinum records, even though we get mentioned in the same sentence as dozens of bands that did. So we always have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder about proving ourselves. But the guys really understood our relationship with our fans, which is pretty personal. It's pretty one-on-one, all in all. And, you know, you never know how that's going to work out personality-wise. So when Harry and Johnny joined three years ago, we said let's not try and write something right now. Let's play live. Let's see if the audience accepts it. See if we like what we're doing. See if we all get along after long drives in small vans (laughing). Then, we'll talk about making a record. It really just seemed to be a very organic progression from day one. To be fair, they pushed me towards it. I would have let it go a little longer, which I think just means I’m lazy more than anything!

Hotel Hobbies: I saw you play at Stonedead last year on the Friday night. That was a great show!

Danny Vaughn: Yes, we basically sold as many tickets on Friday as they did on the Saturday. We missed by a couple of hundred. It's really become a two-day event. It was really, really good for us. So was our tour with Uriah Heep. They are so good live and it really puts you at the top of your game. Loads of Uriah Heep fans didn’t know Tyketto. We were playing to a large group of people who had no idea what we were like but showed up early to see what we were all about. So, I have a lot of connections now with people who have now become fans. When you're an opening act for anybody, that's the very, very pinnacle of what you should be hoping for.

Hotel Hobbies: Your voice still sounds incredible after so many years. How have you looked after it so well?

Danny Vaughn: Yeah, I do a lot of things, or more precisely, there are a lot of things I don't do. I learned that early. When I joined Waysted in 1985, I tried to keep up with the others. I couldn’t stand toe to toe with them in terms of drinking or drug taking. They were hardened pros! My voice suffered immediately. I learned very early on that I was going to be the odd man out in most situations because I wasn't drinking and I wasn't smoking. Sometimes, that makes people uncomfortable. It's a lot easier in my band. I can do as I see fit to make things right. I do vocal warmups and all that sort of thing. The only unfortunate side of what I do to preserve my voice is that more often, I have stopped doing after-show meet and greets. People are surprised, but the most damage you can do to your voice is in an after show situation. Your voice is just coming down to be fully expanded to slowly quietening down. You have to shout in each other’s ear while they’re playing AC/DC on the PA. It’s not good. It damages you quickly. We will still be hanging out a little before the shows.

Hotel Hobbies: The new album – Closer To The Sun – has  a very uplifting and positive energy throughout.

Danny Vaughn: That was absolutely intentional. We usually have a meeting before every album where we discuss what kind of album we are making. With Closer To The Sun, we wanted to provide forty-five to fifty minutes of pleasant distraction from all the darkness around us. We wanted music you could put on in the car and just drive and enjoy it. What’s funny is it is having a similar effect on me right now. I don’t usually listen to our stuff and we put heart and soul into recording it. Chris and I produced and engineered the record so we already listen to it thousands of times already. Yet now, when I am going back to check the views on YouTube, I’ll listen to the whole song. I'll just sit and listen to it and think, this is definitely working for me.

Hotel Hobbies: The opening track, Higher Than High, is about the appreciation of the small things in life, moving away from social media and actually enjoying what is around us.

Danny Vaughn: Yes, it is something I'm pretty passionate about because I'm as guilty as everyone else of doom scrolling. I have a new mantra in life. The road to a happy life is to not read comments.

Hotel Hobbies: We Rise strongly hints back to your earlier material. After a gentle opening, it becomes very anthemic.

Danny Vaughn: Harry brought that song to us. He had written the chorus, the guitar riff and quite a bit of the verse music. He said he thought it had a Tyketto vibe to it. The initial version sounded a little bit too eighties to me so that’s where the acoustic intro came in. It reminds me of Seasons where things start quietly and then bang, the band are in full force.

Hotel Hobbies: There is definitely variety on the album. Some big, anthemic moments and other more reflective songs.

Danny Vaughn: I always shoot for variety. I think all the records we've done have that as well as my solo albums, you know. My favourite records are ones that take you on a journey of sorts. There are some great bands out there that I absolutely admire but I don't necessarily listen to their entire records because four or five songs in, it's all at the same kind of pace. Take a band like Disturbed. Tremendous band and tremendous singer. Ten Thousand Fists is one of those albums. I will be three-quarters of the way through and I’ll be done. But then what do they do? They do The Sound of Silence, a complete changeup later on in their career. Look how successful that was. I think the changeup is a useful thing for people.

Hotel Hobbies: You also have a cover of Roxette B’ Side.

Danny Vaughn: Yeah, I've always loved that song and I'm a Roxette fan. I just played it for the guys when we were traveling one day and everybody thought it was good. I told them that we should do it live. Just for fun. That morphed into making it an extra track for Japan. But it suited the vibe of what were doing so well that we wanted to have it on the album. I thought it could become a staple in our live show. The only unfortunate thing is that we couldn't fit it on the vinyl version simply because of space. So, on the CD, you've got all eleven songs in proper running order.

Hotel Hobbies: You have made it like Tyketto but the origin of its DNA can still be heard.

Danny Vaughn: It's definitely got a serious pop sensibility. Per Gessle is a tremendous songwriter. He has some really catchy stuff. Even when his English is not quite right, it doesn’t matter. Marie was an absolutely wonderful singer. It’s our curveball.

Hotel Hobbies: Far and Away was inspired by a trip to Marrakesh with your wife. It is one of the most lyrically interesting songs on the album.

Danny Vaughn: Going to Marrakesh reinforced something that I somewhat expected. Several things, actually. As an American, I should really just walk around with a t-shirt on that just says, I'm so sorry, all the time. What I learned from that trip was we have so much more in common despite our differences. Unfortunately, those differences are being played upon by people in high power to keep us from kind of realising that we don't need to be doing this. There are problems we could iron out if we just stopped screaming, look at those horrible people over there. Those horrible people over there have kids and are trying to pay their bills and trying to eat just the same as we are. It’s not a wealthy nation and I have found in my travels that more often than not, the poorest people you meet are the most generous with what little they have.

Hotel Hobbies: Completely different is The Picture. I think it is one of the best ballads the band has ever recorded.

Danny Vaughn: Thank you. That one had been sitting around a while. It's a co-write with my friend Ruben DeMillo. He has been responsible for several songs in my catalogue over the years. The first was Monday from Dig in Deep and another was Time Out Of Mind from my solo album Myths, Legends and Lies. There were just two left I hadn’t really touched upon. I had written the lyrics for The Picture and so it was just waiting to be unwrapped. It just seemed the right time. Another he had a hand in was the title track, Closer To The Sun. It is one of those where you are looking through old files and you help it find a home.

Hotel Hobbies: The album ends with The Brave. I like that the album ends on a rocking note.

Danny Vaughn: The Brave took  a little time. That was the first new song I wrote for this record but initially, my demo didn't blow the other guys away very much. It was put on the maybe list. Then a few months later, they said actually that song The Brave is actually quite good and I said, I know (laughing)! Not everything on this album lyrically makes a point. Sometimes I just let the lyrics breathe and have fun with it. But this one does make a point. During COVID, particularly in the UK, you guys were all going out every Thursday night and banging on pots and pans. Suddenly, it occurred to everyone there might not be any food in the supermarket unless some guy risks his health and goes in and puts stuff on the shelves. Holy cow, we need these people. For a little while, we remembered that it's the people around us and next to us, our community, who are the really important people in our lives and not the celebrities and not the incredibly wealthy, incredibly successful. They don't touch our lives very much compared to the guy who comes in and fixes your plumbing, the person who teaches your child or the person who's giving care to a sick relative. These are things that matter in your life greatly. Let's not forget that. I think it's important. So that's my banging on pots and pans song (smiling).

Hotel Hobbies: You have a tour coming up soon and I imagine with the new album being so strong, its going to be hard to put together a setlist.

Danny Vaughn: It’s going to come down to a fist fight, I think (laughing). We thought we would prepare six new songs and play four each night. We can rotate them and gauge fan reaction. We're already in trouble because there are certain songs that we thought, we won't do this tour. We'll see if the fans like them first. Suddenly, they've kind of become favourites already. I think some fans think we should play for three hours a night to make sure we play everyone’s favourite! Easier said than done!

Hotel Hobbies: Over all the time you have been a musician, what do you think your most valuable lesson has been?

Danny Vaughn: Another jugular question. What matters now is very different to when I was twenty-five. Admittedly, the road ahead is much shorter than the road behind now. If you see some of the things that Ginger Wildheart has had to say recently, it's profound. What a remarkably powerful statement he’s made by saying he’s achieved everything he set out to do in life, and he’s solid with the time he has left. Bless him for that. We all hope he goes on and on. Those lesson are going to come to us all.

So for me, without sounding trite, most days I am able to take a moment and pause and just think, how great is this? You know, just being here. I will get a phone call from a friend, we will babble for an hour, and I will think how amazing that was. Then, I'll go do a project where I'm earning a living - just - by using this talent that I luckily was born with. Gratefulness is a big deal. I think that's a very difficult lesson to learn because as younger people, we start out thinking of how much we deserve. It takes a long time to learn that you don't - you don't deserve anything. There's no guarantee that hard work gets properly rewarded. There’s no guarantee that living well and being kind to other will lead to some definitive reward. You just have to do it for the sake of being a good person. I've reached a point where I'm very good with that.

Hotel Hobbies: Thank you so much for your time today. I have really enjoyed listening to the new album and good luck with the tour.

Danny Vaughn: Thank you very much. Thank you for your support. We will just keep ramping it up for the live shows and see how things go.

Tyketto's UK tour begins on 13th April 2026 and their European co-headline tour with Black Star Riders takes place in September and October. See dates below.