Royal Hunt Vocalist D.C. Cooper on His Strange Level of Fame, Auditioning for Judas Priest

Founded in 1989 by keyboardist Andre Andersen, Royal Hunt is one of the leading groups in the progressive metal realm. Based in Denmark, the band found huge success throughout Europe and Japan in the mid-'90s with American vocalist D.C. Cooper. Although their union was commercially fruitful, the singer and group parted ways after two albums together around 2000. After splitting from Royal Hunt, Cooper kept busy with a solo career, various guest vocal appearances and four fantastic albums fronting power metallers Silent Force.

Royal Hunt fans had their prayers answered in 2011 when Cooper, 46, announced his return to the quintet. Late in the year, the band released 'Show Me How to Live,' their 11th studio album. "Andre started contacting me about two years ago, wanting to see if I wanted to come back to the band," the powerhouse vocalist tells Noisecreep about his reunion with Royal Hunt. He's on the phone from his home in Pennsylvania, where he is married with two children.

"At the point when Andre called me, I had been on a one and half year hiatus from the music industry. I was fed up with the business side of it, and the economy in the States wasn't really helping either. So I just focused on my family and other career. I just finished up a career as a paramedic, and I'm still a firefighter and rescue tech as a volunteer.

"So when Andre started talking with me again, it just felt like the timing wasn't right. It was also strange talking to him, after 11, 12 years. But we started talking again around the beginning of 2011, and this time it felt different. We agreed to try a few shows together and see if we could even get along. So we did some shows in Russia and Japan, and I was shocked on how great it went. They were probably the best shows I've ever played in my career. So that's when I decided that I wanted to go back to work with the band," Cooper tells Noisecreep about his reunion with Royal Hunt.

Although Cooper is one of the most revered vocalists in the power, prog and melodic metal arenas, and Royal Hunt headline huge venues throughout the rest of the world, he's never achieved the kind of commercial success many of his peers have enjoyed in the States. "It's a really strange thing. My kids will sometimes tell their friends that I'm a rock star, and they're like, "Yeah, right!" But I'm OK with it most of the time. Don't get me wrong – there are days when it bugs me. Those are the times when I'll think to myself, "Why don't I have this?" and "Why don't I have that?" "Why am I not more famous?" That kind of stuff does happen at times. But I try not to fight with fate. I'm comfortable where I'm at right now."

For you fellow trivia junkies out there, Cooper almost became the singer in Judas Priest, back in 1992 when Rob Halford left to form the band Fight. "I was actually one of the four finalists up for that gig. It was a dream come true for me. Royal Hunt was slamming at the time, and the audition process for the Priest thing took a long time. I got to actually audition with the band, and that was one of the highlights of my career.

"I remember listening to the 'Stained Class' album on my Walkman and thinking to myself, "Wow, this is so great!" And then years later, here I am playing with them. It was incredible. I didn't end up getting the job, but I don't even know if I really wanted it, since Royal Hunt was banging at the time. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy to a lot of people, but I would have probably not taken the Priest gig if I had been offered it." As you know already, the job ended up going to Tim 'Ripper' Owens.

Royal Hunt's 'Show Me How to Live' is available now via Frontiers Records.