I’ve used that riff in different formations throughout my career, but it is basically How Many More Times. I wanted to try to do a Yardbirds outtakes kind of thing. “That was a deliberate attempt at channelling 1968. Meanwhile, Bad Luck Charm has a touch of Zep about it. If you don’t have enough confidence in yourself to do something of your own, it’s very bizarre Guns is a clown show – it makes no sense. The only thing I play on that song is the slide part. Ace Von Johnson, who also plays guitar in the band, brought that song in he did most of the work with Johnny Martin and Adam Hamilton on drums, who really loves music from the '60s and '70s. “Yeah – especially in the bass part, which has a real garage, Nuggets feel. I was thinking, ‘What would the Stones have done on this back in the day?’ I never normally say that a solo is so important that it completes the song, but I really do think that’s the case here.”Īnd speaking of Tone Benders, Living Right Now has a strong '60s vibe. It was an experiment, as everything else was acoustic. “I used a Tone Bender fuzz pedal on the solo, which gives it a timeless, whimsical sound. It allows you to move the solo with the chords, and actually it is quite easy to get a melancholy solo, as the chords already sound that way. The luxury of the solo section there is that it’s a minor sixth progression, like the solo section on Stairway to Heaven. “It gave me the confidence to know that I could get a great rock ’n’ roll sound from the unit, because it’s much harder to get that sound right than it is to get the more traditional metal sounds that modelers seem to be able to achieve quite easily.” You can really hear the difference in the guitars the HeadRush is so efficient that it really brings out the different sonic qualities of the two guitars. “The left-hand side is a Telecaster and the right side is a Les Paul. Knock Me Down has some very distinctive guitar sounds, too. The only reason it’s not on any other tracks on the album is that I didn’t get it in time, as I live in Denmark for half of the year, and I recorded most of the guitars at my home studio there.” It’s tuned down a half step, which brings a different flavor. “I played my Kramer Gunstar Voyager signature guitar. It’s much harder to get the rock 'n' roll sound right with amp modelers than it is to get the more traditional metal sounds that they seem to be able to achieve quite easily I use the JCM800 model I used a Marshall JCM800 on pretty much every record I’ve cut, but this gets me the consistency I want when I’m recording. “The HeadRush allows you to tweak the sound very easily. I have a studio full of microphones and amps, but it gets tiresome to work through everything to get the sound I want. You can get what you want much more quickly. “Everything I played was recorded direct through a HeadRush I didn’t use a mic’d-up amp for anything. The songs on the last three albums that sound like that were all written by Johnny Martin, our bass player he comes up with great riffs. “I agree – it definitely could have been on the first record. You get a distinctive, bright tone that really cuts through the mix. Phil really glues all the different styles on the album together because his voice is so distinctive.”Ĭannonball from Checkered Past would’ve been right at home on the band's debut album. Mitch and Phil have such a great creative bond, and they were constantly experimenting with different approaches. “I think the harmonies really come from having the time, due to the pandemic, to sit with the music and let it develop a lot more than usual. On this record, he’s singing in more of a middle register, which gives a great clarity to his voice. He has his own vocal producer, Mitch Davies, and they collaborate on the melodies and the lyrics. Somehow he’s managed to really stay on top of his ability and his range. I think the harmonies really come from having the time, due to the pandemic, to sit with the music and let it develop a lot more than usual That said, there are some vocal harmonies that are quite different from previous L.A. Guns albums should sound like, although we do have different influences.” We’re lucky everybody in the band basically has the same vision for what L.A. “Almost hungrier! When you get a taste of real artistic satisfaction, that’s where the addiction to making music comes from. It seems the band has been on a roll since you reunited with Phil a few years back.
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