Author Archives : Dana

EXTREME GUITARIST NUNO BETTENCOURT DISCUSSES PLAYING WITH RIHANNA AND SAYS “I’M HOPING I DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ANYMORE”

Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt recently spoke with Guitar Interactive. Blabbermouth has transcribed a portion of the interview where Bettencourt discussed his gig with Rihanna. However, you can listen to Nuno’s entire interview at the bottom of column.

When asked about how he acquired the job as Rihanna’s guitarist and whether he sees himself doing that for a long time to come, Nuno responded: “I’m hoping I don’t have to do it anymore. Not towards Rihanna, of course, but it’s really time consuming.

I’ve never done another gig where I was kind of, like… not my own, actually, really. And I’d been asked through the years to do stuff, even with not just necessarily pop artists but with other rock bands, and I’ve always declined.

“We had just finished an Extreme tour and a friend of mine, who is a musical director, Tony Bruno, he hit me up. He goes, ‘I know I’ve asked you ten times already, but I know you’re in L.A., we’re in L.A. Ri saw some of your videos. Would you consider doing…?’ He just said ‘three months’ of this promo. And I was, like, you know what?! I’m in my forties, I’ve been sticking to my guns for so long and not doing anything else. ‘Cause at first I said, ‘No. Why would I wanna do it? There’s really no guitar in that stuff.’ And he said, ‘Well, that’s the thing. She wants it to be a lot heavier live.’ And I’m, like, ‘So I get to do what I do.’ And he goes, ‘Completely. Your rig…’ [And I said], ‘I get to ruin every one of her songs?’ And he was, like, ‘Yeah.’ So I thought that would be fun.”

He continued: “It’s interesting. Anybody who’s come to see that show, even from the perspective of journalists or magazines, whether it be in Germany or in the States, they come and interview me, but they don’t plan on staying for the show. And I always say, ‘Just stay. Just stay for a couple of songs.’ Then they stay for the night and then they always end up sending me a text or an e-mail message apologizing, [saying that] they didn’t know that there was that much musicianship going on. The drummer’s from Stevie Wonder. It’s, like, it’s a real band, and nothing’s on playback. We take the songs and we really play them; they’re nothing like [they are on] the album.

When people ask me, ‘Why would you do something that you can do with your eyes closed?’ And it’s a difficult gig. The hats that you have to wear, feel-wise… You go from a basic pop song like Umbrella to to reggae song to a club track to even, like, a punk song and R&B stuff. So the amount of different textures and feels, and to have to play along with these incredible musicians who hear everything, it’s definitely not a punch-in-the-clock-type situation for me. Live, it keeps you busy. It’s one thing doing your own thing, it’s your own shit… It sounds crazy, but it’s really challenging. It really is.”

He added: “Whatever people’s perceptions are of whatever Rihanna is, it’s definitely a different animal live — completely different. At first, even when I went to work with her, I was, like, ‘Can she really sing?’ A lot of times with the singers you hear now, there’s a lot of that Auto-Tune element and you don’t know who can really sing. But when I went to rehearsal, I could not believe how well she sang, and I could not believe how well she sings live.

It was really messed up, because nothing is on track except for some bells and whistles sounds, and explosions — just sound-effects stuff — but every review was saying her vocals were on track, and none of it is. But it’s incredible. I was actually going, ‘Wow!’ There’s actually great background singers that they get purposely to somewhat sound like her vibe, and it was amazing. And it actually made me realize, even when you can do it, and you can sing, and she is, they’re still telling her that she can’t do it.”

Extreme will be releasing a special 25th anniversary deluxe edition of their Extreme II: Pornograffitti album on January 20th. The band will also be embarking on a special Pornograffitti Live – 25th Anniversary Tour with a series of concerts in the new year where they will play the entire album front to back. To read more about this release and check band tour dates, please click here.

additioanal source: blabbermouth.net

KISS DRUMMER ERIC SINGER DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHY FANS CRITICIZE HIM FOR WEARING THE “CATMAN” MAKEUP

KISS drummer Eric Singer spoke with The Cassius Morris Show about the fact that some fans continue to criticize him for wearing original KISS drummer Peter Criss’ “Catman” makeup. Here is what Singer had to say (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net):

“It’s always been a non-issue for me, emotionally or otherwise. And I don’t mean that disrespectfully to anybody that it is important to them; that’s fine and that’s cool. The only thing I don’t understand… I shouldn’t say ‘don’t understand’… What I don’t get is for those fans either fans or former fans that continually complain not just about that issue, but anything to do with KISS, and continue to say how they’re done with the band, and ‘I’m over it,’ and ‘I hate it,’ but yet they continue to talk about it non-stop. I just don’t understand that point of view or that thought process, because me, myself, when I’m done with something, whether it’s a former friend, ex-girlfriend… anything… a band… or product. If I don’t like the way a product… If they change the way the product tastes or the way it looks, if I don’t like it anymore, guess what?! I go, ‘Oh, okay. I don’t really care for it anymore.’ I stop buying it, I stop supporting it, or I don’t listen to it, I don’t eat it… Whatever it is, I move on from it. And I go, ‘Okay, I move on. I don’t like it anymore.’ It’s like having your favorite restaurant and all of a suddent they change the menu. Or they change the cook and you go, ‘Hey, the food doesn’t taste the same anymore. I’m not really digging it.’ What do you do? Instead of keep going there and going, ‘Hey, you know, I don’t like that you changed the cook,’ and ‘I think that you need to get that old cook back,’ and ‘You need do this.’ I don’t do that. I just go, ‘All right. Something is not right,’ or, ‘I don’t care for it anymore.’ And I don’t go. And I don’t buy it and I don’t support it. It’s just simple.”

He continued: “Now, maybe I’m looking at it too ‘black and white,’ but, for me, I just don’t really fully understand fans, or former fans, that have that point of view. I get the passion part, I get that a band like KISS means a lot to them, or it had a real impact on their life — I get it — but it had a real impact on me too, ’cause guess what?! I play in the band, you know, so of course I care; it means something to me. But I don’t understand the people that can’t just move on and go do… If you don’t like it, or you have a problem with something, respectfully just move on and, great. For those who like it or wanna enjoy it, cool.”

Singer added: “I’m not saying that you should just blindly go, ‘Oh, I agree with anything the band does and I don’t care.’ No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, if you really, really have a distaste for it, if you’re gonna be mad just because the band is not doing what you want, then go, ‘Okay, I’m not into it anymore.’ That’s what I did my whole life when it came to bands. When a band kind of changed the musical sound or direction and I kind of lost interest in them, I stopped buying the records and I didn’t go to the concerts, and like I said, I didn’t hate them; I just, ‘Okay, well, I’m not really into it anymore.'”

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine earlier in the year, Eric accused Criss and original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley of being hypocritical in their criticisms of other people wearing their makeup. “This is something that I notice that nobody seems to point out. When I came in to play with the makeup, Ace was in the band, and had no problem with me playing with Peter’s makeup while he went onstage and made that KISS money. In fact, he loved it, and he didn’t want Peter back in the band. And then go forward the next year, when Ace decided to leave. When we fast forward, all of a sudden they bring Peter back, and you got Tommy Thayer playing guitar wearing the Ace makeup, and all of a sudden, no one minded it was Ace’s makeup design. Peter had no problem, did he?”

Pressed about the fact that some people see what he and guitarist Tommy Thayer do in KISS now as almost an impersonation, Singer said: “Here’s the thing that’s ridiculous. I love when people say that, because the reality is, I’m not impersonating. Because I wear the makeup that he wore? Did they come up with their designs? Yes. Of course. But it’s not an extension of their personality. Peter wasn’t a cat. Peter Criss was a cat? They had to create a character. You know something? I don’t know if he even had a pet cat. Come on, it’s ridiculous.”

Asked if he tries to play like Peter onstage, Singer replied: “I’ve always played the way I play. I play like Eric Singer. I don’t play like Peter Criss. I don’t try to play like Peter Criss. I don’t mimic him on stage. Bottom line is, though, am I playing KISS songs? Yes. Am I playing songs that were originally played by Peter, and learning parts that Peter played or originally wrote? Yes, of course. But guess what? I did the same thing when I played in BLACK SABBATH or played with Brian May or played with Alice Cooper.”

Listen to Singer’s interview with The Cassius Morris Show below.

additional source: blabbermouth.net

TESLA GUITARIST FRANK HANNON RELEASES VIDEO FOR NEW SONG “BORN FREE” FROM HIS FORTHCOMING SOLO ALBUM

Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon has posted a video for the song, Born Free, from Hannon’s forthcoming solo album, World Peace. Watch it below.

In a burst of creative energy, Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon started writing his own batch of songs shortly after Tesla released its latest album, Simplicity, in June. While on the road touring during the summer or 2014, Frank spent all the lonely hours in his hotel rooms recording musical ideas on a little Boss hard disc recording machine, and the ideas started flowing so much that he would literally be recording music in the dressing rooms five minutes prior to TESLA stepping onstage! After returning home, Frank knew he had a batch of strong material, so current Frank Hannon Band members Aaron Leigh (bass) and Kelly Smith (drums) joined him in the studio to help put the album into fruition.

After the majority of songs were recorded, an old original concept came back to Frank Hannon’s mind from the year 2000 when the guitarist wrote an instrumental native American chant song he titled World Peace? which asks the question: “When will it come?” This was long before the Guitarz From Marz album. With that concept in mind, the flames grew hotter and the final group of songs were written and recorded.

Featured songs will include powerful heavy protests such as The Picture, Electric Chair, Born Free and the happier positive melodies of Lucky 13, Down The Road and Break The Silence. Both the title track and the album World Peace not only showcase Hannon as a powerful lead singer and shredding lead guitarist, but also a prolific songwriter. The recognizable sound of Tesla is evident here, but the sound of an unleashed artist is also heard

World Peace is available for pre-order here.

ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME VOTERS SNUB HEAVY METAL, AGAIN

Ethan Sacks of the New York Daily News reports:

Heavy metal fans are left banging their heads … against the wall.

On Tuesday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unveiled its 2015 class of inductees, and once again iconic hard rock and metal bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were strummed off the list.

What really gets Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian’s goatee is the long-running omission of Deep Purple, a band the Queens-born rocker feels should get the same respect as Led Zeppelin.

“Just based on the intro riff to Smoke on the Water which came out in 1972, it’s safe to say that almost every guitar player in a band that did make the Hall of Fame, picked up a guitar because of that riff and learned how to play off that riff,” says the Queens-born rocker.

“That song alone should gets Deep Purple into the Hall of Fame. Just Ritchie Blackmore’s riff alone. That intro defines rock n’ roll.”

Ian wishes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame operated more like Cooperstown. “When you talk about sports, you look at the stats, it’s all math,” says Ian. “Babe Ruth hit x average and x home runs and so he gets in. Numbers don’t lie. When it comes to music it comes strickly down to taste.”

In the case of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, relatively small selection committee comes up with a pool of nominees that are voted on by a group of more than 600 artists and music professionals. On average a group of five to seven acts make the final cut each year.

And judging by the results, not many of those 600-plus voters own a Metallica T-shirt.

“Iron Maiden goes to anywhere in the world and they play in front of 50,000 people by themselves and you telling me they don’t f— belong in there?,” Exodus lead singer Steve “Zetro” Souza complained to the Daily News.

“In our type of music, we don’t expect kudos,” added the thrash rocker, whose band’s latest album, Blood In, Blood Out, reached the Billboard’s Top 40 charts. “But it’s hard not to be disappointed by the voting.”

Radio host Eddie Trunk says he’s given up on any semblance of respect for the uneven way the Hall has honored certain bands and ignored others with longer track records of success.

“How can you have a Hall of Fame where it takes Kiss, Rush and Alice Cooper twenty years to get in,” he says, “but Green Day and Guns N’ Roses go in on first ballot and Deep Purple doesn’t get in.”

Last year, he attended the induction ceremony in Brooklyn as a guest of original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley and had an epiphany: he’s not going to pull his hair out any more over the continuing snubs.

This is a symptom of the disrespect across the board toward hard rock and heavy metal,” says Trunk. “The Grammys haven’t gotten any better since they gave Jethro Tull a Grammy instead of Metallica (for the first ever Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance trophy in 1989).”

Exhibit A of that lack of respect: late, great Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman was a glaring omission from this year’s In Memoriam segment at the Grammy Awards.

While touring with Exodus in Cleveland last year, Souza got to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for himself for the first time. And his reviews are mixed.

“There was a Bruno Mars suit there, but he didn’t put in the time,” says Souza. “There’s a Katy Perry dress there, but she hasn’t put in the time.”

Still, it heartened him somewhat to see some of metal acts like Black Sabbath and Metallica have their own displays. It’s a start. But call him when Maiden and Priest, Saxon and Scorpions make the cut. He’s not expecting any love for his own band, which has been the soundtrack for moshpits since the mid-80s.

“For those of us who have been doing this for thirty years, we don’t care about or expect anything from the establishment,” Souza says.

source: nydailynews.com

THE ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES IT’S CLASS OF 2015, WHERE IS DEEP PURPLE???

Phil Gallo of Billboard reports:

The punk trio Green Day is the 48th act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, joining acts such as Nirvana, R.E.M. and the Clash as first-ballot honorees. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Lou Reed will join them in the class of 2015 being inducted April 18 at Cleveland’s Public Hall.

In addition, Ringo Starr will be honored with the Award for Musical Excellence and the “5” Royales will receive the Early Influence Award.

The Smiths, Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk, N.W.A, Sting and Chic were among acts on the ballot that did not make cut.

A voting body of more than 700 artists, historians and members of the music industry chose the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. The 2015 nominees had to release their first recording no later than 1989.

Induction ceremony presenters, performers and broadcast information as well as additional details about the week of events leading up the show ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Read more at Billboard.

source: billboard.com

MIKE PORTNOY AND DAVE ELLEFSON DISCUSS METAL ALLEGIANCE

Greg Prato of Bravewords reports:

Want to see Anthrax’ Charlie Benante, Scott Ian and Frank Bello, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Testament’s Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick, Sepultura’s Andreas Kisser, Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda, Mike Portnoy, Chris Broderick, Troy Sanders, and John Tempesta all jam on the same stage? If you live in the Anaheim, California area, you’re in luck. It has been announced that all the aforementioned metal musicians will be gathering together on the evening of January 21st at the House of Blues in Anaheim, under the name of Metal Allegiance, which will feature an evening of various classics being performed by different line-up configurations. Also of note is the cost of the tickets are being kept quite affordable, and can be purchased at Ticketmaster or at the House Of Blues Anaheim box office. Two Metal Allegiance participants, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, chatted with BraveWords correspondent Greg Prato about how this union happened, and what fans can expect.

BraveWords: How did the idea come about to do Metal Allegiance, and how did you all get involved in the project?

David Ellefson: “This whole thing started back with the Big 4, when we did those shows. And it developed out of the bass clinics me and Frank (Bello) were doing, which were really unprecedented in metal music. I think for a period, we were seen as competitors, and what the Big 4 and Clash of the Titans did was it broke down the competition and brought us all together as comrades. And Metal Allegiance was born out of that. It started with me and Frank, Mike Portnoy, and Charlie Benante, and then we just started calling all the guys in the neighborhood – Scott Ian, Kerry King, Phil Anselmo, etc., and it spread. The real launch of Metal Allegiance as an entity started on Motörhead’s Motörboat back in September. Then Megadeth had to step aside because there was a health issue there. And all of a sudden, it was, ‘Well, we’re all going to be on the boat. Let’s make this happen.’ And that’s when it started. And it’s really blown up beyond anything we’ve probably imagined it would – just because it’s so much fun. And the fans love seeing all these guys on stage at the same time, jamming with each other. Different combinations playing a whole bunch of different songs that we were just kind of winging on the fly. It was just such a great spirit about it. And I think when fans were like, ‘Metal Allegiance was one of my favorite things on Motörboat,’ that’s what they’re talking about – this impromptu, very unscripted moment that happened. I’ve talked to a lot of fans, and they’re like, ‘We couldn’t believe you guys came out (and played)’ – more and more people kept coming out. It was kind of like the Grammys of heavy metal.”

BraveWords: So both of you have played previously with Metal Allegiance, right?

Mike Portnoy: “Well, Metal Allegiance – as it’s now called – has only done the Motörboat shows, but David and I, and Frank Bello and Charlie Benante and Kerry King and Phil Anselmo, we’ve done this under a different name in the past. We’ve done five shows through the years as a thing called ‘Metal Masters.’ But this is basically taking that same idea and moving it forward, and it’s going to evolve and develop into all different places in the years ahead.”

BraveWords: How different is it playing as part of an all-star band compared to a full-time band? Is it a lot looser?

Mike Portnoy: “It’s totally looser. This is all about camaraderie. In all of our other bands and our normal ‘day jobs,’ those are our careers, and you have to make career moves and career decisions. This is just for the fun of it. There’s nothing at jeopardy, there’s no career decisions that need to be made – financially or creatively. It’s a bunch of guys that are metalheads and metal fans, and we’re all friends with each other, and we do it just because we love this music and we have a good time with each other. That’s it. That’s where it began and that’s what is all about. I said this on stage at the last one, but it’s the truth – all of us on stage and behind the stage are having as much fun as the people in the audience. We look out into the audience and we see a sea of metal fans. And all of us on the stage and backstage are the same. We’re hanging out backstage, watching everybody else jam, having a good time, getting psyched to see the different configurations of players going on at any given time. We’re hearing these cool songs being pulled out of the setlist. It’s basically we’re just metalheads and metal fans doing it for the fun of it.”

BraveWords: Do you find you still pick up new things by playing with other musicians?

Mike Portnoy: “Of course. I mean my God…not to go there, but that was the entire reason why I left Dream Theater. I spent 25 years playing with the same guys, playing the same style of music. And I needed to branch out and do different styles with different people. So to me, to answer your question, you have to play with other people to grow. Change and getting that different inspiration and different personalities is what you absolutely need in order to develop and grow. And that’s been my mission statement for the past four years, with everything I’ve been doing.”

BraveWords: Who are you looking forward to playing with most at this upcoming show?

David Ellefson: “There’s the winter NAMM show coming up, and there’s a whole cast of characters that are going to be there. Because winter NAMM is an international event – artists from all over the world are going to be there. And we’ve already got a beat on a couple and reached out to a few of them. It’s going to be a really, really cool show. And metal week is kind of this interesting crossroads, because we have two versions of it we can do – we can do this big ‘celebration,’ where everybody in the house is there. Like at NAMM and ShipRocked. We’re getting asked now to do some other territories outside of the United States. Those open up other opportunities to different people to participate, and that’s the whole part of the Metal Allegiance – what you hear is metal and pledge allegiance and be a part of it! It’s something that’s open to the entire neighborhood, y’know? It’s not some exclusive little club. What’s fun about it is you realize pretty quickly that people who are inclined to participate in something like this, in the past when we’ve done certain jam sessions with guys like Kerry King showing up – and I’ve played with Kerry over the years and we’ve all been friends with him – I would never think he would be a part of something like that. But certain people are like, ‘I’d love to be a part of that.’ I think that the personalities and just the general feel-good nature of it is that keeps a pretty wide door open for everybody to come in and hang out with us.”

Mike Portnoy: “And you never know who is going to jump up, too. You have the guys who are part of the Metal Allegiance – there’s the core group and the guys that play all the shows, but then in the past, Geezer Butler came up and played with us, Steve Vai came up and played with us. You never know what special guests can pop up and end up jamming at any given moment.”

BraveWords: I was impressed by the low cost of the tickets, compared to how expensive tickets are nowadays to most rock shows.

David Ellefson: “Yeah, for sure. It’s funny – Megadeth in the past, we’ve been the kings of the ‘low dough shows.’ In fact, at times over the years, I remember promoters saying that, ‘Let’s do a low dough ticket,’ and the next thing you know, 5,000-10,000 people show up, because they’re metalheads, man. Metalheads…granted, a lot of them are grown up and live in the suburbs, and some of our bands have been around a while, at its core, it’s a lot of young people. And young people are in school and it’s the middle of the school year, and people don’t have jobs and stuff. We want to make it something that’s fun for everybody to come out. You hate to make money the reason that people have to say ‘No.’ So we tried to take the money part out of it.”

BraveWords: More shows after this one at the House of Blues?

David Ellefson: “Yeah, we’re going to be doing ShipRocked – about a week later, actually. The first week of February. And then there’s also quite a few other cool little things that look like they’re developing in 2015, as well.”

source: bravewords.com