607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:52 AM Page 2 H ere it is, another brand spankin’ new issue of musical goodness done to perfection the On Tour with Shure way. As I sifted through the pages of this latest installment, I was amazed at the amount of artists we shoved into our thirty-two pages. To say we’ve been busy is an understatement at best. As usual our summer was spent at festivals and local concerts and hanging out with our artist endorsers and making friends with a few new ones as well. We spent a little time on the awards shows and reality TV and at Monday Night Football and… we were everywhere! What did you do with your summer? Well, hopefully you got to see some shows, get some sun and discover a few new bands to obsess over. Or maybe, you’re cut from the creative bolt of cloth and you started your own band. I heard it said once, and I share this knowledge with everyone that complains to me about music today… “Don’t complain about all the stupid bands on the radio, become one.” If starting a band was amongst your accomplishments for this past summer, let’s talk microphones a bit. Perhaps you’ve seen the lists of microphones that appear at the end of our feature articles. These laundry lists of equipment are what your favorite artists and/or bands are using when they hit the stage. Throughout our 81-year history, it’s safe to say that we’ve made some friends and fans along the way. All we ever really set out to do was make a little wellknown device called the microphone, a little better. We’ve gotten testimonials and have even made evangelists out of a few artists and engineers. Henry Rollins, the guy on the cover, is probably one of the biggest and most faithful. His weapon of choice, the SM58®. In the studio or on stage, it is the only mic that sounds like him. Just as Jimmy Page will only play a Gibson guitar, Henry Rollins will only sing or speak on a Shure SM58. So, what will be your weapon of choice? Some good news from the new product front, Shure has just released its most affordable and reliable wireless system to date! Whether you’re the front man, guitarist, bass player, or singing drummer-type, Performance Gear® Wireless has a system to fit your needs. Check it out at your local music retailer and let us know when your tour is heading to Chicago! Alright, I don’t know anything else, and me and the rest of the magic elves have to get to work on the next issue… it never ends! We’ll talk again soon. In the meantime, enjoy our latest creation of On Tour with Shure, the Fall ’06 episode. On Tour with Shure® Editor Terri Johnson Managing Editor Cory Lorentz Associate Editor Mike Lohman Artist Relations Tom Krajecki, Bill Oakley, Richard Sandrok, Ryan Smith Art Director/Designer Kate Moss Writers Penelope Biver, Louis R. Carlozo, Rob Deters, Gregory DeTogne, Mike Lohman, Cory Lorentz Contributing Photographers Brian “B+” Cross, Jay Blakesberg, Tim Bramlette, Lionel Flusin ©Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation, Getty Images, Ipecac Recordings, Paul Natkin, Debbie Robinson, Muriel Rochat ©Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation, Adam M. Tibbott Printing Triangle Printers Inc. On Tour with Shure is published three times yearly by Shure Incorporated, 5800 W. Touhy Avenue, Niles, IL 60714-4608. Each separate contribution to Volume 7, Issue 3 and the issue as a collective work, is copyright ©2006 by Shure Incorporated. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. All product specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice. Use of an artist’s name in this publication does not constitute an official endorsement of Shure products. Free Subscription! To receive your free copy of On Tour with Shure, please: Rock Out, • Go to www.shure.com • Fill out the enclosed postage-paid subscription card. • Send a note to On Tour with Shure, 5800 W. Touhy Ave., Niles, IL 60714-4608. Cory Lorentz Managing Editor, On Tour with Shure [email protected] 2 www.shure.com We are not responsible for unsolicited material, which must be accompanied by return postage. All mail will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and subject to Shure Incorporated’s unrestricted right to edit and comment. Shure Incorporated assumes no responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements. Opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of Shure Incorporated. AL1567 10/06 65K 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:52 AM Page 3 8 table ofcontents 4 Mic Check Summer kept us busy as usual, keeping up with festivals, reality shows, awards shows, contests and supporting the tours of our esteemed endorser roster. Check here for some of the highlights, complete with imagery to bring the stories to life, because we know you like pictures with your reading. 22 Truly, We’re In This Love Together Al Jarreau has been in the business for years, and for every one of those years, he’s had a Shure mic in his hand. Always willing to try something new, Jarreau ventured out on a co-headlining tour with George Benson and even changed microphones. 6 Reality TV Has Been Very, Very Good To Them Who would’ve ever dreamed it would come to this? Well, Marty Casey & Lovehammers never gave up. Mix a little ambition with a lot of exposure on a certain reality TV series, and rock star dreams are beginning to finally come true. 24 A Sleek Ride With Smooth Jazz Superstars Getting a package deal of superstar musicians performing on one stage is a popular thing these days, but getting the right musicians to complete the package is hit or miss. The guys of Guitars & Saxes have been doing it for years and know how to do it right. 8 Hits Don’t Lie It seemed almost inevitable that Wyclef Jean was destined for life as a musician. In a world where the musical trend is constantly changing, Jean has remained in the game for 15 years now. We got to spend a little couch time with Wyclef to find out his secret recipe for longevity. 10 Hank Williams III Is Going Straight To Hell Hank III doesn’t care what you think and doesn’t care if you don’t get his music. While he is country royalty, sharing his famous name with Hank Williams Sr. and Jr., he’s still every bit of an outlaw. Hank shares a moment to explain it all, but we think his music says it best. 12 James Blunt And Shure: It’s A Beautiful Thing Lately, it’s been a whirlwind of a life for singer/songwriter James Blunt. His debut album, Back To Bedlam, has become a favorite for fans young and old, and he gets about five minutes a day to take it all in. Well, Mr. Blunt was generous enough to somehow take a week’s worth of five-minute breaks to talk with us about his recent rockstar experience. 14 Resurrection Ceasing to exist at the height of their musical career, Alice In Chains always felt as if they needed to write a better final chapter for the band. Playing a few gigs here and there over the years, the band finally felt that the time was right to rewrite a little history. 16 A Hard Working Man Picks A Hard Working Mic Is there anything all-American icon Henry Rollins can’t do? Twenty-five years later, it’s safe to say that Rollins is a man of experience, and his work ethic has remained the same. The self-proclaimed “regular guy” speaks on keeping busy, celebrity life and his favorite instrument, the SM58®. 20 When Opposites Attract Two of the founding members of the rock band Hurt came from different musical worlds growing up, but it’s that contrast in genres and simple mutual admiration for anything musical that brought them together. Impressions of the band and the music being created vary by one’s exposure to it. So, please read, listen to the album and see the band live to take it all in the right way. 18 26 The Sixth Toe John “JR” Robinson’s resume speaks volumes and has made history. Being the world’s most widely-recorded drummer, one can only imagine the stories that come with that kind of experience. JR provides a little insight on how he’s kept the beat going. 27 It’s Not Just Jazz Anymore This past July, Shure made its way over the big pond to Montreux, Switzerland for the annual Montreux Jazz Festival. These days, jazz is just one of the many musical genres that is showcased on the many stages at Montreux. One thing still remains the same when it comes to the performances, Shure microphones are everywhere! 28 Full-Tail Boogie Rock �n’Roll That’s Fun For All Pose in front of the mirror and sing along to the 70’s influenced rock sounds of the Eagles of Death Metal, frontman Jesse Hughes insists that you do! Spending a little time before the show, Hughes let us into his rock �n’ roll fantasy, and it’s everything you hoped it would be. 30 Mike Patton Is A Peeping Tom His career began by accident, but serendipity has been good to Mike Patton, and his versatility keeps him going. He has worked with or has been a part of an impressive resume of musicians and bands for over twenty years, and he still pines for the past when it comes to his favorite Shure mic. 18 Product Spotlight: Performance Gear® Wireless Never before has wireless been more affordable and reliable. With Shure’s new Performance Gear Wireless, you can sound like a pro and still have a little cash left over for the rest of your rockstar ensemble. 16 On Tour with Shure 3 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:52 AM Page 4 The Edge and Bono of U2 with Greenday’s Billie Joe Armstrong (center) Î Î MTV Video Music Awards This year’s MTV Video Music Awards brought on the talent for the network’s 22nd consecutive show on August 31, 2006. Among the diverse list of performers to hit the stage that night, was Shure endorser Wyclef Jean who joined Shakira in a performance of “Hips Don’t Lie.” Also adding to the inspiring performances of the evening, Christina Aguilera performed her new single “Hurt” on a Shure KSM9 UHF-R® wireless system. Congratulations to our endorsers who walked away with “Moonmen” this year, including: James Blunt for Best Male Video and Kelly Clarkson for Best Female Video. Shure was proud to be a part of the big night and we’ll see you all there next year. Monday Night Football On September 25, 2006, history was made when the New Orleans Superdome opened up to fans and players alike for the Saints’ first home game since the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Before the NFL action commenced, several of New Orleans’ finest musicians were joined by U2 and Green Day to rip through a cover of “The Saints Are Coming,” a 1978 tune by Scottish punk rockers the Skids. Both Bono and Billie Joe Armstrong delivered their rousing vocals through a Shure wireless Beta 58 to a soldout Monday Night Football crowd. A studio version of the collaboration will be released as a benefit single of the rebuilding of New Orleans and its historic music scene. This latest venture was a part of Music Rising, a New Orleans-focused charity started by Bob Ezrin and The Edge. Rockstar: Supernova Returning for a second season and 11 weeks of intense competition, CBS’ musician-focused reality show “Rockstar” returned with a new mission: Sift through the talented hopefuls to fill the lead singer slot in the Rockstar Supernova super-group. Drums, bass, and guitar were already spoken for by Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, and Gilby Clarke respectively. Dubbed “Rockstar: Supernova,” the reality show made use of Shure UHF-R for all of its live performances, putting the latest Shure wireless to the true rock �n’ roll test. On September 13th, the band made its choice for their new lead singer when they hand picked Lukas Rossi from Toronto, ON. Best of luck to the band and we’ll see you in Chicago. Christina Aguilera Joan Jett 4 www.shure.com 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:52 AM Page 5 Last year’s Grand Prize Winner Zane Williams with Song Contest Director Deanie Williams Î Summer Fest Recap Î Fantastic Scholastic 3 As it has for many years now, the Summer season brought us our favorite sunscorched music festivals, appealing to all genres of the musical palette. Bonnaroo More successful than its creators could have ever dreamed, Bonnaroo returned to its home turf in Manchester, TN, bringing even more diversity for the ’06 season. This year’s bill included the talents of G. Love & Special Sauce, Oysterhead, Beck, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Radiohead, Shure endorsers Ben Folds and Lyrics Born, and a host of others. CMT/NSAI Song Contest Î In its 7th year, the CMT/NSAI Song Contest is back and boasting new and exciting prizes and sponsors for this year’s competition. The CMT/NSAI Song Contest was designed to help amateur songwriters on their road to becoming a professional songwriter, and Shure is once-again proud to be there as a sponsor. The contest has opened to songwriters of all music genres and will accept entries until November 30, 2006. For more information, be sure to visit the CMT website (www.nsai.cmt.com). Last year’s Grand Prize Winner Zane Williams (pictured with Song Contest Director Deanie Williams) won a Shure KSM27 microphone and a Gibson Traveling Songwriter Guitar, and is currently recording the demo for his winning song “The Big Picture” at Parlor Studios on Music Row in Nashville, TN. Lollapalooza After spending most of its years existing as a touring festival, it seems that Lollapalooza has finally found a home, Chicago’s Grant Park. Returning for a second term at the city’s outdoor recreational facility, this year’s line-up had a little something for everybody. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Death Cab For Cutie, Shure endorsers Wilco, Queens of the Stone Age, Blackalicious, Mike Patton of Peeping Tom, and anybody else that currently plays music these days was there too! There was even a kids stage, making it an all-around family event. Open to university and college students nationwide, the registration process for Shure Incorporated’s annual “Fantastic Scholastic” Recording Competition officially opened on September 12th and will remain open until October 20th to all eligible students. A random drawing on October 24th will then determine the 10 competing schools, each of which will receive a standardized “mic locker” from Shure that must be utilized to complete every recording project submitted. Competing teams from each school are required to track and mix an entire song, which will then be judged by a panel of industry professionals who will evaluate the recordings based upon their overall fidelity, clarity, sonic balance, and creativity in selection and placement of the microphones. A five-member team from the University of Memphis in Tennessee won last year’s “Fantastic Scholastic” competition. Warped Tour Most shoe companies may have paycheck athletes endorsing their latest kicks, but how can you compete with the shoe company that goes from state to state with its own punk rock and extreme sport circus? Back again to entertain the kids on the hottest days of the summer, the Vans Warped pulled into your local parking lot to showcase the latest and greatest in punk rock music and skateboard and BMX street and ramp skills. Rocking the asphalt this year were AFI, Bouncing Souls, Shure endorsers Anti-Flag, Helmet and Rise Against, and the return of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Wilco On Tour with Shure 5 607_Shurea 6 11/8/06 www.shure.com 7:52 AM Page 6 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:52 AM Page 7 “[The band] just thought it was ridiculous. And it was completely ridiculous!” Casey laughed. “But I wanted to see what I had outside of this only band and only musicians I’ve ever played with. And I got a good sense of that and that was good.” Casey was a favorite to win on “Rockstar: INXS,” the first season for the musical talent show in which singers audition for a supergroup; last year it was the members of INXS looking for a new front man (after the tragic loss of original front man Michael Hutchence nine years ago). This season was a whole new supergroup, Rockstar: Supernova, consisting of Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted and Gilby Clarke, who auditioned a singer. Casey ended the show as the runner-up, but he came out a winner nonetheless. First, his off-the-cuff song written as part of the show audition mid-season, “Trees,” immediately became the most downloaded song on MSN.com for one week, before it was even officially released. Then, even though the members of INXS chose a different lead singer, they were so impressed by his talent that they invited the Lovehammers out on a tour shortly thereafter. Then Marty Casey & Lovehammers signed a deal with Epic Records. Their lives have been running full-throttle ever since. Along with their new management and label, the band decided to release an album immediately to coincide with their tour with INXS. They took songs from the Lovehammers’ past self-released CDs and some unreleased demos and proceeded with remixing and re-mastering. The resulting 10 songs plus one new song, “Casualty,” combine for a solid, melodic yet edgy, guitardriven rock LP on par with U2, Stone Temple Pilots and Nickelback, with Casey’s dramatic, guttural vocals as the pinnacle. Its impressive list of producers and writers includes Marti Fredrickson (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Buckcherry), and Chicagoans Johnny K (Staind, Disturbed) and Steve Albini—the latter with whom they had previously recorded “Straight As An Arrow,” the Lovehammers’ most raucous rock tune yet. “Luckily through the mastering and mixing it actually sounds like a cohesive record, which is some random miracle because it could have turned out insane and weird and just pieced together,” Casey admitted. Before embarking on their summer headlining tour, Casey and the band have had a chance to experience the L.A. fast lane, attending industry parties, hanging out with Tommy Lee and Slash, and witnessing the tabloid fodder in their natural habitat. Casey has also been co-writing new songs with various other songwriters. He and the Lovehammers will continue touring and promoting their debut, though, while getting used to the attention and support they’ve earned as a result of Casey’s “ridicu- lous” shot on reality television. Marty Casey & Lovehammers have a mutual love relationship with Shure. “I’ve used Shure wirelesss for like eight years. I even have a spare [Beta 58], but I haven’t had to use it once—and I trash the microphone too,” said Casey. The in-ear personal monitors are also a whole new experience for them. “We played at U.S. Cellular Field, and the first time we did it with [floor] monitors and heard all the delays bouncing around the entire stadium. It freaks you out hearing your voice 10 seconds away, but we had the in-ears and it was perfect! There’s really no going back; using [floor] monitors is just so caveman! They look [bad], they sound [bad], and when I climb to the back of the room and hang upside down from the rafters, I don’t have any delay with the band 200 feet in front of me!” “Being a lead singer and using a microphone, it’s all about reliability. It’s never more devastating at a show as when your mic goes out. But never in my eight-year history of using Shure mics have I ever had a mic cop out on me. From day one when nobody else believed in us in the industry, Shure already had their hand in helping out the Lovehammers.” Marty Casey & Lovehammers Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals UR24D/Beta 58* PGX24/SM58* Guitar ULXP14D* PGX14* Monitors PSM® 700 PSM 200 *wireless system On Tour with Shure 7 607_Shurea 8 11/8/06 www.shure.com 7:52 AM Page 8 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 9 Welcome, we wanted to talk about your career and how things are going. First, your longevity, what do you attribute this to? WYCLEF JEAN: Well, it’s all God first. You know, all praise be to God. Second, my parents. They were church folks. The performance aspect and the creative aspects come from performing in the church. And Haiti. How can you constantly keep reinventing the sound? I think the longevity has to do with originality, you can’t find one Wyclef. There’s many. OTWS: You mentioned Haiti. You’ve done a lot of charity work for your home country, how does that influence your sound? JEAN: Haiti influenced my sound a lot. So naturally, the sounds that you hear, that come from me, are because I’m in tune with the rhythms that are from Africa. My ancestors came from Africa. They were put in a boat and they were dropped off in Haiti. If you’re in tune with Africa, you’re in tune with the East, and the rhythms that are in your head are endless. OTWS: Some people have said your later records were eclectic, all over the place. What you seem to be saying is, �That’s what’s up here, in my head’, you wouldn’t take it as criticism. JEAN: No, not at all. Eclectic is a lover of all forms of music. So I think with me, a lot of my albums are advanced, and the mass population will catch on 30-40 years from now. But the idea that I’ve been working on is that music all comes from the same place. For me, I have a complete understanding of what the music is. I feel the wave of the future is eclectic. We just started working on The Carnival Two: The Second Wind. The dots that I will be connecting are on a level where everything really is one. So when I was doing albums like The Ecleftic and critics were like, �Yo, why is he all over the place?’ It was like I was ahead of them. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: Music is so global. I think our responsibility through music is to try and unite as much of the world as we can. OTWS: How’s the tour going? JEAN: The tour is going great. With Shakira, it’s definitely a natural match. She’s from Barranquilla, Columbia, and I’m from Haiti. Barranquilla isn’t that far from Haiti, so being Caribbean and being on tour with Shakira, we share a lot of the same things. I hear rock �n’ roll in her set. I hear Eastern. I hear reggae. Her’s is a very eclectic set. So for me, jumping on the tour was just natural chemistry. OTWS: How would you compare your early performance to how you perform now? How have you grown into your performance? JEAN: When I go on stage now, I don’t really think about what I’m going to play, like what’s next. All I do is just walk into any arena and my band strictly vibes. I can hear from the cheers and I can look at the audience in the crowd, that’s how I pick my set. Every night the set is created for an audience. If I show up and it’s nothing but rock heads, you’re getting an hour and a half of crazy rock and roll like you never heard. If it’s hip hop or if you look and it’s eclectic then you say �OK, let’s do eclectic.’ The other night, I just stopped the set and went into a Pink Floyd song. OTWS: Which one? JEAN: “Wish You Were Here.” And I was like, �Where did that come from?’ OTWS: How has sound changed in terms of its importance in your show? When you started out did you pay attention to how your show sounded? Do you pay more attention to it now? JEAN: Really, like I was saying earlier, I come from the church. My father, he was the band director and we had to make sure the sound was right in the church. So sound was something that we naturally grew up with. For example, the [SM]57 Shure mic is Wyclef Jean one of the earlier mics we had in my father’s church. The thing about the 57 was that it was a cheap mic at the time. But it was a favorite. What happens is, no matter what you do to that mic, that mic will not break. You could take the 57, bang it on the floor, pick that mic back up and you will get sound. When we started performing with The Fugees, we had mics with cords. We felt limited because we wanted to go into the crowd! I would grab the mic as far as I could and the sound guy is like �You can’t go any further,’ and I was like, �Yo, how do we get into the wireless gig? We need some wireless mics.’ And that was where Shure came in. OTWS: Now you’ve got the KSM9. JEAN: Yeah we got that one. OTWS: Before that you were using the Beta 58, how would you compare the sound between the two? JEAN: The KSM9 feels louder; it feels more round. With the arenas, it feels full. As a person who does a lot of talking to the crowd, a lot of freestyles, the dynamic of the mic is real important. The whole show is you talking to an audience; you have to be super clear. Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals UR24D/KSM9* PGX24/SM58* Backing Vocals Beta 58A® SM58® Kick Beta 52 ®A PG52 Snare Beta 56®A PG56 Toms Beta 98D/S PG56 Hi-Hat SM81 PG81 Overheads KSM44 PG81 Guitar ULXP14D* PGX14* Monitors PSM® 700 PSM 200 *wireless system On Tour with Shure 9 607_Shurea 10 11/8/06 www.shure.com 7:53 AM Page 10 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 11 ank Williams III is truly country royalty, sharing his famous name with father Hank Williams Jr. and grandfather Hank Williams Sr., both legends in their own times. Hank III grew up with a deep love and appreciation for country, but somewhere along the way his outlaw blood led him to hard rock—the hardest, actually—and his self-professed “black sheep of the Bible Belt” side was born. He seems to struggle with the pride and pull of his dualistic personality, which musically manifests within his superbly pure country and then in his metal projects—his own called Assjack, in which he punches a guitar and screams and growls like the hardest of hardcore bands. His new LP, Straight To Hell, contains two CDs: the first contains 14 country songs that reflect the traditional honky tonk sound he grew up around, but with subject matter that takes the outlaw attitude to different level, witnessed on songs like “Thrown Out Of The Bar,” “Pills I Took,” and “My Drinkin’ Problem,” the other is a stream-of-[un]consciousness trip of noises, phone messages, and random vocal and guitar tracks collected over eight years. On Tour with Shure spoke with Hank III in August while he was in between tours in support of the new record, setting up equipment in his Nashville home to do drum tracks for one of his many projects/proteges, singer/songwriter Bob Wayne. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: You have a song called “Country Heroes” on which you sing about the pain that goes along with the outlaw lifestyle you share with your country forebearers like David Allan Coe, George Jones, Willie, Haggard. What have you learned from them as far as music goes? HANK III: Most of the time those guys are singing and writing songs for themselves and not for “the machine,” is the best way to say it. And I’ve learned it’s good to have your stableness, to try to have your peace of mind off the road. Some of those guys say they’re going ’til the day they die. That’s not the way I’m gonna do it. And from the country I’ve learned a lot of patience and respect, but, you know, I’m the [one] that really is the nice guy. Yes, you’ve got your dark side that everybody writes about, but what do you do to keep your peace of mind? HANK III: I like playing drums, cutting grass and runnin’ the dog… just working outside. I was born and raised on a farm, so I think that might have a little bit to do with it. OTWS: OTWS: Where did you get your first taste of rock music? HANK III: I got my first drum kit and first ZZ Top, KISS and Black Sabbath records when I was like 10, and that pretty much opened the gate. When we were living in Atlanta, the 88.5 FM radio station totally changed my life; they were playing Dead Kennedys, Misfits, early Slayer, Sex Pistols. The harder and harder it was, the more I was into it. That’s where I got my love for both sides pretty much; [rock] was my psychiatrist growin’ up! OTWS: It seems that country fans are a little more accepting of a rock influence in their country, but many rock fans say they hate country. Do you run into people like that? HANK III: Once in a while there will be somebody that doesn’t get it; there’s [one] in every crowd. But I’ve seen my audience, and… you’d be surprised, a lot of them are pretty open-minded, and a lot of that goes back to Anselmo and the [stuff] I’ve done with him bringing another element into it, and me being involved in [metal] and all these different side projects. From metal kids to rednecks to skinheads to whatever, I deal with their hate all the time. OTWS: Do you use your Shure microphones when you’re recording at home? HANK III: On Straight To Hell we used SM57s, SM7s, and a KSM32. Out on stage, vocally I’m usually using the SM58®. [We use] Beta 91s for the kick drums. OTWS: What do you like best about the Shure mics you use? HANK III: Reliability on the road, and the refurbishing of them. Gary Lindsay, the lead singer of my metal band [Assjack] bashes his head with the microphone every night, and after a while it takes a toll! Shure is a microphone that can take being thrown down and hit hard! Sometimes the older an SM57 gets, the better it sounds! Hank III Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals Beta 58A® SM58 Backing Vocals SM57 PG57 Kick Beta 91 PG52 Snare Top & Bottom SM57 & Beta 57 PG57 Toms Beta 98D/S PG56 Hi-Hat KSM137 PG81 Overheads KSM32 PG81 Guitar Amp KSM32 & SM57 PG57 Bass Amp Beta 52® PG52 Pedal Steel Amp SM57 PG57 On Tour with Shure 11 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 12 A former army captain, singer-songwriter James Blunt is something of a one-man British invasion— storming U.S. shores with the first No. 1 hit by an English artist here since Elton John did it in 1997. But if you think the plaintive, ever-present ballad “You’re Beautiful” is all Blunt has going for him, you’d better think twice. In the midst of an American tour that has seen him play to packed houses and appreciative fans—both of the screaming teen and adoring adult variety—Blunt, 29, showcases goods of a wider versatility on his album Back to Bedlam (Atlantic). He’s also, as we discovered firsthand, an incredibly affable chap: generous with his time (considering how little he has of it these days) and full to the brim with a dry, cheeky humor that he uses to bring everything, including his own ego, down to size On Tour with Shure caught up with Blunt at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre—where fans were already mobbing the backstage door in the mid-afternoon—to talk about his music, his meteoric rise and the microphone that he’s taking along with him for the wild ride to the top of the pops. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: It seems that being on this kind of a career rocket ride is a lot like being in the military. So what’s tougher? In both fields, you need a lot of discipline, stamina and regimentation. JAMES BLUNT: I guess you’re right there to a degree—there are lots of things going on. The difference is in the military, you’re dealing with things that actually matter. You’re dealing with people’s lives, on the short term and also the long term. In music, you’re dealing with a very fickle industry—and somehow people try to make it very relevant. People are actually concerned as to whether I’m wearing fashionable [clothes] in this industry. OTWS: If something is important in this industry—something that you want to bring to light—then what is it? BLUNT: I think it’s the connection with people. You can do music privately and I love doing music privately, writing songs. Recording is a form of documentation. But performing is a form of social interaction and I love trying to form a connection because you’re using a medium of conversation that’s far better than just the limitation of language. OTWS: Speaking of which, some people in your audience seem to speak different languages. You’ve got the screaming girls, and you’ve got the people who want to come and just listen intently. How do you balance the demands of those two very different audience segments? BLUNT: For me, it’s a strange transition. It started off as something people were telling their friends about, and the subject matter of the album was mostly adult topics, mostly introverted and reflected, but being shared by most people. Then the “You’re Beautiful” single took it to the top of the popular charts, and suddenly you have that complexity of a much wider audience. So I don’t think I know the answer as to how to deal with that. I try to advocate restraint—at times. And at other times, I try to advocate as much feedback and expression as the audience could wish for. OTWS: I’ve heard that some of the record is based on your personal experience being in the military. Is that something you feel comfortable talking about? 12 www.shure.com 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 13 BLUNT: Quite a lot of it is my experiences and I feel comfortable talking about it—I don’t necessarily want to go into too much detail, because the songs go into as much detail as I would want to. “No Bravery” [a song Blunt wrote about encountering Serbian soldiers celebrating over the dead bodies of an Albanian family] wasn’t written in any kind of political slant; it was just based on what I saw. OTWS: Do you feel that “You’re Beautiful” by the same management firm, so we must have rigged it! OTWS: It’s a very hectic, whirlwind life for you right now. What is the most rewarding part of the touring process for you? BLUNT: It’s a whole host really. First and foremost, I’m touring with a band that are a really great bunch of musicians—and relatively nice people! And then again, I’m touring the world. We’re visiting places that I’ve never been to before. I’ve never had a had lasted the test of time. And then going beyond that, it seemed to be the microphone that everyone I bumped into used. I have used other microphones—and I won’t tell you what they were, but I can assure you that they broke! (Laughs). So I found myself on stage, using Shure at the recommendation of my soundman—who’s about 250 years old, and if he doesn’t know what to use, no one will. We have a spare one on stage, and we’ve never used it. In “…the feedback we’re getting from our audiences is that it’s not only capturing what we’ve done on the record, but better. So yeah, we think we’re in good hands.” —James Blunt has stolen any thunder from the rest of your album? BLUNT: Fortunately it’s the album that people seem to be going out and getting, and not just the single. But the medium we work through is radio, and in order to use that we have to focus on one song at a time— which is a bit unnatural for me because I’ve written an album that I thought started at the beginning and finished at the end. I understand “You’re Beautiful” has brought attention to the album, but “Goodbye My Lover” is a much more personal song. OTWS: Coming up as an artist, you’re seeing more journalists reach for comparisons. I’ve seen you mentioned alongside Coldplay and David Gray. Do you mind that sort of thing? BLUNT: Those are huge compliments, really. I’m very flattered by that. I enjoy early �70s singer-songwriters and if I could be compared to them, I’m sure they’re turning in their graves… or if they’re still around to call me, they’ll phone me and tell me to shut up! But definitely I’m inspired by Neil Young, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and Elton John. OTWS: I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you’re the first British artist to have a No. 1 hit in America since Elton John. BLUNT: We are aware of that. We’re managed chance to go spend time in Chicago, and we’re going all around the States to places I’ve never visited. It’s an education in itself, and if at the same time we can kick back and play music, I’m a very happy man. OTWS: Do you get time to write on the road? BLUNT: I have about five minutes a day. But you know, a song is only three and a half minutes! I’ve got loads of musical ideas, but not necessarily enough time to get them all together. I guess it’s better than having loads of time and no musical ideas. Songs are being gathered and being added to the set and as we go, I’ve got to tie up a bunch of loose ends before we go into the studio and record those songs. OTWS: What inspires you to write? BLUNT: Anything, really. Life experiences that make me feel something. Writing songs is all about capturing that feeling, good or bad, up or down. So that’s what inspires me—people or places, life itself. OTWS: The vocal microphone you’re using now is a Shure Beta 58A®. How have Shure mics been a part of what you’re doing, now and in your years coming up? BLUNT: When I first started doing music, Shure was the microphone that I was recommended to go out and get, because it was durable enough and rugged enough and a very harsh environment, they work. OTWS: How would you describe Shure in terms of its sonic clarity and musicality? BLUNT: We’re very vocal driven. We’re a fivepiece band and it’s very important to me that the four of us singing on stage are clearly heard. The voices are the most integral part of the live instrumentation. So what I want to know is: �Is this reproducing my voice with the tonality and the clarity and warmth?’ And the feedback we’re getting from our audiences is that it’s not only capturing what we’ve done on the record, but better. So yeah, we think we’re in good hands. OTWS: As a parting shot—at this level of success, you’re an inspiration to many people reading this article. Any words of wisdom in terms of something that has made all the difference for you? BLUNT: I have very strong views on that. As a musician, if you feel something strongly, you capture it in music—but to take that into an industry is a whole different matter. The initial reaction is to send your demos off to as many different people in the industry as you can—but my advice is, �Do not do this.’ The only person who can take your music around is the right manager. It’s up to you to find that person, and you can’t have my manager, because he’s mine! James Blunt Theirs On A Budget Vocals Beta 58A SM58® Kick Beta 91 PG52 Snare Top & Bottom Beta 57A & Beta 98D/S PG57 Toms Beta 98D/S PG56 Hi-Hat KSM137 PG81 Overheads KSM137 PG81 Upright Piano KSM44 PG81 Leslie Cabinet Beta 57A PG57 On Tour with Shure 13 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 14 grunge ruled the airwaves and flannel was the fashion fad of the day. The “Seattle Sound,” as it became known, was all the rage because the music of bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains struck a chord with angst-ridden young music fans in their teens and early twenties. It was loud, raw and powerful. Fifteen years later, the only one of those aforementioned Seattle bands to survive was Pearl Jam…until now. Alice in Chains is back, despite the tragic loss of singer Layne Staley in 2002. The three surviving members of the original line-up, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney have reunited with a new lead singer, William DuVall [frontman for Comes With a Fall and a member of Cantrell’s solo touring band]. Earlier this year, they toured small clubs across the U.S. and made appearances at several European festivals. Recently, they announced another tour, which will take them across the U.S. and then… who knows? Before their appearances at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, On Tour with Shure sat down with the band to discuss their past, present and future… ON TOUR WITH SHURE: I heard the Seattle and L.A. gigs were pretty amazing…somebody said you guys blew the roof off the place at the L.A. gig. 14 www.shure.com JERRY CANTRELL: Yeah, that was a good one. Seattle was cool, too. SEAN KINNEY: I don’t remember it because of this flu thing or what- ever. I just remember seeing spots. I heard it was good, though. [Everyone laughs] OTWS: What’s the energy been like at the shows? Has it been emotional at all for you guys and/or the crowd? CANTRELL: It’s been really cool. We’ve been having a fun time playing together…that’s the main thing. Being around the guys and playing this music is an experience in itself, and the people showing up at the shows are having a really good time with it, too. MIKE INEZ: I haven’t played in a club in a long time…a long time. It’s like we’re starting off where we began. It’s actually been kinda nice to play at places like the Moore Theater in Seattle and the Roxy in L.A. Here we are…20 years in the music industry getting paid to play at the Roxy. OTWS: How have you [William] been received as the new lead singer? WILLIAM DUVALL: You know…it’s been great. I see the expressions on people’s faces and I get right down to them out there…it’s really good. I don’t really read a lot of press, but we know what the experience is. I know the experience I’m having when I’m there in front of those people and when I’m there with these guys…so that’s what counts. And the musicians who have come to the gigs, whether its to sit in with us or just to watch…like in Seattle, Krist Novaselic 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM Page 15 and Kim Thayil, I care what they say. And what they’re saying is “phenomenal,” “fantastic,” “devastating.” I’m having a good time with it. OTWS: How did you find him? CANTRELL: I was making a record…the last record I put out, Degradation Trip, in L.A. and Will had just moved to L.A. We met through some mutual friends. OTWS: Are you playing any new songs, or are you concentrating on the existing material? CANTRELL: We’ve got plenty of music to play, you know? This whole thing is just kind of…take it as it comes, so we’re just having fun with it and feeling it out. KINNEY: Yeah, there’s plenty of material. OTWS: Will there be a new album? CANTRELL: We’ll see what happens down the road. We’ve just been enjoying getting together and playing some shows…having a great time with that. We’re just at the beginning of this, so we really haven’t looked that far down the road yet. OTWS: At what point did you realize that you wanted to resurrect the band? KINNEY: Well, we always keep in touch. We’d jam every once in a while, but after the tsunami we got together and played a benefit gig in Seattle with some friends. It seemed cool and we were just kind of talking about what a great experience it was and what it would be like to go out and play some of these songs again. It was a really touchy thing after what’s happened, so it took us about a year or so to figure out how we wanted to do it. OTWS: What prompted you guys to go out again as Alice In Chains instead of creating something new? CANTRELL: It’s who we are, you know? KINNEY: For me, it’s like…in honor of Layne and the memory of what we did together. Over the past several years, I’d have all these kids come up to me and say, �I love your band, man, but I never got to see you guys play.’ We stopped at the height of everything after just a few records. That doesn’t happen for a lot of bands. INEZ: It’s a really cool thing that we’ve talked about…thought about doing, but now it’s actually happening. It’s a gift that it’s even going down. CANTRELL: My best hope is that if this ends up being what it is…we’re going to do this tour…and that’s all we really said we we’re going to do. At the very best, it will maybe let us write a better last chapter for the band. OTWS: How long have you been using Shure mics? DUVALL: Well, of course a [SM]57 on a speaker cabinet…on anything…that’s like basic, 101 for… miking. OTWS: What do you think of the new KSM9? DUVALL: It seems to be a better fit for me… for my voice. It’s just what you hear…in the house, in my head…it’s just what you hear. OTWS: What’s next for you guys? CANTRELL: Well, it’s like Sean said, there’s a lot of people out there who haven’t seen us and there are a lot of places we never got to go. So, we’re trying to do both of those things. We’re going to go to some countries where we’ve never been and play for a generation of kids who never got a chance to see us. It’s cool to play in clubs and be right in people’s faces, but we’re also going to be doing some stages at the European festivals. Right now, it’s for us, for the music… honoring the music and the time we had with Layne. And, it’s for all the people who supported us. We’re going to take it as far as we feel it needs to go. Alice in Chains A few words from Alice In Chains FOH Engineer, Monty Lee Wilkes: ON TOUR WITH SHURE: How long have you been using Shure microphones? MONTY LEE WILKES: Professionally, since about 1977…unless you include playing with my Dad’s mics when I was a kid. I always thought that the Unidyne logo was so powerful and cool looking. OTWS: What do you think about the new KSM9? WILKES: When I say that I’m knocked out by the KSM9, one needs to bear in mind that with every new vocal microphone that comes down the pike, I always seem to come back to the SM58®. I think I’ll stick with this one, though. The KSM9 will deliver every nuance faithfully. OTWS: How does Alice In Chains lead singer William DuVall like the KSM9? WILKES: He loves it. William, unfortunately, has a bad habit of cupping the ball of the mic which I’m working with him on breaking…the habit, not the mic. The KSM9 sounds better than anything else when “mishandled” as such. But hey, all you MTV-watching, budding young vocalists out there: cupping the mic is still breaking rule number one. You need to remember that while you may think you look really cool doing it…any singer that does so actually prevents their true voice from reaching their audience. Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals UR24D/KSM9* PGX24/SM58* Kick Beta 91 & Beta 52® PG52 Snare Top & Bottom KSM32 & SM57 PG57 Hi-Hat KSM27 PG81 Toms Beta 98D/S PG56 Overheads KSM32 PG81 Guitar Amp KSM32, KSM27 & SM57 PG57 Bass Amp SM7 PG52 Guitar ULXP14D* PGX14* *wireless system On Tour with Shure 15 607_Shurea 11/8/06 7:53 AM coverstory 16 www.shure.com Page 16 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 17 inutes before a sound check at Chicago’s House of Blues, Rollins talked of music, how he stays sharp as a writer, surviving in a world of celebrity, and much more—all with that trademark Rollins intensity that touches all his creative endeavors. He also wasn’t shy about speaking up—into an SM57, we might add—about the microphone that has been his career companion for a quarter century. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: A thousand words is longer than this entire article will be in print—yet we understand that’s how much you try to write every day, minimum. HENRY ROLLINS: Sometimes I fall behind. With this tour, the physical exertion is tremendous. Before the show, I do a strenuous workout and post-show, I’m very whipped. I’m wiped out to the point where I don’t have the strength to prop up an idea. And I’m throwing very hard on this tour, working my ass off. But I was just filming “Wrong Turn II”; they shot it in Canada, where we do a five-day week and on weekends, you’re on your own. So I was doing some five- and six- and seventhousand word days. OTWS: You are immersed in celebrity through the people you meet and the folks you interview on your IFC TV show. At the same time, you’ve always tried to distance yourself from getting too sucked into that world. How do you manage that tricky balance? ROLLINS: For me it’s not that tricky, though it is a balance. I show up for that TV job in a Subaru, and I go home from that job in a Subaru—having the choice to drive anything I want. On my own, I have some degree of recognition: every hotel, every airport, every red light, someone will look over and go, �Woah, man!’ But I’m not too different from them. I came from the minimum-wage working world, and I have those values. In the world I’m in now, it’s a lot like floating on the bubbles of champagne. But I’m more like the guy who carries the champagne in through the loading dock. Sometimes I’m standing at an opening with someone from “The Sopranos” or something, and I say to myself, �Man, who let the dishwasher in?’ OTWS: That’s a humble attitude to take for someone who has achieved so much success. ROLLINS: Guys like Ozzy Osbourne, he doesn’t do it for the money. If you’re Mick Jagger, you don’t need to do “Brown Sugar” every night. I certainly don’t live the way I did back in 1987, calling up old girlfriends to conjure up $600 to pay the rent. But once you’ve made it, what remains after all the sex and the drugs is the craft. Ask Carlos Santana: It eats you and consumes you and demands the best of you. That’s why writers are often crabby. I can’t imagine being a comedy writer saying, �It’s 9 a.m.: Be funny.’ I’m so glad I’m just a psychopath and hanging in there. If I had any real talent, I’d just blow it. OTWS: We understand that you actually worked at a Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop before you made it. True? The thought of Henry Rollins scooping cherry vanilla… ROLLINS: That was my last punch-the-time clock job. I worked at a pet shop, I worked at a surf shop—and a lot of retail. I always ended up with the keys to the place. Bosses always trusted me and I always did the right thing. I was the guy who could be trusted making the night deposit. But all that work taught me well; you must be very respectful of other people and their work. We have a band and we get a salary. I don’t get a bigger one—but if the tour goes into the red, I pay. Their livelihood depends on that respect. And now my name is on everything! If it isn’t any good, I’m in a whole lot of trouble. With that, you feel like you need to give it everything you have. OTWS: A lot of stars with your experience could just phone it in, or rest on their creative laurels. How do you stay fresh? ROLLINS: When I was young, I didn’t have a whole lot of money to do anything, so I wrote. Years later, I live in a nice place way up in the clouds where I don’t have to do much—and that’s where you get the fat layer. I’d much rather live on the tour bus. I actually have enough self-contempt that I force this schedule on myself, knowing that if you give me leisure, I’ll eventually cave into 7500 channels, a remote and a spot on the couch. Time off for me, I go to India, Africa or a USO trip. OTWS: You seem unique among musicians in that you’re a big supporter of the troops, though not necessarily the war. ROLLINS: The troops are doing the job, and they are doing a hell of a job. It’s just that I disagree with the placement of the troops at this time, that’s all. But the world is full of enemies of this country. Someone has to walk the wall. I’m not fit to. OTWS: There’s another tough outfit that has your full support, too. ROLLINS: I love Shure microphones. If you’re a guy in a rock band or a world leader— turn on CNN, and you’ll see them talking into a Shure. Vladimir Putin? Shure. Nelson Mandela? Shure. The G8 Summit? Shure. There’s a reason: They work. At one point years ago, I looked around for alternatives to see if there was anything that would improve on the thing. And I think for about a week, I used another microphone until the sweat from my performances knocked it out. …To this day, I’m one of the only people who uses an SM58® in the studio, much to the chagrin of recording engineers. They always try me out on a bunch of different mics and they always end up saying, “Yeah, that’s the only mic that sounds like you.” Live? I’ve done something like 106 shows a year for 25 years. Maybe for all but 25 of those shows, there was a Shure in my hand. Henry Rollins His On A Budget Lead Vocals SM58 PG58 On Tour with Shure 17 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 18 productspotlight Performance Gear® Wireless: As dedicated to a great performance as you are. till using wired mics? Now’s the time to finally take the next step to a wireless microphone system with Shure’s new Performance Gear® Wireless. Affordable and reliable, Performance Gear Wireless provides pro-quality wireless and on stage confidence—both expected and deserved—that will have you sounding like a pro. With hassle-free setup and stage worthy construction, Performance Gear does what great gear is meant to do – get the job done S Performance Gear Wireless is engineered to the uncompromising quality standards that have made Shure the leader in live performance audio for more than 80 years. and never get in the way. Setup is as easy as the touch of a button when you choose from 10 channels per system while using up to 8 systems simultaneously. When it comes to live performances, Performance Gear Wireless will rise above the standards of durability. A first in the industry, Performance Gear Wireless includes 1 /4" wave, microprocessor controlled, Internal Antenna Diversity. With an internal antenna, damage or misalignments are fears of the 18 www.shure.com past. Performance Gear Wireless also includes Shure’s patented Predictive Diversity to ensure you continuous sound with no interruptions and no apologies. Performance Gear Wireless is engineered to the uncompromising quality standards that have made Shure the leader in live performance audio for more than 80 years. All Shure microphones are built to endure the demands of live performances, but also perform with the highest standard of audio quality to help you define and amplify your own unique sound. Each applicationspecific microphone has onstage control with convenient on/off switches on all vocal and instrument mics to help you stay in control and worry-free. Need wireless for more than just vocals you say? Shure’s Performance Gear Wireless is attuned to all your specific needs from vocals to guitar. Performance Gear Wireless Vocal includes the handheld PG58, a rugged mic tuned to accentuate the clarity of lead and backup vocals. Looking to cut the cord on your guitar or bass? Performance Gear Wireless Guitar is a rugged guitar system perfect for any electronic instrument with 1/4" outputs. Wireless Lavalier is ideal for spoken word applications while the Wireless Headset’s head worn mic is the right fit for more active users and performers. Performance Gear Wireless also offers a Dual Vocal Microphone System, which allows you to pick any two applications from a handheld mic, a lavalier, to a headworn mic. Performance Gear Wireless technology is attuned to your needs so you can get the job done right with no worries. Shure knows performing is a commitment. That’s why Performance Gear Wireless is a wireless system that is as dedicated to a great performance as you are. With stress-free setup, durable equipment, and superior sound quality, an application specific wireless system like Performance Gear Wireless is guaranteed to be the first step into professional wireless that you’ve been waiting for. 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 19 get serious. (Just don’t spend serious.) The Shure KSM27 studio microphone is one serious piece of equipment. It’s engineered to deliver a precisely detailed high end along with a silky smooth mid-range to work across vocal, guitars, and drums. All this flexilibilty sounds expensive but it’s not. The KSM27 is amazingly affordable. Check one out today. And record with a legend for less. www.shure.com © Shure Inc. 2006 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 20 Evan Johns and J. Loren, both age 24, grew up on opposite ends of the country, and in equally opposite worlds. Johns grew up in Los Angeles, toddling about while bands like Van Halen and Cinderella were family house guests. He got his first drum set when he was five. His father, Andy Johns, is a legendary rock producer whose credits include work with Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart as well as the ’80s rock groups mentioned above. J. Loren grew up in a very religious household in Virginia. He listened to classical music, and rock and roll was forbidden. His first instrument was the violin. The first rock song he recalls hearing while at a friend’s house was “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam. 20 www.shure.com 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 21 “Eddie [Van Halen] had his Studio 5150 in the back of his house, and they had a game room with all sorts of arcade games,” Johns recounts, growing up surrounded by rock icons like Van Halen. “I can remember playing Asteroids for days at a time and hanging out with the guys, then Alex would come in and totally ruin my high score!” Loren, in contrast, is still discovering many of those icons. “I keep finding out about huge bands that have been around forever, like The Who—I’d never heard of The Who. I just pretty much stayed away from home as much as I could and played guitar with my friends, and I started hearing a couple of rock and roll songs… and it was just nice to know that there was something out there that was different than classical music.” Their contrasting backgrounds aside, it was their mutual admiration that got the two past their obvious differences in background and writing together soon after their first meeting. Rounding out the band with east coasters Paul Spatola on guitar and Josh Ansley on bass, Hurt put things like eating and paying rent aside and spent their own cash and six months of studio time recording their first album, Vol. I. Reactions and impressions of Hurt’s music depends on how you’re first exposed to it. Look at their website and the old English text and etchings of mythical creatures might come across as gothic, as might their evocative song titles. Put on the record, and the fusion of tonal dissonance, complex arrangement and rock dynamic could warrant comparisons to Tool, Days of the New, Metallica and even Dream Theater. See the band live, and the audio-visual experience of eery film loops, strategic light design and J. Loren’s juxtaposing presence playing violin atop the rising and falling guitar and drums culminates in something very far from your everyday rock show. Then there are Loren’s lyrics, which have the ability to stand alone, reading like classic poetry. The band’s first single, “Rapture,” paints a mental picture of something unthinkable: “She swore she heard the voice of Jesus/Telling her it was wrong to keep it/And one more thing, it looked like me/Back when it breathed… Rest in peace.” “I was always reticent to put down the lyrics because I sometimes try to say two different things by the sound of what I’m saying, and once you see the lyrics it Hurt solidifies in your mind one path that it goes down. And I hate that,” Loren said, citing Shakespeare and Hemingway as two of his literary influences. Other songs tell tales of sorrow (hurt) caused by lost love, and even in the instance of a positive encounter with a love, as on “Danse Russe” (inspired by the Imagist poem of the same name), Hurt’s tonal approach stays true to the band’s name, surrounding the words with musical tension. The members of Hurt, consequently, are anything but tense. Instead, their faces lit up at the chance to share their love of Shure microphones. “Did you know that �Rapture’ was recorded entirely on an SM57?” says Loren. “Because it was the only thing that could really take the pounding that we gave it! You can actually shape your own EQ before it even gets to the cord, and that’s an invaluable tool.” “A lot of the stuff [on the record] was on an SM57, or an SM7,” Johns adds. The band’s soundman, whose career covers 20 years, says that Hurt is the first band he has ever worked with that uses all Shure microphones onstage. Johns and Loren both agree that trial and error with different microphones has resulted in their devotion to the dependability of Shure. “I think a lot of people get [a little confused] and they think that they can make a difference with something as subtle as a sound characteristic from a microphone, when really they should probably play a little better,” adds Loren. Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals SM57 PG57 Kick Beta 91 & Beta 52A® PG52 Snare Beta 57 PG57 Toms Beta 98D/S SM57 Hi-Hat KSM137 PG81 Overheads KSM32 PG81 Guitar Amp KSM27 & SM57 SM57 Monitors PSM® 700 PSM 200 On Tour with Shure 21 607p17_31 22 11/8/06 8:45 AM www.shure.com Page 22 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 23 On the Midwest leg of his road jaunt, Jarreau discussed a gamut of subjects from his upcoming studio effort to keeping it real night after night on stage. He also revealed his pet name for the Shure microphone he insists made a quantum leap in his live show possible. To learn what that moniker is, and get a glimpse inside Jarreau’s creative mind, read on. AL JARREAU: Lou! Lou! Lou! Lou! Lou! Lou! Lou! Looooouuuuuuuuuu! ON TOUR WITH SHURE: Man, I wish I had my tape recorder on, Al. That would’ve made a great telephone answering machine message. JARREAU: Come on, set it up! Let’s do it!!! [Laughs] OTWS: Your most recent album, Accentuate The Positive, was quite the feat—done live in the studio without string arrangements or overdubs. What did you do for an encore for your upcoming disc with George Benson? JARREAU: Giving It Up is an even more amazing story. Accentuate the Positive took five to six weeks to make, including the mixing. Still, I think we outdid ourselves here in comparison, with less than 25 actual recording days for the entire project. It was crazy! Crazy! We carved out a window through which we had to fly. We’re the first project with this collaboration between Concord Jazz and Monster Cable. The founder of the [Monster Cable] company, Noel Lee, is a music lover and wanted to start a label. …But it’s been so busy, I haven’t even had a chance to sign the paperwork yet. OTWS: Tell us more about the new disc, and how the material is going over live. JARREAU: I think we have a wonderful record with some great guest appearances, including Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin and Sir Paul McCartney. Things are just coming together and that makes it feel like the great puppeteer in the sky is guiding us—you know, God! (Laughs.) It’s still not pudding yet, but I think we have a landmark recording and I want to see it through this malaise of record buying and downloading. Live, George and I are trying to satisfy some things that our audiences love and respond to, but we’re doing quite well [with the new material]. Before George and I walk onstage for the first time, there’s an overture with songs from George’s career and my career— and then we hit �em with “Breezin’.” The look on people’s faces is one of amazement. I’m really proud of my lyric—I think it captures the spirit of the song—and I can see the people with smiles on their faces, their eyebrows rising into their hairlines! (Laughs.) OTWS: What best describes your approach as an artist and how you stay focused? JARREAU: �Who knows what tomorrow may bring?’ I may find myself at a loss for creative fire in my soul. But there’s something about the variety of music: I still have a polka record to do! OTWS: Polka? JARREAU: Kids today get the notion by omission that nothing else is relevant. But I grew up 10, 12 feet from a polka tavern. I know polka music. Kids today get no chance to experience the variety of music that’s out there. Name me a kid who knows “There’s a Place for Us” from “West Side Story,” and I’ll show you a different kid. There’s music inside me where I could do a Broadway album—I could do it as a trio, or with the “A few weeks ago, Shure brought out this new mic for me to try, and I noticed a leap in sound—a leap. You don’t notice that very often.” —AL JARREAU London Symphony, or with the Count Basie Orchestra. Man! There is so much to do. And as musicians, we are given one of the most immediate forms of expression and reacting—and touching. You can play your cello in the basement, which is fine. But to reach and touch other people, we are the darlings of the arts community. It goes through the ears, reaches the heart and smites you! Knocks you to the floor. OTWS: One of the things you’re renowned for is scatting, not only in terms of your syncopation, but the instruments and tones you can imitate. Where did that come from? JARREAU: Where did that come from is right! (Laughs.) You think I know? I’m as [clueless] observing that happening as the person in the front row. Maybe it comes from having big, big ears for music when I first stepped on the Earth. I sat on the piano bench next to my mom, who was the church pianist—and I had to have heard something when I was in her tummy. Something special was going on. I think if you have that, it prescribes a special connection between your ear, your mind, your heart and an instrument—and in this case, it was my voice. So where does it come from? It comes from a desire to become part of the music. You want to go deeper. I heard horn players improvise every time they picked up the horn—[Jarreau fires off rapid-fire vocal scats in imitation]—and that was exciting stuff. That’s what I’m shooting for—making new music within the same song. Even with “We’re In This Love Together,” I made up some new syncopation in the song the other night. The drummer was grinning at me, firing right back, even though he’s been with me five years. OTWS: We like to think we’ll keep firing right back at you for years to come, too. JARREAU: Shure has been part of it, and has been part of it all along in my career. I don’t know my sound apart from being a Shure sound. A few weeks ago, Shure brought out this new mic for me to try, and I noticed a leap in sound—a leap. You don’t notice that very often. Michael Briggs, who’s been mixing my front-of-house for most of my career, brought me the mic, a KSM model. I call it “The Kismet,” It’s a great sound, and we’re getting a great reaction to it. OTWS: “The Kismet,” eh? JARREAU: It is kismet, you know what I mean? The moment I sang in front of the audience with that mic, I was frankly stunned. I don’t know if I could go back to anything else. When you find a product that pulls out your personality and textures in the voice that are beyond what you normally get in the listening situation, that’s some heavy [stuff]! You don’t get something like that unless you’ve got your ear to the singer’s mouth. That’s a special kind of creativity. Al Jarreau His Lead Vocals UR24D/KSM9* On A Budget PGX24/SM58* * wireless system On Tour with Shure 23 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 24 L-R: Richard Elliot, Gerald Albright, Jeff Golub, Peter White It’s sound check time at the Windy City’s historic Chicago Theatre, and as the smooth jazz supergroup Guitars & Saxes winds through Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ For The City,” a soulful rumble shakes the stage, as Gerald Albright’s five-string bass thumps and pops with funky abandon. Even though the sound check should be routine, the musicianship definitely is not. Together, Albright (also the alto saxist), Richard Elliot (tenor sax), Jeff Golub (electric guitar) and Peter White (acoustic guitar) resemble a quartet of lithe acrobats, bounding through hoops of fire and ice. Yet if there’s one thing absent here, it’s ego and one-upsmanship—even though any of these cats could easily headline a jazz tour and pack venue after venue with faithful fans. On Tour with Shure sat down with the smooth jazz’s quintessential quartet just moments before showtime. In an interview 24 www.shure.com punctuated by laughter, joking and goodnatured banter, the Guitars & Saxes guys discussed the musical give and take that makes the group work—and the microphones and stage gear that have always worked, night after night. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: What is it like touring in Guitars & Saxes as opposed to going out and doing your own thing? GERALD ALBRIGHT: It’s different because the package thing these days is very popular to do. It’s kind of a dual-edged sword; I don’t get to do as many of my songs as I would like to do, or as my fans would like. But you get four artists on stage—and for the audience, that’s a lot of bang for the buck. And I’m excited because there’s a lot of camaraderie and a lot of team play. We help each other out. Plus, the players we have behind us—including a drummer like Ricky Lawson—are really great. OTWS: OK, Richard, we have to ask—how did you come to play a horn with blackand-white stripes on it? RICHARD ELLIOT: The company that makes the horns that I play is called LA Sax [based in San Antonio, Texas], and their thing is making crazy designs on their horns. They made tiger stripes and I asked half-joking if I could have zebra stripes [points to horn]. But I actually wanted a real zebra! PETER WHITE: No zebras were harmed in the making of this saxophone! OTWS: Whether it’s straight-ahead or smooth jazz, improvisation can play a huge role. How much of what you do allows for that kid of freedom, as opposed to playing by script? WHITE: The show is constantly evolving. As artists, we almost always play according to what we hear, and we adapt. This Guitars & Saxes show is different every year, and we’ve all 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 25 done it (though this is Gerald’s first year). You adapt your style according to what you hear. ALBRIGHT: There’s a lot of call and response during the show. If Richard does a hip lick, I’ll try to throw something back at him… ELLIOT: I can’t remember when I did a hip lick! OTWS: We heard plenty during sound check. ELLIOT: If I play a song I’ve been playing for years, and then I play it in this environment, I’m going to approach it differently—and I’m positive these things make me a better musician, or strive to be a better musician. In my own situation, there’s a comfort level. But in an environment like this, it pushes you, and the audience senses that. JEFF GOLUB: These guys are killing it every night—and if they’re killing it, you have to at least rise to a level where you’re not slinking off stage with your tail between your legs. ELLIOT: After 25 or 30 years of doing this, to be inspired by this tour is a great thing. OTWS: Guide us, then, through how you approach those moments where onstage magic is possible. ALBRIGHT: Basically our premise is to have a conversation with each one of our instruments, and with melody and rhythm—to have something where we share it with the audience and it makes them feel better. There are some spiritual things that happen. Richard played this song “People Make the World Go Round” and just did this cadenza—he was off in another space. It was just inspiring. ELLIOT: You really get command of the situation when you just surrender to it. GOLUB: Time stops, that’s for sure! And when time stops… ELLIOT: …when that stuff happens, you don’t want it to stop! OTWS: It sounds like a paradox; it takes a lot of work and focus to gain musical command—but ultimately you have to let go to reach that next level. WHITE: The only way to play music is to stop thinking. You have to let go; the same with writing and painting. You go with what you feel. People have asked us, �How do you do that?’ And I say, �What? Roll the tape back!’ ELLIOT: I don’t want to get deep, but I wonder if John Coltrane, who practiced 8 hours a day, said, �If I master my instrument, I don’t have to worry about what I am doing—and I can just let it come out.’ WHITE: We all want to get to the point where we forget that we have an instrument in our hands. GOLUB: I read a book—I’ve read a couple of books, actually!—about creativity called “Higher Creativity and the Unconscious.” And Lewis Carroll said he didn’t actually write “Through the Looking Glass,” he just moved the pen across the page. OTWS: How do you feel about the term “smooth jazz” being applied to what you do, given your varied backgrounds and influences? WHITE: “Smooth jazz” is a radio term. I always say, �We don’t play smooth jazz— smooth jazz plays us.’ I listen to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton. So does Jeff. ALBRIGHT: I listen to James Brown, Maceo Parker, Motown, the Philly Sound. In high school, I started listening to Cannonball Adderley. ELLIOT: I was into old R&B tenor players like King Curtis—the Texas tenor sound. Like Gerald, I was into the Motown Sound and the Philly Sound. I did not listen to straight-ahead until much later, and then it was Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt. But in high school, I listened to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin! And I’m glad I did. If anything became evident, it’s that to develop your own style, you listen to so many things. Plus as a sideman, you learn a lot playing with other people. GOLUB: I find most people in this genre are pop sidemen who wanted to get more out of their instruments. Most of us wanted to play more, express more than we could as sidemen. WHITE: Which makes us all the more thankful we can have careers as solo artists. To what extent is Shure helping that pursuit? We understand that the relationship for each of you goes way back. ELLIOT: [Laughs.] At My Place, a club in L.A., I remember how I got completely sick of standing in front of mic stands. So I had a friend of mine who owned a machine shop design a weird Plexiglas contraption to hold an SM57! WHITE: We prefer to move around onstage, and I think that’s what separates us from the straight-ahead jazz artists. At the very first Guitars & Saxes tour, Shure gave us our first wireless systems. We have so much to thank Shure for. ALBRIGHT: Going wireless was a slight adjustment, but a welcome one. I’m using a two-channel [UHF-R® Wireless System]. I have not had to worry about dropout or signal loss or anything. I just bring my belt packs and it’s a comfortable way to access my sound. You plug it in, turn it on and forget about it. There’s no going back. ELLIOT: It’s freedom. It was truly a life change for me, from standing in front of a mic stand to going wireless. WHITE: In the old days with guitar cables, they’d come on, plug in and… crrrrrccrrr! [Imitates sound of cable shorting out.] And I hated having someone step on it. ALBRIGHT: Between the wireless systems and the in-ear [personal] monitors, Shure is flawless—and that’s going to third-world countries with different electrical currents. ELLIOT: The wireless and the SM98? That’s been my setup for a long time now—and I always get someone trying to get me to try something else. But I’ve stuck with it for a long time and I love it. There’s enough dynamic range that comes off the mic— well, I used it to record a solo for Peter on his solo album, on his laptop, and it sounded great. GOLUB: And I have to say that every recording session I do, whatever studio I’m in, I always insist that the engineer use an SM57 on my guitar amp. I’ve never heard a bad sound come out of those mics—ever. OTWS: Guitars & Saxes Theirs On A Budget Kick Beta 91 & Beta 52 Snare SM57 PG57 Toms Beta 98D/S PG56 ® PG52 Overheads KSM44 PG81 Guitars ULXP14D* PGX14* Saxophones Beta 98H PG56 * wireless system On Tour with Shure 25 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:45 AM Page 26 The trip from Creston, Iowa to the recording studios of Los Angeles can be an arduous one, but John “J.R.” Robinson bought the ticket and took the scenic route, even taking the long way via Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Born on December 29, 1954, Robinson is a true drummer’s drummer, one of the members of an elite corps of dedicated skin beaters willing to work any session any time for almost anybody, all while seeming to be born for each job. Over the course of his career he has performed or recorded with Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Chaka Kahn, John Fogerty, Glenn Frey, Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, and a countless number of other stellar entertainers including Barbra Streisand, who he is currently touring with. Robinson’s big break came in 1978 when Rufus, the funk band best known for launching the career of Chaka Kahn, came into the club where he was playing and asked to sit in with him. A few weeks later, he found himself in LA finishing Rufus’ world tour, and by the end of the year Quincy Jones had him in the studio recording Off the Wall with Michael Jackson. Robinson may well be the world’s most widely-recorded drummer, but his accomplishments outside of the studio are equally impressive. Crossing over into the world of film, his efforts can be heard on motion picture soundtracks including Starsky & Hutch (2004) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) with Johnny Depp. An avid football fan, this season’s new NFL theme on NBC also bears his percussive mark. Success has allowed Robinson to give himself and his family the luxury of a little space north of LA, just over the Ventura County line in Thousand Oaks. His home houses a project studio, and provides him with refuge to explore his other interests, which range from a love for ’60s muscle cars to hot peppers. While in rehearsals for the current Streisand tour, he stole some moments to tell On Tour with Shure what it’s like to exist in a world where an endless beat is driven by quick hands, a heavy foot, and a passion to thrive and survive at the top. ON TOUR WITH SHURE: Is being where you 26 www.shure.com are today a dream you thought you’d never realize? JOHN ROBINSON: Yes it is. I set my eyes upon drumming at a very early age. While my parents were always very supportive of whatever I chose to do, my dad did come to me and ask, �Are you sure you don’t want to go to premed?” He was a doctor, you see. I replied that I was sure I didn’t want to go to premed, so he told me, �Well, whatever you do, be the best.’ When I looked around, the best drummers were guys like Buddy Rich. For me, at age 13, looking up at someone like that is daunting, it was hard enough just to see that high let alone be that good. But I set goals at that early age, and so far I’ve met most of them. OTWS: Education has played a large role in your development, including your years at the Berklee College of Music. Would you be who you are without it? ROBINSON: Absolutely not. If you took away my education, I wouldn’t be in the situation I am. If I didn’t have the level of training that I have, I wouldn’t have gotten certain gigs. There’s a lot more to it all than just getting the gig as well. Once you get it, you have to keep it, and that process requires another education all in itself. OTWS: You have built an enormously successful studio career. We hear your work in major motion pictures, you’ve released your own solo CD called Funkshui on Homecourt Records, and you maintain a busy teaching schedule. Is diversity the key to keeping a gig like this? ROBINSON: For me it is. You basically have two kinds of people in this business, those who maintain their career by staying in a single band, and those of us who diversify. I have a propensity to become bored with some things over long periods of time, so it’s rejuvenating to branch out. Right now I’m working with Barbra Streisand and mixing my own rock trio, that’s about as diverse as you can get. In my drum clinics I hold up all 10 fingers and tell my students, �Each one of these represents a side of you that you need to develop as well as possible.” That’s really what lies at the heart of becoming a successful drummer. You have to fully understand a number of instruments and musical styles. OTWS: You are an official Shure endorser... ROBINSON: Yes, but beyond that, even when I was a little kid first playing drums I used to use Shure microphones. When I could get them that is, on a lot of those gigs you were lucky if there was a mic at all. OTWS: You’re famous for your full throttle, booming kick drum sound. What’s your secret? ROBINSON: Shure’s Beta 52® is part of my right foot! It’s actually become a 6th toe, I couldn’t play without it. When it first came out I realized it was destined to be part of my setup. Now I have one permanently installed in every one of my bass drums. It’s a well-rounded bass mic. Even if I play at pianississimo you can still hear it. OTWS: Outside of music and your family, what’s most important in your life at this moment? ROBINSON: Salsa. It’s the perfect food, maybe with a little red wine... John Robinson can be seen and heard live on tour with Barbra Streisand beginning October 4th at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA. The show will travel across the US and Canada before closing at the Staples Center in LA on November 20th. 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:46 AM Page 27 S ince July 1967, thousands of musicians and music fans of all ages have descended upon an otherwise quiet little village on the shores of beautiful Lake Geneva each summer to enjoy performances from a wide variety of artists at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Now in its 40th year, this annual event is no longer just about jazz. Thanks to the efforts of the festival’s founder and director Claude Nobs, it has become a multi-cultural and cross-generational celebration of music. The Montreux Jazz Festival began when Nobs was working in the tourist office for Montreux. His inspiration was twofold. “There are two reasons why,” according to Nobs. “One…my love for music, and, two…my desire to make the name Montreux known around the world…because in 1967, when I started, nobody knew where Montreux was.” Jazz legends like Bill Evans, Nina Simone, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gilespie, Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald headlined the festival in its early years, but in recent years the acts have ranged from artists like Sting, David Bowie, Chris Botti, The Strokes, Chick Corea, Massive Attack, Ice T, Santana, Eric Clapton, Solomon Burke, George Benson, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Mogwai, Queens of the Stone Age to countless others. The festival, which now lasts for three weeks and enjoys crowds of more than 200,000, began to open up in the 1970s and today presents artists of nearly every music style and genre. While jazz remains a vital part of the festival, it has broadened it’s scope to include blues, electronic, hip-hop, soul, rock, country and pop artists. For the past 12 years, Shure has supported the Montreux Jazz Festival as the Official Supplier of Microphones and Wireless Systems by providing a wide range of equipment for all festival venues and a Shure service technician for 24-hour onsite support. Iggy Pop ana Carlos Sant According to Nobs, Shure microphones have been there from the beginning, “We’ve had them all the time. We’ve always had Shure microphones on stage somewhere…[SM]58®s and [SM]57s. Obviously, having the right microphone is quite important because that’s where you get from the [performer’s] voice to the audience.” In honor of this year’s 40th anniversary, Chris Schyvinck, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales for Shure, congratulated festival founder Claude Nobs and presented him with the premium products of Shure’s Pro Audio and Personal Audio business units: a KSM9 Microphone and a pair of E500 Sound Isolating Earphones. Both products featured a personal dedication from Mrs. Rose L. Shure, Chairman of Shure, which complimented Nobs on his remarkable achievement of founding and bringing the Montreux Jazz Festival to its 40th year. Also at the festival this year, the 4th Annual Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition concluded with Australian singer Kristin Berardi being awarded the first prize. Runner-up Jean Rohe from the USA was awarded a special prize based on audience voting. Harald Baumgartner from Austria placed third, followed by Norway’s Hildegunn Gjedrem. Shure endorser Al Jarreau presided over the jury and musicians from his band accompanied the singers during their performances. Shure presented a ULX® Wireless System to each finalist in addition to cash prizes donated by the festival. As this year’s winner, Kristin Berardi will perform at next year’s festival. As for the future of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who knows what the future holds? “As long as I can bring something positive to the city and to the festival, of course, I will carry on,” stated Nobs. “I think I am well enough after just turning 70. What I am building now is a team of people who can take over. The festival won’t stop. That’s very important to me.” Chris Botti Î Pictured L to R: Entertainment Relations Manager Tom Krajecki, Public Relations Manager Mike Lohman, Claude Nobs, Executive VP of Global Markiting & Sales Chris Schyvinck and VP & General Manager of the US Business Unit Al Hershner. On Tour with Shure 27 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:46 AM Page 28 ON TOUR WITH SHURE: You guys met when you were kids growing up in Palm Desert, right? JESSE HUGHES: Yes…many moons ago. OTWS: When did the Eagles of Death Metal originate? How did you come to be? HUGHES: Well we stumbled upon a cave where no one had been… upon ancient Indian voodoo magic more powerful than any man has ever yet known. It was amazing and an Eagle of Death Metal from the ancient Indian Tribe…no, I’m just kidding. OTWS: No! 28 www.shure.com We’ve been friends for a long time. We played soccer together back in school. OTWS: I wouldn’t exactly describe your music as death metal and you certainly don’t sound like The Eagles, so where did the name come from? What was the inspiration for it? HUGHES: We were in the back of a VW Bus and a friend of ours who’s a big death metal fanatic kept trying to get us to listen to all this death metal and we were giving him a hard time about it. Then he put on this band…and said, �Now THIS is death metal.’ As I was eating graham crackers I said, �This isn’t Death Metal.’ And then HUGHES: 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:46 AM Page 29 Josh was like �This is the Eagles of Death Metal,’ and I spit all my graham crackers out because it made me laugh. OTWS: I think you guys draw from a variety of influences to create a really cool rock and roll sound. How would you describe it? HUGHES: It’s full-tail boogie rock and roll… maximum posing in front of a mirror rock and roll. It’s good time music. It doesn’t have any serious rules other than let’s hang out…let’s dance. If I want to get serious and go to a boy party I’ll check out Tool or System of a Down. OTWS: Speaking of influences, are there any bands who you feel had a strong impact on you? HUGHES: Oh man…David Bowie, T. Rex, Sonics, Little Richie…all of it. OTWS: In your opinion, is there such a thing as being “too loud?” HUGHES: Actually, yes. On stage, I don’t like it that loud. In order to have big sound you don’t necessarily need big volume. You need it to be full. It depends on the context of the situation. Sometimes it can never be too loud—sometimes it can be WAY too loud. OTWS: What about being “too sexy?” HUGHES: You can never be too sexy, man. That’s different than volume. That’s an occupation of space—entirely different. Too sexy? What is too sexy? Consider that for a moment—nothing can be too sexy! I’m too horny? Impossible! The sex is too cool! Yeah, you can never be too sexy. OTWS: I read that you recorded a lot of the first record, Peace, Love And Death Metal, in just one take. Was the new record, Death By Sexy, easier or more difficult to record? HUGHES: Well, it was. In order for the first album not to seem like a fluke, this album had to step up or step out and expand. I had to become more sophisticated. I was naturally developing and the band was developing. It’s an inevitable process where you have to mature a little bit. You have to find ways to make it “too sexy.” It took twice as long to record—It took 8 days to record the new album. The songwriting was a little more sophisticated and the production… Josh is a frickin’ genius…the production value stepped up. The songs are huge, big and full! OTWS: Who does the songwriting? HUGHES: I do all the songwriting. I did all the principle songwriting on the first album. Everything was basically a complete song when I brought it to the table. On this new album, half the songs were completed and the other half…well, you’ll definitely hear bridges on these songs and you’ll be like whoa…you’ll know where it came from. demos for the first record with nothing but an SM57, right? HUGHES: I mean, an SM57…you’re never going to have a problem with it. It’s never going to break down. Even when you get into the higher price range microphones… every last one of them…it’s consistent quality every night. It’s kind of weird for me because I’m so new to Rock n’ Roll, but being able to use Shure mics or to have Shure wanting anything to do with me is just as cool as getting to play in the Ryman auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry started because it’s a fact that Shure’s the best. That’s why I’ll only use Shure. OTWS: Right now, you’re using Beta 58A®s for vocals, right? How do you like the sound? HUGHES: I love it man. It’s always crisp. It never distorts. And, I never get electrocuted! It’s the most consistent microphone on the road. It’s just great because it’s just my mic —it’s my spit in there. You can bang the hell out of that. SM57s and [SM]58s… they’re great. I use them in my home recording studio. It’s a standard all around microphone. You can achieve a variety of sounds and a variety of sound qualities. I think they’re amazing OTWS: If you looked into a crystal ball, what would you see for the Eagles of Death Metal in the future, say five to ten years from now? HUGHES: Having my own Shure model called the “boots electric mustache rider.” It’ll be killer. It’d be an awesome Shure microphone with these gilded mustaches that come out the sides of it so that whenever you put your mouth up to it you have a mustache. Take that one to the bank baby! OTWS: How long have you had the moustache and what would it take for you to shave it off? HUGHES: I don’t know if it could come off. I woke up one morning and I had the mustache, a pair of leather gloves, a pair of leather boots and a black cape that said “Rock & Roll.” It was just there. Josh is my partner—every song I’m writing is just an exercise to bring him in and go, �Look I’m learning. I know what a bridge is!’ He’s my best friend and he’s kind of a mentor to me. About half the songs he made better. OTWS: Have you always used Shure microphones? HUGHES: Honestly there’s a lot of clichés in the music business, like Jimmy Page is always going to play a Gibson. I learned really quick that the sound you deliver every night is the most important thing you have…and it has to be consistent. Really, the album should just be an advertisement for the live show. That’s all a record should be and Shure microphones are the best— that’s all there is to it. OTWS: Thanks. I heard you recorded the EODM Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals Beta 58A SM58® Kick Beta 52 ®A PG52 ® Snare SM57 PG57 Toms Beta 56®A PG56 Overheads KSM44 PG81 Guitar ULXP14* PGX14* Bass ULXP14* PGX14* Guitar Amp KSM32 & SM57 PG57 Bass Amp Beta 52A PG52 * wireless system On Tour with Shure 29 607p17_31 30 11/8/06 8:46 AM www.shure.com Page 30 607p17_31 11/8/06 8:46 AM Page 31 M ike Patton is perhaps the most versatile musician ever spawned from the world of hard rock. His career began by accident when he was 17 and hanging out with “the wrong crowd;” the singer for the band he was watching rehearse didn’t show up, so they asked him to give it a try. Now, over 20 years later, Patton’s resume includes singing with Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Tomahawk, Fantomas; producing a slew of artists including Björk, The Melvins, The XEcutioners, Sepultura, and Kool Keith; writing film music; and now writing, singing and producing his latest and most eclectic project, Peeping Tom. He also founded his own label in 1999, Ipecac Recordings, which has seen its highest charting release yet with the new Peeping Tom record. He started this unique project as a hobby, he admits, many years ago. “I was just working on it in my spare time, while I was working on other projects and touring, but not really taking it very seriously,” he said. “It didn’t really become a focal point and a front burner type of project until about a year and a half-two years ago. That’s when I really started zeroing in on exactly who I wanted to collaborate on each song, and really how the process was going to work.” His long list of collaborators includes not a single rock musician, instead he handpicked Massive Attack, Dub Trio, Kid Koala, Dan The Automator, Norah Jones, and Bebel Gilberto, and others. But his tastes for music have always run the gamut, for example, he was listening to a compilation of ’60s Chicano pop when we spoke in September. Instead of congregating in the studio as most musicians would do for a recording project, Patton used the ol’ Pony Express method, mailing out the basic tracks to each person to work with and mail back to him. “I wrote every song from start to finish and got each sounding as good as I possibly could,” he explained. “Then I’d look at each song and try to find its weaknesses, and based on what those were, I would choose someone to help fix the problem. I would call up Dr. Automator or Nurse Norah Jones… and I would put a little letter in there instructing them—�At 2:10 this needs some help,’ or �Work on the beat.’ The trick is to get them on your street, your path, to give them enough direction where they know what’s going on and they can see your vision but also give them a little room to stray.” The Peeping Tom album result is a strong amalgamation of techno, hip-hop, rock, and ethnic styles. Patton’s instincts, as far as choice of collaborators, was dead-on. “I got lucky,” he said, “that they were interested in doing it, and that they were free and had the time and were motivated.” Patton used at least one KSM during the recording of the Peeping Tom record. “But the one I still use the most is the SM7,” he Mike Patton said. “I actually travel with it. I do a lot of tracking on the road—in hotel rooms or whatnot—and I’ve traveled with it for years. And the SM7 has been used on tons of records I’ve done.” The Peeping Tom touring group is everchanging, and always large. So Patton has taken to using the in-ear personal monitors as a necessary tool. “We’re using a lot of click tracks and computer tracks and things like that, which I haven’t used much of in the past, and with a nine-piece band especially, there’s really no other way,” he said. “We had to go with the safest route possible so everyone can hear what the hell is going on onstage!” Patton as a vocalist has an interesting relationship with Shure; he is attached to his Beta 57MR—a model that the company no longer manufactures. “What I end up doing is, since I’m touring at least four months out of the year, I’m in nightclubs all the time. And [the Beta 57s] are still out there, so I try and bribe people whenever I see them! I’ll say, �Hey, you want to make a little trade?’ And I’ll either give them some cash, or maybe have Shure send me a couple of new [Beta] 57As and trade them for the Beta 57.” Why is he so attached to the 57? “When you really get up in a microphone and you’re doing aggressive, percussive [singing], a lot of mics crap out. I feel like when I cup those old Beta 57s I can really get away with a lot—I can sing quieter, louder—I just think there’s more of a dynamic range. The way those things are built, there’s that grating on the sides, and the diaphragm or whatever it is right there—you can really shove that thing down your throat! And it will survive and still sound fine! Theirs On A Budget Lead Vocals Beta 57MR SM57 Kick PSM® 700 PSM 200 © 2006, Shure Inc. Performance Gear ® Wireless Systems Performing is a commitment, made and delivered before a live audience. With hassle-free setup, stage-worthy construction and superior Shure sound quality, Performance Gear is as dedicated to great performance as you are. Performance-proven wired microphones and wireless microphone systems. www.shure.com
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