Where my ideas come
to compete...... with one another
Video: "Creep” Stone
Temple Pilots cover - featuring
The Fractal Harp.
I shot this in the early spring and finally
mixed the audio last week . There's too many other STP tunes I'd love to bite on but this one
seemed to flow out well on this instrument
I'm extremely lucky as to have gotten to
know Stone Temple Pilots Guitarist Dean
DeLeo and his brother, bass player,
Robert DeLeo fairly well. They're
incredibly talented song writers and can
attest to the fact that they are both
sweethearts through and through. The
DeLeo brothers are the simply the real deal and are perhaps more
worthy of their great success than
anyone I have met in the music industry.
(Plus they like my shit).
My heart goes out to
everyone in their
circle for their
tremendous loss
and the surrounding
drama, before and
since.
I know full what
it's like
losing long time
precious friends/band mates
to premature death.
There's good days
and bad days. Time
may soften the blow
around edges,
but seldom do a few
hours pass when that
face or voice
doesn't drift
through your mind.
Scott
Weiland: Pure talent/pure drama
tragically died this year. I took these Photo's back in 2008
Mohegan Sun Arena where my band opened for Stone Temple Pilots
In the
months of aftermath since Scott Weiland's
tragic death and the band's subsequent
search for a new
singer, I've
seen countless STP covers coming down the
pike and couldn't
help but want to
take a whack at one.
Most of the
Stone Temple Pilot
songs I'd
want to bite aren't
aren't so familiar.
Wonderful and
Hollywood Bitch
come instantly to
mind. For that
matter, some day I
may just play the
entirety of
Shangri-La Dee Da.
It's become one of
my all time favorite
albums.
....but , I was
screwing around on my Fractal Harp this
spring and a song from the familiar
favorites file came creeping into my
hands. (pun intended) Yes, I started playing
"Creep". Oddly enough, it crept in 3/4 time. I started putting
together an expanding/contracting drum track and one
thing lead to another.......
I came back
this summer and got a better mix
together and here it is. Not sure what
people will make of it. Stone Temple
Pilot fans are
emphatic about STP
and a deep love for
the bands music is
passionately woven
into their lives and
memories. They may
or may not dig my
cover. Some
of them are
brutally expressive
(my side story take
on STP YouTube flame
wars)
....Anyway I had a good
time working on it and covered some
ground figuring out how to approach
recording this instrument(s),
It's funny,
while finishing this mix I
went to
Wikipedia out of curiosity to check out
the info on this
tune and was eerily amused to see the
entry
says:
Robert
DeLeo stated the following
about "Creep"
"Musically speaking I was
thinking about a song along
the lines of 'Heart
of Gold'
by
Neil
Young,
which is in the key of
D-minor, the saddest key of
all.
Ironically It was my version
of
Heart of Gold that gave
me the chance to meet the DeLeos
I
woke up one day to
this email:
Yeah,
If you're a
musician this is the kind of Email you want
to get. Bob Ezrin produced too many of the
great albums I grew up on and has produced
far too many great artists to even mention
here He is known for his work with
Lou Reed,
Alice Cooper,
Kiss,
Pink Floyd,
Deep Purple,
Peter Gabriel
2005ish back when men were men, ferrets
were ferrets and the internet was younger and prettier, web
videos were a new novelty as "dile-up" modems began to be
replaced with cable modems. (pre YouTube) My website was new as I posted
my Swiss army bass version of Neil Young's
""Heart Of Gold".
People dug it
A friend of mine, bassist extraordinaire,
producer/sonic super authority and all around skeptic - Peter
Freeman shared a link of it with a recoding engineer
friend of his who just so happened to work at a studio
out in LA where super group, Army Of
Anyone (members of Stone Temple Pilots and
Filter) just happened to be finishing up their record. The album being produced by Bob Ezrin
and nearing completion.
Anyway: Peter's friend played my video
for the guys in the studio and apparently they flipped out. Soon after
getting the Email above from Bob Ezrin, I got
word that I'd be getting a call from
Dean Deleo - This made me happy. (Unfortunately
the meeting with Bob Ezrin never happened.
He flaked out the same way my Uncle Charlie promised to take me
me fishing when I was 12 years old and it never happened.
If you see Bob Ezrin, tell him I miss him.
Army Of Anyone -
Supergroup, featuring
members of STP, Robert
and Dean DeLeo and
Filter's
Richard Patrick
with Ray Luzior
David Lee Roth's
band
currently Korn )
-Self titled release 2006.
The album,
simply titled
Army of Anyone,
was released on November 2006.
The band's first single was the
track "Goodbye", which gathered
significant radio airplay, peaking
at number 3 place in the
U.S.
Mainstream Rock
charts
Here's a video of the Army
Of Anyone rehearsing "Goodbye" , To my eyes and ears
perhaps a better representation of the band than the
official
video
Being locked in a studio for most of the
90s, ironically, I didn't own many 90s
CDs, let alone a single STP
album. After getting the Email above, I soon found myself at a
record store digging into the STP
collection and randomly pullong up "Shangri-La
Dee Da". It soon became one of
my favorite albums.
Dean had been perusing my newly
minted website here (back when it had more balls) and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. We
had a series of phone conversations over the next few weeks
talking about music - It was really cool to get info
on the making of "Shangri-La Dee Da"
while it was freshly washing into my mind. I really fell in love
with that record before I went out and got the earlier ones that
were more familiar from the radio/commercially viable.
The Army Of Anyone album was set to
be mixed in NYC and when they got
there, they invited me down to the
studio.
Finally getting
the
chance to meet The Deleo bros & Richard Patrick in person
was a blast. They made me feel right at
home while I was treated a listen to
mixes of the AOA album cranked up
in the control room. It sounded
fantastic. First thing that
struck me was that sounded far
more musically athletic than any
STP or Filter stuff I'd heard.
The drums were off the map (not
to take away from Eric Katz) but
it opened up a whole new
dimension of confident,
synchronous fast and fluid
riffs with Patrick's voice
draped over. Dean explained how
they had met
Ray Luzierout on some gigs and
were blown away and quickly
recruited him.
I also
got to meet one of my all time heroes:
Andy Wallace, who was mixing the album.
Andy Wallace basically mixed the entire
90s/ loud rock everything - any studio
myself or anyone were mixing in would
use Nirvana: Never-mind or countless
other Andy Wallace mixes as reference .
He is simply the industry standard.
As a recording engineer, I worship the ground he walks on. Having recorded countless punk and
hardcore
bands in the 80s and 90s as a
day job myself, I've gained an understanding
of the task that it is to
make extreme/loud/lose rock, translate well to
small speakers and beyond that to the
radio. I found him to be an extremely
talkative and friendly guy. We chatted a
bit about Jeff Buckley - one of the few
artists he both mixed AND produced. I
had produced an Inger Lorre LP Jeff
Buckley played all over a few years
earlier.
Finally, Dean & Robert invited me to
open a few shows when AOA were going on
the road when the record was coming out. I hadn't gigged much
since the last incarnation of Johnny Skilsaw so I was as
intrigued as much as intimidated. It was a great day.
As fate had it,the AOA record got
delayed in it's release due to the suicide/implosion of the
entire record industry with the firings
of people at their record label and
other arrangements to get the record released.
Unfortunately the LP didn't come out for
another year. I was in touch with Dean
over that time hearing about some of the
drama. The band had subsequently completely remixed
the album with a friend in LA and chose not to use any of the
NYC mixes. As far as their record label, It seemed to be the
classic example of a key person being fired and a completed
records' imminent release threatened. I've seen that situation
more than actual releases. It happened twice to me. In most
cases the record never sees the light of day, but in the case od
AOA - it helps if you've already sold a zillion records
Andy
Wallace -kicks ass
The
AOA album underwent a label transplant and
was slotted for Nov 2006
release. I finally got a call from Dean
& Robert a month or so in advance with
and a chance to open some shows a few of
their tour kicked off in Philadelphia. I
got a live rig together rehearsing
with original Johnny Skilsaw drummer Ron
Auber
The opening night gig was a bit of a
homecoming with friends DeLeos grew up
with from nearby NJ hanging back stage
Watching AOA sound check and play live
was seriously impressive. Their album
was fresh in my mind and it was great to
see the band pounding out for real -Having never been to an STP show, It was
great to see Robert ,Dean & Robert do
their thing. Ray Luzier is without a
doubt the sickest drummer I've ever
seen/ while being a nice/down to earth
dude. The opening night of The AOA tour
was something to see as was the Boston
show later in the week. The band was
remarkably solid.
From our end as opening
band, things were chaotic and the forces of nature are harsh ,as
they always are for openers. The dudes in the AOA were
extremely nice and accommodating but even the nicest clubs are a
nightmare if you invent crazy, precarious instruments and bring
them into an environment of pure turmoil . The venue had booked
a third local opening band that made any kind of sound check
irrelevant.
As I sit here in comfort
and recall any sense of pre-gig dread I ever had something
profound occurs to me. Any nerve racking experience I've
ever endured worrying about if my crazy gear is going to work on
a gig can hardly compare with the insane nerve crumbling drama
that the DeLeo brothers have endured countless times dealing
with their singer in situations where millions of dollars
are at stake as well as the carefully crafted plans and
arrangements of thousands of lives . ...so I'm not
complaining. Things went far better for us a few nights later at
the Boston show despite myself coming down with the flu and a
back injury that left me barley able to stand.
Seemingly buried on the
web There's a
treasure-trove of
AOA doing stripped down
acoustic versions of
various Filter, STP and
AOA tunes.
Despite largely
positive reviews from critics, the Army
Of Anyone album
sold well below the expectations set
from Filter and Stone Temple Pilots past
multi-platinum albums, stalling around
88,000.
I still don't understand it and
it depresses me to this day to
think, if these guys couldn't sell a zillion rock records/ who can?
The band toured into the winter and on
for about a year to follow and wrapped things up before
reuniting with their previous bands. I was really happy to hear
,drummer, Ray Luzier got the gig playing with Korn.
Dean and I kept
in touch after that. We even messed around via the web
- I laid some egotar stuff on some acoustic stuff he was
experimenting with and messed around with some
undeveloped AOA tracks - nothing much came of it
but it sounded cool and kept both of us entertained at
the time -
Dean is an incredible
guitar player and the more I explore the STP catalogue, the more
appreciation of his style(s) I gain. From his mellow understated
finesse filled , gentle clocklike approach to acoustic, his
slide slackly, color filled approach to slide. His scronky chunk
bar chords always have colors of seconds and 9ths spun into them
giving whatever the tune is a modern/ ethereal feel. The
synchronous riffs he and Robert have developed through the years
are awesome and sound like 4 guitar players when you hear the
two of them live.There's plenty of examples of this on line
with the solo being one of my favorite.
STP :Long Way Home.
Best current YouTube comment: " Fuck you Dean, you bastard..
You're a fucking SUPERB guitar player...!! Deans
lead begins around 3:20
Some time went
by and one day I was
out herding squirrels around my yard, getting our house ready to sell and my
cell phone rings. I look down and it says "William Morris
Agency" The next thing I know I'm slotted to open two
upcoming STP shows. Sure I'm happy but scared shitless. The timing was horrible, my
family were in the middle of selling a house and relocating , I had
no "band" to speak of, no current CD to promote or sell - no "merch"
(an
assholish word) Anyway, the gigs coincided with our
relocation.
It was shows were enormous
in venues. Oakdale Theater and Mohegan Sun Arena. I always wanted to do a gig with 2 drummers so I
took on the logistics of coordinating Ron Auber and Joey Criffo
who lived in Missouri . My life was crazier than usual between
moving and trying to get my untested Fractal Harp rig together
and squeezing in a some rehearsals while fixing a house,
selling it during a real-estate crash, packing and moving .
It was a crazy spring.
Joey came in fro Missouri
days in advance from the shows We managed to pack in a few
marathon rehearsals. The day of the first show, we showed up in plenty of time up at
The Oakdale Theater. We had no crew or road manager to buffer us
through logistics. Tragically, It was clear from the time
we were loading in that the sage manager was going to do
everything in his power to sabotage our gig. It was
too awkward a situation for me to bring up with Dean & Robert.
Ron and I burnt that stage
manager in effigy a week or so after the gig.
We sound checked
. A little while later we were
pleasantly greeted by Dean & Robert. My sister and brother in
law (from Walingford the town the venue is in) showed up back
stage area with my awesome my 82 year old mother who had endured
my entire childhood of endless loud jams, beer bottles and
cigarette buts) we were all standing around talking when a
headset/clipboard/black tee-shirt dude rushed in and informed us
that we would need to briefly "clear the area"
The large group of us were all escorted to
a nearby tiny backstage wing. It seemed Scott Weiland (who
traveled on his own separate tour bus) had arrived and the
protocol was to part the seas before him. As we could hear his full entourage
make it's way through, Robert DeLeo quickly dashed off from our
immediate area while peering around urgently. He came running
back moments later with a chair and casually
presenting it to my mom. The moment is burnt into my mind and is
the best part of this story, It's the main impetuous for me to write any of this shit down.
Our set went fairly well given
that stage manager who clearly had it in for us. Ron and I have
dealt with this kind of adversity for years, with the caveat that generally
after we play, the forces aligned against us before the show go
out off their way to befriend us after they see up play. My best guess is it's because of
the uniqueness and musicality of what we do. This was the case
that evening as well with the entire crew , ,,,,,,,,,except that stage
manager.
A friend snapped this shot with his phone at the Oakdale
Theater show
STP played and it
was great finally getting to see them live. They played
all their hits to a happy, capacity crowd. The tiny
speaker in the men's room sounded like the radio. It was
great. I snapped these groovy pics.
The next day we rolled into at
Mohegan Sun Arena - I had played in some big venues but
loading our disheveled gear into this place was purely
ominous.
I remember
rolling some gear in though a door to the floor and stopping next to this 15
foot high
stage and stopping for a second in awe. Ron, Joey and I
stood there vastness of the empty 10,000 seat
chasm I remember asking involuntarily, "what the fuck did we get
ourselves into?"
Ominous view from behind Ron Auber's
drum set at Mohegan Sun Arena
]
Ron's Brother, Richard Auber was
kind enough to get these shots
The night went as well as it could under the circumstances, I'm
grateful we had the opportunity to do it. Ron's brother
Richard Aubergot these shots of us. My family
and I settled in after our move and spent the next several years
living on a beautiful just outside Boston. I'm still in touch
with Dean & Robert and hear from them from time to time.
