 |
Web Exclusive Interview
Brad Wilk
 Brad Wilk
Audioslave's Brad Wilk had plenty to say for
MD's
April '03 cover story. But there's more! Check out the hard-hitting
drummer's comments on
topics ranging from Audioslave's incredible first
video to the surprising similarities between The Police and Rage
Against
The Machine.
by Michael
Parillo
Brad on the leftover material from the Audioslave sessions:
I'm
not sure if they're
gonna wind up on another record or if they'll end
up as B-sides or something like that. But it's really nice to have
a
pool of songs in your back pocket in case you need them. In Rage, it
was really hard for us to get eleven or twelve songs
that we all agreed
on.
Brad on making Audioslave's "Cochise" video, where fireworks provide all the
lighting:
I have burn marks on my back. I have cymbals that are just torched from flame balls falling on them. It was
insane.
I knew that we were in for it. We were all a little bit nervous going
into it, because when you're blowing
that much shit up you only get a
couple times to do it. And both times we were goin' for it.
The
first idea for the video
was that we're playing the song and all of a
sudden bullets are flying at us and people are shooting at us. By the
end of
the song, you see the bullets penetrating our skin, and
basically at the end of the video we're all dead. We're sitting
there
on the phone listening to ["Cochise" video director Mark Romanek] say
this, and we're all going, "Yeah,
that's great, Mark. And no one will ever see it."
While the thought of it was really cool - I'm just demented like
that - we
passed on it. His second idea was to be lit by nothing but fireworks.
Brad on stripped-down
drumming:
I think Rage Against The Machine's [self-titled] first record was my leanest, even more so than
Audioslave.
I started off on a three-piece kit: bass, snare, and floor tom. And it
was really simplified - you couldn't
really hear any of the stuff that
was going on between the beats. It was almost like that stuff was taken
out during mixing. I
wasn't represented the way I wanted to be on that
record. I was a young chicken and I didn't speak up enough. While
I
think it's a great record, it wasn't what I had in mind for drum
sounds. It really lacked breath.
Brad on
his left foot:
My
hi-hat foot is strange and different, and I don't use it in a
traditional way. I think that using your
hi-hat almost as a percussion
piece rather than something that's constantly in the same place is cool
and interesting. I
would say that eighty percent of the time when I'm
on my ride or riding on a crash, there's some kind of strange
hi-hat
coordination going on. It's not always on 1, 2, 3, and 4. In a bar it
may just be one accent, depending on the
groove - on the "&" of 3,
maybe. Or on the "&" of 3 and on 4, so they're butted right up to
each
other.
Brad on his Audioslave bass drum and on the virtues of giant 26" kicks:
In
the studio I used a
22" Gretsch. It was an extended kick drum; I don't
even remember the size. You know, if they're round and they
sound
great, I don't care about the dimensions. [laughs] I just put it up and
hear what it sounds like.
Those huge
kicks are awesome. I used one on the last song on Evil Empire,
"Year Of Tha Boomerang." It's so much fun.
It's weird, man, playing
such a big thing - it's sort of like jumping on a trampoline. It almost
seems like your whole
leg becomes part of the drum. [laughs]
Brad on copping licks and grooves from other records:
I
don't
tend to listen to records and think, "Hey, that beat would be
great for one of our songs," though I have done that. I did that
with
"Vietnow" on [Rage Against The Machine's] Evil Empire. I was
going to rehearsal that day, and
Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust"
was on the radio. I just straight ripped off that snare-kick thing and
kind of looped
it. But I don't really do that too often, I usually just
work it out in my head.
Brad on how Rage and The Police
blended different styles in a similar way:
I
never realized how similar the philosophies of The Police and Rage
Against
The Machine were. Stewart Copeland would take these
reggae-style verses that were heavily emphasizing the 3, and then
in
the choruses he would kind of switch it over to the rock 4/4, and it
was really cool and interesting. Rage Against The
Machine took hip-hop
styles and mixed that with hard-rocking choruses quite a bit. So I
thought it was a similar philosophy in
that way.
Caught in the Web Exclusive Archive: (alphabetically, by last name)
Rick Allen (July 2005) Rick Allen has been playing drums all his life, and nothing w...Rick Allen (July 2005) This is Part 2 of our interview with Rick, where he talks to ...Trey Anastasio (July 2005) MD Online caught up with Trey to get his thoughts on his ...Billy Ashbaugh (May 2005) 'N Sync, a pop band backed by live musicians, have gained ...Chris Bailey (April 2009) Patience, persistence, and people skills, along with an in...Rich Beddoe (April 2007) Four years after their gold-selling, self-titled third albu...Pete Best (July 2005) Over the years many have claimed the title "The Fifth Beatle."...Curt Bisquera (March 2007) MD online speaks with LA session drummer Curt Bisquera ab...Jason Bittner (January 2009) Hi, everyone out there in drum land, Jason Bittner here...Hal Blaine (July 2005) Paving the way for some of the great studio musicians of our ...Michael Bland (September 2006) Funk/rock/R&B Master Michael Bland talks about his da...Cyrus Bolooki (May 2005) We featured this hot young drummer in our December '02 issu...Ned Brower (May 2005) I saw the California-based pop band Rooney perform live before...Jack Bruno (June 2009) Relationships these days are tough—for whatever the reason ...Chris Cester (May 2005) The band Jet has released what many consider to be one of th...Marcie Chapa (September 2009) Anyone who saw her perform as a young girl knew that i...Les Claypool (July 2005) Les Claypool sat down with MD Online to discuss an impressi...Aaron Comess (March 2006) In the early ’90s, The Spin Doctors burst onto the music...Randy Cooke (May 2008) In this month’s Web Exclusive interview, session musician R...Caroline Corr (May 2005) The Corrs formed in 1991, and broke big in the States in 19...Chad Cromwell (May 2005) We first featured Chad Cromwell in the March '04 issue of M...Mickey Curry (October 2005) Not many people get to do exactly what they love and get...Victor DeLorenzo (July 2005) Singer, songwriter, actor, studio owner, jingle writer,...Double Drumming (November 2007) In the February 2007 issue of Modern Drummer, we ran...Charley Drayton (March 2006) By the time he was five, Charley Drayton knew exactly w... Drew Steen and Jerry Roe (October 2009) Drew Steen has been the drummer for teen p...Ira Elliot (March 2008) Nada Surf is one of the smartest, freshest-sounding rock ban...Damien Fahey (July 2005) Damien Fahey has a dilemma: These days he's having a diffic...Mick Fleetwood (July 2005) Mick Fleetwood has lots of reasons to celebrate these day...Mick Fleetwood (July 2005) The history of Fleetwood Mac's discography and personnel ...Kevin Franks (July 2005) Drummer Kevin Frank, singer Walt Lafty, bassist Brian Weave...Stan Frazier (July 2005) The members of Southern California-based quintet Sugar Ray ...Stan Frazier (July 2005) The SoCal band Sugar Ray, with poster-pinup lead singer Mar...Glen Graham (September 2008) Blind Melon’s Glen Graham talks to MD Online about th...Zac Hanson (July 2005) Storming out of Tulsa, Oklahoma with their major-label debut,...Yogi Horton (June 2007) MD along with some of Yogi Horton’s closest musical friend...Ryan Hoyle (September 2008) Ryan Hoyle chats with MD Online about Collective Soul, h...Mark Hudson (September 2005) Mark Hudson has the coolest job in the world right now,...Steve Jordan (July 2005) Steve Jordan has accomplished more in his drumming career t...Harry Judd (November 2006) The Click Five’s Joey Zehr and McFly’s Harry Judd tal...Jim Keltner (July 2005) Jim Keltner needs no introduction to Modern Drummer readers....Athena Kottak (January 2007) MD Online chats with Athena Kottak about her husband&md...Joey Kramer (July 2005) Joey Kramer could be the first superstar to become a "modern...Mercedes Lander (July 2005) The intense heavy metal sound of Kittie is back with the...Tommy Lee (July 2005) Tommy Lee is in a great mood, and he has every reason to be. H...Lisa Loeb (July 2006) Over the years Lisa Loeb has recorded and toured with a number...Ryan MacMillan (February 2008) In ten years, Matchbox Twenty has sold 28 million rec...Rick Marotta (April 2006) Rick Marotta is no stranger to MD readers. And he’s cert...Dave McAfee (September 2009) Things haven't changed much for Dave McAfee. He played ...Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett (July 2005) Jonathan Moffett got the nickname "Sugarfoo...Xavier Muriel (December 2006) MD Online spoke with Buckcherry’s Xavier Muriel abou...David Northrup (July 2005) Growing up on a mix of R&B, pop, rock, and country, David...Rich Pagano (March 2006) New York City drummer Rich Pagano is way more than just a m...Tony Palermo (October 2008) Tony Palermo talks to MD online about landing the Papa R...Prairie Prince (June 2006) MD Online talks with Prairie about life on the road with ...Danny Reyes (May 2005) Daniel de los Reyes, a.k.a. Danny Reyes could just sit back a...Lil' John Roberts (July 2005) Lil' John Roberts's name has been popping up more and ...Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp 2006 (September 2006) The Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp was held...Joey Shuffield (July 2005) Power-pop trio Fastball - bassist/singer Tony Scalzo, gui...Chad Smith (June 2008) Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith takes a much-needed ...Ringo Starr (July 2005) At an age where most would be settling back and reaping the ...Erin Tate (August 2007) Since their debut album in 2002, Minus The Bear have staked ...Roger Taylor (January 2008) It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Justin Timberl...Tony Thompson (July 2005) Not many drummers dictated the sound of the 80's like Tony...Brian Tichy (September 2005) The first time I watched Brian Tichy play was a few yea...Tico Torres (May 2005) The last time we spoke to Tico Torres (November 2000), Bon Jo...Maureen Tucker (July 2005) In Part 2 of our interview with the drummers of The Velve...Alan White (July 2005) As Yes continues their world tour - featuring the return of k...Brad Wilk (May 2005) Audioslave's Brad Wilk had plenty to say for MD's April '03 cov...Robert Wyatt (December 2007) Since leaving the groundbreaking British psychedelic ba...Jon Wysocki (December 2008) Founding Staind drummer Jon Wysocki talks to MD online a...Adrian Young (May 2005) Quick: Who is the most visible drummer in the world right no...Billy Yule (May 2005) You can use whatever term you wish: "college rock," "modern ro...Joey Zehr (November 2006) Caught In The Web With Joey Zehr Of The Click Five And McF...
Copyright Modern Drummer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.
|
|
|
|
