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Web Exclusive Interview
Finger Eleven's Rich Beddoe Cont'd
We got a new crew guy recently, and he was setting up all my stuff backwards at first. “Hey, man, sorry to confuse you, but it's the wrong way.” [laughs] It's a good way to practice, though. Back in the day, when we shared equipment with other bands, I used to have to play shows with backward kits. I would have to loosen up the hi-hat and play with a double pedal just to get by.
MD: I was glad that I got to see Finger Eleven at the Mercury, because you're a visually interesting and exciting band live.
Rich: Years ago, I was a lot tamer onstage. Playing with James and Rick up in front of me, I noticed how the audience was really fixated on them because they're so much fun to watch. So I slowly started putting on more of a show. Now I think it's like you almost become another character when you go onstage. I hope people leave our shows and remember the drummer. Growing up on prog rock, I remember audiences used to watch the drummer—like Terry Bozzio with Zappa. You'd be watching him a lot of the time. So I just try to be as animated as possible. I'll even play each drum part differently than I would in the studio, and I set up my drums so you can see me more.
With the music we write, hopefully when you're listening at home, you can enjoy the parts, but live we always try to make sure it comes across in a fun, animated way. Take Phil Rudd on AC/DC's “Back In Black.” That may be the best drum part of all time, but if I was doing that all night, I don't know how animated I could be. With our music there's more room to show myself off a little bit. [laughs]
MD: The song “Sense Of Spark” has an interesting arrangement. You've got this strangely phrased intro, and when you come in with the hi-hat part, it sort of brings a level-headed vibe to it. But then you get kind of complex too. Can you talk a little about that track?
Rich: We wrote that song for our last record. I was thinking old-school Genesis, like the Trespass album. But our singer could never write a melody to it, which is understandable because the rhythm is so bizarre. I was especially pushy about us doing it for this record, though, because I felt that it was an important piece of music for us. And four years later Scott heard a melody for it for the first time.
I think the bass drum pattern in particular is why people are intrigued by it. And I think the song has a nice place on the album. “Sense Of Spark” might not be a single, it's more for the Finger Eleven fan who is a musician.
MD: It's especially effective live, with the two guitarists, on either side of the stage, playing the intro riff together.
Rich: We just toured with Hinder, and their crowd maybe has a lot of people who like Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses, that sort of straight-up rock crowd. Our album had just come out, and we were trying all these songs on the audience, and that one just didn't work.
MD: I like it when you go into that straight double-time Motown–type beat; it's an interesting change.
Rich: It's great that you hear that, because that's what we were going for, that Motown thing. We were actually going to get some singers in to do “doo-wops” over the chorus. We were really going to commit to it [laughs], but then our producer was like, “Maybe that's going too far.” But we wanted to really switch gears there.
MD: Another cool moment is the breakdown during “So-So Suicide.”
Rich: Yeah, we kind of went into a jazzy thing there. We usually don't do breakdowns or guitar solos, but that seemed to be such an obvious choice as we were writing it. That always reminds me of something Blind Mellon would do—sort of jazz with a Southern influence. Again, it's a different side of the band, and I'm glad it's on this record.
MD: Many rock albums these days are so dramatically produced and in-your-face, they become tiring to listen to after a while. But there's a nice spaciousness to the mix of Them Vs. You Vs. Me, even when the music gets loud. Was that something that was discussed?
Rich: Absolutely. We wanted to have an organic feel to the record, the drums in particular. It's been happening for years, but in the studio with drum triggering and stuff, some records sound like they were played by robots; they're just so over-produced. I think a couple records ago, on The Greyest Of Blue Skies, we over-produced ourselves a bit. That record sounds great, but it became a lesson in how we don't want to make records. So for the last two records, especially with the drums, we wanted it to sound like a how you'd imagine us sounding in a room, playing live. I think that's why records from the '70s sound so great to me. That classic tale that you can hear John Bonham's pedal squeaking on Led Zeppelin records—to me, that's music…that's rock 'n' roll. I love the idea of putting a few mics in a room and just playing the drums. I think that's the best way to hear a drumset.
MD: Well, live you sounded very close to the record.
Rich: That's always a great compliment to hear. It's a testament to not over-producing ourselves. Everything we record, we think, “How is this going to work in a live environment?”
MD: What's your attitude toward re-creating your drum parts live? It would seem that improv isn't a big part of the band's approach.
Rich: Yeah, I don't really stray too far from the parts on the record. Our songs aren't really “jammy.” I spend so much time on the drum parts in the studio, by the time I get to the point where I'm playing the songs live, that's pretty much how they are. I don't think there's a right or wrong way. But we're not about to switch it up and start having a little jammy section in the shows; the parts are there for a reason. I mean, I can't imagine playing anything else to these songs.
MD: What kind of music have you been listening to that you find inspiring?
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