Dear Dude,
What up dude?! First off I’d like to say I’m stoked and I can’t wait to buy the new album, and I hope Ask the Dude Isn’t dead so I’m going to ask a question anyway.
I heard this question when I was watching some Dave Mustaine interview, that dude can make some awesome music but he’s not very humble and was kind of lame about it so I thought, you’d be a better dude to ask.
The question is, after making so many records and songs, not only with Darkest Hour but also with Man and Wasp and any other side project you may have/had, how do you still manage to write original material without repeating yourself? Because it seems that every album Darkest Hour has still has that classic DH sound but you guys always manage to use really original sounding shit. Personally I’ve run into this problem before where I’ll be like, oh well that sounds too much like this band, or this sounds too close to for the soul of the savior or just shit like that. So I guess what I’m wondering is if I’m doing something wrong or if its just normal, or even if there’s someway to avoid this problem altogether?
Thanks dude
The Repeater!
Dear Repeater,
Is Ask the Dude dead? That’s a fair question considering it’s taken some time for me to get back to writing. But, to answer it simply, of course not. Let’s just say that I had to take some time off in order to focus on the main goal, creating music! I just recently completed composing music for several TV related projects including 2 one hour specials for the Smithsonian Channel (on WWII), a special on Manson for MSNBC, and Investigation Discovery’s “Real Interrogations” (the first season is now available on iTUNES). In addition to the above, Darkest Hour has been working towards achieving ultimate Rockdom with our new record. We have been slaving away writing the record non-stop for the past two months. It seems crazy to spend this much time on a death metal record to some people but to us it’s about pure love. We are really reaching for something new and at the same time distinctly our own on this record and to do that it takes all the brain power and rock juice a dude can muster. We also went through a line up change that was both hard but also needed. All of us remain good friends and the new line up of Darkest Hour feels like we are headed in a really exciting direction. Its fun working with new members who bring with them new strengths, It’s how you learn to grow. The material is in great shape and just this week we turned a corner and we can start to see the whole record on the horizon. Usually as you put together a record the riffs take shape, the songs take shape, and then the record’s sound takes shape. Dude when that happened for me this week I was elated! It wont be long till I’m writing Ask the Dude letters from the studio! But to get to where we are now has taken 2 months of hard woodshredding and I don’t expect it to get any easier. Ok, ok so enough about the struggle.
I have not see the video of Dave your referring to and I am not going to say that I know more about riff writing then Dave Mustaine. I mean after all the riffs on Rust in Peace, Killing is My Business, and Peace Sells are all but godly! But maybe I can explain it a little differently then he does.
How do you still manage to write original material without repeating yourself?
It’s funny because I would say that people who are not familiar with the genre of death metal have criticized Darkest Hour records for sounding similar. But if you really know metal then you know this comment is not true. Each record does sound different and the sound has eventually evolved through time. So using this as a starting point let’s talk about riff writing. Its hard man, me and our other guitar player, Mike (since we all suffer from uncreative parents from now on he will be referred to as ‘Lonestar’) have been camped out the past two months riffing non stop to build the body parts that will make the future Darkest Hour record. The songs start with riffs and then are twisted and mangled by all the members into the songs that you eventually hear, but, man, coming up with those first few sparks, it’s not easy. But it is rewarding when it pays off and when songs are born you find yourself not even remembering where the riffs came from.
There are a lot of different ways I come up with riffs. The first way is my old school method which is simple, you just pick up a guitar and riff until you hear something you like. Sometimes I hear Lonestar play something cool and say hey what was that? And a riff is born. The first half of riff writing is hearing a riff, the second is recognizing that it’s good enough. They’re two very distinct skills so you have to remember to hone both.
The second is my personal favorite and that’s jamming with a drum machine. Look there are millions of ways now to write drums to jam with. Garage Band, I Drum, Doggie Box, Tab It, Guitar Pro…dude the list is endless. I love to program drums in Guitar Pro or Garage Band and then record the drums into protools. Then we drink a few beers, kick back and jam for a few hours over the drum loops. You just have to let your mind wander over the drum beat and then all of the sudden, wham! you hear a sick riff! Its more fun to hear it with fake drums and it provides a nice way to show your drummer your idea. But make no mistake the songs always sound better when a live drummer who knows what he is doing puts his ideas to it.
The third way works for many bands, yet few death metal bands I know employ it because it involves real jamming. That means you get in a room with a drummer and the drummer just plays beats and you just make up riffs, right there. I don’t write that way but I know a lot of people do (just not any death metal dudes I know). Most metal bands I know write the riffs first and piece them together in the space or the studio. Don’t get me wrong there have been plenty times I have made shit up on the spot that was killer or an idea just happened at practice but its not easy to come up with ideas this way. There’s a lot of pressure and its just not comfortable for me.
So there you have it three ways I write riffs. That’s the first part but making sure I don’t sound like I’m repeating myself, well that gets harder and harder with every record. And from what I have observed by watching countless other bands the same holds true. The more records you make, more songs you write, the harder it gets to come up with ideas that don’t resemble old ones. But, when it does its glorious! So you have to keep trying and make sure to know when something IS close and something ISN’T close. It’s hard but its all part of the job or being a guitarist in a riff based metal band.
Is this normal, yeah dude, its normal, and its hard, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it, I am sure you find the more you riff around and experiment the better you’ll get, maybe something I said here sparks the fire or maybe you continue to search but and those ideas will come a flow’n.
The Dude
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