[ A trio with a balanced relationship ]
Interview & Support: Tak Yonemochi
Text: Setsuo Saito
Photos: Kodai Miura, Hiro Ito (※), Hiroyuki Yoshihama (▲)
Most "guitar kids" are probably too busy listening to records with crazy guitar solos to know about Rush. They may know the name, they may know the band's around, but they might have never experienced the sound of Rush.
Every hard rock/prog rock fan needs to borrow a copy of their records and give their sound a try. Rush is at the top of their sound, boasting what they call a "high-tech", "hard-prog sound" that lets them perform complex, highly technical songs smoothly and quickly.
With the rise of such guitarists as Yngwie Malmsteen and Warren DeMartini, Alex Lifeson's solos aren't flashy in comparison, and there's not a lot of technique to listen for. However, Geddy Lee's bass and Neil Peart's drums are still unmatched in the rock scene at large, and Alex weaves in between the backbone of the pair with sophisticated, demanding solos, magnificently spacey chord-work, and an eccentric style on par with The Police's Andy Summers.
Here's an interview with Alex and Geddy, from Rush. Wasn't the usual guitarist talk, but it was a really interesting chat regardless. It's a much more fun read if you've heard their records — and even more if you've heard their songs live!
[ Three good friends that even write music in the car ]
Q: It's so good to meet you, finally. I can't believe I get to see Rubbish live! How are you two feeling?
Geddy Lee (G): We've been looking forward to playing Japan for a really long time. The plan went south a few times...
Alex Lifeson (A): Yes, especially two years ago, when it was really starting to take shape. You interviewed me back then, right? I was just getting ready to go...
G: It's great to just come to Japan and immerse yourself in a different culture, a different atmosphere from the West. On top of all that, you get to play there too.
Q: First of all: why did you split with Terry Brown, with whom you'd worked for ten years - from your debut album to your last one (Signals, Rush's 11th album)?
G: We all still respect Terry as a great producer, but we just wanted a fresh change of pace. We'd been working together for so long, Terry had become less of a producer and more like the fourth member of Rush. A producer should be outside of the band, so we started looking for a new one. But it was so exhausting... choosing a new producer is really hard.
To be more specific, I wasn't happy with the content of the previous album, Signals. That album changed Rush's approach, but we all wanted it to change even more. We just wanted to do more as a band, but the environment and the circumstances didn't allow it — so we wanted a change of producer.
Q: How did Grace Under Pressure end up being produced by Peter Henderson?
G: At first, it was Steve Lillywhite. But when we were ready to enter the studio, he changed his mind and started recording with Simple Minds.
Q: I wasn't expecting Lillywhite...
G: We tried to talk to Trevor Horn, but it didn't work out, and we were really nervous because our recording schedule was coming up. All the top producers were busy and we couldn't get any on short notice, so we interviewed maybe 4,000 candidates. (laughs) Didn't work out, so we produced the album ourselves and looked for an engineer. While looking, we met Peter Henderson, and we all thought he could co-produce the album while engineering it, so we entrusted him with the project. At that point, he was the best-case scenario. Having an engineer/producer, of which there are many now, makes things a lot smoother because that's one less person in the studio. It's really good to make an album with just the band and the engineer. Peter has a very traditional British sound, not a trendy one. Like George Martin or Geoff Emerick — Peter's learned a lot from working with them, he's great at what he does. But next album will have a different producer. We're looking for a change in approach, so we just auditioned our 455,000th candidate! (laugh) We've gotta find the best producer for the job soon. Even during tour rehearsals, we jam a lot, brainstorm ideas and experiment a lot of things, so we don't have to worry too much about material.
Q: I heard Signals had songs you'd both written for solo albums at first. Any plans for a solo album?
G: Yes — Alex and I wrote some songs separately, back before we started as a band. And we kept doing that as a band. But I've got no intention of releasing a solo album right now; I like what I do with Rush and I'd like to put all my energy into the band.
A: I have a studio in my basement, with an Otari MTR and a Sound Workshop 16-channel console. I'm making my own solo work there, some of it's looking pretty good; it's just for my own use, not for the band. But I don't feel like releasing that, and I don't plan to do anything with it at the moment.
G: It probably won't happen while all three of us are playing Rush and having fun with it. At least I'm happy being "Geddy Lee, from Rush". I might go solo after Rush is done, at least.
Q: This is pretty old, but... what kind of songs were Rush playing when they first formed? A lot of people say they were "copying" Led Zeppelin and Cream, is that true?
G: Yeah. We were kids at the time. I've been playing with Alex since I was around 15 years old! 1969 was right in the middle of Zeppelin fever. Thing is, we preferred blues-rock over hard rock/heavy metal, so we played a lot of that. Right?
A: Yup. "Spoonful", "Crossroads", and "I'm So Glad" by Cream... "Snowy Wood" by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers... "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Oh, Pretty Woman"... no, not that one! (A blues number by Albert King, not to be confused with the Van Halen song.) Zeppelin also did some bluesy stuff.
Q: How'd your sound evolve to its current form?
G: In our earliest days, blues-rock was actually the most popular music of the time. It sold pretty well. I wasn't big on American blues, white or black, but I found British blues, and blues-rock through a British filter, really appealing. But after a while, blues-rock started dropping off and giving way to progressive rock, like Yes and Genesis. Anyway, we were still young, not even 20 years old, so we were very influenced by this new, cool music; more by the techniques than the actual music. I think every musician has a phase where they're obsessed with technique. At the time, we were deeply fixated on difficult stuff and odd time signatures. Then, we decided we wanted to blend the feel and power of blues-rock with the complexity of progressive rock.
Q: You could call Rush a bit of a middle-ground, right?
G: Yes. We were tired of common-time signatures, so I wanted to make music that was complex and powerful. We challenged ourselves to write songs with solid melodies, whether hard or soft; still working on that part of the process.
Q: So your turning point came after Permanent Waves, particularly after "The Spirit of Radio"?
A: That's right!
G: We're pretty confident in our technique. I think we really perfected it around Permanent Waves. We gained the confidence to be able to play all kinds of odd time signatures, complicated lines, no matter how difficult the song is.
A: No matter how much we gotta go crazy on the bass and guitar's necks. That means a double-neck too! (laugh)
G: Since we were already so proficient technically, we put more focus on the melodies. They're not just simple, easy-listening pop melodies; our songs take full advantage of our techniques, have good melodies, and can be finished in less than 5 minutes. We like to use songs to expand on the core melody in various ways, rather than trying to make a song out of several difficult 30-second pieces. Writing songs like this is really difficult, so we're still working hard on it.
Q: Right. So, Rush's sound has changed and the music scene is always changing — but you've played for ten years with the same lineup, which has made 11 albums (10 years since Neil Peart joined; 12 albums in total). Is there some kind of secret to it?
A: I guess we're just lucky to have met. We're best friends even outside of the band, we all take music very seriously, we love to play, and we're always looking for improvement.
G: Yes, and we just brush up on whatever we're happy with. We love playing as a trio; making records, working as a trio, it's all very fun.
A: We don't compromise too much, we just act frankly with each other without overstepping boundaries. None of us really want to be rockstars and we want to work well as a band, so there aren't any conflicts of interest. We don't have any real rows; we just have fun working together, share our ideas and let each other express them freely.
Q: Do you think a trio is ideal to start a band?
A: At least it's more manageable than 6 or 7 people.
G: A 3-man lineup makes for a pretty balanced relationship, doesn't it? Even a 4-man lineup would be pretty hard. For example: we went shopping today. Have you ever seen another band go shopping together? They should! It's fun to hang out as a trio.
A: Just three guys going out, chatting while shopping. It's fun!
G: We're more controlled as a trio, and we can always communicate well. Other bands go touring and all that, but they never hang out off-stage, do they? We're only three, so we get to drive around in the same car. And we write songs in the car too.
[ Sequencers allow for a deep, luxurious sound while keeping the feet comfortable ]
Q: Now, let's talk about gear. On Exit... Stage Left, were the synthesizers overdubbed?
G: Not really. Some small mistakes were dubbed over, otherwise, that album's just like you'd hear it on a live show.
Q: Although — in addition to Neil's drums, Geddy's bass, and Alex's guitar, there are some synthesizers and other stuff that can't be done without a Moog Taurus, right?
A: It's a mix of an Oberheim DSX (digital sequencer) and a Roland TR-808. You can play those kinds of synths just by toggling the foot switch on or off. Geddy and I don't have to play the Taurus as much as we used to with our feet. The DSX is also linked to an Oberheim OBX-A (polyphonic synthesizer). The TR-808 also controls the arpeggiator on a Roland Jupiter 8 (polyphonic synth). It's a really easy, convenient setup to use.
G: And the Taurus is interfaced to the OBX-A, so although we use a Taurus to trigger the sound, the sound comes from the OBX-A. The Oberheim can be triggered with one foot, and the sequencer can auto-play by toggling the foot switch as well; it's great!
Q: Hell yeah. Can you play chords with the Taurus as well?
G: No, we're not that far yet. Single notes only! It's a custom interface.
A: Like Geddy, I use two OBX-As, one with a Taurus and another to auto-play the DSX. And even when both of them trigger synths at the same time, the tones change; you'd never guess that it's a three-man ensemble playing.
G: You really can toggle the sequencer with one stomp, which opens up a lot of possibilities. I used to play bass, while playing synth on a Taurus with my feet; Alex also played guitar on his hands with a Taurus at his feet. But now, we just focus on our axes and toggle the sequencers with one button press! (laugh)
Q: Isn't it harder for Geddy though? He has to sing on top of all that...
G: See? Now I've gotta charge four times Alex and Neil's fees!
Q: Alex, are there any plans to introduce more guitar synths to Rush's sound?
A: Of course! I got a Roland GR700, so I want to explore everything it can do. But whether or not I use it in Rush depends on how future songs are composed. For now, I'll just enjoy playing the guitar with this. I only recently got it, so I'm not getting into specifics for a while; but it has a MIDI connector! What can't you do with that?! The possibilities are endless. This thing is revolutionary! So I tried linking it to the Jupiter 8. I could now play polyphonic synths on a guitar (e.g. G707, G303) that I couldn't dream of playing on a keyboard! When I get back, I'm going to link it more MIDI-equipped synths to it, like a PPG or an Emulator II, and make all sorts of sounds.
Q: You got a G707 as well?
A: Yes. i tried combining the GR700 with a Roland PG-200 (synth programmer)... the GR500 was really bad, though.
G: I couldn't get the tuning right on that thing! (laughs)
A: The tracking was really bad... it was always out of tune... (laughs) The 300 was better, but it had a lot of distortion.
G: Expensive distortion, even!
A: Yes — but the GR700 is an instrument, not an effect. I'm used to using the G303 for guitar, so I might still use it, even if its performance isn't as good.
Q: Any customization?
A: I'm not sure yet. Maybe later.
Q: Have you obtained any more new gear?
A: Geddy's using some new synths in the studio — and a Steinberger bass. As for effects, we got some cheap (but not really) and compact digital reverbs that came out recently. On stage, I use a Lexicon PCM60. Some good stuff from Yamaha and MXR too; it's too bad that MXR went out of business.
Q: It seems you've used a lot of echo effects in your songs, like "Limelight". Why's that?
A: Oh no, that one uses a "lake echo" effect.
G: There's this lake outside of the studio, with a hill far in the distance. So we pointed the speaker at the hill, and the sounds reverberated as echoes; we picked that up with microphones and used that as a reverb.
A: Same with the solo in "Chemistry". Or rather, the whole song.
G: We tried to use the drums, but it just didn't work.
Q: Is that so...
G: You know who's making the most innovative gear of the last decade? Nady.
A: Yes, the wireless system! The sound quality's gotten much better thanks to that. There's almost no noise, less sound degradation, and a bigger range of high frequencies, so the sound is very crisp.
G: Yes. We both love using that in the studio.
Q: Have you stopped using Marshalls or the Gibson ES-335 anymore?
A: Oh no, I still love 'em. I just didn't bring them this time. I put a Kahler (tremolo bar) on my 335 and my Howard Roberts, so I might pick them up again.
Q: Last but not least — any words of advice for the 'guitar kids'?
G: It's hard to keep it simple, but... be honest with yourself, and whatever it is you decide to do, work hard at it.
A: Practice matters the most. Some people will tell you practice is too hard, but if you like playing an instrument, it can be fun.
G: And keep an open mind, with no preconceptions.
—Thank You Very Much!—
