for La Chaîne Guitare The Guitar Channel Questions By Pierre Journel (pjournel@gmail.com) May 2009 Transcribed by Jenn at Random Chatter Music (metalichicka.wordpress.com) Note: the full audio recording of this interview is available on http:///2010/04/lcg 057 nuno bettencourt interview.html
PJ: OK, so here we go. I am very, very happy to be with Mr. Nuno Bettencourt. So, Nuno, how are you doing? NB: Very well, thank you. I'm feeling all right. You feelin' okay? PJ: Yeah. I'm sitting right next to you, it's quite something, let me tell you. NB: You're making me embarrassed! Thank you so much. PJ: I have this traditional first question. What was you first guitar, Nuno? NB: First guitar I played, or the first guitar I owned, or both? PJ: The first guitar you owned. NB: The first guitar I ever owned, I think was a... it was a company called Padulla. Ocini was the name of the guitar. It was a very strange guitar, with a lot of knobs and buttons, that I had gotten from my brother. PJ: How was the gig yesterday in Bercy (Note: big concert place in Paris) with Rihanna? NB: It was excellent, actually. I had a great time, and the crowd was of course amazing, as it always is in Paris. You know, um, it was really fun. I think there were a lot of people there. Some Extreme fans that came down were very surprised as to how much guitar there was in the show, and how much heavier the show was how much more 'rock' it was. It was very cool. PJ: And is it difficult for you to switch from Extreme to Rihanna? I mean did the opportunity just show up, and you said 'yeah, I'm going to do this'? NB: Yeah. I mean, she does wear different stuff then Gary, so that was pretty strange at first. NB: But, you know what? It's so close... it's very familiar. It's one of those things when I was asked to do it, I thought 'I don't know', because she doesn't really have much guitar on 2/11 13/05/10
the records. But then, that's what got me excited, you know. And the fact that they wanted me to play not existing parts, but to 'do what Nuno does, over the Rihanna music'. And I use the same rig, the same guitar sound, I play the same way. So now those songs live, have got a bit of a flavor that I usually do, which is cool. PJ: What is going to be the next step? Are you going to keep on going back and forth, between Extreme and Rihanna? Or, whatever happens, happens? NB: Look, you know, it's one of those things... for anybody who likes Extreme, or is an Extreme fan, and they go 'why is he doing this?' This is something... these are the things that we need to do. I call it a little bit of a vacation from Extreme, y'know. (agreement) NB: Like the musical version of sitting on a beach somewhere. Because, I think with Extreme, we never did that. We did 12 years straight of touring album, touring recording, touring album. And I think at the end, that's why the band disappeared for so long. I think this is what makes it healthy. For people to be reassured that we will do another Extreme record. As a matter of fact, during the whole Rihanna thing, I'm actually writing for the next Extreme thing. I'm taking advantage in the hotel rooms and buses. So, uh, I don't know how much more... I don't think it's going to be back and forth or anything else, but I think by the end of the year, we'll be able to do some Extreme stuff. PJ: So, is it easier for you to play kind of 'behind' Rihanna, because you don't have such a huge spotlight on you? It seems that during the show, you have a lot of 'room to fit' during the show. NB: Absolutely. That's what I mean, that it's kind of a nice break, because she's the one that's doing all the press. She's the one doing the meet and greets. She's the star. The crowd is there to see her, for sure. I don't even have to sing. It's kind of like... it feels good to just jam with this great band. The band is great the band is a bunch of incredible musicians. People think of Rihanna and think 'this is kind of pop and R & B artist', but man, the band is... the drummer plays with Stevie Wonder, and the bass... these are the most high end, quality musicians that I've played with, from that type of 'school', you know. So, it's very unique; it's very fun, yeah. PJ: And do you miss the singing part, or not at all? You're just happy to play the guitar and enjoy yourself? NB: Aw, it feels good to not sing for a little while. 3/11 13/05/10
NB: I've never done that. Just to play guitar I'm like 'wow, this is pretty cool.' NB: Might have to hire a singer for Extreme. PJ: OK, so you just said that you are actually writing some new material. So, any plan, any specific date in mind, when you're going to do the next record? NB: Well, I'm hoping, by the end of this... kind of adventure with Rihanna, which probably will end at the end of August, September. By then, I will have most of the Extreme record at least composed. 'Cause we're going to try and do something a little bit unique this time around, you know, something that's different. The fans might not like it, I don't know. It'll be very 'Extreme', but very 'non Extreme', sort of. So, yeah. PJ: It's interesting, because it seems that you were always very interested in taking risks, through your career. I mean, you had a huge super mega hit with 'More Than Words', then after that, there was this more 'concept album', and you were not afraid to, let's say... scare, a little bit, the fans, or go in a direction where they were not waiting for you. NB: In the business, we call it 'career suicide.' PJ: But you're still there, right? NB: But y'know, the funny thing is, hearing you say that... is we never intended to do that. That was really the personality of who we are. I mean, we were always influenced by the bands who were that eclectic, and that different. You know, Queen, and Zeppelin, and Aerosmith. The bands that did... they didn't just do one thing, or one mood. We're very human and we all have different moods. And some days, you wake up and you sit on the piano and you hear an orchestra... and some days, you just want to have a drink and write a punk song. And I think we're all like that all humans are like that, even as listeners. So, we just wanted to reflect who we were and how we were feeling, and uh... People shouldn't be surprised. Sometimes, in this... they're saying 'I don't get it. Why is Nuno playing with Rihanna?' and let me tell you something... if you 4/11 13/05/10
don't know why I'm playing with Rihanna, then you don't know me by now. Because, really, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. PJ: I listened a lot to your last double live album. Was it difficult to get back onstage with Extreme, and get the songs rehearsed again? Or, was it feeling like it was 'just like yesterday', to go back onstage? NB: It was a bit of that 'yesterday' feeling, you know. Getting on the bike and knowing how to ride a bike type of thing. But there was also an important 'new' element, that I think was missing in the past. And I think that element was just, you know... appreciation. You know, like when you're young, and you're in a band, you have a sense that you 'belong' there... which you do, 'cause you earned it; you're meant to be there. But you kinda get that... you start taking things for granted, you know. The audiences... you do so many shows that you don't know whether you are in Paris, or whether you're in Madrid, because it just feels like another arena, because you do so much of it. But I think that now, this time around... each country we go to and each city we go to, it's like going to a restaurant. We now taste it, and we remember the taste, and we enjoy the meal, and we try the wine there. And you remember it, and you really appreciate it, and you don't take it for granted. I think that's what's special about doing it now, is that every night is quite a unique experience, and I think the relationship between us and the fans is better. It's more soulful, there's a bit more soul there. It's not just a tour. (agreement) PJ: I just got the DVD last night. I took a quick look at it, and it seems like the band is sounding really, really tight, and you are enjoying yourself a lot onstage. It shows, when you look at it, the picture, obviously, 'those guys are not in it for the money'. So, it's really a nice show. NB: Thank you. Well, I mean, look... to me, DVD's are a very strange thing. They are tough for me to watch, because like I said, my 'camera shot' from where I am onstage, is a different one then what that camera is showing. So when I see the audience, when I hear the volumes, when I feel the sweat, and I smell everything there and what's going on... to me, the DVD lacks... it's capturing a lot of that. It's, to me, a slower, less passionate version of what really happened. 'Cause they're cameras. They're telling you where to look. When you're in the audience, you look where you want to look, you know? You're feeling the crowd next to you... you're hearing a loud PA system, you know? (agreement) 5/11 13/05/10
NB: I'm glad we did it. I think the band is playing well. But a part of me... it's painful for me to watch sometimes, because... it's hard to grab the passion of what really happened that night. PJ: So, how, after all those years, I mean, how do you keep the passion, to go onstage and play? Is it like... being with Rihanna for a couple of months, then going back with Extreme... and you keep that, the freshness? NB: Well, I mean, I think it's important. One thing that's for sure is I've never been able to... the second I step onstage with Extreme, I'm 17 again. Always. I've never once stepped onstage and played those songs and felt like 'wow, here's the 43 year old version of Nuno now.' Or, the 35 year old version, at that time. I always just felt like... it puts you in to this time warp. And the music always does the same thing to me. Even when I play with Rihanna. I mean... trust me, I think... some of the musicians I'm onstage with, I think I might even be twice their age. NB: But most of the people, even Rihanna, didn't believe how old I was, because of the passion onstage. It's still... wanting to play. And I think it's important to be, not necessarily physically ageless because it's impossible, but at least psychologically and soulfully ageless in the sense when it comes to music, because just because you get older, doesn't mean you're supposed to play... become Frank Sinatra all the sudden. NB: You know, you have to do what you always do, and that's all... that's the only thing I know, is to do what I do, so. PJ: How would you say your guitar style has evolved between, let's say the very first Extreme album, and now? NB: I don't know if it evolved at all... I don't know if it's even evolved. It's interesting I think there was a point, maybe during Pornograffiti, where there was... a point where you, you kind of 'become who you are'. You don't not that you can't really get better, or be different, but I think you just become different. You go through different phases, and I don't know if you actually become better. I think... you just... different life experiences, different times, different songs make you play different ways... um, it's actually... it's kind of like being a kid, and then you go through puberty, and then you become like a man, a young man. And that's it. You don't necessarily become a different man, you just become... or should I say, I know your 20's are different then your 30's and your 40's, but you're still really a man, the whole time. You're just now becoming learning, you're making mistakes, and you're trying 6/11 13/05/10
to get better at 'em, but you're not really becoming a sort of better man, you're just trying to learn from life, you know. PJ: It's interesting, because I remember the first Extreme album I bought was Pornograffiti, and of course, after that I bought the first one. And it seems that on the very first Extreme album, you have a very strong Van Halen flavor to your playing, whereas in Pornograffiti, it's like it is someone else that is playing, or maybe it's that your style is more visible now. You can still feel the influences, but you are 'hearing a voice' from now on. NB: Yeah, exactly, that's what I meant by being... that first Extreme record is being that 13, 14 year old teenager, kind of knowing that you are an individual person, but you're very still influenced by your friends... that want to get you drunk all the time, you know. You still go with it, even though you know that 'this is not me' or whatever it was. I think you're right Pornograffiti was definitely the record where Extreme went 'Oh. This is who we are.' And we basically stopped, without really thinking about it, we just kind of went through puberty, and we became men on that record, and we became... our identities, we became what it was we were. We figured it out. You know, 'what is the Extreme formula who are we? What is our DNA?' And that record, I think the funk, heavy aspect of what we do, and all the harmonies that happen that was basically the final sort of piece, I think. PJ: OK, you know what... I am a guitar nerd, so I am going to ask you a couple of guitar nerd questions. You are very well known for playing your trusty old N4 from Washburn, and it seems that not many 'shredders' from the 80's or 90's went back to a Les Paul, when it was fashionable to play a Les Paul, so you are sticking to your guns... this is still your number one guitar? NB: Yeah, you know, I have no choice. It's not really my choice. I try other guitars. I even try other N4's, new versions and then I go 'all right, let me go back there and see if it's better' and it's just... it's not even like it's a guitar for me anymore. It's another... it's a third arm. It's like, when I put it on, and I grab it, and feel it I use it on 80% of the Rihanna shows still. And I tried to retire it, because it's 20 years old, and I try to leave it at home, and I just can't do it. You know, it's just one of those guitars. PJ: You're not scared it's going to get stolen, or broken? NB: I am worried. You know, it travels with the equipment. Who knows what's going to happen. But I don't think you can kill that guitar. 7/11 13/05/10
PJ: It's going to kill you, or... NB: It's like that movie, Christine, where the car is obsessed. That guitar is... it's got a spell on me. It's going to murder me before... That's how I'm going to die. It's that guitar, it's going to kill me one day. PJ: And amp wise, are you still playing with Randall, with your signature amp? NB: Absolutely. It's the first amp I was ever in love with. All the amps I've played, I like, but there was always something missing or whatever. And then, finally, with this amp, I just... every time I plug in to it, I just go 'wow'. I go 'thank God I have this amp now' because it really makes me feel good, and it really suits my playing. I just love the way it sounds. PJ: Do you have a secret recipe to get your tone, each and every night, or no? NB: No, it's... PJ: Come on, just a little secret, come on... NB: OK, I'll tell you the secret. NB: The secret is... "Don't do anything." Just plug straight in to the amp. Good guitar, good player, through a decent amp... and that's the secret. Don't try too hard (with) too many pedals and too much shit and too much effects, because your fingers have to make it in there, so. PJ: I noticed at least that's what I saw on the DVD that you're not using the vibrato on the N4 anymore? It's not there... NB: Yeah. I forgot it. I left it in the case before the show. 8/11 13/05/10
NB: You know, what's interesting is I looked at it as kind of another form of growing up, to me. Because I used to use the vibrato, not to make noises and divebombs and stuff I used to use it for vibrato. I mean, I used to hold it in my hand, and then I'd hit a note, and I would just slightly make vibrato with it. I didn't know how to do vibrato with my fingers. It was one of those things. And the reason was because... I found out a long time ago, and I've kindof proved this crazy theory. Most guitar players say 'that's impossible' and I say... Your vibrato in your fingers, matches your vibrato in your voice, exactly. Like when you hear somebody singing, and they have a fast vibrato when they do it... they have fast vibrato on their voice and they have fast vibrato on their fingers. I have a fast vibrato for my voice. So whenever I would do vibrato with my fingers, it was exactly like my voice, so I started checking other people. And they didn't believe me. I'd go 'ready?' And I'd get them to hold a note. And then get them to hold a note on guitar and they could not believe it. It's like there's this crazy match of vibrato. And I hated my vibrato on my voice, as I did on my guitar. So I had to do it with the bar. And I taught myself slow it down. I had to teach myself to do a more graceful vibrato on guitar, and I also taught myself to do it with my voice. To slow it down... it took me years to do that. So that's... and once I didn't need the bar anymore, I just took it off. PJ: OK. And if you have any advice to give to young guitar players, what would it be? (as a wise guitar player now...) NB: Ah... Become a lawyer? PJ: Stop playing guitar. Just get a law degree, and... NB: Get a good job, man. NB: This business is... changed. Naw... I think the main thing is, for any guitar player, is just... don't just be a guitar player. Don't be obsessed with guitar only. Be obsessed with guitar, but also be obsessed with music, and rhythm playing. You know, solos are just a small portion of the song. You will make your own history, and be yourself. Amongst... how you can play in a song. That will separate you from everybody else. Your rhythm playing, your writing, your arranging, your songwriting, your melodies and things. Be a musician. Don't just be a guitar player. You can still be the greatest guitar player in the world, but people will still just consider you as a guitar player. And then, there are a 9/11 13/05/10
lot of great guitar players in the world. If you can be a well rounded player and do something really special, then people will remember you for the rest of their lives, y'know. PJ: So how is it possible to progress as a musician, because the technical or the mechanical part of the guitar is... if you practice a lot, eventually you're going to be able to play fast. But to grow as a musician, is something really difficult and something really involved. Especially, not only on the musician part, as you just said, but on the rhythm part. A young kid just wants to play fast as hell, and that's it. NB: It takes the kids who are starting, to be inspired. It's to be inspired by what they're listening to. If they're only listening to shredders, let's say, and instrumental records, forget it. It's a diet it's all about your diet, you know. If you teach any kid that McDonald's if you don't take any kid to McDonald's, you'd be surprised how much they don't eat McDonald's. It's very simple math. If you give kids vegetables when they're 3 or 4, then they grow up thinking vegetables are what we're actually supposed to eat. They're not supposed to be disgusting and gross. It's really how... sometimes it's your older brothers, it's your parents, it's what they feed you, and what they inspire (in) you. If somebody grows up on Queen, they're going to be like 'Wow. What the heck is this?' This is the standard. This is music. This is melodies. This is incredible. But there is an incredible guitar player, who's doing layers of guitar and beautiful things. Same thing with Van Halen. Van Halen wasn't just an instrumental band. The guy's a great rhythm player. So I recognized that. There were still harmonies in Van Halen and I recognized that. So I think it's important. I think it's even important to guitar teachers: they have a responsibility to make the player aware, and make the young player aware, that... 'Yeah, I know you want to learn 'Eruption' by Van Halen, but don't forget to study the rest of the record.' You know study it, listen to it, enjoy it. And one day they're going to go 'Wow. This is what it's about.' PJ: What are the musical things that excite you at the moment, nowadays? The songs, or the bands...? NB: You know, um, like for me, like I just spoke about... I love hearing guitar players, but I also love hearing bands, and (I love) bands that are trying some different things. Uh, to me, Muse is one of 'em. That I don't know that he's the most incredible guitar player in the world, but at least I think the band is trying to do some very unique things, and blends in music, and I think that's nice. I'm a huge Radiohead fan also. I love the 'In Rainbows' record the last one. To me, as a guitar player, I listen to that, and that's a perfect example of a nonshredding guitar player, that does the most beautiful textures, and parts, and arrangements, that are very unique, and different to me. So I'm always attracted to listening to things like that. 10/11 13/05/10
PJ: And another last guitar question. Do you still practice a lot? Or, playing every night, playing on tour, is enough to keep you up to shape? NB: You know, I don't practice as much as I used to, but I didn't practice a lot, even with Extreme, believe it or not. I just never did. There was a part of me that... 'okay, I like to be kinda loose.' But this is not The Olympics. I don't want to be part of The Olympics. You know what I mean? I want it to be a balance of spontaneity, and surprise. I don't want it to be so technically drawn out. I don't mind making a mistake here and there, you know, as long as I'm having a great time. I think that's the most important thing. PJ: Well, you know what? Thank you. Thanks a ton for your time. It was really a great pleasure, and a great honor for me... so, thanks a lot. NB: Thanks for having me, man. It was a great interview, great questions. Thank you. PJ: Thank you very much, Nuno. 11/11 13/05/10