Rob: Hey Phil, It`s Rob...
Phil: That`s funny, as we are speaking I am showing Dan, our tech the guts of a Face Lift pedal...
(laughs all around...)
Rob: Cool, I used to build those all day long...
Phil: I wonder if you built this one...
Rob: I might of...
Phil: did you guys initial shit?
Rob: No, but I knew the other guys, there was only a couple...by their handwriting...
Phil: Where the battery is and all that shit?
Rob: yeeeah, where it says battery, see it written on the foam?
Phil: UmHmm...yeah, that`s cool, I love Jacks stuff...
Rob: yeah, I do too, that`s ...I tried his stuff out for a couple years before he asked me to work for him...and I was totally stoked to do it for the short time that I did...
Phil: That`s cool.
Rob: "The Outbox" is partially my...
Phil: What`s that? The Yardbox?
Rob: No, the Outbox...
Phil: Oh, what`s that?
Rob: It`s the one that is, it`s kind like a superfuzz pedal remember those big orange and blue 70`s pedals...
Phil: Yeah...
Rob: It`s kind of like that circuit, but it`s tweaked and has a dual settings and a pre-set lead type setting...three footswitches...
Phil: I should check that out...
Rob: It`s got kind of an octaver, it`s kind of a one trick pony, you know not all around use but man!
Phil: Kind of like almost every pedal you get...
Rob: hahaha... I use the "Germ" a lot, that`s my favorite
Phil: I`ve been using a Germ, Jack sent me a Germ when he first started doing them. And totally diggin on that pedal, totally diggin on it...sounds really true, I was talking to him the other day about it...sounds really, really true...I love it.
Rob: Yeah, I definitely do too...
Phil: I love the Yardbox...
Rob: Yeah, that was my favorite for years, that`s all I used...but when I got the Germ, and put it through my old 100 watt Marshall Super Lead there was no need for a yard box...for that amp...
Phil: Right...
Rob: Anyways, it`s good to finally meet you...Jack says you are a good guy...
Phil: I actually met Jack in a strange way and we`ve stayed in touch...I am a huge vintage gear nut...I was living in LA and I bought a Yardbox off of a friend of mine that a store was closing out and I happened to be there and they had a Yardbox...and he picked it up and I got it from him and the whole bit and I owned one of the old Sola-sound pedals...
Rob: Ahh, cool- so you know where the sound comes from...
Phil: Yeah, and I was just curious you know...and the switch was fucked up...
Rob: hahahaha...
Phil: and uhh...hahaha... and I was on tour, I was just telling this story last night to our tech, and it was like...I was in Portland and I was like, well, let me call this guy, you know...nothing better to do and I`m in my hotel and I call him...and I was like `yeah, I got this Yardbox and it`s not working and I was wondering if I could send it to you`... and he was like, "Well, did you buy it from a store?" and I`m like `no, you know I, whatever, I just picked it up...and he was like `well, I don`t know if I can really help you out` and I was like `well that`s cool, I`m just trying you know, I`ll get it fixed when I get back to New York or LA or something you know...I`m just on tour right now and I want to use this thing and I can`t use it, you know...` he`s like `What band are you with?` I`m `I play guitar in Monster Magnet` and he was like `No way! send me that pedal and I`ll fix it!` and he Fed-Ex`d me another Yardbox to San Francisco where I was gonna be a couple of days after that...It was waiting for me at the hotel and like that`s how we just started talking from then on he`s like `...yeah these guys that work for me listen to you guys all the time...` so...
Rob: Yeah we used to bastardize Monster Magnet CD`s over and over again when I worked there...in the shop day and night, so he knows who you guys are...hahaha...
Phil: Yeah, it`s a cool story...I started on his stuff like a friend of mine in New York owns a little shop and they started getting pedals in and there was this one guy that was always using them...then I moved out of NY and didn`t see any of his stuff until I moved to LA, and I saw that Yardbox...I love it...I can`t take my Sola-sound on the road or it will get fucking destroyed...I`ve tried and I have learned the hard way...
Rob: You care if I ask you a few questions here I got...
Phil: no, no, let`s go...
Rob: OK let`s see here...you said that you were recording?
Phil: no, no, we`re going on the road...
Rob: OK you said you had to go to the studio later...
Phil: Yeah, rehearsal studio...Monster Magnet is taking it to the road next week.
Rob: Awesome, so you guys touring a lot then too...
Phil: Well, we did Europe right before the holidays we did a full on tour, took the holidays off and now just pretty much gearing up to do everything in the States now...
Rob: How do you like it?
Phil: I love it, I don`t like the down time, the down time I get really antsy...
Rob: So you`re like the Road King...
Phil: Well, I like both you know I love the studio and I love the road and I love everything about it, it`s just the two weeks before going on the road, I get really antsy time, I get excited, I want to go through all my guitars and get them ready, all that kind of shit you know? The band makes fun of me...they`re like `you got a different guitar today, what`s he matter with you, you can`t make up you`re mind?` and... I love this shit, I love old gear, I love what I do...I feel like it`s a pleasure you know, and I don`t take what I do for granted at all, I could be doing something else really easy and you know what I mean? And I am in a great position to play guitar in a great band...
Rob: How did you get in the band? How did that come about?
Phil: Dave and I grew up together, so I`ve been around Monster Magnet for a very long time...what had kind of happened was I moved out to LA and Dave and I over the years have talked and talked and talked...a lot of my gear was borrowed to use on the Dopes record and I kind of got out of playing and was leaning towards studio and production and stuff like that and I was living in LA they came out to do Powertrip so I was around in the studio a lot, I didn`t play on it or anything...but I was there a lot...
Rob: So you started playing on God Says No?
Phil: Yeah, and I did some live stuff and some soundtrack stuff...Heavy Metal and the one we did with Bob Ezrin...Black Sabbath Tribute...Live stuff... and anyway, after the record was done and Dave and I were hanging out a lot in LA and then I came back for the holidays that year...and we went out to eat and he was like "you want to play guitar in the band? I want you to join the band..." I was like "what? what are you talking about?" he was like "No, I have been thinking about this for a long time and it`s not something that is out of the blue...I`ve wanted you in this band for quite a while..."... I was like "Yeah! I`ll do it" So I moved back to Redbank, joined the band and went on the road a few weeks later...and I was like I said really into production and I`m really into studio shit and that is what I really wanted to do, and then the whole opportunity to come back and play guitar...play in a great band play with people you really like...Dave and I have known each other since High School...we have a gas, we have a great time...
Rob: Where did you go to High school at?
Phil: Redbank Regional High School
Rob: When did you guys graduate, or if you did...or...hehehe...
Phil: Just barely I graduated in 80, and Dave was a year ahead of me or something...and then I was a fan of the band for a long time...I`m a fan of the band, and I like all the stuff they do, and I`m not just saying it because I am in the band now...you know I like the evolution of Monster Magnet also...I am a huge fan of Spine of God but then I`m a huge fan of God Says No and Powertrip and I think Dave`s a fantastic song writer and I feel really lucky...a lot of people now a days are like "why do you feel to be in Dave`s side band?" I have no feeling of that at all, not at all...I have a lot of freedom on guitar, I get to bring my shit in...
Rob: How does the songwriting go...
Phil: What will happen is that Dave will bring a lot of stuff in on his 4-track that he`s written... He comes in and plays us the songs and says these are the songs...and he says "lets go" and we just come up with stuff, he has certain ideas, but if you add to it and he likes what you`re doing he`s gonna let you go...
Rob: So do you and Ed swap off or...
Phil: Ed does a majority of the leads you know I do more of the shitty leads...hehehe...
Rob: Ed`s pretty fucking aces on lead guitar...
Phil: Ed`s a great guitar player...fantastic, sometimes I look across the stage or across the room and I`m like "What am I doing in the room with this guy?"... you know I can`t play guitar like that, there`s just no way... it`s never going to happen...in my lifetime it will never happen...we all add our parts...Dave plays a lot on the records...
Rob: He played a lot live when I have seen them...
Phil: Yeah, he`s fantastic, he`s got a certain attack and a certain style...and the thing that blows my mind is how Dave knows how shit will go to tape and how we`ll stand out and texture a song...I have never really worked with anybody like that in a band, you know, I`ve been with engineers and producers and shit like that but Dave has this quality of knowing what box to use, what guitar to use...how it`s going to texture the song...he puts it on tape and it comes back and you`re like "what the fuck?" I love it...
Rob: This is more of a personal question, but what kind of guitar and amp`s do you like?
Phil: Amps I like... is Marshall. And there`s this other amp I like called Marshall...I`m a fan of really old practice amps and I love Danelectro amps...
Rob: The amps you can crank up...
Phil: You know it took me a long time and I started using Marshalls a long time ago and I never stopped using them...
Rob: I am the same way...
Phil: I think that every other amp out there that tries to be like a Marshall it`s like I can`t get with it, there�s either too many knobs on it, or I`m not a big fan of channel switching amps and shit like that, and maybe I am a one trick pony and I like one great sound and that`s OK by me you know it`s like I`ve never had a problem with Marshall amplifiers...
Rob: So you use non-masters...or do you use like late 70`s or...
Phil: I use mid 70`s...the early master volume amps, the JMP heads...I love those heads, and I`ve got a few other non-masters that I love but uh, but to take on the road I get a little more out of the master volume heads and there not like a newer master volume, they are a completely different thing...and my amp tech in New York is fantastic... Matt Wells... he also makes a very, very cool fuzz pedal too...
Rob: Oh, does he?
Phil: yeah, the five o` clock shadow...and I am a big fan of Fender amps too, I am using a Twin for my clean sound and it`s like Fender and Marshall amps are as good as it gets for me...
Rob: I agree with you 100%, I have a 75 the very last of the non-master...that`s my favorite...I tried out a ton of Marshall�s before I stopped there and I have been using it ever since...the loudest... It`s right after they switched to printed circuit boards...last of the small logos...
Phil: Those are fucking awesome amps! You know it`s a funny thing, a lot of guys, the vintage buffs are huge on the plexi`s, the 50 watts and shit like that, to me they`re more bluesy...it`s not a powerhouse rock amp...you know the guys in AC/DC and Thin Lizzy and all those classic great rock bands weren`t all that bluesy sounding...(talks to someone in room "...Dan, you can`t go on-line right now...")
Rob: hahaha... shared connection? You`re on-line I take it... you ever go to StonerRock.com?
Phil: yeah...I have checked it out... I am in touch with Serge, who does the Monster Magnet stuff in Belgium...known him for a couple of years...
Rob: well, what do you think of Napster?
Phil: you know there are plus and minuses to everything...It`s one of those things, you can`t really fight it anymore... It sucks for a band in our position because we`d like to make the jump to sell more records and you know... I think it really effects us the most, I`m not saying just Monster Magnet the most I`m just saying bands on our level...It effects us a lot. We are in the disposable age and we`re getting ready to go on tour and the budgets... Napster effects our record sales, it really does...do I like the fact that it gets our stuff out there? Yeah, but most people aren`t like guys in my age group who really like something will go out and buy it. Kids will download the stuff and burn it on to a CD...listen to it a few times and throw it in the corner, they think it`s cool they got it for free. They`re not going to go spend any money on it.
Rob: I heard something about you guys doing a Queens of the Stone Age tour?
Phil: That`s always a lot of talk because we get along with those guys well, and we did Europe with those guys...that was a lot of fun...we are going out and doing about...15 shows with Buck Cherry opening up for us...and then were going on the road with the Cult...and then you know, if it comes up again and they want to do it, we`d love to tour with them, but as far as anything confirmed there`s nothing there right now...
Rob: What`s some of the stuff that you like to play live? Was there a specific era or...
Phil: Oh yeah, it`s like when we click in to Powertrip, I love to play that song live...oh yeah, I love to play Cage Around the Sun...I like to play Twin Earth, and lot of the new stuff, Cry, I love to play the song Melt live... I like the way Dave writes because he doesn`t really try...he writes where he is at at the time those records are kind of like where Dave is at at that time period and stuff like that...
Rob: God Says No is one of those records you can`t just sit down and listen to, you kind of have to go back and listen to it again and again...it kind of sets in over time...instead of being critical just because it`s the new Monster Magnet...
Phil: I have heard that from a lot of people...from friends and interviews that I have done where this record has a knack for growing on you...it`s one of those things too where if Monster Magnet did that Spine of God Superjudge era stuff forever, they wouldn`t be a band anymore...a lot of bands from that time don`t exist anymore...look at Kyuss, look what Josh did, you know and he was out of it for a while... you kind of have to find your way and I think that it`s great...ummm...I think that Dave has created with Monster Magnet is that he has kept it together with that fine line of psychedelia and hard rock, and to keep coming out with record after record... a lot of bands can`t say that...We get a lot of flack from people, why don`t you do this anymore?... we are playing in stores, doing old stuff with this tour though... with John playing tablas and Tim Cronin doing stuff and it sounds wicked...it`s total psychedelia...and doing it at radio stations and in-stores... so where does that come from? Rework some of the old stuff...new stuff and work things into it and make it sound weird...you can`t be the same all the time...
|
