- 6 months ago
Andy Aledort talks to Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt
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00:00Thank you so much, Nino. It's great to see you again. And I can't believe you don't remember
00:20me from now. So rude. Ironically enough, I remember faces though. Names, I'm dead,
00:26but I know your face. That's cool. Let's talk about Rise, the song. It's fantastic. It's so cool.
00:35Your solo is amazing. And there's a big hubbub, as you may have heard about this song and about
00:41the solos. If you could tell me a little bit about, you know, the genesis of the song, how it came about,
00:47just a little bit about what came first or how the song came together. You always go in when you
00:53record an album and, and, you know, when you do your guitars and do everything, you know,
00:56I have this thing that I don't ever want to release anything that doesn't mean something to me. You
01:02know what I mean? Much to our financial detriment, we probably had four albums worth of material over
01:08the last 10 years, but unless it like gets you to that point where you actually want to share it
01:13with somebody, like you call your brother or you call your buddy up or you go, Hey, can I show you
01:17something you kind of like giddy about it and proud about it, whether it's the guitars or anything.
01:22That's when you're ready to show everybody is when you get to that point. And that's what happened
01:26with this. And I thought when, when, you know, you kind of go for blood always, you know, you always
01:31have this thing of like my heroes, whether it's Edward and Brian May and Jimmy Page and, uh, and Randy
01:38Rhodes and so forth, you know, you never, I've always, always had this kind of like punky attitude of the
01:44fact that of course, man, imagine one day ever being like them, but it was worse than that.
01:50I was like, I want to take them down. Like I want to go for blood. You know, I want to, I want to,
01:54I want to make them proud and go like, Oh shit. You know what I mean? Like, so to me, it's like,
01:58I never wanted to release anything where I wasn't like, if Edward was here, would you play this for
02:02him? Would you have to play it? So I, that's, that's when we get ready to release something. And when all
02:07this started happening, I thought, okay, you know, we might, might get, you know, we're an older band.
02:12We might get, we might get about, you know, 40, 50,000 views on a day with our fans or maybe 200,
02:17man, when it hit like a million now, 2 million, and you're starting to get hit up by, you know,
02:21your peers and Brian May and Lukather and Vi, and they're going, dude, man, this is what's happening
02:27here. Part of me was like, what, what is happening? Like, what is going on here? Like, why I always
02:32analyze stuff from, I back away instead of going, Oh man, isn't it great. They love my solo and everything
02:37else. And I started going like, well, wait a second. Why, why is this happening in a way?
02:41That's cool.
02:42And I thought, because yeah, the solo's decent, song's decent. It's an extreme song,
02:48but I've been playing solos, I think like this for 40 years, you know, in previous albums and
02:53things like that. So I was trying to consider like, why, why the, all the reaction now? And it
02:59really occurred to me that over the last kind of like, you know, we're both old enough to remember
03:04that when we discovered guitar players back in the day, it was looking at that album,
03:08playing the album first. And then when you saw them live, you, you, you, you, you not only heard
03:14what you heard and you thought you heard and felt what you felt something from hearing it,
03:19but you had an imagination. Then when you saw them live or on a video, you saw the physicality of it,
03:25the emotion of it, that, that you could smell the rock and roll of it in a way, the mythology and think
03:31about, and I was thinking, man, over the last decade, if not more, which is great, which is
03:36why we're on a call today in technology, the way we discover some of the great guitar players right
03:41now, which there are many like younger players, guys that I'm on Instagram. And I go like,
03:45wow, fuck you. I don't even know what you're doing. That's amazing. Right. But there's an element
03:49of them sitting on a chair like I am. And like you are in the room you are. And that's how we discover
03:54them. Most of them. And they were playing us and they're playing us parts and they're playing us
03:58solos and things. And we go like, wow, wow. But it's more on a technical level because they're
04:03showing us and they're playing things. I think it's been a minute. And I think the reason,
04:08the excitement for rise in the soul and everything is because they're seeing and feeling the joy and
04:15the passion and the fire in a song with melodies, with an arrangement, with a rock band going, going for
04:24it. Like there's just, there's just a rock and roll aspect to it. And a few people brought that
04:28up to me. You know, even when Luke at there hit me up, he's like, man, you know, yeah,
04:32there's great players, but I haven't been blown off my chair in a while from like seeing this video.
04:36And I'm like, that's where it is to me. It's like, it's not, if I played that solo, like the label
04:42and, and, and even management wanted me to do initially, which is like, Hey, do what everybody's
04:48doing? Get on Tik TOK, do a preview of the album while you're in the studio, sit there and play
04:52that solo with no, you know, with nothing behind you, whatever it is, it would have been okay.
04:57And maybe they would have gone like, Oh, okay. A few people would have shared and go, Hey,
05:00may I check out what Nuno's doing. But I think the excitement is more than just a guitar soul in
05:05the song. I think it's the package. And I think it's, is somebody going like, I've gotten a lot of
05:09thank yous. I'm like, thank you. What do you mean? Thank you. The thank yous were like, man,
05:13thanks for doing this in a song. Thanks for bringing back rock and roll in this way,
05:18in this from that era. And it made me realize, man, people are kind of starved for it.
05:24Not just guitar playing, but just the angst and the fire and the joy that an Edward brought in or
05:30creativity that a Brian may brought in or whatever it may be. And I, and I think that that's what it
05:34was exciting. I said to the band, I'm like, what, you know, what are you excited about doing the album?
05:38I go, man, I just want, I just want to contribute a rock album and kind of bring guitar into it.
05:43in a joyful and a fiery and a passionate and emotional sort of way that no matter what you
05:48do, and this goes to what we're about to talk to with the song is that you can pull, you can,
05:54everybody can say, yeah, great solo, man. Let's dissect that. But for me, it's what's underneath
05:59it and why you play it. It's the question that you just asked why you, why that solo? And for me,
06:05it's always been the mission, which I loved about an Edward van Halen was like, you know what?
06:09You could play the most ripping solo. And I'm the one on the first album. You like the intro,
06:14everything is like, what is going on here? Kind of shit. Right. But then he plays for that song
06:19because the song was fun and fiery and it was a party. So he plays for that song. That's been
06:26the biggest goal of my life. And in rise, it's no different because even with Edward on the same
06:31album, you go in and talking about love. And he's like, is that the same guy going?
06:34You know, like really, is he have the balls to play for the song,
06:41to pull back, not always excite somebody. And if once you go through the album, that's the biggest
06:46compliment I had. I had, I had a great listening, little listening party with Vi and Morello and all
06:51of my guys are like, Hey, can I show you guys something I want you to, before it comes out,
06:55let me know if it sucks, what you think or whatever. And that's the thing they all said
06:58that was the biggest compliment, other than like, oh, you know, excitement about the solos was like, man,
07:02no matter what the song is, it stayed in the culture and it stayed in the, in the wheelhouse
07:08of whatever the melody is feeding you, whatever the lyrics are feeding you tonally, the guitar
07:13was there for it. And I, and I think rise is one of those reasons why it's exciting to people. It's
07:19like fucking song is fun. It's got some, it's got some, you know, and the riff, like you said,
07:23the riff is pretty basic. It's straightforward. As a matter of fact, I got to give props to Jordan
07:27Ferreira. I don't write a lot with other people, but I wrote this with him and he's a guitar player
07:33and we write together. He's an artist that I work with even on my label and stuff like that.
07:37And it was just, I was just like, fuck, that's super cool. Let's fucking explore that. And,
07:41you know, I had some harmonies at some, what, whatnot. And even sometimes you don't know, man,
07:46is this for extreme, you know, until I was hitting it and going with him, we were like,
07:51no, man, this feels like some, this could be some fiery stuff for the band, you know,
07:54and that's what really ignited. That's this song ignited the album for me because the other songs
08:01that we're doing, we had 40 or so songs for the album. I wasn't getting that feeling yet of like,
08:06where's the foundation of this house we're building so we can build the rest on it. And it was rise and
08:10a few more songs like rise that really went, okay, we're onto something here. So rise is the first song
08:15of the album. We wanted it to be the first single because it is the first song of the album. We probably
08:19wouldn't go with it because of the tonality and the fire of it. And that's why it ended up being
08:23the first single. And I had no idea that people were going to respond like this in those reaction
08:28videos that everybody do that everybody's sending me. I don't ever watch that stuff, but they're going
08:32like, you know, people listening to it the first time and they do the reactions. And when it gets
08:36to the soul, they're like, okay, wait, what? And then they go back. It's really a weird out of body
08:41experience to see that happening and to feel that joy of people going, oh man, this is fun.
08:48Like this makes me want to like pick up my guitar. Let me figure out what's going on here.
08:53And I think what's good about rise itself and the era of guitar players that I came from is like,
09:00as almost, as almost sonically difficult things may sound, even when you heard Edward or some of
09:07Paige's stuff and some of like chords and what Brian May was doing, it was just, I have a word I have,
09:13I made up called, I didn't know how to describe it. So I was like, simplexity. It's not a real word.
09:17I quit high school. So I can say that's a great word though.
09:20Rock and roll and arrangements and pop and rock have always been pretty basic, you know, verse,
09:23chorus, verse, chorus, bridge. It's simple, right? We get a hook, we sing it, but if it's cool enough
09:29and some artist queen and Paige and people know how to do this, they make it complex enough if you're
09:34willing to pull back the layers. So there's complexity, but the simplicity. So I think a great song like
09:40rise is the pity me for me of what I go for, which is simplexity. Can we make, can we make the guitar
09:46playing fun and even sometimes sound complex, but it's still attainable and reachable. And you could,
09:53you know, when you, Edward was just enough, like, I think I can do it. I'm not on my mind,
09:58but let me try, try to go there. And that's what I love about creating whatever I do on a song. I will
10:04always want to make it in that pentatonic world where it's like, I'm telling these guys right now that,
10:08that are playing online that I'm like, that's not attainable for me. I would have to relearn a
10:13technique where they're picking and then adding fingers and doing all that stuff. And, and there's,
10:18and you mean actually adding fingers. I mean, actually adding, adding like, you know,
10:23morphing. So yeah, rise, it started from, you know, Jordan coming up with a great, great riff and,
10:30and me jumping onto that and adding some, some melody and some harmonies and arrangements and things
10:34like that. And it was a collaboration. And, and then once it was in my head that this is for
10:41extreme, then you start arranging, arranging it that way and coming up, you know, coming up with
10:46what we all, what we all thrive for, which is at the end of the day is nursery rhymes for adults,
10:51right? You know what I mean? It's just like, that's what choruses are. That's what refrains are.
10:55And whether it's, well, yeah, the hook, you make sure you stay on that plane of like,
11:00this piece of music needs to do these things for me. Yes. Because you said, I wouldn't play it for
11:06Eddie if it wasn't doing it for me. And then I can pretend like, Hey man, isn't this great?
11:10Isn't this great because the lick is fast or whatever it is. No, it's got to emotionally connect
11:14with me first. And that's like the greatest thing when you know, it's, there's something,
11:20uh, you know, to use a fancy word, you know, altruistic about the thing itself because of
11:27how it hits you. If it works for you, then you at least will say, well, now I know it has a chance.
11:35Like this is going to connect. It's not just going to connect with me. Yeah. Like I know it connects
11:40with me. Yeah. And it's important. It's important to do that. You know why? For another reason too,
11:45as you get older, as you, as you just live life, the last thing you want to do is put your head on
11:51the pillow at night, say nobody connects with it. And you're like, fuck, I didn't even do what I
11:56wanted to do. Yeah. Something because I tried, I thought this hook might connect with this audience,
12:01or I almost started marketing in my head that, oh, I can do this because like, even when people said,
12:05oh my God, you know, great job. Rise is modern sounding and it's going to, you know, go on. I'm like,
12:11it is like, and in my head, I was like, I just, it was just written because of the love of just
12:17rock and roll. And yeah, it's like, I joke, maybe Metallica and Aerosmith had a baby on this one.
12:21You're right. It's a little on the heavier side for extreme, but it's still got the rock and roll
12:26there. And all I want to do is put my head on the pillow at night and go like, you know what?
12:30I did everything I could, man. I gave, I left everything on there and emotionally. And you know what?
12:35If people connect, it's, it's a beautiful thing, but if they don't connect, I'm still okay with that.
12:41I'm still okay with it because music isn't for every, every song isn't for everybody. You're
12:45always going to get, the hope is you get 70 to 80% of people like, man, this really connected with
12:49me. And you're going to get the people that are going to come on and go, you know, like,
12:52I don't like this. I don't like that hook. It's too pop, whatever it is, or the solos to this or
12:56whatever. It's not for everybody, but at the very least you want them, the fact that they're engaging,
13:01something's got to be good enough and emotional for you to love or hate it.
13:05Yeah.
13:05If it does nothing to you, then you're just, you're just going to walk away and say like, that's just
13:09garbage. It's not even worth my time to even listen, but if it conjures up, even
13:14like, for instance, if I'm a fan of a band and their album comes out, I would, you go, okay,
13:20I'm going to go listen to it. But there were times where I'd hear that album and I'd be like, whoa,
13:25I'm not sure if I like it. I don't know if I first listened, I'm not sure, but I believe
13:31you have to have an affair with an album that comes out.
13:33Yeah. You have to date it almost, especially if you liked the girl beforehand. If queen comes out
13:39and queen, the way they shifted from album to album, you're like, holy shit. They went from,
13:43you know, Bohemian Rhapsody to jazz, to this or whatever. And you're like playing,
13:47they're playing 1920s and then they're doing, I don't know if I like it, but then when you get,
13:51you have an affair with it for a minute and you give it a shot because you respect that artist,
13:55it's now stuck in your CD player, your cassette player on your turntable for like a year. And you
14:00couldn't believe for a minute that you were like, oh shit, I hated this thing for a minute. Like,
14:04you got to give it a second and you got to give it a minute because true artists, real artists,
14:08they explore and they go for different stuff. And somebody said to me, man, I don't know if,
14:13you know, when, before the album's gone, I don't think extreme fans are going to like this dude.
14:16It's a little bit heavier. It's a little bit harder. And I'm like, great, let's run into the
14:20burning building. That's perfect. Because to me, an extreme album is expect the unexpected,
14:26not on purpose, but just because if I feel like going and sitting on the piano and writing,
14:30a Sinatra type track that we did on Porn and Graffiti, which is when I first kissed you,
14:34then I'm going to write it. And if it's turning us on and me and Gary like, man,
14:38this is fucking cool. And we want to play it for people. And we love, we love it. It's going to go
14:43on the album. So Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, they went into a recording studio and they didn't say,
14:51well, we have this little song and turn on your tape machine and we'll see you later. And then we're
14:55going to go get a hamburger, you know? Yeah. Like I love Jimi Hendrix said,
14:59he didn't even want singles pulled off of Electric Ladyland because he was like, it's stupid. Like,
15:06why would you even listen to Crosstown Traffic by itself? Yeah.
15:09Like it doesn't, he goes, this isn't some game. Like the way he said it was very funny. He's like,
15:16we're not playing around. This isn't some game here. You know, like you're supposed to listen
15:20to Electric Ladyland from beginning to end. Exactly. You want it to be a soundtrack of your
15:25life, of somebody's life that they can escape just for a little while, for 50 minutes, 45 minutes,
15:31one hour, put on some headphones and get away from all the issues and stuff. That's the goal.
15:36Right. That's what Hendrix meant. It's like, come on, man. We're trying to just,
15:40we're trying to, we're trying to give you something here. Yeah. You can listen to your
15:43favorite songs, but man, those albums that we listened to, you didn't never want it to stop
15:48because you wanted it to go like, what do you got next? You always knew in your head,
15:51you got so good at listening to these albums and they became such DNA and the fiber of your being
15:56that you already knew the key and what was coming next on the next rip. And you could hear it before it
16:01even started because it, or the space, the space between the song and the next song and the
16:07anticipation when it's an album, you know, so well, Lord, that excitement, your heart starts racing.
16:13It's getting chills. I'm getting chills thinking about, um, physical graffiti, you know, and you've
16:18got custard pie and then you're waiting for the rover to start. Oh my God. And it's like, it's,
16:25it's literally your heart starts pounding in a way that you like, you can already hear it, but like,
16:29come on, let's go, let's go hear it. Yeah. You hear it before it even starts.
16:34Yeah. And it's like an old friend that you're waiting to see. You're like, come on, man,
16:38come in the room. You know, it's like somebody that you want to hang out with. It's exciting.
16:41And I think that's, that's what, that was the best compliment I've received so far throughout
16:47all the press and all the interviews I'm doing is like, thank you for the album.
17:08And I think that's what I did.
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