On Sunday, Feb. 25th, All Access Magazine was at the Wiltern Theater for another metallic barrage, this time from a four-band lineup that included Oakland-based band Machine Head. A few hours before the show, Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel found some time to talk with AAM about the band and “The Blackening,” the new Machine Head CD that’s scheduled for release on March 27th.
AAM: Phil, as you may know, our magazine’s motto is “Keeping Local Music Alive,” and since you guys are from the Bay Area, that’s local enough for us. You’re from Oakland, right?
Phil: I’m from the East Bay, the basic Oakland area within a 15-mile radius or so.
AAM: We see that Oakland is known as something of a hip hop bastion, so has that had any influence on the sound of Machine Head?
Phil: I think in the early days it did. I didn’t join the band until five years ago, but I believe that at the inception of the band, a number of the members listened to hip hop, and a lot of the time they’d be playing some Cypress Hill covers out of their studio, and they’d have some of the locals coming around and bangin’ to what they were hearing. I think that hip hop has had a definite influence on the band.
AAM: And speaking of Bay Area influences, a lot of sources refer to Metallica as a strong inspiration for your band. What other metal bands that might fall into the “classic” or “vintage” mold do you still derive inspiration from?
Phil: Pantera and Slayer had a huge influence on this band, and even bands like Biohazard, back in the day. But nowadays, we draw much inspiration from our peers, including bands like Chimaira and Children of Bodom, so we’re being influenced by where they’re taking metal now. The guys in Chimaira are very good friends of ours.
AAM: We met a young man in a Machine Head t-shirt out front, and he told us that another of his favorite current bands is Devildriver. Any comment on those guys?
Phil: Oh, yeah? We took them out on the road a couple of years ago, and became really good friends with the guys in the band. They’re a good metal band, for sure. I like their second album a whole lot better than the first, and I understand that this next one’s gonna be really good, too.
AAM: On your upcoming release, “The Blackening,” due out on March 27th, we note that a few of the tracks are pretty lengthy, including two ten-minute pieces and two nine-minute songs, which are kind of epic in proportion, as opposed to more standard three-minute centerpunch kinds of cuts. Do you see these long tracks as “concept pieces”?
Phil: If you have a ten-minute song, of course there’s a concept involved. The songs go through such a dynamic evolution, so that a whole song is telling a story, and it’s a whole concept in itself. Is the album a concept album, though? No, not by any means. We touch on some social issues, but we’re not a political band, and we’re not standing on any soapbox.
AAM: On that note, look at a song such as “Nation On Fire,” which at least hints at possible unrest or turmoil, and let’s face it, revolution has been a consistent
them in modern music since at least the ‘60s. Do you ever see a revolution of any kind coming, whether physical, spiritual or mental?
Phil: I think we need a revolution politically, for sure. Do I see it coming? No, I don’t think our government’s steered towards where the little guy can stand with his toothpick in the air and make it happen. It’s all the voices against the one, and the guy with the two percent at the top is just gonna run the world, that’s just the way it is.
AAM: When some people first hear your band’s name, Machine Head, they might think of the classic Deep Purple album, while others might remember the now-classic Bush song, while still others might simply think of hardware on a guitar. What’s your take on the name of your band?
Phil: You just stated every use for the name right there, so it depends on where you’re from. The Deep Purple thing applies for older fans, while people from the ‘90s will like the Bush connection. I think of this band right here. I mean, ever since its inception, it’s been one of my favorite bands, and it’s been the band that I want to play with. I wish that people would understand that it’s two words and not one!
AAM: Your band’s other guitarist, Robert Flynn, referred to himself as having “sausage fingers,” not necessarily made for shredder licks, unlike Alexi from Children of Bodom, for instance. How about yourself, do you feel that you have “shredder hands”?
Phil: I feel that I’m definitely in the Oscar Meyer realm of fingers [chuckle]!
AAM: How did you get your start with electric guitar, and what kind of training did you have?
Phil: I started playing about 27 years ago, basically because I went to a concert and saw Randy Rhoads play, and he was my inspiration. And I played a little bit of drums to begin with, like I think a lot of other guitarists started playing drums. But my parents said, “Nah, we’re not buying you a bunch of gear,” so I went to Gemco and bought a $42 guitar. I took lessons for a while, but I found myself just learning the latest Iron Maiden songs, so my teacher said, “Hey, if you’re just going to be learning these songs, you can just do that on your own,” and that’s what I basically did.
AAM: What’s your favorite axe?
Phil: I’ve got a new one. I’ve got a Signature Series model coming out with Jackson Guitars, it’s a King V, and I’d have to say that it’s my favorite guitar right now, just from the fact that I’m taking care of it.
AAM: What are the preferred effects that you’ve been using?
Phil: We use a variety, mostly Boss pedals, flangers – I use a “wah,” but nothin’ too crazy.
AAM: Referring again to your musical influences, and again going back to comments by Robert Flynn, we see that he cites Kanye West as a “guilty pleasure.” Do you have any guilty pleasures in your own musical arsenal?
Phil: Anything that I would be willing to spell out for a metal magazine? Hell, no! You know, I listen to everything, and if you went through my iPod, you’d laugh your ass off!
AAM: Since you’ve been touring with the fellows from France, Gojira, do you
notice any difference in their approach to metal, as opposed to State-side?
Phil: I think, with the European bands and music and fans in general, that it’s not just that they take it more seriously, but it’s more of a lifestyle over there. They just eat and breathe and live and die with music, and they know everything about it. You see the festivals over there, and it’s unity, with people in their leather chaps and denims going to see all kinds of music, and everybody’s into the music and they support each other, so it’s not just the cliquey “Hot Topic” b.s. that you get over here. That’s what I enjoy about it. There’s more respect for the music.
AAM: We’ve heard of some acoustic guitar work on the upcoming release, so we were wondering if you often work with acoustic instruments in the composition process?
Phil: Yeah, we’ve got an acoustic guitar in the back of the bus right now. Adam has an acoustic at home that he writes with, Dave has one, all of us do. There’s a piece that I wrote on an acoustic that ended up making the intro to “Farewell to Arms,” that I had written for my sister, who teaches at a college. Her student had wanted a piece that she could do with a modern dance routine, so that’s what that was for. And then I played it for the band, and they all liked it, so it ended up becoming the intro for the song.
AAM: On the acoustic note, we see that Korn has just come out with some kind of unplugged project, which just about everybody seems to be doing these days. Do you consider that to be in the future for Machine Head?
Phil: [shaking head] No.
AAM: We’d also like to hear about what’s going to happen later this year, after you’re done with this current tour. We’ve heard of some kind of “super-enormous-mega-European package.” Can you perhaps tell us who might be on that lineup?
Phil: Here’s what we’re doing this year. The current tour is taking us up to April 5th, then we’re home for a couple of weeks, and then we’re going on the super-mega-enormo-whatever tour in the States, something we can’t say anything about right now, and when you see it you’ll say, “Yeah, that’s why he couldn’t talk about it,” and then in June we’re doing festivals, and then we hope to hop on something in the summer. Nothing is really put together after that, but we’re trying to get on a package for one of the summer festival things, and then a European run in September and October, and that’s going to be super-mega-magnormous, however you said it.
AAM: Are there any covers that you like to play a lot, to keep your chops up?
Phil: “Dream On” by Aerosmith, “Love Song” and “What It Takes” by Tesla, and we rock the Tenacious D.
AAM: We’ve seen a trend in recent years that’s been away from pyrotechnics and big l stage effects. How do you feel about fireworks and theatrical productions?
Phil: I’m for them – when we can afford them!
AAM: Can you tell us about any particular thrasher bands on the Bay Area or Oakland scene these days that are worth taking note of?
Phil: Man, the scene is so different from what it used to be, when you’d go to a show and there’d be 300 people there to support each other. I’m into the Reignition record, though they’re not really a thrash band.
AAM: In Oakland, what are some “happening” spots at this time, if any?
Phil: I don’t think there’s any. I mean, there’s this place called The Metro, and they book bands, but... we practice in Oakland now, and that’s what makes us based there, but none of us live there right now. In San Francisco there are assorted clubs, but there’s not much of a “scene.”
AAM: You started out over two decades ago by picking up a guitar and practicing long and hard. Any advice for any currently-aspiring local bands?
Phil: Basically, just stay true to what you want to play. Be cognizant of what kind of band you want to be, and play for yourself. Don’t get caught up in trends, because they’re always changing, so by the time you get found, you’ll just be flooding the market like everybody else. Stay true to yourself and play what you want to play.
AAM: One other thing, do you have a particular vision for the next studio project, any ideas for the future?
Phil: I think we’re going to ride this one into the ground, because we have the feeling that it’s gonna blow up pretty good. So after “The Blackening,” we’re probably gonna wonder, “How do we top this?”
AAM: But we learned that you had over 20 tracks considered for “The Blackening,” right? Will any of those materialize later?
Phil: Actually, some of those “tracks” were a couple of riffs together, but aside from a “b-side” coming out, anything that didn’t make it on this album is probably not going to be used again.
AAM: One question about where you’re from – Is the term “hella” on its way out by now, or is it still in heavy rotation in the Bay Area?
Phil: It’s hella-never gonna go away. I will always say “hella.”
AAM: And likewise, we hope your own career is equally enduring, and we hope that “The Blackening” makes a splash heard ’round the world, and we’re looking forward to an awesome show tonight. Any final shout-outs for our local readers?
Phil: “The Blackening” drops on March 27th! Thank you guys for supporting Machine Head, thanks to the fans for coming out to the shows, and tell a friend about the new CD! Thank you.
AAM thanks Phil for the interview – we’ll be keeping an eye on Machine Head. Keep up with the band at www.machinehead.com
