BR: Cool – I’m a sucker for situations where the musicians are live in the studio, rather than e-mailing their parts in from opposite ends of the planet or whatever. So you are the “conductor” in a sense – you’re cueing people on when to drop back or blend in or whatever – but you’re also manipulating a mixing board at the same time during a performance, right?
DH: That’s right – and calling the role a “conductor” is right. I mean, that’s really what it is. What I oftentimes call it is being the “dub organizer.” What you’re trying to do in a live setting is control the individual players just as you would the faders on a mixing board in a studio. That’s what I’m trying to recreate on stage.
BR: Your primary instrument is guitar?
DH: That’s right.
BR: Do you have a go-to axe that you favor?
DH: I sure do: I have an Ibanez hollow-body that’s styled after a Gibson ES-175. I was really into jazz in high school – I idolized Wes Montgomery – and I wanted a hollow-body; a big jazz box. I’ve had that same guitar for 20 years or so now.
BR: And do you write on the guitar?
DH: Yeah, the guitar is usually the primary focus. I also own a bass and I’ll use that for working out the bass line. Actually, I wrote one of the songs on the new album – “Turmoil” – on piano. I was at my parents’ house and they have a piano. I was just goofing around on it and came up with that little lick that I liked … the melody isn’t so complicated on that tune, but I like the statement – it’s cool and to the point.
BR: Where these songs on Vaporized written primarily for the album, or had you had some of them in your pocket for a while?
DH: Well, I don’t know as I write songs for an album as much as when I have the inspiration to do so. I think most of these were written in 2006 or 2007. In general, I write when the inspiration’s there; it’s not like, “Oh – I need nine songs for an album.”
I think we recorded twelve songs in total and it ended up we could only fit nine on Vaporized.
BR: Ah! The beginnings of the next album. (laughter) That’s what people always ask, just as soon as you finish something, you know: “That’s nice. Now, what’s next?” (laughter)
DH: Hopefully, more of the same. (laughs) I don’t know, though – we may do something a little different. I think we’re going to try to incorporate some new things. For instance, I’ve started bringing a theremin to gigs. Actually, I’m playing a theremin on the last song on the record.
BR: Cool – I wondered if that wasn’t a theremin. Nothing else sounds quite like it.
DH: That’s right. I really like the sound of it – it’s a really great noise effect. I have some dub albums from the UK that have theremin all over them.
BR: I love the idea of the theremin, because it’s just not a matter of flipping a switch or pushing a button; you’re controlling it by how you work your hands around it … it has soul.
DH: Yeah – it’s responding to how far away your hands are from the antennas. It’s getting to the point where I’m getting that real “mad scientist” look: I have the mixing board, the theremin … (laughs) … it’s looking a little outlandish up there on stage, but it’s perfect for us.
BR: Dave, thanks for taking the time to talk. Words can’t really do the process of creating live dub justice, but hopefully we can spark the interest of some folks who’ve never put an ear to it before.
DH: We like our music, but I’m sure it isn’t for everyone … some people don’t really get into the repetitive elements that exist in what we play, but for people who like being hypnotized, it’s great. (laughs) And that’s kind of the way it is.
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