Gary Cherone took some time to speak with us about this new exciting project.

Type 3 Media: Tell me about Hurtsmile; How does this project to differ from your previous projects like Tribe of Judah and your recent solo work?

Gary Cherone: I think the first thing would be that the other projects were projects trying to turn into bands.  Tribe of Judah was something I did right out of Van Halen.  I was working with some people, didn’t know where I was going, and while I was recording, it kind of evolved into a band.

The solo thing was just something I wanted to experiment with; that pop soul thing.  The guitar player of Tribe of Judah [Leo Mellace] was working with some people in the studio, and the stuff he was working on kind of reminded me of the stuff I grew up on.  That was more a project.  I wrote a hell of a lot of pop soul material that I never got around to.

Hurtsmile was more organic.  We put the band together in a basement.  I was home, in and around the Extreme reunion and Extreme tour, and around my brother.  We talked about it for years and I just had the time.  Hurtsmile was more of an organic putting together of a band.

T3M: Your brother Mark plays guitar in the band, and you’ve previously worked with him in your The Who tribute band, Slip Kid.  I love my brothers but we’d probably kill each other if we had to work together.  How is it working with your brother?

GC: Yeah, that will come in phases.  We record and then we all go home.  While on tour, we’re in each others faces, like any band.  Whether it’s Extreme or whatever, your 24×7 in small quarters and you can get in moods.  The good thing is that Mark and I obviously have a history because we’re brothers.  We get along, we battle out some arrangements, and battle about some ideas musically, but that happens with all the bands.  You win some battles and you lose some battles.  That’s what’s fun about being in a band.  You have your ups and downs, but right now, we’re in our honeymoon phase.  First record and we’re excited about it’s release.  We’ve yet to go on the road with it, so ask me that question in a couple years. [laughs]

T3M: I hear a lot of great sounds and influences on this album, but I usually don’t like comparing with other bands because it can be unfair.  In the song “Love Thy Neighbor” it sounds like you put a lot of work into the vocals.  I haven’t heard vocal arrangements like that in a long time.  What was the process putting that together?

GC: Thanks.  I don’t take offense if anyone hears another band or another influence.  We all have influences and they come out.  I think “Love Thy Neighbor” along with “Slave” probably have more elaborate vocals.  How that came about was by experimenting.  I had the luxury of recording this record out of my house with Pro Tools, on my time and when my voice was feeling good.  I had Mark and Joe, who are great musicians.  We would get into discussing The Beatles and Queen, and go “oh man, let’s try a little funky harmony.”  That’s like what we did in Extreme.  I think “Love Thy Neighbor”, with the whole do-wop thing… it was just an idea.  I put together a couple tracks as a demo to show the band, they dug it, and then we elaborated on it.  We discussed “would it work ?” and I went “yeah, it’s just a little curve ball to set people off track for a second before we return to the rock and roll.”  Even with Extreme, we may be guilty of overdoing it at times.  But who do I have to answer to other then the guys in the band?  If people dig it, great!  All the bands I mentioned, like Queen, they’ll always be there.  They’re almost in our bloodstream at this point.  How do you get it out?

T3M: How do you get the Led Zeppelin out? How do you get the Aerosmith out?  All these bands that we grew up listening to.

GC: Absolutely.  Speaking of Led Zeppelin, one of the last songs we recorded for the album was “Jesus Would You Meet Me.”   Mark gave me a demo, it was just two parts and he didn’t even write the chorus yet.  It immediately reminded me of Led Zeppelin III.  He was wondering “should we put it on the record?”  I was like “wow, this is great.  I don’t know, let’s see if we can write something to it.”  Right now, we’re in rehearsals and that seems to be the most fun song to rehearse.  It’s got that rootsy Led Zeppelin vibe to it.

T3M: It’s a great tune.  There are also a few other songs on this album that take some twists and turns. “The Murder of Daniel Faulkner” surprised me on a couple levels, in both composition and content.  It was also included on the soundtrack for the documentary The Barrel of a Gun; was that written specifically for the film or did you write it earlier?

GC: It was before.  It was unrelated and written a year or more before that.   It was a song I wrote, in maybe late 2007 or 2008, that was inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane.”  It was an exercise one summer.  I knew about the case and I knew about the politics surrounding it.  I just happened to be doing some research and was more inspired by the night of it, the scene of the crime, and I wanted to write a story telling song.  I’m a big Dylan fan, so that was the inspiration.   I wrote it, but didn’t show anybody because I didn’t know what I was going to do with the song.  Then Hurtsmile started doing some demos in 2007, before Extreme did the reunion.  I recorded the song and didn’t know where it was going to be; to release it on the Internet or put it on the shelf.  It was just more of an exercise.  To make a long story short, I was in a bookstore and ran across the book by the widow, Maureen Faulkner [Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice].  I read it and was inspired.  I got a hold of her, gave her the song, and that was it.  It was a personal gift from me to her.  A year later she says two me “they’re doing a documentary, would you mind if I gave them the song ?” I said “no , go ahead.”  The director liked it.  For me, it wasn’t even a matter of whether the movie was pro or con, the song speaks for itself.   It has its own point of view.   I ended up meeting the director and we talked about doing a video for it, and did that.  I think that it has been submitted to some film festivals, but I don’t know what the release date is. The song itself was really detached from the movie.

T3M: Many musicians today would use the opportunity to make some sort a political or social statement.  It’s nice to hear this song which I think does a good job of  telling the story and conveying how tragic it is.

GC: It’s a fine line.  Musicians have point of views, and it’s easier to to be abstract and ambiguous while playing guitar, but when you’re a lyricist, it’s difficult.  For me, again, it was about the story.  If people dig it, if people agree with it or disagree with it, they can look into it.  I go back to Dylan’s “Hurricane”, I’m a young kid getting turned on to a Dylan song years after he wrote it, and going “wow, I didn’t know about this story.”  That’s what inspired me.  You find something that moves you.  It wasn’t necessarily the politics that moved me, because that was just a lot of noise.  I find that a lot of the celebrities will just jump on a hip band wagon… listen, in my area, I’m probably not making any friends with this song.

T3M: Looking back on your career, have you ever written a lyric you wish you could take back?

GC: There’s always a few songs that you want to take back, even from a performance standpoint.  Believe it or not, the first two Extreme records… even though Pornograffitti was successful and had some good songs on it, you look back at some of the performances… I don’t know, it’s where you’re at at the time.  You grow.  Who knows, in ten years from now will I be looking at the sort of stuff I’m doing now going “where the hell was my head at?”  There’s a few songs on the first two Extreme records…  I think from III Sides on I’m pretty proud of the Extreme stuff.  I don’t want to get specific, I’ll put my foot in my mouth.

T3M: Your relationship with Mark is obvious, but how did you get together with the other guys in Hurtsmile?

GC: I’ve known these guys for years.  Little did we know that we’d be in the same band around this time.  I’ve known Dana [Spellman] since ’94 when he was living with [Mike] Mangini, when Mangini was with Extreme.  Dana is a great drummer, and was a student of Mangini.  I knew Joe [Pessia] before he joined Nuno [Bettencourt].  It’s this Boston thing.  We were all in bands growing up in the clubs.  These guys were around and they were a little younger, but they were Extreme fans.  Even my brother was a little younger and he was starting his band.  When Mark and I put together Slip Kid, The Who tribute that we do a couple times a year, some of it is just to play some Who songs with my brother Mark.  It was really to get him to my house.  I didn’t know if it would end up being a band, but I did want to write with my brother, so that’s how that evolved.  And of course we incorporated Dana and that’s how evolved into Hurtsmile.

T3M: For all the people who know your music from over the years, what message do you have for them about why they should check out Hurtsmile?

GC: It’s in that strike zone.  We’re definitely influenced by some of the classic rock music that we grew up on.  It’s similar to Extreme, but it’s apart from Extreme in a sense that it’s not afraid to go in different directions.  It has a spectrum of music on the record.  For the Extreme fanbase, this is more in the strike zone than maybe Tribe of Judah was.  I’m playing with some great musicians, and they all excel.  Mark is his own beast.  He writes great riffs.  If you like that stuff, you will dig this record.  I hope people dig it.

T3M: This is certainly a heavy record compared to your solo work and Tribe of Judah…

GC: At points, I would even say it’s heavier than Extreme.

T3M: But still diverse.  Just War Reprise, with it’s reggae rhythm is a huge surprise on the record, and very cool.

GC: Thanks.  I did an interview a couple days ago with someone from the Netherlands.  He loved the record but didn’t like the reggae thing.  I said “that’s cool.”  Some people will dig it.  For me, it’s something that certainly wasn’t as big an influence as the meat and potatoes of the Zeppelins, the Aerosmiths, and the Queens, but you get introduced to it.  Whether it’s The Rolling Stones doing some reggae, or the Police, then you discover Marley.  And it was like “why not?”  No rules, it’s at the end of the record, people will either find a reason to like the record or find a reason to hate the record.  So, this might be one of them.  I’m glad you dug it.

T3M: Any plans to take Hurtsmile out on the road?

GC: Yes, we’re talking about it right now.  The U.S. release is February 8th.  Right now we’re talking about trying to put together something for Japan and Europe.  It’s much easier to tour the states and we’ll definitely do that.  I don’t know the extent.  Of course, it’s not Extreme and doesn’t have that larger fanbase because it’s a new band.  If we can’t get tour support then we’ll go out alone.  I’m actually looking forward to it.  We’ll make an East Coast run, and depending on tour support, get out to Los Angeles.

T3M: We know plenty of bands slugging it out in clubs these days.

GC: There’s no substitute for that.  Extreme was fortunate enough when we got back together to have a fanbase so we could do something a little bit more elaborate.  But we were all prepared.  When we did the U.S. a couple years ago we played some smaller venues.  It was just like “this is it guys, this is where we started,” and we’ve got no problem doing it.  Hurtsmile’s tour is obviously going to be smaller, but everyone is excited.  I’ll hit as many clubs as I can.   We will play to some Extreme fans, and will turn on some new fans.  I look forward to that, that’s what we do.  You’ll definitely see us in some shit holes with bad lights and bad monitors.

T3M: Looking forward to it.

GC: If you see me pissed off up there because I can’t hear myself, just remind of me of what I said.

Related Articles

• New Hurtsmile Video Premieres Today
• Album Review: Hurtsmile
• Gary Cherone’s Hurtsmile Album Due February 8
• Extreme Announce ‘Take Us Alive’ DVD/CD Release Dates
• The Best of 2011
• Sparks Fly with Hurtsmile in Titletown
• Hurtsmile Concert Photos from Showcase Live

Related Articles

• The Calm Before the Storm: An Interview with Gary Cherone
• Extreme Announce ‘Take Us Alive’ DVD/CD Release Dates
• Ratt and Extreme Team Up For First Summer Tour
• Extreme – Saudades de Rock

In 2008, following a 13-year hiatus, EXTREME returned to the stage for its “Take Us Alive” world tour, which encompassed 75 cities and multiple continents in support of the band’s new record, “Saudades de Rock”.

This recording captures EXTREME at the peak of its game with a renewed enthusiasm led by Gary Cherone’s spellbinding stage performance and powerful vocals, Nuno Bettencourt’s ferocious guitar, Pat Badger’s flawless bass and Kevin Figueiredo’s pounding drums and spot-on back-up vocals.

This brilliant performance was recorded on the last night of their tour at the House of Blues on August 8, 2009 in EXTREME’s hometown of Boston.

“We wanted to do something really special for our hometown fans that were there for us since the beginning… the club days,” states Nuno. “It was the last night of the tour and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than by bringing it back to where it all started… Boston.”

The concert showcases material from all five EXTREME albums and exhibits the band’s broad stylistic abilities. Features include a blistering rendition of the Led Zeppelin-minded “Comfortably Dumb”, the scorching “Play With Me”, the funked-up “Cupid’s Dead” as well as the anthemic “Get The Funk Out”. Songs like EXTREME’s #1 hit “More Than Words” and the Top 5 single “Hole Hearted” highlight the crowds enthusiasm and loyal support their fan base has had for this beloved foursome.

“As much as we enjoy recording, for me, I’ve always loved playing live for the fans,” Cherone says. “We couldn’t wait to get out there and play for our fans.”

The DVD will contain four unreleased bonus videos from “Saudades de Rock” — “King of the Ladies”, “Interface”, “Run” and “Ghost”. The clips were produced by Nuno Bettencourt.

“This DVD/CD is a culmination of all the years we played together and the chemistry the four of us put out live,” explains Bettencourt.

“Take Us Alive” concert track listing:

01. Decadence Dance
02. Comfortably Dumb
03. Rest in Peace
04. It’s a Monster
05. Star
06. Tell me Something I Don’t Know
07. Medley – Kid Ego / Little Girls / Teacher’s Pet
08. Play With Me
09.Midnight Express
10. More Than Words
11. Ghost
12. Cupid’s Dead
13. Take us Alive
14. Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee
15. Get the Funk Out
16. Am I Ever Gonna Change
17. Hole Hearted

Bonus music videos (DVD only)

18. King of the Ladies
19. Interface
20. Run
21. Ghost

Related Articles

• The Calm Before the Storm: An Interview with Gary Cherone
• New Hurtsmile Video Premieres Today
• Album Review: Hurtsmile
• Gary Cherone’s Hurtsmile Album Due February 8
• Extreme Premiere Video For “King of the Ladies”
• Rihanna Taps Nuno Bettencourt For Tour
• Ratt and Extreme Team Up For First Summer Tour

Both bands are excited about the double bill. “Warren DeMartini and Nuno Bettencourt on same stage, same night?? ‘Nuff said, we’ll see you there!” says RATT’s Bobby Blotzer. EXTREME’s Nuno Bettencourt concurs, “One hot summer night. Two bands fully loaded with musicianship. Mix in one part memorable songwriting. Add nine ounces of passionate performers. Throw in three well respected guitarists. Add a touch of West Coast raunch and a hint of East Coast funk. And you get yourself a recipe for one night of unforgettable rock and roll.”

Ratt is currently in the studio recording its first new record in over 10 years with famed producer Elvis Baskette (credits). The band announced its new partnership with Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records earlier this year. The album is planned for release this fall.

EXTREME recently released their first new album in thirteen years Saudades de Rock (pronounced “sow-dodge”) which is a groundbreaking record that reaffirms the beloved, Boston-bred foursome’s stature as innovators in the world of rock & roll.

Over the past two years, RATT has toured the world in support of their releases Tell The World – The Very Best Of Ratt and their first ever DVD, Videos from the Cellar- The Atlantic Years. During this time, the current lineup of Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini, Bobby Blotzer, Robbie Crane and Carlos Cavazo played shows in Australia, Colombia and Peru for the first time in their careers. Their mega-hit “Round and Round” was prominently featured in the Oscar nominated 2008 film The Wrestler, and the band will be headlining ROCKLAHOMA this July.

One of the most popular rock acts of the past 20 years, RATT’s brand of guitar-driven melodic rock helped shape the LA metal scene. The band boasts a deep catalog of hits including smashes like “Round and Round,” “Lay It Down,” “You’re In Love,” “Lack of Communication” and “Wanted Man” which are beloved by fans the world over. The band has gone on to sell millions of albums worldwide. With 1984′s mega-platinum debut Out of the Cellar celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the band is looking forward to starting a new chapter with new music to complement the impressive legacy they have established over two-plus decades.

To date, the Grammy-nominated EXTREME have released five albums, plus a greatest hits set-selling over 10 million records worldwide. They also achieved a #1 hit single, “More Than Words”-from their 1990 multi-platinum album Extreme II: Pornograffitti-on the Billboard Hot 100, which they followed with the Top Five “Hole Hearted.” Although these two acoustic hits brought the band great mainstream success, the band’s trademark sound has always been more a mix of hard rock funk-fueled by guitar virtuoso Nuno Bettencourt’s signature style, Gary Cherone’s resonant vocals and socially conscious lyrics, Pat Badger’s rock solid bass, and the hard hitting Kevin Figueiredo on drums. Extreme has recently been introduced to an entire new generation of fans with the inclusion of their song “Play With Me” in the popular video game Guitar Hero as well as “More Than Words” featured in hit movies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Love Guru.

Tour dates are as follows:

Sun – 7/12/2009 – Amarillo, TX – Midnight Rodeo
Mon – 7/13/2009 – San Antonio,TX – Scout Bar
Tue – 7/14/2009 – Odessa, TX – Dos Amigos
Thu – 7/16/2009 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
Fri – 7/17/2009 – Los Angeles,CA – Wiltern Theater
Sat – 7/18/2009 – Las Vegas, NV – Hard Rock
Sun – 7/19/2009 – Anaheim, CA – Grove
Wed – 7/22/2009 – Denver, CO – Ogdon Theater
Thu – 7/23/2009 – Kansas City – Crossroads
Fri – 7/24/2009 – Chicago – HOB on sale 6/6
Sun – 7/26/2009 – Cheswick, PA – Ches-a-rena
Tue – 7/28/2009 – New York, NY – Nokia Theater
Thu – 7/30/2009 – Westbury, NY – Westbury Theater
Sun – 8/2/2009 – Allentown, PA – Crock Rock Festival
Wed – 8/5/2009 – Springfield, VA – Jaxx***
Thu – 8/6/2009 – Sayerville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Fri – 8/7/2009 – HamptonBch,NH – Hampton Beach Casino

*** Extreme only

Related Articles

• The Calm Before the Storm: An Interview with Gary Cherone
• RATT Premiere New Video
• Free Ratt Fan Appreciation Show On July 29th
• Ratt Back On The Road After Surgery
• Ratt Cancel European Tour Dates
• Ratt to Infest the U.S. All Summer Long
• Extreme Premiere Video For “King of the Ladies”

Released: August 12, 2008
Record Label: Open E Records

Review:

After a thirteen year absence, Extreme is back with their fifth studio album, Saudades de Rock, which picks up right up where Waiting for the Punchline left off, but without being weighted down by too much angst and strife. This time around they’re having fun again.

This is a solid and thoroughly enjoyable rock/metal album with plenty of musical twists and turns that consistently hold one’s attention. Per usual, the guys live up to their name, drawing from style of various extremes like Led Zeppelin, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more.

On the plus side, Bettencourt’s guitar-work is as good as ever. He’s leaving the fastest-solo-ever bullshit behind for bands like Dragonforce, but still whips out the blazing solos when the song calls for it. Kevin Figueiredo is an excellent addition on drums, and amazing to watch live if you ever get the opportunity. Pat Badger sounds as good as ever on bass.

On the down side, Gary Cherone is not as young as he used to be. There are a couple places when he pushes his voice a bit past where it’s able to comfortably go. But, overall it’s balanced out by great performances in other spots, and with what may be his most brilliant vocals ever on the song “Flower Man.” The harmonies are typically solid on this album, though it took me a couple spins to get used to “Star.”

If you’re still skeptical, check out the tracks “Take Us Alive”, “Run”, and “Slide” which rank among some of the best songs they’ve ever recorded. This album has the spirit of Pornograffiti combined with the maturity of Waiting for the Punchline minus the over-ambition of III Side to Every Story. In short, Saudades de Rock is certainly the Extreme album we’ve been waiting thirteen years for.

Track Listing:

1. “Star”
2. “Comfortably Dumb”
3. “Learn To Love”
4. “Take Us Alive”
5. “Run”
6. “Last Hour”
7. “Flower Man”
8. “King Of The Ladies”
9. “Ghost”
10. “Slide”
11. “Interface”
12. “Sunrise”
13. “Peace”
    

Links:

http://www.extreme-band.com
http://www.myspace.com/extreme

Related Articles

• The Calm Before the Storm: An Interview with Gary Cherone
• Extreme Premiere Video For “King of the Ladies”
• Extreme Announce ‘Take Us Alive’ DVD/CD Release Dates
• Ratt and Extreme Team Up For First Summer Tour