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Interview with John Macaluso
May 2007 - By Joe Florez
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To some, drummer John Macaluso may sound like a
familiar name in the music community. He was in Ark, Yngwie, TNT, and
then some. To others, he may sound like the new kid on the block who
is hired to be on anyone’s disc as long as its metal. What most people
may not know is that he has been drumming since the mid 80’s. He has
played from glam rock to metal and progressive. After being on
everyone else’s records and touring forever, it was time to do his own
thing on his terms. Lion Music has opted to take on the project John
Macaluso and Union Radio-”The Radio Waves Goodbye.” Just because it’s
on the Lion label, don’t expect a full blown out prog metal record.
This is very experimental that incorporates jazz, ambience, techno,
trip hop and more. The songs on here are full of rich dynamics and
depth that one listen isn’t enough. There is a lot going on here and
you will, rest assured, miss stuff the first time around. I should
know because I did, but will go back over and over again. Bet on it!
If you think you can think outside the box, then this is for you. This
is so unlike anything going on in the music scene currently. There are
some musicians on here that make it on the record and details will be
spared as you read on. But for now, John explains the title of the
project and everything that is going on in his life currently. Just in
case you would like to see him live and do the tricks that he does on
record, you can catch him playing drums for Chris Caffery on the Doro
tour. Click on his website for more details.
The name of your band Union Radio sounds odd. What is the meaning
behind this?
Union Radio is taken from a book I read when I was working with Ark on
the third album. I was in Southern France and found a book at an
outdoor market, it was the only book in English. The book was on the
Spanish Revolution. The Union Radio was the rebel radio station that
you would tune into to find out info on the war and info on how and
who to sabotage. I thought the name sounded electro enough for my
sound and also the word union was what I had put together, a union of
musicians from all around the world; France, Canada, Brazil, Italy,
Ukraine, Russia, U.S.A. and Switzerland.
I automatically assumed that just because you
are on the Lion Music label that this would be a prog metal feast.
Once I began to listen to this, I found out that this isn’t a metal
record really. It’s jazz, fusion, ambient and trip hop-ish if you
will. How did you come about designing the record?
I have made metal records my whole life and am a metalhead at heart.
Because I have done so many metal records and guitar heavy records I
needed to do something different. I had a plan to use more keyboard
and piano than guitar. I wanted to make it Pink Floyd like but 4 times
the speed. I wanted to use the guitar in a David Gilmore way, very
tasty. So, I blended the Floyd sound and the fast drumming and came up
with Union Radio. I also blended some techno and drum and bass feels
mixed with double bass drumming, this was an interesting mix and I
think really worked on tunes like “Mother Illusion.”
The Radio Waves Goodbye took 18 months to
record. Why such a long process?
It took so long because I refused to just get it done for the sake of
being on time. Lasse at Lion was very cool and I told him it’s taking
a long time because I had to travel to different countries to record
some of the musicians. I wanted for example, Marco Sfogli. I went to
Naples, Italy to record him and then I traveled to France to record
Dimuti and so on. This obviously took a lot of money and time to do. I
wanted to make a RECORD, not just a record, if you know what I mean.
In the end it came out just like I wanted it to. I was only really
satisfied with the recording of a few records in my career, production
wise and playing wise, and sound wise and Ark “Burn The Sun” was one
of them. “The Radio Waves Goodbye” has topped it, I am totally happy
with the result. As you can tell, I am pretty picky because I have
recorded over 200 released records.
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One thing that struck me odd is that you
traveled all around the world to record this. Why not just send midi
files through the computer or Fed Ex?
Because I had to write the songs with the musicians and make sure it
was the right vibe going down on tape. Some packages were sent like to
James LaBrie. I sang the song “Soul In Your Mind” on CD and sent the
files to Canada, where James did an amazing job on the track and
shipped it back. Some songs had to be me and the musicians one on one,
on the spot.
You have performed in numerous bands throughout
the years and have made many friends which leads to you having some of
them on this record. Was it always a consideration from the beginning
to have guests on here?
Yes, I knew from the beginning it would be Mike DiMeo, James LaBrie,
Marco Sfogli, Vitalij Kuprij and Dimuti. They are all some |
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my favorites in the business and I wrote the parts with them in mind. I
knew whatever it took, these guys would perform on the album. I had
song titles in my head and song vibes and arrangements. I recorded the
drums first and then went to each of these guys and worked on the
music individually. In the end it was a ton of work but it worked!
Let’s start with James LaBrie from Dream Theater.
His voice is subtle and the music on here is perhaps the heaviest on
the whole disc. What amazes me is that the drumming sounds more
programmed than organic because it’s so fast, but it’s you doing it.
Does playing fast like on the track “Soul In Your Mind” come naturally
or do you have to work on it consistently?
You get it, that’s great. Yeah, I wanted to do the music spacey and
heavy with a fast techno feel and make the vocals very Floyd like and
I think I achieved it. Playing fast comes pretty easy to me because I
have worked on technique since I started playing drums 28 years ago.
But on some of these tracks, I had to really play extremely precise
and right on the click to achieve the sound I was going for. I do it
by using a technique I call “Auto Pilot”. This is where I shut off the
brain and let the body work and it helps the drumming sound fluid and
precise and keeps the natural feel, where you can tell it’s all real
drumming.
“Mother Illusion” has Mike DiMeo from Masterplan
on vocals. The composition is filled with outer space like ambience
with more of your complex and progressive drumming. Are you into
ambient music at all?
Yeah, I listen to some ambient stuff because I play very intensely, so
to relax I listen to some drum and bass, Floyd, Jeff Beck, RadioHead,
etc. I don’t think of the drums on this music and it is a break for me
to have that. I can’t always listen to the music I play, I would be
more of a nut than I already am!
The record is filled with different types of
influences because on “Dissolved” it has a jazz feeling and is rather
laidback. What has influenced you in making your debut record?
Drumming wise, my drum hero Terry Bozzio. I form my style from
blending Bozzio’s precision and technique and the madness and flash of
Keith Moon. I wanted to do my style of drumming but not just a drum
album, I wanted to have songs. The music style is very influenced by
Pink Floyd “Animals” and “Wish You Were Here”. Also, I put the vibe of
some heavy electro bands like Ministry as you mentioned in the review.
Also, there are some Zeppelin influences naturally. They were very
dark at times and creepy. I am really influenced and into the darker
side of music, so they really helped with vibe on my record. The album
“Presence” is a huge influence on my life.
Also making the cut on your disc is keyboardist
God Vitalij Kuprij, bass monster Randy Coven, guitar maniac Alex Masi
and Savatage’s own Chris Caffery. When you hired these individuals,
did you have music already written for them or were they allowed to do
their own thing if they felt it?
The arrangements were written and the lyrics also. I got together with
them one on one and would discuss the vibe and I would sing a riff or
part and they would take it out and run with it. I wanted them all to
play like themselves, but I took them all out of their element in a
way, putting them on tracks they usually would not have chosen if they
had to choose. I think this was healthy tension and worked really
well. They all played their asses off on the record, all of them
stepped up and gave 110%. Crazy band of freaks I have here, I love em’.
You have a drum solo on “Pretzel.” Was this
specifically created for this or was this lifted from something in the
past?
No this is all in the studio, the girl is Randy Coven’s girlfriend
Suzy and is perfect for this track. I wanted to do a drum solo but I
had to rip on soloing a little bit, so I did. I went mad on the solo
and made it over the top and had to make a joke out of it because
that’s usually what I do. Sometimes it’s hard to take the music
business serious. I am very proud of “Pretzel”.
I didn’t realize how long you have been in the
business. It goes back to the glam/hair metal period of 1986 with
artists like Spread Eagle. What was it like being in that band?
Well, I was a studio musician on “Open To The Public”. I was in TNT at
the time so I couldn’t join the band. We did some shows though and I
love these guys, they are some of my great friends. Ray West is the
funniest MF in the world. We just did a reunion tour last year and had
an amazing time, I don’t think I laughed that hard in years. From that
tour I met Chris Caffery, who I am on tour with now. He Rocks!
I was a fan of Powermad, but didn’t know who you
were back in 1990. The video and song for “Nice Dreams” was wicked
with the catchy riffs and your progressive drum style blended with pop
and metal. You only recorded one record and then split. What happened?
Powermad was a cool band. It’s a funny story, I was called to come to
The Record Plant in New York City to record on a band from Minnesota’s
album, they were on Warner Bros. Records. I remember they came to my
basement and watched me play and would say, “Let me hear some whaling”
double bass” and I would just play extremely fast thirty second notes
on the kicks. They said you got the gig. So I went to the studio and
didn’t know but they had a drummer and he was in the studio with us.
It was really awkward, he was in the band but the producer wanted a
drummer who played tighter so they called me. The whole time in the
studio he was there telling me to play this fill and hit that cymbal,
it was a real pain in the ass. After a couple of days, the producer
would say, why don’t you go get something to eat and he would leave
and we would work on the tracks. I love that record. Months later they
called me to go on tour. We toured for almost a year straight. We also
did the soundtrack and were in the David Lynch movie “Wild At Heart”
with Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, a fucking amazing experience! |
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You wrote the soundtrack for Wild At Heart. How
did that occur? You also starred in the movie as well. How did you
score that gig?
David Lynch got a copy of “Absolute Power” and loved the song
“Slaughter House”. He actually wrote us into the film script after the
movie was almost finished. That is the way he works, on the spot
things could change he improves. We were shooting the scene in L.A. at
the Palomino Club and there was a fire down the road, so he stopped
everything and wheeled the cameras down to where the building was
burning and filmed it. Throughout the “Wild At Heart” movie you will
see scenes of that fire. It’s a big influence to see because proof, it
ain’t over, till it’s over.
I believe that you really started to make a name
for yourself with Jorn Lande by forming Ark which was a prog metal
band with classic rock vocals. You said that you were going to create
a band that you meaning the band cared about first and foremost as
opposed to what the fans and critics wanted. The end result was
nothing short of classic and having cult status. What led to this
decision?
Me and Tore had just left our bands Riot and he left Conception. We
were itching to stretch out and make music that was not all 4/4 and
heavy straight sounding. I wanted to do something freaky and prog. But
with classic rock elements, such as vocals. We said who said I can’t
put double bass drumming under flamenco guitars, I can with Ark. It
was a no rules band. Another key was to do a prog. Band with the vibe
of AC/DC and not so high vocals. I wanted a more raw prog. Sound. I
knew from Norway when I played in TNT, we recorded the music first and
then Jorn came in later and sang beautifully and to this day it’s some
of my favorite music ever, especially “Burn The Sun”.
You have worked with Alex Masi, TNT, Riot and
countless others. Did you enjoy your work on each release for the most
part?
Alex is one of my best friends in the world and we still put out
records together, we have a new MCM Live record coming out soon, I
love him. He is one of my oldest friends. We have been hanging and
playing since 1986. TNT, this was a strange time, I am great friends
with these guys also and have a band with Tony Harnell called
Starbreaker which I am very proud of the record we did a couple of
years ago. The TNT experience was different. I was very restricted in
this band and never got to really play my style at all. I am really
unhappy with the sound and playing on these records. Riot was cool and
I got to befriend and play with my buddy Mike DiMeo, who is on my solo
record. He is the coolest and we had some great times on tour through
out the world.
You recorded two records with Yngwie which were
“Alchemy” and “War To End All Wars.” What was that experience like? I
have heard from people like John West who was supposed to be on one of
his records dropped out after a few days because he was too much to
take.
Yngwie is an incredible guitarist and the 2 hours on stage are magical
but the 22 other hours can be experiences you only see in movies. We
had some crazy times on the road, being kicked out of some places and
done some crazy shit together. It was hard to deal with sometimes, but
in the end it was memorable and I have stories only old sailors would
have. John West and I have just recorded a new album and it came out
amazing. We are going to be gigging in August, John Rocks!!! He is one
of the best there is, really!
I heard a rumor that you, Randy and Jorn bailed
on Yngwie during one of his tours due to not being paid properly. True
or false? If so, what happened if you can get into details.
It’s a crazy story, it was more than money, a lot more. I left because
I got Jorn into the whole situation and I couldn’t let him go through
it alone, so I split with him. In the end, we all ended up touring
with Ark, me Jorn, Randy and Mats.
It seems like you were a hired gun both for
studio work and touring duties for a long time. What made you decide
it was time to do your own record?
I just had a lot of ideas and wanted to get them out. I still continue
to play on records and tour, but I am going to put the band together
for this album and tour and do shows and clinics.
You also teach drums back home in New York. Care
to talk about where you teach and how potential drummers can be taught
by you if they wish?
Yeah, I teach privately in New York and I teach all ages and levels of
student as long as they take it seriously. I love teaching and I am
very into drum and music education. If anyone is interested in
drumming and would like to study email me at
johnnymacdrums@aol.com
In Europe and in North America you will be
drumming for Chris Caffery’s band and be tour support for Doro. This
is going to be a great show.
Yeah, all the people on this tour are all great friends, Doro, Johnny
Dee and Nick Douglas. We are going to have a blast. Playing with Chris
is a great time. He kicks ass every night and is a totally cool guy, a
good friend. Come on down and check us out.
Any final words for the fans out there?
Thanks for listening and I hope you dig my new record. Stay in touch,
I love to be in contact with the people who come to the shows and
listen to the records.
Thanks Joe, you’re the best!!!
John Mac.
www.lionmusic.com
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www.johnmacaluso.com |
www.myspace.com/johnmacaluso1
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