De virtuoze gitarist Paul Gilbert zal begin juni 2021 zijn nieuwe studio soloalbum ‘Werewolves Of Portland’ uitbrengen via The Players Club (Steve Lukather, Robby Krieger, Michael Landau, Tommy Emmanuel). Om dit te vieren heeft Paul Gilbert ook een met de hand getekende video gemaakt voor eerste nieuwe track ‘Argument About Pie’.
Nu Paul zijn 16e solo-studioalbum klaar heeft, bewijst hij aan iedereen dat hij verbazingwekkend genoeg de lat blijft verleggen. Toen de internationale lockdown de wereld op pauze zette, besloot Gilbert om in plaats van te wachten, alle instrumenten op het album zelf in te spelen. “It took me about six months to think of it, but it finally occurred to me that I could play all the instruments myself. I’ve always loved playing drums, and I can play bass and keyboards well enough to get the job done,” vertelt hij.
Over de eerste track die hij uitbrengt van zijn nieuwe album vertelt hij, “Most of my titles come from the lyrics that I write in order to get a melody going. I’ve even printed the lyrics in the liner notes of the album, so you can ‘read along’ as you listen to the music. “‘Argument About Pie’ is one of my favourites. This lyric came from my pre-lockdown experiences of stopping by my local pie shop for a slice of strawberry rhubarb. Amidst all the brewing angst in Portland, the pie shop was a place where everyone was happy and at peace. Eating pie seemed to be something that everyone could agree on. Since my mind has the habit of searching for contrasts, I started to wonder what people might be against eating pie.”
Als het op schrijven aankomt, onthult Gilbert dat het verrassend genoeg niet de gitaar is die de aanzet geeft. “Mostly, I write by singing. I use the lyrics to give myself a structure where I can hang the notes. Once the melody is long enough to have some life in it, my musical instincts can take over. I can often finish the song without needing more words. But if I get stuck, lyrics will always get me going again. My guitar can hit the high notes! It’s amazing to have the physical limitations of my voice… gone! The challenge is to be expressive, with all the slides, vibrato, dynamics, and tones that a voice has. I’m constantly learning vocal melodies on guitar, so I get used to playing with the kind of expression that singers have. ”
Het album is opgenomen in Opal Studio in Portland met co-producer en engineer Kevin Hahn, en Gilbert gebruikte een aantal van zijn favoriete gitaren. “I mostly used my Ibanez Fireman guitars, I’ve been collecting vintage Ibanez guitars lately, too. I brought some models from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s like the Ibanez Artist, Roadstar II and Ghostrider. I also brought and modified a ’60s Epiphone Olympic. I used to play those in the early days of Racer X, so it was fun to have a guitar that reminded me of my early shredder style.”
De inspiratie voor de album titel komt van het Warren Zevon nummer, ‘Werewolves Of London’. “I live in Portland and thought it would be funny to substitute the name of my much lesser-known city. My original idea for the ‘Werewolves’ was just the guys in my band and me. When we play music, it is our version of ‘howling at the moon’. Unfortunately, Portland has become more ‘known’ in the last year for events that are pretty sad to watch. And ‘Werewolves’ could take on other meanings that I certainly hadn’t anticipated. But the title, to me, still has a musical meaning.”
Gilbert is een power-house. Van zijn tijd in shredmetalband Racer X tot het helpen oprichten van Mr. Big. In zijn solocarrière bracht hij 15 veelgeprezen albums uit en werd hij gevraagd als gast-artiest op albums van uiteenlopende namen als Todd Rundgren, Bowling For Soup, Glenn Hughes en MC Lars. Hij toerde ook met Joe Satriani en John Petrucci in 2007 (G3) en twee jaar later met Richie Kotzen en George Lynch (Guitar Generation). Om nog maar te zwijgen van een lange aanstelling als veelgevraagd docent en instructeur. Dit begon toen hij nog een tiener was en in 1985 werd aangenomen door het prestigieuze Guitar Institute Of Technology (GIT) in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t become a musician to shout my ideas, complaints, or philosophies at anyone. I love music because of the music. So I love my method of using my inner rants as scaffolding to build melodies. This scaffolding can then be pulled away to unveil some pure emotional music. This works perfectly for me and hopefully for my listeners. “I need to be able to visualize the look and sound of my fretboard well enough to play accurately in my mind. It’s almost like real air guitar! Then when I actually go to play the music, I’ve got a good chance of having my melodic intentions come true. And that’s about the best feeling in the world.”
‘Werewolves Of Portland’ is verkrijgbaar vanaf 4 juni 2021.