Noise Bazaar: Let's start with a basic thumbnail sketch of how Devilhead came to be.
Brian Wood: Me and my brother (Kevin) just got together jamming and recorded a demo some of which made it on to the album. Songs like "Devilhead", "Too Much Protection", "Down On the cow" and a couple of others, were from that very first session. We just recorded, 'cause we were kinda bored with our own bands. We just wanted to do that "brother thing".
NB: And then recruited others.
BW: Yeah we recruited a drummer who's still with us and a bass player who isn't.
NB: When I got hold of the dis, I knew there was a video coming for "We Like You", so I skipped ahead to the track first, and I thought, "this is a cool Lemmy-type thing happening here"....
BW: Yeah the demo for that ... was totally Lemmy. It's just that the beat was kind of lame. But the vocals were ... well, I just loved Lemmy. Like I idolized him. It still sounds like Lemmy, but not as much. It's a little happier. I like it when people notice that.
NB: It seems that track, and "Don't Make Me" have that Motorhead quality, to 'em.
BW: Exactly. It was from the same session, different days. And basically the same mood, I guess.
NB: What struck me as I listened to the disc from top to bottom, is that after the first three tracks, much of the rest of the album is understated. Quite a bit quieter sound.
BW: Yeah, it is.
NB: What do you think more accurately reflect the nature of the band at this point?
BW: I think we've gotten more "epic". You know the song "Troubled Moon"?
NB: Yeah...
BW: Epic on that scale but with riffs in it. But then again, we'll do a more "easylistening" type sound. We haven't gone totally rock, or totally easy, but then we're not done with the album yet (a second album) but I'd have to say the new one will be a little harder.
NB: There seems to be a lot of different influences and styles on this disc, and it struck me that with your vocals, rather than singing, you seem to take on a different persona.
BW: Yeah, I think you're right. I've been doing a lot of interviews and kind of figuring out what we're doing. And I think you're right, because the way we do it, I'll just get in front of the mic, and try to be like that song. I'll pretty much just make it up on the spot. If I come up with something that reallysticks in my head, then we'll stop for the next chorus and I'll repeat what I just said, although it then seems to lose a little bit. That's what I did for "Cup Of Tea". But a lot of times I'll improvise through the whole song. So not singing a song, I'm being the song. I just hope the words come out. That's the biggest thing I worry about, because I could speak in tongues if I felt like it. You know what I mean?
NB: Yeah. Because your voice has many different qualities and it's like listening to different people from track to track.
BW: That's how I think of it. It's still that way, on the new album.
NB: Does that transfer to the stage as well?
BW: Not as much. On stage, I think it's more musical. Sometimes it's not.
NB: Do you improvise onstage?
BW: I usually do. If it comes, that's fun. When you catch onto it, it's like a different path you find and it's kind of like speaking again. It's cool and that's what makes music fun for me. But it's kind of hit and miss.
NB: The biography said that your bandmates won't let you pick up an instrument...
BW: Well, they changed!
NB: They did?
BW: Yeah, 'cause I was getting really pissed about it. I really was. To the point where I felt like I couldn't sing anymore to the music, until I got to play with it. Just being able to play with it, allows me to understand it better.
NB: So it wasn't a joke, it was a point of contention?
BW: Yeah, it really was. But now, I'm not singing any more at practice. All I do is play guitar and talk shop with the guitar guys.
NB: On the track "Funeral March" you play all the instruments. Was that the bands appeasement to you?
BW: Actually I recorded that about a year before we did our first demo. We always liked it and when we got signed we put it on the original demo. So it was always going to be on the album.
NB: That song was playing the other night, and when it got to the verse that goes, "You can't even drive your car, without love", my son looks at the stereo and says, "No, you can't drive your car without gas." Care to set him straight?
BW: (laughing) He's right.
NB: By the way, you're soon to be a father, right?
BW: Yeah.
NB: Congratulations.
BW: Thanks. Yeah, with the same lady that I wrote that song about. I met her, and she moved away for about a year, and she came back. And I played her that song, and we got married.
NB: Speaking of family, you're in the band with your older brother. Did you guys ever sit down and have a serious talk about whether you could be bandmates and avoid brotherly warfare?
BW: No, we never did. We just deal with it. We get along pretty good. We just have different priorities. He just imagines himself a "big stage" kind of player. Arena rock... the "guitar player" and I imagine myself the songwriter in the studio, making up new albums. That's all I want to do, is put out videos and albums and have something to look back on. What he wants to do is tour, and be a star and play his guitar. That's the only thing we differ on. Otherwise we respect each other a lot.
NB: I do't know what your brother looks like, but in the video does he turn to the camera and flash a real "Eddie Van Halen" grin?
BW: Yeah, (laughing) totally!
NB: So you're a studio rat?
BW: Definitely. I'm not really great in the studio, but I love it. I'd really like to make that my livelihood. I really get along good with the engineers, usually, because I'm interested. I just did some recording with Hater for the new album and we're using these 1950's tube mics and they sounded so awesome, I couldn't believe it. And they were so ugly. But it was amazing.
NB: Do you get involved in that whole arguement about modern recording technology vs. the old asthetic?
BW: The way everyone's leaning out here now, is no effects and use tube mics and use tube everything and only natural reverb, and no gating on the drums. Real barebones type recording. But I'm not totally with that. I just want to do what I think sounds best. I love the editing process that you're able to do now with the digital computer. It's fucking great, man. 'Cause you can get through a song, and fuck up on all of the choruses except one and just cut the song together, and it sounds awesome.
NB: Speaking of the whole recording process...don't take this personally...but why are bands still infatuated with hiding tracks on CD's? The novelty's kind of worn off. I mean, we know you can do it.
BW: (laughing) I don't know why. It was a spur of the moment idea. During that time, I had just spent some time in New York with my wife and we weren't getting along and I just wanted to hide that song 'cause I knew it was a big fucking insult to her, and it was a disgusting tune. I felt like it was a fitting end to the album, because we weren't living together at the time and I didn't know what was going to happen. I wanted to hide it at the end, because the last couple of days we spent in New York that song kept going through her mind and we weren't getting along, at all. It was a personal thing. King of roasting her, in a way.
NB: It seems like half the discs we get in here have a hidden track. Like, "oh God, another one"...
BW: Actually, it wasn't my idea. So maybe it is part of a trend, because our engineer suggested it and I said let's put that one in there.
NB: To be honest the only reason I found it is because I didn't get up from the computer to change discs, and then it scared the shit outta me.
BW: Yeah, that's what the engineer was saying: people will be going to sleep, doze off, and then the CD player will come out with this song and it'll scare 'em. And I thought that's a pretty good idea.
NB: You mentioned video a while back, and I'm wondering as to your opinion of music video.
BW: I like videos. Maybe MTV's a little corny, all-in-all, but I think you can do a helluva lot with 'em. Not that our video is all that great, but I think it's a real good way to get people to see your band without playing live.
NB: Did you get involved with the concept and storyboard for "We Like You"?
BW: We kind of wish we had, because we didn't and it was supposed to be us in this room, with a bunch of little kids and these sick clowns scaring the kids and these total babes. The way it turned out, you can't tell what the clowns or kids or babes are, 'cause there's no babe shots and you can't tell what's going on.
NB: The clowns and their balloons, was rather phallic, unless I've watched too many music videos... which leads into a question about "Devilhead", both the song and the name of the band. You wnat to explain a bit?
BW: It's kind of a coincidence. A lot of people think different things about the name, but it's really innocent. There was this devil, gargoyle thing at the studio and my brother looked at it and said, we should call the band Devilhead. And that stuck in my mind and that was the first song recorded, so I kept repeating that one word and made up this story around it. Cause at the time I felt stuck in a place I didn't want to be, because I didn't really want to be recording with my brother. Like some family ties type of thing. But looking back it was a good thing to do.
NB: Guess I went off the deep end with it. So we'll let that lie there. You mentioned family, and the bio talks about the band and you're being longtime friends, as a "small town thing". What is it about your town that makes it so musically fertile?
BW: I really don't know. I always think of it as a big coincidence. I've known a lot of those people forever, and none of them thought they were going to be big. They never dreamed of it.
NB: You mentioned Hater earlier. Is that project still active?
BW: Yeah, thank God. I went down to the bar the other night, and was talking to Ben (Shepherd) about my new car and getting a little drunk 'cause he's buying me a couple of beers and he invited me down to the studio and that was great, 'cause I thought that I was out of the whole thing. So I went in and recorded a song and he loved it and I had a great time.
NB: You're recording for Stone Gossard's Loosegroove label. Is there some sort of concept behind the label that you guys fit into in some way?
BW: It's an "artist's label", that's what he calls it...where you get to do whatever you want. A "loose groove", and Devilhead is on of the loosest bands ever.
NB: Good luck to you guys and thanks.
BW: Thanks for having me.
****Note: I am unsure of the name of the interviewer here. I was fortunate enough to speak to him on the phone for about 10 minutes when I called to inquire about getting a copy of this edition of THE NOISEPAPER. How do I know it was the same guy? When I mentioned Devilhead and wanting a copy of the interview, he said that Brian was really cool to talk to...