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Thread: GW Interview: John Shanks Discusses Producing Van Halen's New Album

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    GW Interview: John Shanks Discusses Producing Van Halen's New Album

    Interview: John Shanks Discusses Producing Van Halen's New Album, 'A Different Kind Of Truth'

    Posted 04/03/2012 at 1:39pm by Alison Richter

    http://www.guitarworld.com/interview...ent-kind-truth



    Award-winning producer/songwriter/guitarist John Shanks clearly recalls the first time he heard Van Halen.

    “I was 12 years old, doing my homework, and I put their first album on,” he says. “All of a sudden, ‘Eruption’ comes on and you’re like, ‘What?’ No one had ever heard that. It freaked us all out. To me, it was Hendrix, Beck, Page, Gilmour and Clapton. That was it — the big five. And of course The Beatles. And then, one day, Van Halen.”

    Growing up in New York City, Shanks would save money from his allowance and part-time job to continually add to his record collection. His diverse tastes — which would later pay off immeasurably when he launched his career as a songwriter and producer — covered a musical spectrum from jazz to folk to rock.

    But, like most youngsters growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Van Halen redefined the way he listened to and played guitar.

    Shanks and his peers “would look at the picture on the cover and think, What is he playing? What guitar is that? I’ve never seen that guitar! It’s got a humbucker, but it looks like a Stratocaster. Well, six months later, everyone’s putting humbuckers in their Strats, and a year later, everyone’s putting Floyd Roses in their Strats and ruining vintage guitars instead of buying Charvels.

    Nobody had heard tapping, nobody had heard a Variac on an amp. Nobody had heard this. All of us, whatever we were doing, it changed everything.”

    Fast-forward a decade and John Shanks was on the road, eventually becoming the guitarist in Melissa Etheridge’s first band in 1988. Working with her lit a fire, and from there he began honing his craft as a songwriter and producer. He worked with Etheridge again on 1995’s Your Little Secret and co-produced 1999’s Breakdown, which received four Grammy nominations.

    Today, Shanks is at the top of the A-list: the go-to talent as a guitar player, songwriter and producer. Spend some time talking with him, and it’s easy to understand why: Music is his passion, his lifeblood and his reason for being.

    His track record speaks for itself. He has produced and/or written 43 No. 1 singles, 119 Top 5 singles, 67 No. 1 albums, 172 Top 10 albums and more than 60 million records sold in the genres of rock, pop and country music. He is also a six-time Grammy nominee, including a win for Producer of the Year in 2005 for his work with Kelly Clarkson on the Top 10 single "Breakaway," Ashlee Simpson's chart-topping debut album Autobiography, which included the Top 5 single "Pieces of Me," and Alanis Morissette's album So-Called Chaos.

    Shanks’ resume is a who’s who of the upper echelon of talent: Keith Urban, Chris Isaak, Celine Dion, Sheryl Crow, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Michelle Branch, Bon Jovi — the list is endless. His most recent accomplishment: producing Van Halen’s A Different Kind Of Truth.

    This month, Shanks begins work on his fifth album with Bon Jovi. A few weeks prior to joining the band in New Jersey for tracking, he called to talk about his recording and songwriting career, as well as his work with Van Halen.

    Clive Davis called you “the father of that guitar-driven kind of pop sound.” Accurate?

    Yeah, I think it is. I’ve always tried to stay humble, yet focused and driven, and I think with certain artists I maybe came up with a sound that led the path to what we hear today. What I still do is an extension of it, but I think I was part of that sound. It sounds egotistical, and I don’t want to come off that way, but that’s a sound that I think I helped create, absolutely.

    What is “that guitar-driven kind of pop sound”?

    We’re talking 1999 or 2000, when pop music had a lot of dance elements. It was “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” that period of music. [Producer] Max Martin is gifted and talented; I respect his records and I think he’s great, but there were no guitars on that record.

    I’ll use Michelle [Branch] as an example. [Shanks produced Branch’s 2001 album, The Spirit Room, and co-wrote four songs, including the first single, “Everywhere.”] I was trying to figure out a way to create something with an acoustic singer/songwriter. We wanted to make it pop, and literally “make it pop.” I was and still am into electronica, so I programmed an Akai MPC 2000 to combine hip-hop beats with old drum-machine sounds mixed with acoustic guitars. Out of that record there came a sound where guitars would come into the chorus.

    I applied the same layering of guitars and dynamics to Kelly Clarkson and other pop girls like Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson. Then Pink kind of took over, and a few years later we have Katy Perry. So did I help create that thing? I guess. Maybe I was lucky and I got there first. I don’t know.

    How did you become involved with the Van Halen album?

    I was working in my room, Studio C, and David Lee Roth was across the hall working on solo stuff. He stays in the studio. He’s always in there doing something. It’s like a boxer — he’s always training. He’s always writing and trying stuff and experimenting. He’s always creating. It’s just staying ready. So he comes in the studio and he’s working on a project. I don’t know what it was specifically. I introduced myself one day and we chatted a bit and became social. He’s very bright and communicative, and we would talk about his dogs, photography, songs, and the current state of pop music.

    I’d met Eddie a couple of times [through a mutual colleague]. I got a call, I’m sure through Dave talking to Eddie, because I think collectively they come up with, “Let’s try this guy,” or “Let’s have a conversation with John.” I know they talked to a couple of other people too. Anyway, Eddie called. I went up to the house and met with Alex, Dave, Eddie and Wolf, and they talked about scheduling and what they wanted to do. Somehow we worked it out so we recorded at Henson.

    Dave felt comfortable at Henson, I certainly knew the room, I think Eddie wanted to try it, and collectively, that’s what we ended up doing. That’s how it started. Eddie wanted to mix it at his house and work on it there [with engineer Ross Hogarth]. I’m sure they worked on it up there a bit more, but they have their process and you respect their process and doing whatever they need to do to get it there.

    What was the tracking schedule?

    Basically 12 to 12, five days a week. We’d work on the music during the day and Dave would come in and sing at night. They were long hours.

    What can you tell us about the gear that was used to make the record?

    Everything Eddie used you can buy at Guitar Center. The guitar he used predominantly on the record is the guitar he’s playing live. He used a Ripley guitar on one song [“Blood and Fire”]. On vocals I used a Neumann 49. Dave really likes that mic from when he was doing his stuff. He’s comfortable with it and felt good about it, and I tried to support anything they felt comfortable with.

    Eddie’s an engineer. He understands the board and the chain and what he likes on his delay and reverb. They’re very knowledgeable and he’s very influential. Eddie is a master of the studio. He understands it. All I can say is that everyone has their process and everyone’s process is different, so I try to be respectful of their process. When you’re dealing with somebody this experienced and this far down the road as far as record-making, they know.

    — Alison Richter
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    Here's more that I saw at the VHND...

    From Examiner.com:

    …Most recently, Shanks produced Van Halen’s A Different Kind Of Truth. As a lifelong fan of their work, he describes the experience as “a privilege.”

    Let’s talk about your work with Van Halen on A Different Kind Of Truth. Were you involved in pre-production?

    They had a lot of the tracks already. I went to Eddie’s house and there was some pre-production, but they were ready. The discipline of the way they play — it’s not like they had to get up to speed in the studio. They’d been working toward this for a while, so the band was smoking! And it was comforting. I walked in and it was, “Let’s go!” Their work ethic is phenomenal on a daily basis. When you think you’ve done this, trust me, they’ve already been up for three hours and rehearsed. They rehearsed every day. They were always practicing and always working. Another thing I’m really happy about with this record is that the lyrics are printed, because the lyrics are deep.

    As a musician, producer and songwriter, can you share some observations about their writing and recording processes?

    I’ll use “Hot For Teacher” as an example of why Dave is great, because until people really get to know the new album, it’s hard to explain his magic. Think about “Hot For Teacher.” You have the big hammer-on intro, then you have the guitar part, then down to the John Lee Hooker kind of guitar part. Now, I’m guessing here that when Eddie came up with that, he probably assumed that’s where the verse would start. Most singers, when they hear that, would have started singing right there. Not Dave. What Dave does is, “What do you think the teacher’s going to look like this year,” and then it goes into another section and he starts the vocal. Again, most writers would have written that as the B section. Dave sees that as the verse. Dave goes over barre lines and looks at things completely originally, more than most songwriters.

    The way I correlate Dave — there’s a similarity almost to the way Stevie Nicks writes. Stevie writes over barre lines and her verses continue over where you think they would go to this section, but they don’t. She’s like a poet. Stevie writes poems, and Dave writes in a very similar way, where he’s going over sections of songs so it’s not cookie-cutter. Analytically, when you break it down as a songwriter, the way Dave writes sometimes is outside the box, or as he says, it’s “off book.” He has these parameters, and he bends and morphs them to accommodate his ideas, not only melodically but lyrically as well. That’s hard to do, especially in a context of the material he’s working off of. It’s more beat poetry or jazz; it’s more that kind of thing. It’s more R&B.

    Dave thinks outside of the box. To see that process was to see what he goes through to create that. He goes through his process trying to find melodies and counterpoints. What I came away with was the brilliance of Dave, which is like the brilliance of Eddie, but in a completely different way, but they complement each other, and then the brilliance of Alex and Wolf. You’ve got to give Wolf credit to walk in there and be the new guy in the band. I’m really proud of Wolf. He’s a badass and he’s a great player. He’s a musicologist and he’s a historian in regards to the band, too, suggesting, “We should play this song,” We should play that song,” “The fans want to hear that.” He’s really amazing. And Alex is an unbelievable drummer.

    There were times when we were tracking when I would watch — Eddie and Wolf play in the control room, so I’m sitting between the two of them, and through the glass we’re all watching Alex. They’re so locked in, there’s synchronicity, and you have Wolf now, so there’s this blood connection. There were definitely a couple of times when they were playing and they’re so in the zone and listening to each other so intensely that you get emotional because it’s so real. It was truly a thing to watch, to be a witness to, and to be part of. I’m grateful for that. And then adding Dave, it’s like the pieces of a puzzle that just fit together.

    Dave is an artist. He’s like any great artist in the sense that when the motor is running and he’s in his zone, it’s pretty wild. He’s not the same person he was on 1984 or on his solo records. He walks in with these journals of writing. He has a plethora of lyrics that he filters down into their essence in order to put them on the song. This record showcases Eddie, Wolf and Alex, but it really showcases Dave in a different way than when he was younger. He’s in a different place in his life, so it’s a collective of what works for the way he sings now and the way he writes now. He’s bringing his life experiences to this. It’s a different time in his life, and his sarcasm and double entendres and wry sense of humor really come across on this record. It did in the past, but [for example] that “1-800 tell me, baby” [“The Trouble With Never”] was an ad-lib in the moment. It’s like an actor doing the same scene over and over, and every time, a great actor will tweak it and take it to the next level. Dave, when he’s in that place, will do that. It was wild to watch. Even in “Tattoo,” there’s that cool little ad lib before the last chorus, and the way he hits it was definitely in the moment and spontaneous. It wasn’t pre-planned. It was someone who’s on his game, present and working off the moment, and boom, that happens. He’s feeling the music. Some of those ad-libs and lyrical hooks he might have in his bag of tricks, but the way he applies them is what makes Dave “Diamond Dave.” It’s wild to see when he’s in his zone.

    When did you hear the finished album for the first time?

    I was in a room and I heard part of it, and then when I got it, I just wanted to listen to it by myself. I still have it in my car and I listen to it every few days because it’s a deep record. Every song — there’s a lot work and a lot of information and it takes a little bit because everyone listens differently, so it takes a minute for it to marinate with people. When it does, you start to understand the richness. It’s like you’re on this little roller coaster ride and you notice things differently the more you listen to it, even for me. I listen to it and I relive it … and some of it, I’m reliving the work!

    When “Tattoo” was released, with the wonderful and very unique black-and-white video, it immediately stirred up a reaction. Many of us absolutely loved it straight out of the box, and others … not so much. Any theories as to why there was such a split response?

    I think the video was intentional. They shot it at the Roxy, they kept it lean and mean, it’s not a big budget at all. I think it was OK for it to be the first single. I think it’s fine. I think “She’s The Woman” is the next single, and that’s even more classic Van Halen and I think it will do really well. But people need to shut the f— up. It is what it is. Relax. It’s fun, it’s playful, it’s got the big backgrounds and everyone needs to not worry so much. Let it be. It’s not as light as some of their other stuff or as heavy. It’s a good calling card, and I think the follow-up is the right choice; from what I understand, it is the follow-up. Everyone should just enjoy the ride a little bit. At some point in your life you’ve got to realize that it’s a time capsule, it is what it is, it’s Van Halen, it got done, it came out, they’re back and that’s it. At the end of the day, it’s Eddie, Dave, Alex and Wolf — and it’s awesome!
    Last edited by Mr Walker; 04-04-2012 at 08:02 AM.
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    Awesome... lots of well deserved Dave compliments!

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    the guy clearly gets it.

    thanks for the posts lads!
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    Killer read........
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    Quote Originally Posted by ashstralia View Post
    the guy clearly gets it.
    Yeah it's always annoyed me the way that the Van Halens always tried to make out that Roth just wrote the lyrics, the vocal melody is the song.

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    I went from being cautiously optimistic about Shanks a couple of years ago to 'Can we book this guy for the sequel?'
    Last edited by DLR Bridge; 04-04-2012 at 10:58 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    Yeah it's always annoyed me the way that the Van Halens always tried to make out that Roth just wrote the lyrics, the vocal melody is the song.
    yep. and a big reason i love the album some love to hate so much (skyscraper) is i've always listened beyond the questionable production, keyboard sounds etc.

    and just appreciated how utterly DAVE it is. the new album certainly contains some of his best work ever, i reckon. stellar stuff.

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    that was really good! Thanks
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Walker View Post
    Everyone should just enjoy the ride a little bit. .....it’s Van Halen, it got done, it came out, they’re back and that’s it.

    Someone forward this to Sam & Mike.
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    This part stood out... reminded me of Jimi Hendrix, who spent most of his musical life in some studio wherever he was when he wasn't performing. Would love to see an inventory of Dave's personal vault accumulated over the last 35 years.

    I was working in my room, Studio C, and David Lee Roth was across the hall working on solo stuff. He stays in the studio. He’s always in there doing something. It’s like a boxer — he’s always training. He’s always writing and trying stuff and experimenting. He’s always creating. It’s just staying ready. So he comes in the studio and he’s working on a project. I don’t know what it was specifically. I introduced myself one day and we chatted a bit and became social. He’s very bright and communicative, and we would talk about his dogs, photography, songs, and the current state of pop music.
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    great stuff .. he defo digs dave .... like the wolf line " he’s a historian in regards to the band, too, suggesting, “We should play this song,” We should play that song,” “The fans want to hear that" ...... think a lot of us read between the lines that wolf had a high regard for the legacy of the band and that kinda backs that up
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    Quote Originally Posted by ashstralia View Post
    yep. and a big reason i love the album some love to hate so much (skyscraper) is i've always listened beyond the questionable production...
    I even like the production...

    It sounds way better than the big fake reverb and fake snare sound of most late 80s records...
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    Thanks for this....great read!
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    Quote Originally Posted by ELVIS View Post
    I even like the production...

    It sounds way better than the big fake reverb and fake snare sound of most late 80s records...
    Yeah, but where was the bass? Vai bragged that he should have been credited with the title, producer and Dave the co-producer. He was a bit too busy trying to apply his Flex-Able techniques to a big production and things got lost.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ELVIS View Post
    I even like the production...

    It sounds way better than the big fake reverb and fake snare sound of most late 80s records...
    Agreed...it's the one complaint I have towards Eat em and Smile and Skyscraper...Bissonette is sadly reduced and lost on these records, IMO...but comes alive with major boom on A little aint enough...ALAE also, IMO was Dave's best sounding solo album and still my favorite to this day...

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    I like the fact that they all went to the same studio in the same day. VH bros in the day, Dave at night. Pretty much like it was in the old days. I am curious though. Do you guys think Dave was ever there while any music was being laid out? Or was either VH there during Daves time?

    I'd like to think in my mind that they were there some times together grooving to the new stuff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DLR Bridge View Post
    Yeah, but where was the bass? Vai bragged that he should have been credited with the title, producer and Dave the co-producer. He was a bit too busy trying to apply his Flex-Able techniques to a big production and things got lost.
    A perfect example is the solo to Damn Good.

    Vai writes out the music for it backwards, reverses the tape and records it and then turns the tape back the right way(you could do all this on your fucking phone in a second nowadays but that's beside the point.)

    Voila you have the original melody but with the echo at the start and the attack at the end of each note but unfortunately it sounds shit.

    This is the point where a good producer says 'Well that was interesting but lets not use it.'

  23. 2 users say thank you to Seshmeister for this KICKASS post:

    DLR Bridge (04-04-2012),katina (04-04-2012)


  24. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Walker View Post

    When “Tattoo” was released, with the wonderful and very unique black-and-white video, it immediately stirred up a reaction. Many of us absolutely loved it straight out of the box, and others … not so much. Any theories as to why there was such a split response?

    I think the video was intentional. They shot it at the Roxy, they kept it lean and mean, it’s not a big budget at all. I think it was OK for it to be the first single. I think it’s fine. I think “She’s The Woman” is the next single, and that’s even more classic Van Halen and I think it will do really well. But people need to shut the f— up. It is what it is. Relax. It’s fun, it’s playful, it’s got the big backgrounds and everyone needs to not worry so much. Let it be. It’s not as light as some of their other stuff or as heavy. It’s a good calling card, and I think the follow-up is the right choice; from what I understand, it is the follow-up. Everyone should just enjoy the ride a little bit. At some point in your life you’ve got to realize that it’s a time capsule, it is what it is, it’s Van Halen, it got done, it came out, they’re back and that’s it. At the end of the day, it’s Eddie, Dave, Alex and Wolf — and it’s awesome!

    But....but.... it doesn't sound like all the other stuff on the radio and iTunes that everyone else is listening to and Dave doesn't have long hair anymore and he's older than 30 so how can it be cool for me to post a 'like' for it on Facebook ?
    Last edited by BenJammin; 04-04-2012 at 05:35 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    A perfect example is the solo to Damn Good.

    Vai writes out the music for it backwards, reverses the tape and records it and then turns the tape back the right way(you could do all this on your fucking phone in a second nowadays but that's beside the point.)

    Voila you have the original melody but with the echo at the start and the attack at the end of each note but unfortunately it sounds shit.

    This is the point where a good producer says 'Well that was interesting but lets not use it.'
    As you said, it´s a perfect example. I wished the producer had not used it.
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    good stuff...this lineup is legendary...including the kid...how could you not think they are one of the all time greats?
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    Quote Originally Posted by chi-town324 View Post
    good stuff...this lineup is legendary...including the kid...how could you not think they are one of the all time greats?
    I agree with you, it´s good stuff , but not for a record, it´s just my point of view.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Carmine View Post
    Agreed...it's the one complaint I have towards Eat em and Smile and Skyscraper...Bissonette is sadly reduced and lost on these records, IMO...but comes alive with major boom on A little aint enough...ALAE also, IMO was Dave's best sounding solo album and still my favorite to this day...
    I'd readily agree that ALAE sounds much better than Skyscraper from a production standpoint.
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    Quote Originally Posted by chi-town324 View Post
    good stuff...this lineup is legendary...including the kid...how could you not think they are one of the all time greats?
    For better understanding:
    I agree with you, it´s good stuff, but not for a David Lee Roth´s record. And yes for a Steve Vai´s record, again it´s just my point of view.

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    Top notch read. Wolf. haha. C'mon people!! How many times in Wolf's past do you think he would have been accosted by some true blue Van Halen fan and told about the good ol days? "Hey kid, your old man is still waking up, I once saw him and Dave... yada yada convert convert....

    If Wolf had any brains and two ears he was sure to discover what I discovered. Ed was sure to remember the old days as "good" and VH was DESTINED to unite once more!
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    A cool read - and nice to see that Shanks 'gets it' with regard to Van Halen - and particularly to Dave. He went out of his way to praise the man, and you have to wonder how often he does that for the artists he works for. I was also on the fence when his name was announced as producer - but I'm on board for a follow-up album as well! Thanks for sharing...
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    It’s more beat poetry or jazz; it’s more that kind of thing. It’s more R&B.
    That is the PERFECT description of Uncle Dave's writing style. Not necessarily "lyrics", more like spoken-word poetry layered on top of the music.
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    Great Read ! Thanks for posting....Loved all the details on our man Roth. !!!!!
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    Awesome read, thanks for posting. (Sesh and Mr W !)
    Its nice to read other people interpretations on what we have always known.
    This stuff is bang on the money.
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