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Without the 'roadies', you would never get to see the shows and concerts that you love to rock out to. While you are busy moshing, there is an entire crew of people sweating behind the stage, under the stage, and even sitting right on the stage hidden in the props surrounded by high tech equipment. They make sure you get the optimum sound, the perfect mix of chords and notes. They make the pyrotechnics happen with precision timing. They make sure your favorite guitarist is using just the right instrument. I was lucky enough to catch up with Matt Bruck. He currently runs the studio for Van Halen.
JACKIE: You work with bands, can you describe your exact job?
MATT: That's kind of hard to answer specifically. I guess the job aside from your outline and expected duties is whatever the job at that moment is. What does "your guy" need to be happy? Whatever that is, getting that thing to happen and happen right the first time is your exact job. It could be something stupid to something really complex but at the moment it's happening you treat it with the same priority.
JACKIE: How do you get into a position like that? What work is involved?
MATT: I don't really know how getting involved happens. It just happens. I'm a guitar player first and foremost. I've always been in my own band and lived my life around the guitar. In doing that, you travel the world and it's circles and you hook up with people and you make friends and those travels and experiences lead to new ones and new things, places, people and opportunities. As far as the work involved it's always some type of support role in one way or the other. It varies from band to band.
JACKIE: What bands have you toured with?
MATT: Not a ton, because Van Halen is and always has been my home and my family. #1. Outside of that I've done a lot of short runs and one off's without staying out too long. Ozzy, Soundgarden were a few. I've become pretty good at hunting vintage (gear) for people by request in the last few years like the Offspring and the Chili Peppers. I really dig making records and getting sounds and helping people to get their own sounds so I've done alot of that too. Some of the producers more noteworthy I've worked on records with include Bruce Fairbairn, Glen Ballard, Andy Johns just as a few.
JACKIE: Do you have a band that no matter how much they paid you, you wouldn't tour with them again?
MATT: No thank god. I've always worked for great people that were fair and very cool to me.
JACKIE: What is the hardest part of your job?
MATT: I don't know. There's a lot that seems hard at times but that's usually just momentary. I think from a larger perspective it's probably just the pressures and responsibilities that go with the gig and feeling like it's up to me to get everything I do right and make a good contribution or if I fuck up what kind of disaster might lay ahead for the whole crew, band and audience. Yikes!
JACKIE: Is there a myth or belief about your job that you would like to dispel?
MATT: Not really. Just that, like other people that do sort of what I do , I bust my ass and it's not a cakewalk. Crew's really tend to bust their asses to produce the results that people enjoy.
JACKIE: What kind of training does someone need to become a guitar tech?
MATT: My advice would be to be a guitar player. It's a huge and almost unfair advantage to have over all the guitar tech's out there that aren't players. If you play, you're able to interpret everything about the gig to such a greater depth and detail. You need to be able to consider every need imaginable of the player you work for ahead of time and realize that those needs are your responsibility so that the player is free to perform and be inspired with a great sense of security and confidence that you instill in them by getting it right most of the time. It's a sense that their gear (or rig) is not going to fail 'cause you take care of it.
JACKIE: If someone wanted to become a guitar tech, how would they go about doing that?
MATT: Again, be a player and get as close to recording, rehearsal studios, live gig's and instrument rental and retail outlets. Anywhere there is professional traffic is where you'll have your best shot at an intercept to opportunities.
JACKIE: It seems that a lot of high profile or famous guitar players always seem to have such excessive and vast guitar collections. In our conversations you mentioned to me that all guitars produce an individual sound. Can you tell me about how that works? What creates the different sound? The wood? The length of the neck? The amount of hollow in the guitar? What is it?
MATT: It's all of those things and more. I think the main ingreedient second to the players hands is the wood. There are no two pieces exactly alike because that's just the way of nature. In turn just as no two trees grow identical no two guitars can be identical thus giving each and every guitar it's own unique tonal finger print. On top of that there are several varities of wood that guitars are made from which also have distinct tonal qualities. For instance, Fender Stratocasters are typicaly made from harder denser woods like ash wood than say Gibson Les Pauls which use mahoghany. The denser wood in the Strat will give it more "ping" and brightness in it's sound while the Les Paul will produce a warmer and chunkier tone. After that electronics, length and scale of the neck, the size of frets, the size or gauge of the strings, the type of paint, the tuning will all come together to contribute to the overall sound produced by each instrument. I've always felt that guitars were a lot like people. Some are similar but no two are exactly alike.
JACKIE: You sat me down and had me listen to some music. It was obvious to me that we hear things differently. How do you develop such an ear for sounds?
MATT: Over time your ears develop and I've got a lot of time into it. I've been listening to records and going to rock shows practically my entire life. I've been in bands since I was twelve. Add to that all the work I've done on records, in studios and around tours for so many years. After a while it becomes easy to identify and isolate sounds within the tracks or performances and tune out the stuff I don't want to concentrate on at that moment.
JACKIE: What is it like working that closely to the bands? Do you actually get to hang out with them?
MATT: It's cool. You hang but it's almost always at the gig unless you happen to hook up on a day off in some town. They're just people. They need you as much as you need them to be good at their job. The overall quality is a result of everyone doing the best at their position on the team to give the best performance possible. You hang, you bond to varying degrees...or sometimes not. When you get into the higher ranks of the league and it's big, the job tends to take place in like an intensified and compressed environment. Living and traveling around that high energy, day in and day out almost makes those experiences seem like you lived three years of life in 5 months time.
JACKIE: When you are on the road, do you share a bus with the band? Or do you ride in your own?
MATT: That usually depends on what band it is and what kind of budget they have. It could be anything from a van with everybody and everything in it, to separate crew and band busses or planes. Budget and how big a band is determines a lot.
JACKIE: Do you have a good tour bus story you can tell?
MATT: I have tons, but they're mostly all comedy as opposed to like orgies. I swear, the funniest shit happens on the road. It's real and often not intended which to me makes it all the more funnier. We got like 45 miles away from a gig one night after we were done, and someone was like, "Hey, where's Fitz"? (One of the crew guys) We looked around the bus and couldn't find him because we left the gig without him. By mistake of course. Yeah, we went back to get him. Another time a crew guy who was Swiss with an accent (a great guy too) fell out of his top bunk on the bus in the middle of the night on a hard turn. We all woke up and he's like on the floor goin' "Sheet, God damn!" ,"Sheet God damn!" So from that day on to this very day he got the nickname "Sheet God damn." Classic!
JACKIE: What is the craziest thing a girl has done or offered to you in order to get a backstage pass?
MATT: I swear to god I get asked that question all the time and nobody wants to believe me but as far as I can remember I have never been propositioned like that or if I have and don't remember it's probably because the proposition was coming from some pretty weak places. Y'know what I mean? However, I will say this, I once toured with a crew member that got it like that on a daily basis! Although some if not all of who he got it from were absolutely frightening.
JACKIE: Who gets more action with chicks? The roadies, or the band? I've always personally thought it was the roadies. What's your opinion?
MATT: Again, it's a matter of quality and quantity. If you're talking about sheer numbers I think I'd have to give that one to the crew but when it comes to quality, the bands always win in my book.
Thanks Matt, for taking your time. I've always been fascinated with what goes on behind the scenes, and how people actually get there. Hopefully, this article gives you some insight into another aspect of Rock'n'Roll that most people don't give much thought to. Being a performer, I know that most people think being on the road is one giant party. I can speak for many that do bust their asses, that it is not. If you are dedicated, and willing to work hard, you could land a job on the road with one of your favorite bands.
Love,
Jacklyn Lick
ROCK CONFIDENTIAL
JACKIE: You work with bands, can you describe your exact job?
MATT: That's kind of hard to answer specifically. I guess the job aside from your outline and expected duties is whatever the job at that moment is. What does "your guy" need to be happy? Whatever that is, getting that thing to happen and happen right the first time is your exact job. It could be something stupid to something really complex but at the moment it's happening you treat it with the same priority.
JACKIE: How do you get into a position like that? What work is involved?
MATT: I don't really know how getting involved happens. It just happens. I'm a guitar player first and foremost. I've always been in my own band and lived my life around the guitar. In doing that, you travel the world and it's circles and you hook up with people and you make friends and those travels and experiences lead to new ones and new things, places, people and opportunities. As far as the work involved it's always some type of support role in one way or the other. It varies from band to band.
JACKIE: What bands have you toured with?
MATT: Not a ton, because Van Halen is and always has been my home and my family. #1. Outside of that I've done a lot of short runs and one off's without staying out too long. Ozzy, Soundgarden were a few. I've become pretty good at hunting vintage (gear) for people by request in the last few years like the Offspring and the Chili Peppers. I really dig making records and getting sounds and helping people to get their own sounds so I've done alot of that too. Some of the producers more noteworthy I've worked on records with include Bruce Fairbairn, Glen Ballard, Andy Johns just as a few.
JACKIE: Do you have a band that no matter how much they paid you, you wouldn't tour with them again?
MATT: No thank god. I've always worked for great people that were fair and very cool to me.
JACKIE: What is the hardest part of your job?
MATT: I don't know. There's a lot that seems hard at times but that's usually just momentary. I think from a larger perspective it's probably just the pressures and responsibilities that go with the gig and feeling like it's up to me to get everything I do right and make a good contribution or if I fuck up what kind of disaster might lay ahead for the whole crew, band and audience. Yikes!
JACKIE: Is there a myth or belief about your job that you would like to dispel?
MATT: Not really. Just that, like other people that do sort of what I do , I bust my ass and it's not a cakewalk. Crew's really tend to bust their asses to produce the results that people enjoy.
JACKIE: What kind of training does someone need to become a guitar tech?
MATT: My advice would be to be a guitar player. It's a huge and almost unfair advantage to have over all the guitar tech's out there that aren't players. If you play, you're able to interpret everything about the gig to such a greater depth and detail. You need to be able to consider every need imaginable of the player you work for ahead of time and realize that those needs are your responsibility so that the player is free to perform and be inspired with a great sense of security and confidence that you instill in them by getting it right most of the time. It's a sense that their gear (or rig) is not going to fail 'cause you take care of it.
JACKIE: If someone wanted to become a guitar tech, how would they go about doing that?
MATT: Again, be a player and get as close to recording, rehearsal studios, live gig's and instrument rental and retail outlets. Anywhere there is professional traffic is where you'll have your best shot at an intercept to opportunities.
JACKIE: It seems that a lot of high profile or famous guitar players always seem to have such excessive and vast guitar collections. In our conversations you mentioned to me that all guitars produce an individual sound. Can you tell me about how that works? What creates the different sound? The wood? The length of the neck? The amount of hollow in the guitar? What is it?
MATT: It's all of those things and more. I think the main ingreedient second to the players hands is the wood. There are no two pieces exactly alike because that's just the way of nature. In turn just as no two trees grow identical no two guitars can be identical thus giving each and every guitar it's own unique tonal finger print. On top of that there are several varities of wood that guitars are made from which also have distinct tonal qualities. For instance, Fender Stratocasters are typicaly made from harder denser woods like ash wood than say Gibson Les Pauls which use mahoghany. The denser wood in the Strat will give it more "ping" and brightness in it's sound while the Les Paul will produce a warmer and chunkier tone. After that electronics, length and scale of the neck, the size of frets, the size or gauge of the strings, the type of paint, the tuning will all come together to contribute to the overall sound produced by each instrument. I've always felt that guitars were a lot like people. Some are similar but no two are exactly alike.
JACKIE: You sat me down and had me listen to some music. It was obvious to me that we hear things differently. How do you develop such an ear for sounds?
MATT: Over time your ears develop and I've got a lot of time into it. I've been listening to records and going to rock shows practically my entire life. I've been in bands since I was twelve. Add to that all the work I've done on records, in studios and around tours for so many years. After a while it becomes easy to identify and isolate sounds within the tracks or performances and tune out the stuff I don't want to concentrate on at that moment.
JACKIE: What is it like working that closely to the bands? Do you actually get to hang out with them?
MATT: It's cool. You hang but it's almost always at the gig unless you happen to hook up on a day off in some town. They're just people. They need you as much as you need them to be good at their job. The overall quality is a result of everyone doing the best at their position on the team to give the best performance possible. You hang, you bond to varying degrees...or sometimes not. When you get into the higher ranks of the league and it's big, the job tends to take place in like an intensified and compressed environment. Living and traveling around that high energy, day in and day out almost makes those experiences seem like you lived three years of life in 5 months time.
JACKIE: When you are on the road, do you share a bus with the band? Or do you ride in your own?
MATT: That usually depends on what band it is and what kind of budget they have. It could be anything from a van with everybody and everything in it, to separate crew and band busses or planes. Budget and how big a band is determines a lot.
JACKIE: Do you have a good tour bus story you can tell?
MATT: I have tons, but they're mostly all comedy as opposed to like orgies. I swear, the funniest shit happens on the road. It's real and often not intended which to me makes it all the more funnier. We got like 45 miles away from a gig one night after we were done, and someone was like, "Hey, where's Fitz"? (One of the crew guys) We looked around the bus and couldn't find him because we left the gig without him. By mistake of course. Yeah, we went back to get him. Another time a crew guy who was Swiss with an accent (a great guy too) fell out of his top bunk on the bus in the middle of the night on a hard turn. We all woke up and he's like on the floor goin' "Sheet, God damn!" ,"Sheet God damn!" So from that day on to this very day he got the nickname "Sheet God damn." Classic!
JACKIE: What is the craziest thing a girl has done or offered to you in order to get a backstage pass?
MATT: I swear to god I get asked that question all the time and nobody wants to believe me but as far as I can remember I have never been propositioned like that or if I have and don't remember it's probably because the proposition was coming from some pretty weak places. Y'know what I mean? However, I will say this, I once toured with a crew member that got it like that on a daily basis! Although some if not all of who he got it from were absolutely frightening.
JACKIE: Who gets more action with chicks? The roadies, or the band? I've always personally thought it was the roadies. What's your opinion?
MATT: Again, it's a matter of quality and quantity. If you're talking about sheer numbers I think I'd have to give that one to the crew but when it comes to quality, the bands always win in my book.
Thanks Matt, for taking your time. I've always been fascinated with what goes on behind the scenes, and how people actually get there. Hopefully, this article gives you some insight into another aspect of Rock'n'Roll that most people don't give much thought to. Being a performer, I know that most people think being on the road is one giant party. I can speak for many that do bust their asses, that it is not. If you are dedicated, and willing to work hard, you could land a job on the road with one of your favorite bands.
Love,
Jacklyn Lick
ROCK CONFIDENTIAL
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