Le nouvel album à un son plus lourd et aggressif que "Crush", et il semble avoir un feeling destiné à la scène.

TT: Je pense qu'il s'agit de la façon dont notre studio est disposé. Il y a plusieurs overdubs. Mais je me colle aux autres instruments, même si ils sont enregistrés séparéments, sauf pour la basse. Peut être que le sentiment de live vient de là. A partir de là c'est du gâteau. Tout le monde s'est habitué à utiliser la grande salle, qui est d'habitude réservée à la batterie. C'est fantastique.

Certaines de ces chansons sont-elles des chutes de "Crush" ?

TT: Non. Nous n'utilisons jamais rien des anciens albums. Pour cui-ci nous avons fait environ une trentaine de démos.

Quand tu écoutes les chansons pour la première fois, généralement, sous quelle forme sont-elles ?

TT: La plupart du temps c'est seulement Richie et Jon avec des guitares accoustiques sur un petit enregistreur. A ce stade il n'y a encore ni paroles ni mélodie.

Y a-t-il une rythmique ou une idée de ce que la batterie sera dessus ?

TT: Non, rien. C'est un canevas, et je commence à y ajouter des sons. Nous faisons ça pendant le processus de démo. A partir de là c'est un processus d'élimination pour obtenir celles qui resteront sur l'album. On fait environ une dizaine de chansons en même temps. Richie et Jon les amènent, et on prend une semaine ou deux pour les écouter une à une et les amener aussi loin que l'on peut. Ensuite ils repartent écrire d'autres titres. On passe à travers ce processus deuxou trois fois. Ensuite, parmis ce groupe d'une trentaine de morceaux, les meilleures apparaissent d'elles même.

Ensuite on en enregistre environ 17 ou 18. Le plus gros du boulot à déjà été fait pendant les sessions démos et en post-production, donc à partir de là nous n'avons plus qu'à ajouter ce que nous voulons.

Est-ce que le ryhtme peut parfois dominé la direction que va prendre la chanson ?

TT: C'est comme pour tout, toutes les pièces doivent coller ensemble. On essaye les chansons de toutes les manières, rapides, lentes, etc... Et explorons vraiment toutes les possibilités. Le mot "non" n'existe pas dans le studio. Nous essayons un million de choses jusqu'à ce que le morceau sonne comme il faut. Ce qui est génial car ça nous donne à tous une chance de creuser, fouiller, explorer. Il y a peut-être une ou deux chansons pour lesquelles la rythmique est évidente.

Sur le nouveau single, j'aime la façon dont vous changez le rythme, car on pense que la ligne rythmique va rester la même mais vous la "cassez" sur le refrain puis encore sur le solo de Richie.

TT: Oui, c'est quelque chose que nous ne faisons pas souvent mais c'est sympa de le balancer de temps en temps.

Vous auriez pu utiliser la 16ème note dans le hi-hat, mais la séquence donne déjà l'impression que vous le faites. Ca rend vraiment bien sur les quarters, ça donne un son bien plus lourd.

TT: C'est ce qui nous caractérise, autrement ce pourrait être n'importe qui.

It would almost sound like a disco song then.

TT: Yeah, could be. It’s just putting the flavor in, incorporating what’s happening today. One thing we try to do is keep current with the electronics and everything, but still retain our sound.

The new record doesn’t sound as loop-oriented as the last one, though.

TT: Our co-producer, Luke Ebbin, came in again after a four-or five-year break. He’s a young guy, hip to computers, so he naturally leaned in that direction for Crush. Whatever loops he would come up with I’d record and make a new loop out of that. That’s kind of nice, because you’re using the technology to enhance your music, instead of creating around it. Thank God we’ve never gone in the direction where it demands it. I wouldn’t have minded a couple of more loops in there this time, though.

Do you miss stretching on a song, maybe showing off a little bit ?

TT: I think you’ll see that at a live show. That’s one of the best things about seeing a band live: You get to see other directions. So it kind of gives you something else to listen for. Plus, these guys are strong songwriters. I believe in that too. I play for the song instead of trying to be a drummer’s drummer. Rather, I try to be one of the musicians on the song.

Any new drummers that you like to listen to ?

TT: Oh yeah, but nobody I can name. [laughs] I’m so bad at remembering bands and names. But I like what I’m hearing. It seems to me that we’ve gone back about thirty years in some of the sounds. The drums are really loud now and a little thrashier. Guys are playing more and using more intricate rhythms than radio has ever allowed. On some of the new stuff I go, "Jeez, I played this stuff thirty years ago," but nobody would give it a second listen. Now it’s about a whole different vibe--but I do like what’s out there.

How is your art coming ?

TT: It’s good. I haven’t gotten to paint much this year, but I’ve got some shows coming up, so it’s progressing.

You also have a line of baby clothes ?

TT: It’s cool stuff for kids. It’s called Rock Star Baby, because I believe every baby is a star--and they need to look like one too. [laughs] I got tired of seeing pink and blue. But it’s been going good. We are working on ways to get global.

What are you doing to physically prepare for the upcoming tour ?

TT: I’m starting to work out and get my wind up, because we’re on stage for about three hours sometimes. Because we keep recording new material we always end up playing more. We’ve rehearsed more now than we have in years, which is good. It kind of gets you greased up. When you spend six hours behind the kit, you start working those muscles. Then I’ll sit down and woodshed for a week.

What would that consist of ?

TT: I’ll get on a little Gretsch jazz kit that I got off Norman Connors in the ’70s, playing stuff that I would never play in Bon Jovi. Then I start sitting in with a few people around town to loosen up muscles I wouldn’t use in the music I normally play. That stretches me and makes it easier to call on stuff whenever I need it.

What kit did you use to record the new record ?

TT: It’s a Pearl MasterWorks. Man, does that kit sound good. The MasterWorks series can be anything--different types of wood, different numbers of plies. I think it’s fantastic having those options.

I’ve also got an aluminum Signature snare drum that just came out. It’s warm but it’s got that metal ring to it. It’s the best of both worlds. I usually use a spectrum of snare drums, from Radio Kings to Black Beauties. But you know what? I had them all lined up ready to go, and this thing beat them all. It’s my first signature drum, so it makes me proud to put my name on something that really works. And what better test is there than to use it on a record and say, "This is it." I’m also using it live.

Was the kit recorded out in the open ?

TT: Yeah, it’s a very large room. Obie O’Brien designed and built the room, and he’s a drummer from way back, so he made it for the drumset. For me, Sanctuary is as good as any studio. Plus, it has windows. [laughs] Seeing the progression of the day--rather than not knowing what’s going on outside--I can tell you, is very liberating. I don’t know who invented the "no window" thing in the studio, probably guys like Hendrix who used to start at 2:00 in the morning. In the ’60s and ’70s the studio was as dark as you could get it.

What are some of your favorite songs to play live ?

TT: I like "Wanted Dead Or Alive." It’s got a lot of emotion to it. Then we’ve got the trashier songs like "Hey God," which is a lot of fun to play. "Keep The Faith" is always fun. And I like our power ballads because, you know, I get to do my little signature riffs.

Did any songs on the new album give you a hard time ?

TT: Not on this one. "Say It Isn’t So," from the last record, did.

I remember you telling me you tried it a couple different ways.

TT: We tried a million different things. Then we took a break and I came back and started playing this other rhythm, and it all went like, "Yeah…." But I can tell you that the easiest track on this new record was "Bounce." That was a one-taker. Luke put the tape on and then Hugh and I went crazy. I remember "Wanted Dead Or Alive" was also one take.

How many takes is too many takes ?

TT: There’s never too many takes. [laughs] But I’ve never gone more than five or six. A lot of bands will write in the studio. We don’t do that.

That could get expensive.

TT: Yeah. That’s one good thing about having your own studio. But I can’t see us doing that. And there’s been a few times in the past where we’ve done a song so many times that it lost its feeling. I prefer to get it done early. Usually the first two takes are going to be the magnet. After that I start over-thinking the song. In that case you should leave it and come back to it another time. But that’s very rare for us.

The last time we spoke you were saying you would love to do a solo record, with some crazy sounds like kitchen appliances. Any closer to that ?

TT: I haven’t gotten there in my life yet. With the painting and having the baby-clothes business, I keep myself so damn busy. And you know what? I’m still learning, I’m still soaking in a lot of stuff. So I think when it’s time, I’ll be musically and mentally mature enough to attack it the way I want to. I’m not saying I couldn’t do it now, but I think it’s going to come so much easier when it’s time. And there will be a time and place for that, maybe when I’m not touring and doing records, when it’s my time.

How do you stay motivated after twenty years ?

TT: I think it’s because we still enjoy what we do. I’ve been playing drums for thirty-five years. I love doing it. We love doing it as a band, and if we didn’t we wouldn’t do it. I can honestly tell you that. When we finished the record, we all liked it. We all liked the last record too. We just try to make ourselves happy. We’ve been very lucky that we still have an audience. And since the last record, we have a whole new audience, from twelve-year-olds on up.

Did the success of Crush surprise you ?

TT: Yes. For any band that’s been around for a while, it’s like winning the lottery when you can appeal to a whole new generation. We were very surprised. It’s wonderful because it’s like we’re back where we were twenty years ago, except that now we’ve got all this knowledge under our belts. Everybody thought we were going to die before that last record came out. There are people always looking for you to stumble and choke. But the smartest thing we ever did was just do what we do--not be disco when it’s disco, not be grunge when it’s grunge, because we’re not.

This new record seems to be on its way to being just as successful.

TT: Thank you. The vibe is good. People who listen to it seem to really like it. I’d say there are four or five hits on it--though who knows what a hit is any more? But the first video is cool. We did it in New Mexico where they have twenty-seven satellites--huge things worth billions of dollars, which the government put there, listening and waiting for ET or something. The concept is that our music gets telegraphed through these satellites all over the universe. They did a wonderful job filming. They could have used blue screens and all that, but everything is real. There’s some incredible footage. The only problem is the video is too short.

Tell us about that storm on the last day of the shoot.

TT: The last day we shot it was like…God came to this one. There was thunder and lightening all around us. We were right in the center of it. It wasn’t on us but around us, and they kept filming. When it finally hit, it was like 60-mph winds. It looked so good, it looks fake. But you couldn’t make this up in Hollywood. It was stupendous. And if the video had turned out like garbage, at least we would have had a good time. [laughs] But it truly is a good one.

What did this video cost ?

TT: Definitely in the millions--but it was worth every dime.

Any advice for drummers on entering the music business ?

TT: If you don’t keep track of what you’re doing, you’re going to get in trouble. There’s no secret to that.

                                                                                                   © Billy Amendola - 2002