Guitar world, August 1998

ROCK STEADY

Though others may succumb to the lure of the mainstream, RANCID remain 
true to their indie principles -and the spirit in the ska.
	When it comes to punk rock, conventional wisdom has long held 
that less is always more. Specifically, the less time spent in the studio 
fretting over production values and overdubs, the better -or more "punk 
rock"- the final product. So when Rancid spent an entire year recording 
their fourth and latest album, 'Life won't wait', punk enthusiasts and 
the band's diehard fans feared it was a sign that the California rockers 
had decided to follow in the mainstream steps of Offspring and Green Day.
	Perhaps it was this very lack of faith that inspired Rancid album 
to date. 'Life won't wait' proves not only that Rancid haven't sacrified 
a morcel of precious street cred, but also that a lenghty and expensive 
studio stay isn't necessarily incompatible with punk rock.
By David Grad.


	Interestingly, many of the album's delay were at least, in part, 
the result of the band's desire to remain true to the punk ethos. "We 
Started working on 'Life won't wait' back in March '97, up at The Site 
in Marin County", says guitarist Lars Frederiksen. "The location of the 
studio was amazing -way out in the woods. But we worked for over a month 
and it just wasn't jelling. We felt out of our element. We realised that 
we needed the chaos of the city in order to be creative. We needed to 
get back into an urban groove, so we said 'fuck this' and split."
	The first stop was Sunset Sound in LA, and from there Rancid 
proceeded to hopscotch around the globe to studios in Jamaica, New York 
and New Orleans in search of that elusive, but all important vibe. During
this period they recorded over 50 songs, which, in time, they narrowed 
to 22.
	"When we'd find the right place, sometimes we'd knock out four 
tracks in a day," continues Frederiksen. "We didn't spend a lot of time 
on sound. It was all about capturing the feel."
	For Rancid, the "feel" is an idiosyncratic mixture of punk, ska 
and reggae. It's a magic blend guitarist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt 
Freeman have been working on since as far back as 1987, as members of 
Operation Ivy, the band which is largely credited with initiating ska's 
third wave.
	"We have always maintained that there is no difference between 
Jamaican music and punk rock," explains Armstrong. "It should all be 
fused together because it's all street-level music, played from the gut 
and from the heart."
	Helping Rancid keep it real on the new album is a star-studded 
list of special guests contributors that includes legendary reggae 
session drummer Sly Dunbar, Specials guitarist Roddy Radiation, Mighty 
Mighty Bosstones vocalist Dicky Barett and punk rockers Roger Miret and 
Howie Pyro of Agnostic Front and D Generation, respectively. 
	Rancid gone mainstream? Hardly. It's safe to say that by the end 
of this summer, even the most sheltered suburban home will not be immune 
to the album's pugent sting, whether it's the stink of squats on New 
York's Avenue C ("Cocktails") or the acrid odor of crack pipes ("Hoover 
Street"). Yes, Rancid may have become studio rats, but they are rats 
with their teeth firmly intact.

	GUITAR WORLD: At 22 songs, 'Life won't wait' is very ambitious. 
Was it your intention to make the quintessential Rancid album?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Not really. I read about Green Day saying they 
made the best record in ten years, and my first thought was, "Man, you've 
got to be careful. There's a thin line between being confident and being 
a megalomaniac."

	GUITAR WORLD: Is it possible they were actually being defensive?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Yeah, they're a sinking ship. I wish them all the 
best, but they're on a major label, which means they have to sell a lot 
of records just to survive, and that's scary. I mean, nobody wants to go 
out like M.C. Hammer.

	GUITAR WORLD: You guys were offered a substancial amount of money 
-close to $2 million- to sign with Epic a few years back, which could 
well have put you in the position that Green Day is in today. Do you ever 
regret not taking it?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Never. We may not have as much money, but we have 
the freedom to do whatever we want. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Tou certainly took advantage of that freedom by 
spending a year making this album. Was over-production a concern?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: You be the judge. Almost 80 percent of this album 
consists of live takes. We would go in, conceive a track, and knock it 
out in a day. It's far from being over-produced. 

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: I don't think there's anything sophisticated 
about this record. The sophistication, if it exists, is an accident. If 
you had been at the recording sessions, you would have been amazed at 
how few takes most songs took. We did most of the guitar tracks in one 
take and the vocals in three. 
	Maybe what you're sensing is that we've improved as musicians, 
and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. We started singing and 
playing guitar better because we just pushed ourselves. There is never 
going to come a day when we'll be perfectly happy with what we are. It's 
like having sex with your old lady -you can't do the missionary position 
for the rest of your life. You have to bring in the whips and chains to 
make it interesting. You always have to be doing something more to keep 
it spicy. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Ska and reggae continue to be an important influence 
on your sound. What is the attraction?

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: The attraction, from the beginning, was its 
intensity. Listening to reggae was almost like hearing religion for the 
first time. Jimmy Cliff's 'the harder they come' [Mango, 1972] was the 
first album that did it for me. It sort of sound gothic, but not in a 
"black makeup and spider web" sense. Rather, it sounds like it was sung 
in a big church in Italy -it is that big and glorious. 'The harder they 
come' makes me feel at ease with the world. 
	But even the new shit that comes out of Jamaica is amazing. They 
are always reinventing their style and their beats, and coming out with 
something hard. They are 20 years ahead of us when it comes to music. 

	TIM ARMSTRONG: The early, Lee Perry-produced Bob Marley albums 
have some of the best music ever recorded. I've been listening to a lot 
of Beenie Man lately, and i love this new kid, Sizzla. 
	But my first exposure to ska wasn't via a Jamaican artist. I was 
initially turned on by the British 2-Tone band, the Specials. The Specials 
are probably still my greatest influence. They were the first band that 
i was aware of that combined fast punk rock with ska and reggae. Their 
guitarists, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, just killed me. Lynval 
is the rythm guy and Roddy is the lead Chuck Berry/Johnny Thunders guy. 
Although Jamaican music is an important part of their sound, i always 
thought of them as being more of a punk band. Their tempos were much 
faster than anything found in most Jamaican music, and that excited me. 
 
	GUITAR WORLD: Speaking of British punks, Rancid is often compared 
to the Clash. How did they influence you?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: That's a really hard question to answer. I have 
a lot of respect for Joe Strummer. We correspond with each other and trade 
tapes. 

	GUITAR WORLD: But you always seem to sidestep mentioning them 
as an influence.

	TIM ARMSTRONG: I think we sound a lot like them and are influenced 
by them. But i also think the Clash were influenced by the same things 
we were. They are just one of those bands we love. They never did the ska 
thing, and they weren't influenced by California hardcore, and those are 
important elements that differentiate us. They never played as fast as 
we do. 

	GUITAR WORLD: You actually recorded some of the new album in 
Kingston, Jamaica. What was that like?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: We wanted to go to Jamaica and find some dancehall 
musicians who we could colaborate with and maybe learn from. We didn't 
know who we were going to work with when we went down there, and we ended 
up hooking up with my favorite, Buju Banton [A Jamaican dancehall DJ, 
Banton was best known for his powerful critiques of the country's socio- 
political system as seen from a ghetto perspective. -GW Ed.]
	Somebody we knew drove us to his house and introduced us. He said 
he had heard of Rancid, but he wasn't too familiar with our material. We 
recorded the song 'Life won't wait' with him at Penthouse Studios, in 
Kingston. We also recorded 'Hoover Street' and 'Cheat', which will appear 
on a Clash tribute album later this summer. Buju loved Lars as a singer 
so they actually recorded a song called 'Jam Down', which is going to be 
on his new record. Lars and i also play guitar on that one.

	GUITAR WORLD: You also recorded at Coyote Studios, in Brooklyn, 
New york, in November and December of last year. Why there? It's a pretty 
obscure studio.

	TIM ARMSTRONG: A bunch of great ska records by the Slackers, the 
Rock Stedy Seven and the Stubborn All-Stars were recorded there. They 
were all recorded live and sound great, so i figured that the room had 
to be good. And it is! It's got a great fucking street vibe.

	GUITAR WORLD: Tim, you were involved in the production of all 
the recent releases on your new label, Hellcat. And Lars, you also have 
produced a number of records, including the last release by The Business. 
Did that make it easier for you to produce your own album?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: I was always the organizer. I have always taken 
that role, and i haven't changed. It was just business as usual.

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: But we had more fun.

	GUITAR WORLD: Much of the new album is about battling substance 
addiction. Tim, as a recovering alcoholic, how much of the material was 
based on personal experience? 
	
	TIM ARMSTRONG: Quite a bit. After Lollapalooza '96, we took a 
six-month break, and i was like, "What am i going to do now?" Because 
since i got sober in August of '91, all i did was the band. We were like 
this non-stop creative crew. Lars, Matt and Brett were my boys, my best 
friends, and then for six months it just stopped. They all went home and 
i felt totally alone. I realized that i didn't have a life, so i just got 
wasted for a week straight. I didn't eat, i didn't sleep, i just drank.
	After the news got out, Matt came to me and said, "You're my best 
friend, i've known you forever. And there will be no fucking band unless 
you get you get your act together. I don't want to do this anymore if 
you're going to be fucked up."
	I don't want to sound too dramatic, but that's a real friend. 
Not to mention that he cut up all my credit cards, so i didn't have any 
money. Both things kind of stopped me. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Was that the inspiration for songs like 'Backslide'? 

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Yeah. 'Who would've thought' and 'Backslide' were 
all written around then. You really get creative after you get sober. 
Your brain starts going at a million miles an hour, and stuff just pours 
out of you. I get the chills thinking about it. About half the record was 
written during that period of time.

	GUITAR WORLD: What does this record prove? 

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: This album proves how good a band we are, 
rather than how accomplished any one individual is. I've definitely 
become more solid, but it's hard for me to look at myself individually 
because the only thing i try to do is be a guy in a band, as opposed to 
a lead singer or a lead guitar player. Vocally, i've become better. I've 
learned to control what i do. I don't have to think about it anymore -i 
can just get up there and do it. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Some readers have complained that Guitar world's 
punk rock stories give short shrift to gear and technique information. 
Some have even speculated that we believe that punk rockers don't give 
a shit about such things, which we know isn't true. So give it up.

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: For guitars, i used my white Les Paul and a 
Tele for leads. There were a couple of others, but i always went back to 
my Les Paul -that's my guitar. I've been playing it for five years and 
i know how to manipulate it to make it sound different. My amp is a 
Marshall 900.

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Let's face it, a Les Paul and a Marshall are always 
going to sound good. And i know that as long as we have the Marshall and 
the Les Paul being played by that guy [points to Lars], with those heavy 
hands, i can just fuck around. [laughs]

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: Yeah, i strum really hard. I have to use heavy 
gauge strings -.011s and .012s. I like to grind it. I can't do it half-
assed. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Are there any other secrets to your strumming 
technique?

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: When i strum, it's like i'm making a hopping 
motion with my wrist. I'm hitting like three downstrokes, coming off and 
then back down to it -it's three strokes, mute, three strokes, mute. 
	But it's not so much the technique as much as it is locking in 
with the snare drum. That's the most important thing to remember as a 
rythm guitarist -you have to play to the snare. A lot of players don't 
do that; they just leave it up to the bass player. But Matt is a pretty 
busy bass player, so i have to take that role and keep it straight. My 
job is to give Matt and Tim the room to go crazy.

	GUITAR WORLD: Tim, what did you play in the studio?

	TIM ARMSTRONG: My main setup was my Gretsch hollowbody through 
a Fender Deluxe. For reggae stuff i used a Les Paul, and on the ska 
stuff i used a Strat through a Boogie. I also ended up buying one of those 
Ibanez "heavy metal" guitars, and i played it through a Rat distortion 
pedal and a Marshall. It had that really round tone. 
	I don't have any playing tips. A lot of it is just a matter of 
vibe and going with it. My adrenaline is pumping and it just comes out. 
I don't think about it too much.

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: When he goes crazy, it's an amzing thing to 
watch. 

	TIM ARMSTRONG: Lars is right -i just get out there sometimes. For 
example, on the lead to 'Coppers and Punx', i'm trying to imitate a steel 
drum. Originally, i wanted to get a real steel drum, but when i played 
the part for Lars on my guitar, he said, "Dude, fuck the steel drum." 
It's always that kind of thing -some crazy ideas. 

	GUITAR WORLD: Finally, people are always predicting the death of 
punk rock. Is the patient still healthy?

	LARS FREDERIKSEN: It depends how you look at it -is the glass 
half empty or half full? To me, it's still amazing that a punk band can 
have a Gold album. It took the Sex Pistols 20 years to go Gold!

	TIM ARMSTRONG: There are always going to be new kids who live in
squats or play in garages, which means punk rock will always be around. 
As long as America is the way it is, punk is never going to die. Kids are 
always going to be through shit, and will be using guitars, as vehicles 
to express how fucked up they feel.