By: Dr Matt Warnock
When people think of Southern rock, the sounds of classic bands such as Lynard Skynard, the Allman Brothers and the Black Crowes are usually the first ones to come to mind. With such a long and storied tradition, the genre has produced some of the most successful, and unfortunately often tragic, legacies in modern rock history. It would seem that any band originating from the South would have a hard time competing against these giants of rock in order to solidify their own voices and make a unique musical statement. One band that is rising to this challenge, and firmly establishing themselves as a band to watch out for, is Death on Two Wheels.
Led by enigmatic front man Trae Vedder, who’s name suggests he was born to be a rock star, the guys in Death on Two Wheels bring a heavier sound to the Southern rock vibe, without crossing the line into the realm of heavy metal. Featuring catchy lyrics, grinding guitar riffs and guitar solos, which has become kind of a dirty word these days, the band’s band self-titled album reveals their own musical identity, while paying subtle homage to the great Southern bands that have come before them.
Death on Two Wheels guitarist and lead singer Trae Vedder recently sat down with Guitar International Magazine to discuss his relationship to Southern rock music, the trials and tribulations of being an Indy band in today’s cultural climate, and the future of a band that’s turning heads every time they take the stage.
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Matt Warnock: The bands name, Death on Two Wheels, has a very original touch to it. Is there a personal story behind the origin of the name, or was it just one of those things you guys came up with out of the blue?
Trae Vedder: My grandfather and his buddies were a typical motorcycle riddin’ kind of crew. He had the nickname death, so they all started calling him death on two wheels, and the band name is an offshoot of that. A lot of the songs on the album have a Southern-Gothic kind of vibe to them, so the band name stems from that as well.
Matt: Does your grandfather play guitar at all? Was he a musical inspiration to you growing up, and did any other family members inspire you to become a musician?
Trae: My grandfather didn’t play but my dad plays guitar and played in bands in high school, the same thing can be said for the other guys in the band as well. Definitely on my mother’s side, we’re from kind of the Deep South, so there were country songs and old hymns being sung around the house. So music was always around in one form or another when I was growing up.
Matt: Growing up around Atlanta you were probably exposed to a lot of Southern rock from bands like the Allman Brothers and Lynard Skynard. When you got together with the guys in Death on Two Wheels was there ever a conscious decision made by the band to use that music as a source for your material, or did that influence just creep into your playing and writing naturally?
Trae: I think it was a natural thing, it just came out in our playing without us having to think about it. We never got together as a band and talked about developing a certain sound, or following a certain tradition, with our music. We just write what we write and let our influences just come out as they do. We definitely get a kick on ’70s rock music, and coming from the South, just geographically speaking, we were exposed to all of that great Southern rock music.
So it does creep into our playing without us having to think about it. We definitely heard all of those bands and I think it had a positive influence on us. We never sat down and decided to be an Allman Brothers style band, or a Black Crowes influenced group, but we’re happy with the way bands like that come through in our songs.
Matt: Sometimes when bands grow up in a certain region, being exposed to a specific genre of music, or they have a famous musician in their family, they have to fight to get out from under those influences in order to develop their own sound. Have you ever found yourself coming up with a riff or verse and thinking, “man, that’s cool, but it sounds too much like so and so.”
Trae: That does happen from time to time. Laughs. But I think when we were doing the album nothing came out that was too over the top. I think our music is heavier than most Southern rock bands would be, but we’re not as heavy as a lot of metal bands. So we sit on the fence with several different genres. Everyone in the band has so many different influences and as long as they come together to form our own thing I’m cool with it.
We have those sounds in our playing, but I’ve never thought that one of our songs was too Allman Brothers, or too Skynard. I can definitely see that happening with bands that come from certain areas, like the South, that have a strong musical tradition. Sometimes it’s hard to get away from that and just do your own thing.
Matt: The album has a sort of jam band quality to it. Not that it would be lumped into that category of music, but the riffs and guitar work have an organic vibe to them. Often sounding like they were the result of you guys jamming things out, rather than sitting down to write specific ideas. How did the writing process work for the new album, was there a lot of jamming and experimentation involved?
Trae: Typically, I might have a skeleton for the overall idea of the song, then we write the lyrics for that song. The skeleton might be something I came up with or something that the whole band has worked out, but the lyrics almost always come after that framework has been worked out. We’ll usually get two or three of the parts down in the skeleton, and then we’ll work the rest of the parts out as a band, before adding the extra vocal parts after that.
There’s always a lot of jamming involved during the writing process, sometimes for three, four or fives hours at a time, just cycling through the material and letting it develop on its own. Then when we got into the studio we wanted to bring that vibe, of a jam or live show, to the record.
Matt: One of the coolest things about the album is your use of layers, both with vocals and with instruments. We’re not talking Queen or anything, but there are definitely arrangements going on and several layers of music at one time. Are you able to translate those layers onto the stage for your live shows, or do you have to make adjustments to the tunes when you bring the record on stage?
Trae: At the live shows it’s a bit more raw, more rabid, but we do use four vocalists, so there is three and four part harmony during the live shows. We do bring those vocal arrangements on stage. We did layer guitars on the album, which may not all come through on stage, but by using good stage presence I think we’re able to build that energy into the set. I think that as long as the vocal arrangements come through than the vibe of songs is intact, and there’s not a lot of difference between the record and the live show.
Matt: One of the things that you guys do, that seems to have fallen out of fashion these days, is feature guitar solos on your record. Do you stretch these sections out during your live show, or do you keep it as close to the record as possible?
Trae: Usually we stay true to what’s on the album, for the most part. Sometimes we’ll stretch out and play some extended solos, but on today’s scene those long solos aren’t really as popular as they used to be. Not that we have to conform to what’s in style at the moment, but we have to be aware of it.
I believe that every track we did on the album runs under four minutes, including solos, and our live show’s sticks pretty closely to that. There are some times when we’ll get off on an organic jam, but we try and keep it in context. A lot of the time those longs jams and solos are more for the band than for the fans, so we try to avoid stretching things too far and losing the audience.
Matt: With Pop music being at the forefront of the music scene these days do you find that it’s hard for a rock band like Death on Two Wheels to compete with that genre of music, or do you find you’re getting more opportunities since you’re going against the Pop music grain with your writing?
Trae: I wouldn’t say we’ve seen any backlash at all, but I don’t think being a rock band has necessarily helped in any specific way. There are some songs on the album that have a bit of a Pop vibe to them, but I don’t really think we worry about it. We just write the way we write and then try and reach the fans with our music.
We’ll play for five people in a bar or five hundred in a theater, as long as we’re getting out there and making music, and people are digging it, it’s cool with us. As far as rock music goes, I think because we have that Southern rock vibe we get some support from the Indy rock community.
It doesn’t matter if a band sounds like rock, or techno, or blues, or whatever, as long as the band has energy on stage and can put on a great show then the fans will keep coming. How the band performs, I think, is even more important than the type of music they choose to play.
Matt: Do you find that getting out and doing a lot of gigs also helps you develop as a band, as well as developing your fan base?
Trae: It’s very, very important for us to get out on stage and play. I don’t think that a band like ours could survive without doing a lot of shows. It’s not possible to get things happening in a rehearsal space. There are some lessons that can only be learned on stage. We love to play, and try to play everyday, and I’d much rather get out on a stage than jam in a practice room.
We’re going to keep getting out there in our van and doing gigs wherever we can find places to play. As long as we can keep gas in the tank, we’ll play for whoever wants to listen. That’s how a band like ours survives, getting out there and growing the fan base one by one.
Matt: You released your first album on your own record label. Did you find it tough to do on your own, or do you find that the rewards mean that much more since you put together the whole project on your own?
Trae: It’s cool, personally and as a band, to know that our ups are our ups and our downs are our downs. If something goes wrong it’s up to us to fix it ourselves. But, from a songwriters standpoint, it’s very nice to have that power as an artist, to form everything ourselves. If the ship sinks it falls on our shores, but that’s a good thing.
Nobody is ever going to care about the artist as much as the artist does, so it’s up to us to go out there and get the word out about the record. Until something else comes up we’ll just keep putting in the work ourselves and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We really enjoy that aspect of the business. We book most of our own gigs, that sort of thing, so we’re really hands on with the workings of the band at this point in our careers.
Matt: Besides being a musician you’ve also worked in the business side of the music industry. Do you find that having that experience has helped you now that you’re out there working with your own band?
Trae: I wouldn’t say that I know how everything works. I’m not sure if a fifty year veteran or a five-month new guy really knows how anything works at this point. It’s kind of a crap shoot and you just throw your dice out there. I’d love to come across as some music-business genius but I’m not. Laughs.
My past experiences have definitely helped out, even if it’s something as small as knowing people in New York or L.A. to stay with when we play there. It also helped get us our management contact, which has been a big help, and if that’s all that comes out of my experience in the industry then I’m happy with that.
Matt: With the album out in stores, and you’re out on the road supporting it, what do you guys have on your plates for the coming months?
Trae: We’re just getting out there and promoting the first record, though we have been writing and just went to Memphis to track a new song. We recorded the first album in late 2008, so I hope by late 2009 that we’ll have enough songs written to go in and record the next CD. We might not get something out before the end of the year, but we’re definitely looking for a new record in the new year. Hopefully sooner than later.
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