Warner Hodges
Interview - Part
One
............................
– October 19, 2002, Nashville, Tennessee
Copyright 2002 - James Benkard
On October 19, 2002, Jason and the
Scorchers and Disciples of Loud guitarist Warner Hodges sat down to
talk with James Benkard and Chris Rafferty. Three hours, several cups
of coffee, a DAT
and a half, and a plate of cookies later, we had finished one hell of
an interview. In this exclusive
talk, Hodges answered questions that were put to him by his many fans.
We solicited the
Reckless Country Soup mailing list for questions, and people from all
over the world responded
with inquiries for Warner. We covered a lot of ground, including his
buddingsolo project, the
history of the Scorchers, details on his own guitar style and gear,
his passion for football and sports, and tips on power tools and construction.
It was an unforgettable night with one of the greatest guitarists alive.
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James:
All right, here are some salutations and thanks. I suppose you’ve
heard them already, but…
Warner: You’re on page one here?
Or have you guys got way more than I’ve got here? Looks that way.
This first couple of pages is people just saying, “yay, yay, yay.”
James:
Yeah! Well, since you’ve read – well, I’ll read some
of them off.
Mike Bawolski: “I’m really glad that I got into
your music, and I’d like to thank you and all the Scorchers for
the great albums and shows you’ve done over the years!”
Tony Fryars: “I would like to wish Warner E. Hodges
all the best for his future, and thank him for constantly amazing and
entertaining me with his fretwork.”
“World Famous” Wayne says “yeeeeehaaaaaw!”
Bill Copeland says, “I would like to see a New York
concert soon!”
Todd Askew: “I’ve met him a million times but my wife
and I spoke with him and his wife at the North Carolina shows in March,
we named out youngest boy Warner, he might remember.”
Warner: I actually do remember talking
to him.
James:
KK, on the internet: “Warner, I was fortunate to see a Jason and
the Scorchers show in the late eighties at the infamous Rat in Boston
- the amazing spectacle I’ve ever seen in a dank dark cellar. A
show I’ll never forget. Thanks for the special music.”
Warner: That was a fun show.
James:You
remember that?
Warner: Yeah. The only reason I remember
this: the back of the stage, they had those airport runway lights, facing
out from behind the drums. And when they cut those sum-bitches on, I
don’t know how Perry didn’t die, because he was right up against
them. It would go from a cold, Boston wintery thing to just on-fire-hot.
And whoever ran lights – every song or two, they’d have to
hit those things for five or six seconds. I guess just to make sure
you knew it was hot. It was a fun little place, actually.
James:That’s
great. Kelly Adey has a question about how you react to your “acclaim,”
I guess: “I’d like to know how he feels about the fact that
it’s brought so much pleasure to so many people, that for them
conversely it’s a hell of a big thing, and something to admire.”
Warner: I think that’s the only
reason we still do it, is because of the fans out there that still want
to hear it. That, theoretically, is the reason you play, I guess. You
want to throw some music out there that people might enjoy. And in the
Scorchers, with the limited success we’ve had, the only thing you
can really get out of it is playing in front of folks, and them having
a damn good time. That’s the only reason to do it. The Scorchers
– it’s a small group of fans out there, but boy, they’re
serious fans, and you don’t want to let them down when you play
for them. (long pause.)
Sometimes, I think it’s more important to them than it is even
to us, if that makes any sense. I don’t mean that badly. That’s
not belittling the Scorchers, but the fans – I mean, hell, you’re
at the shows. Now, when we play shows, it doesn’t matter where
we go, there’s a hundred, hundred-fifty people that ain’t
from there, that flew there to see the damned band. And you’ve
got to try to step up to the plate and deliver. It makes you feel good
about it.
James:
It doesn’t put too much pressure on you, do you think?
Warner: Big-time.
James:
It does?
Warner: Constantly, yeah.
James:
It does put pressure.
Warner: Because everybody expects you
to walk on water that night.
James: Despite the fact that you haven’t
played for six months, or whatever?
Warner: Yeah, yeah. But – conversely,
the other side of that is: theoretically, every time you go out, you’re
planning on having the best show you’ve ever had. That’s the
mindset you’re in. It doesn’t work that way, that’s not
the reality of it. But you do approach it as if ‘tonight I’m
going to be the best I’ve ever been.’ I’ve got to be.
That is the pressure side of it. I’ve got to be, because invariably
three people tell you that the show in ’83, or ’84, or whatever,
changed their lives. And you’re sitting there, going, ‘oh,
great. I get to follow that.’
But that is the mindset that I try to take to it. Now, it’s very
unrealistic – every night isn’t going to be the greatest night.
Hell, the best night I’ve had in years was this party thing we
were talking about [note: private gig, Houston, Texas, July 2002.].
Don’t ask me. Weirdest night to have it, but I had the best time
playing I’ve had in years that night. And I don’t know why,
but it was wonderful. I guess it was just because I’d set my mind
to it the right way, or whatever. I don’t know if any of that is
making any sense.
I mean, obviously, every time you go out to play, it’s going to
be the best show you’ve ever done, in your head. Some nights, it
just doesn’t pan out that way.
James:
Chris, you want to pick up with the sports?
Chris: We had some sports questions.
Warner: Let’s go to the sports.
Chris: Mike Bawolski from Los Angeles: “Warner,
I seem to recall reading that you are a big fan of Alabama Crimson Tide
football. I was curious how you came to be a fan of the Tide when you
live in Tennessee, where I assume most people are Volunteer fans.”
Warner: Most people in Tennessee are
Vol fans. But my Dad was a Bear Bryant fan, which meant you were a Crimson
Tide fan. I’m with him, and I’m going to piss everybody in
the state of Tennessee off by saying when they get to double digits,
we can talk about it. They’ve won one, we’ve got twelve. I
don’t even want to hear it.
Chris: We had somebody from Sweden, also,
had a question along those lines.
Warner: I remember this guy, too.
Chris:
Jan Falk: “What´s your outlook on Alabama´s football
season, and who do you think will be number one when the season is over?”
Warner: Alabama’s season this year,
and next year, ain’t going to be very good. (laughs.) We’re
on probation, we got caught with our hand in the cookie jar. But we’ll
be back.
And this year…it looks like Miami is going to win it. I ain’t
happy about that, but it looks at this point like they got the best
team in the nation. I’m hoping the Bulldogs pull it off. I don’t
think they will. It’s too hard to get through the SEC without losing
a game. Maybe Oklahoma. But right now, Miami is the team to beat, plain
up and simple. Florida State had them beat last week and didn’t
pull it off. Wide left. You guys football fans at all? Are y’all
college football fans?
James:
Don’t know a thing about it, really. I’m a baseball fan.
Warner: Well, Miami has beaten Florida
State by one point seven straight times off of a missed field goal.
James:
Seven straight times?
Warner: Florida State should have won,
and hasn’t, because they have missed the game-winning field goal
seven straight times in a one-point game.
James:
Seven consecutive years? That’s impossible. What are the odds of
that?
Warner: And four of them were for national
championships. This one basically would have been for a national championship.
It would have cost Miami the championship. I don’t think Florida
State could have won, because they’ve got another loss this year.
But it looks like, at this point, Miami’s the big dog. They’ve
won twenty-eight straight games. Somebody’s got to knock them off.
The only people that look like they could do it is Oklahoma, and I don’t
know if they’ll get through the Big Twelve. Sorry, I’m really
into the college football thing. (laughs.)
James: From Al Chambers – well, we’ve
pretty much talked about some of this –
Warner: No, let’s do the Al Chambers
one, because - yes! Yes.
James: “Which teams does he respect? Would
he ever like to road-trip to a Husker game in Lincoln?”
Warner:Yes, Al, I would love to go to
a Huskers game in Lincoln, Nebraska. I’m not a huge Cornhusker
fan, but they have been for the last twenty years basically the best
ballclub in the Midwest. They’re a great team. This year isn’t
doing real well for them; they lost again today.
But, yes. Anybody that’s a football fan would love to go to a Huskers
game. They’re one of the best teams in the country every year.
Sorry, I’m pretty fired up about that one, too. (laughter.)
James: I’m sure he’ll be fired up
about the response.
Warner: Lincoln, Nebraska – I mean,
we loved playing Lincoln, Nebraska. We used to play out there all the
time. And the one thing them boys do – they’ve got Cornhusker
football, and that’s all they’ve got out there, you know.
That is a big deal out there. It’s a serious football program.
I’ll be real interested – their coach will probably get fired
this year. He’s lost three games. That’s more games than they’ve
lost in the last three years, so…
Chris: We’ve got one from Jeff Baker
of Murfreesboro: “SEC football stuff...is there a real strong teem
in the SEC this year? Every time I think a team has something going
they fall apart...witness Tennessee versus Florida, or Florida versus
Kentucky.”
Warner: That’s the prob- I love
SEC football – to me, it’s the best conference in the nation.
The problem with SEC football is: there are four or five teams that
can whip your butt every week. What ends up happening with most of the
SEC guys is, especially since they’ve started – they have
an SEC championship game, too – they beat up on each other so bad,
when it comes to the national championship, everybody’s got a loss
or two.
This year, Georgia’s looking good. They ain’t lost a game.
They might get through it. But they still got to play that SEC game
– the championship game. If they do go undefeated, they’re
going to have to play somebody, and beat them twice. That just doesn’t
happen in the SEC.
But, we’re hoping. Maybe Georgia can do it. Tide doesn’t get
to do it. Florida – Lord knows what’s going on with them this
year. UT isn’t going to do it. So, hopefully it’ll be Georgia.
I hope that’s a good answer. I don’t know. I’m hoping
it’s Georgia. I pull for any SEC team against anybody, so…I’m
a hick, I love Southern football. (laughter.)
James: Okay, from Jeff Baker in Murfreesboro:
“Will Vanderbilt ever be able to build a winning football program
or has the addition of the Predators and Titans totally cut their fan
base and put the program on ice now?”
Warner: That’s a touchy subject.
I don’t think Vanderbilt will be able to have a winning program
in the SEC unless they’re willing to cheat. The requirements for
going to school there – they won’t lower their standards to
get kids in. Which is a great thing - it keeps the academic side of
the university where it should be. Well, hell – what was it, two
weeks ago, they released the graduation rates on the student bodies.
The only student body – the only school in the SEC that graduates
all their athletes is Vanderbilt. Tennessee graduates five percent of
their athletes.
I guess that’s a positive thing, but I don’t think Vanderbilt’s
football program – they can do it in basketball; they can do it
in baseball, they can compete in the SEC. But they can’t do it
in football, because they just can’t get the quality football players
into the school from an academic standpoint. If they do get a kid in
there - Vanderbilt’s junior and senior year, they got to have an
even heavier class load. If they do get a kid in by the skin of his
teeth, by his junior year, he can’t qualify anyway.
So, no, I don’t think they will. I wish they could; Vanderbilt’s
a great university. To me, it’s sad – I mean, I wish; I wouldn’t
mind them beating my team. They could go on and beat Alabama. Maybe
a couple of quality wins would help them out. But I don’t think
they’ll ever be able to compete in the SEC. I don’t understand
it – Stanford can do it in the PAC-10. Northwestern can do it in
the – what is it, the Big Twelve? Eleven? Big Ten? There’s
eleven of them now, I guess. But…I don’t know why Vanderbilt
can’t compete. It seems like they would be able to win three or
four ballgames a year. Every blue moon, win seven. But they’ve
got twenty years of losing. This year it looks like they’re going
to be 0 and 11. It doesn’t look like they’re going to win
a game this year.
And it’s sad. It’s not good for the kids, it’s not good
for the school. But, like I said, they released everybody’s graduation
rates, and Vanderbilt’s graduating their athletes. Nobody else
is, so maybe that says something good about the school.
James: “Is it time to trade Eddie George”
– talking about the Titans here – “or do you just spend
a few more draft picks on offensive linemen next year?”
Warner: I’m not an Eddie George
fan. I wasn’t an Eddie George fan when he was actually playing
well. Come out of that Big Ten ball…boring football. The Titans
are boring as hell. I mean, even when they were winning, they were boring
as hell.
I don’t like pro football. There’s no enthusiasm to pro football.
Since Joe Montana retired, there’s no reason to watch pro football.
I’m sorry…Yeah, it ain’t Eddie George’s fault, they’ve
run him to death. They’ve used him up. I don’t know if an
offensive line is going to help him that much. But it’s just some
of the most boring football to watch I’ve ever seen in my life.
I guess it’s why I like college ball. In college ball, it’s
still – even the big schools, you’ve got a couple of kids
that stand a chance as pros. Most of those kids are playing because
they dig playing football. There’s still an enthusiasm level there,
but a quality product that, to me, you don’t have in pro football.
Pro football, it’s all business. And I understand that the athletes
have to protect themselves. The average career in pro football is less
than four years. But…it’s just boring football to me. It’s
a horrible thing to say.
I like the thing - ”Is there a guitar player’s equivalent
injury to turf toe?” (laughs.) I have no idea. Anything with your
hands! If you’ve got hand problems, yeah, I guess so. I’ve
never had ‘turf toe.’ But I do know – there’s been
some great athletes that supposedly have turf toe that are reduced to
marginally poor athletes when they try playing with that injury, so
it must be a pretty serious injury.
James: I’ll bet. Why don’t we skip
on to talk radio. Chris?
Chris: Sure. Well, I was wondering if you
were a baseball fan.
Warner: A little bit. Not big. My problem
with pro baseball is there are so many damned games. You can’t
really keep up with it – I can’t – I can’t find
the time to keep up with a hundred and sixty-two games. That’s
a lot of games. And I guess I never was a big baseball fan. I’m
more of a football guy. I kind of had it with the baseball dudes the
last time they went on strike. When I watched Tom Glavine crying about
- at that point, he was getting three, four million dollars a year pitching
a baseball, and his whole response was – he was talking like he
was a Kentucky coal miner trying to get fifty cent an hour more. It
was just like, ‘Dude, I don’t think blue-collar guys are going
to get behind you on this. I’m sorry if the owners are treating
you a little rough, or whatever, but you are basically getting three
or four million dollars – ten years ago – to throw a baseball,
man. To have a good time.’
I-I don’t know. I get excited, I’m watching - I watch at the
end of the year. The Yankees ain’t in it, which is kind of bad.
The Yankees are my team. You hate the Yankees? Everybody loves ‘em
or hates ‘em, man. It’s one or the other.
Chris: I’m fascinated by the franchise.
Warner: By the Yankees? Steinbrenner
will buy him a team. He’ll get him a team. What was the thing this
year they were talking about…if they actually had the luxury tax
now, the Twins’ payroll was less than the Yankees’ luxury
tax would be. This year. One thing about George Steinbrenner –
he will go get him some ballplayers. And I bet you there’ll be
a few shakeups this year.
But I’m not a huge baseball fan. I am watching – who’s
going to win? You got the Angels, you got the Giants. Who’s going
to win. Barry Bonds finally gets to try to become a sports nice guy.
Who’s going to win?
Chris: I stopped caring after the Indians
kind of got beat up this year.
Warner: Are you an Indians fan?
Chris: That’s where I’m from.
Warner: You still got to kind of watch,
though? I mean, if you’re into it. You don’t just give up
on the whole sport because your team’s through. I mean, I know
you ain’t going to watch with the same interest – I totally
understand that.
Chris: Right, yeah.
Warner: But, I mean – college football,
high school football, I’ll watch Ball Tech play. Hell, I stop over
here and watch the little boys play football sometimes. If you’re
into the game, you’re into the game.
You’ve got to have an idea if somebody’s going to win.
Chris: I’d like to see the Angels pull
it off.
Warner: I think the Angels might do
it.
Chris: Even though they did drop the Yankees.
Left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Warner: The Angels are looking good.
What did they say this morning on Sportscenter – they’ve got
the best postseason batting average heading into the World Series in
history. As a team, they are batting .326 or something through the playoffs.
Which is pretty good.
But - Barry Bonds, this is interesting. Barry Bonds now, he can go from
Mister Asshole to - if he plays it right, he can actually become a sports
hero. He’s arguably – you can argue about him being the best
baseball player of all time. The guy has had basically two seasons that
– best two statistical seasons in history. Last year and this year.
His slugging percentage this year is .799 for the year. I mean, that’s
nuts.
But it’s going to be interesting. I think Barry Bonds is going
to collapse, myself. But we’ll see. That’s enough about baseball?
James: Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of questions.
Warner: That’s cool.
Chris: We have a talk radio question. What
are your favorite talk radio programs and hosts.
Warner: Liddy! G. Gordon Liddy. Do you
guys ever listen to Liddy? Liddy’s hilarious. He’s actually
kind of frightening sometimes. I find it kind of funny that the guy
that went to jail for not talking has a talk radio program. And he’s
very entertaining, but I actually heard him one day – it was quite
disturbing. I heard him for about fifteen minutes tell – a lady
wanted a weapon to protect herself. And he was explaining to her, because
she didn’t want a gun, he was explaining to her how she could go
buy one of those Rambo knives, I guess. And he spent about fifteen minutes
in very graphic detail explaining to her how she could kill somebody
with this knife.
And I’m thinking to myself: ‘he’s got six to eight million
listeners, listening to this mess.’ For fifteen minutes. It wasn’t
just ‘well, buy a knife. And next.’ He went into this whole
deal about where you got to put the knife for it to be a kill, and all
this stuff. And it just went on and on.
Liddy, I listen to Liddy a lot. There’s a local guy – Dave
Ramsey. He’s got a show named “The Money Game” that’s
basically about personal finance, and all that kind of stuff. His big
deal is, he’s just giving you advice that your grandma did, he’s
just got his teeth in. And I listen to George Plaster, a local radio
show, that’s actually a really good sports radio show at four o’clock
every day.
Used to listen to Rush Limbaugh, but I had to give up on Rush. Rush’ll
change his mind in a heartbeat just to start some s**t. Go from one
opinion to the other, and I don’t really dig that. I found Rush
years ago, when I lived in LA, and I was actually pretty into him at
first. But after listening to him for a while – at least with Liddy,
he’s wacko, but you know he’s wacko.
James: We’re going to ask you some questions
about construction now.
Warner: Oh, I’m sure you all are
really into that, aren’t you?
James: Well, “World-Famous” Wayne
-
Warner: Yeah, of course, World-Famous
Wayne.
James: - would like to know “What power
tools do you prefer, overall (Porter-Cable, DeWalt, Makita, Ryobi)?”
Or others.
Warner: I own a gob of DeWalt stuff,
and a lot of Porter-Cable stuff. I’m not much of a Ryobi guy. I
wouldn’t give you ten dollars for every Makita tool ever made.
James: And Wayne also asks, “What manufacturer/model
trim and frame hammers do you prefer?”
Warner: (chuckling.) Trim and framing
hammers. Sinco. Sinco. I’ve got – we’ve got Stanley,
Sinco, and Porter-Cable stuff. The Sinco stuff’s the best. That’s
your answer, Wayne. (Laughter.)
James: We’ll see him when we’re here.
We’ll tell him that. Jeff Baker from Murfreesboro wants to know:
“If you could have a wish list for a studio what would some items
be? Are there any new gizmos that are out there that have really caught
your eye, or are you into more of a retro analog feel?” And this
is more about your capacity as a producer, but -
Warner: Gear. I understand.
James: - you can do both, so…
Warner: It’s more of a gear…Deb
and I have built some really expensive studios. The Scorchers have recorded
in some really expensive studios. We’ve recorded in in some real
cheap studios. That whole thing comes down to an engineer. A really
good engineer can make your garage sound great. A really bad engineer
can be in the best room that’s ever been built – he can be
in Abbey Road, and it’s still going to sound like crap if the engineer’s
a crappy engineer. A good engineer will sound great in a good room,
but a good engineer’ll also sound great in your garage. Get him
a couple blankets, and a few mikes, and he’ll make it work.
Gear-wise, I’m an analog type of dude. I’m not a real modern
guy, but I don’t have any problems with any technology that helps
you do what you do. I mean, obviously I’m from an age where I’m
going to stay more within a comfort zone. I’m an analog tape type
of guy. I’m really not a digital guy.
But the new Pro Tools rigs are great. And the digital stuff has actually
helped a whole lot of bands like us out. Because you can put five, six
thousand dollars worth of gear in your garage, and you can do a good
record. It used to be you had to go to a place that cost three million
dollars to build to be able to do that same record. It’s actually
bad for the real studios out there. But, I mean, if you’ve got
twenty-five thousand dollars, you can put together a serious room at
your house. In your house. Most recording studios have five hundred
thousand to a million dollars in their damn console. They’ve still
got to have a building, mikes, and all the rest of the gear, you know.
So in some ways, the technology thing is a real cool thing. I’m
sure most of – all this ‘roots’ stuff, ‘alt-‘
stuff - all those bands, it’s the way they’re doing it. Because
you can do a record for fifteen, twenty thousand dollars, not a quarter-million
dollars, and get a record out of there. Or much cheaper. If you actually
own the gear, you can get a product out of it. And you don’t have
the time restraints that a big-time recording studio has, where it’s
like ‘Hurry, hurry, hurry. We’re paying through the nose to
be here.’ Does that make any sense?
