Jutze (@vampster.com) Interviewing Paul Bonrud

It's been a few months since the release of your promising debut album.
When was the last time you listened to it?

I listened to it when it was first released which was fun. Since then, I have only heard it when I have ridden with friends in their cars and they happen to have the CD cranked up on their stereos. J

How long does it take you to write a song?

I have written complete songs, both music and lyrics, in under an hour. The music usually comes to me very quickly but most of the time the lyrics take quite a bit of time to write.

How many songs did you have to write before you came up with the ones
which ended up on the album?

We wrote somewhere between 22 and 25 songs for the CD and most of those were recorded to a certain degree. There were lots of great songs that didn’t make the final CD just because they didn’t fit the style of the CD.

Do you have to play very loud in order to write hard rocking tracks?
I spend 99% of my time playing the electric guitar and only play my acoustic when I need to record an acoustic track. However, most of the time when I play my electric guitar, I’m playing unplugged just kicking back on the couch. So I typically am playing quieter than if I was playing an acoustic guitar. I’ll admit that I like playing fairly loud when I’m recording my tracks though…especially the guitar solos which are always the most fun! J

What were the advantages of playing most instruments on the album
yourself?

The main advantage was that I was able to get the music just the way I wanted it. I had the vision so it was easier for me to do all of the work from that sense. It was also a great learning experience. Up until this CD, I had only played guitar on other people’s CD’s so this time I got to experience the entire process myself by playing most of the instruments and producing the entire CD and giving the other players like Dave Hendricks and Paul Higgins direction on how I wanted their parts performed. It was an awful lot of work though and for the next CD I will probably have someone else play most of the bass and keyboard parts.

Sadly enough, quite a lot of bands use programmed or at least triggered
drums on their albums. The drums on your album have a very natural
sound. Were you ever tempted to use a drum computer?

I record rough demos using a drum machine but I would never want to use a drum machine on a final recording. Rock and roll just sounds better with a real drummer playing the parts, not a computer. I believe the reason many artists use a drum machine today is to reduce the cost of producing the CD. It costs a lot of money to record drums. They are easily the toughest thing to record out of everything you hear on a CD. You need a great room, a great drum kit, a drummer that knows how to tune his drum kit, lots of great microphones, and a great engineer to capture the sound properly. You also need great performances and that takes time to get the magic take and in the studio, time is money. I’m pleased that I spent the time and money to use real drums. I’ll be using real drums on my next CD as well and will even spend more money recording them in an even bigger studio. Real drums are cool! J

Recording the album you worked with legendary producer Keith Olsson.
What was the most important thing you learned from him?

It’s hard to pick only one thing since he taught me so much. Maybe the concept of spectral arranging. Keith and I have similar backgrounds in electrical engineering and music so we were usually communicating on the same wave length.

Do you have a band by now?
Yes but so far we’ve been too busy to play shows. The band is Dave Hendricks (vocals), Paul Higgins (drums), Mark Parris (bass), and me (guitar).

David Hendricks' voice is really impressive. Will you continue working
with him on future recordings?
Absolutely. Dave has a fantastic voice. I love the soulful Lou Gramm quality his voice has. Dave stopped by today and I played a few new ideas for him.

Will you keep your musical direction in the future?
Most of the new songs I’m working on are similar in style to what is on the current CD but a few of them might explore new territory. I’m just following my current creative impulses and letting the music develop naturally.

A question on your musical development. What came first: your technical
skills or the vision of writing your own songs?
I think most of us start out by learning to play other people’s music in cover bands. That’s how I first developed my musical chops on the guitar. Eventually my first band (Emerald Isle) got to the point where we wanted to start doing original music. So, I started writing original songs and never wanted to play cover tunes again.

What about your own singing talent!?

I’m good enough to sing the background vocals on the CD but my voice isn’t interesting enough to be a lead vocalist and I don’t have the vocal range required for this style of music. You can judge my vocal talents by listening to the background vocals on the CD. I did all of the background vocals on “Hollywood Movie Star” for example so you can really pick my voice out on that track.

What are you doing when you're not playing guitar (except giving
interviews)?

I enjoy SCUBA Diving, playing with my dog, photography, camping, watching movies, listening to music, and working on my car.

How did the people around you, family and friends, react to you
releasing the "Bonrud"-CD?

They were very excited about it. They all knew how much work went into the project so it was nice to see all of that hard work come to fruition.

What was your best subject in school?

Math. I got A’s in Calculus in college. It wasn’t always that way though. When I was younger I hated math but I had a great teacher in 11^th grade who made math fun for me somehow. That’s what really made the difference for me. My Dad was also really good at math and tutored me as well when I was younger.

What household chores can you manage?

All of them. I’ve taught my dog lots of tricks but he’s afraid of the vacuum and if he could cook, he’d eat all of the food since he has no self control where food is concerned!  Thus, I’m stuck doing the chores around here while he lays on the couch and supervises. J

"Hollywood Movie Star" is currently my favourite song on your album. Now
who's your favorite Hollywood movie star? Did you have a particular
actress in mind when you wrote the song?

Thanks! I really like that song too. I wrote all of the music for that song but that is the one song on the CD where Dave Hendricks wrote all of the lyrics. I don’t know who he imagined when he wrote that song. However for me, I always think of Grace Kelly when I think of that song. She was the epitome of  a movie star.

Which is the best party album before going out?

There are too many just to pick one. It all boils down to your mood. The CD’s I am currently listening to are Soul Sirkus, Velvet Revolver,  U2, The Darkness, Waltham, and Nickelback.

Do you sometimes miss the good old vinyl records?

I still have my vinyl collection but I don’t miss having to operate the needle and flipping the LP’s over. CD’s are so much easier and overall, they sound better since they don’t wear out over time like vinyl. However, vinyl really does have a nice, warm sound when the records are new.

Finally, it's almost Christmas: Can you imagine writing and recording a
(hard rock) Christmas carol one day?

Sure! That could be fun. However, I’m a traditional guy and when it comes to Christmas carols, I love Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy, and What Child Is This. There are lots of great secular songs as well like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, White Christmas, and It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Those are the tunes most people really want to hear at Christmas time and rightfully so. They’re classics! For all of you bass players out there who want to learn a challenging bass line, listen to “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”. I have the original Andy Williams recording and the bass line is incredible. That’s what really makes that song happen…and I’m not kidding either!