Tribe of Judah

11 November 2002
Tribe of Judah: LET THERE BE ROCK
 


Gary Cherone hasn't lost his sense of humor. In fact, the ever-exuberant hometown hero may have honed an even sharper sense of comedic self-awareness somewhere between the amicable (yet publicized as scandalous) break-up of Extreme, playing Jesus for Boston Rock Opera, and his stint with Van Halen (during which they, unfortunately, released the biggest flop of their career). Then there was last spring when Gary wore a black shirt that was nothing but sleeves and a collar for Tribe of Judah's Boston Music Awards performance. When Boston Globe columnist Steve Morse made special mention of Gary's daring attire, the wiry singer took a moment during the very next Tribe of Judah performance to announce, "I'd like to thank Steve Morse for picking out my outfit tonight!"

As the front man, Gary's warm-but-intense stage persona delivers the scripture, but it's the relentless assault of Tribe of Judah's pure rock aggression that makes disciples out of non-believers. Tribe of Judah is Pat Badger (bass), Mike Mangini (drums), Leo Mellace (guitar) and Steve Ferlazzo (keys). With a solid year of live performances behind them, this band of zealots has just released their debut CD, Exit Elvis, on Spitfire Records. I recently got a chance to chat up the core songwriting team of Gary, Leo, and Steve, at the House of Blues in Harvard Square.

Noise: At Tribe of Judah's Nemo showcase last April, you started the set with "Left for Dead." Gary, do you know how long you had your back to the audience during that song?

Gary: Yeah.

Noise: You do. That's deliberate.

Gary: Yes.

Noise: How come?

Gary: Two reasons. One, I'm very insecure. I have to know that my voice is there. And the second reason is, the obvious thing is to go out there and go crazy. One of the things we made a conscious effort to do is come in like a lamb and set up a suspense. But basically, I'm scared shit that first song!

Noise: I don't know how you'll get me to believe that.

Gary: It's true! Wait-you feel cheated, right? It pisses you off. Some person told me "I can't believe I come to see Tribe of Judah and you're an asshole, you don't even look at the audience for the first song."

Noise: No, I don't feel cheated. It's just, I'm asking how come you do that, and I didn't expect you to say it's because you're scared. Gary Cherone gets stagefright?

Steve: It's because he's so hot he wants to get the audience anticipating, anticipating-

Gary: No.

Steve: -ANTICIPATING! And then by the time he turns around it's like-

Gary: No!

Noise: It was a couple of days after the BMA ceremony when you wore that infamous barely-there shirt, so maybe the audience was anticipating, "What's he gonna wear!"

Gary: The infamous shirt! Ha ha!

Noise: And in that song, how come you're goose-stepping?

Gary: (grinning) You like goose step.

Noise: I don't know if I do or not.

Gary: What do you think, I'm a Nazi?

Noise: What do you think, you're a Nazi?

Gary: NO, I'm not a Nazi. Lexi! Calling me on the goose-step. You're the first person-

Steve: Psychoanalyzing!

Leo: (intoning mock-seriously) So what does goose-stepping mean to YOU?

Gary: Ha ha! No, it was in the theme of the song. It has a lot of, uh, it's a rebellious state of mind. Did you laugh?

Noise: No.

Gary: But it DID disturb you.

Noise: Like the sleeve-only shirt, it had the desired effect. I'll never forget the performance. As a front man, you hit every corner of the stage. Also deliberate?

Gary: It sounds corny, but it's the music. It's the energy, it's the volume, it's the people that I'm playing with. I love to play. I love to perform, and these guys make it very easy because the music is strong and aggressive. There are times on tour when my voice might not be up, my leg is killing me, I've got cuts and bruises from the previous night…

Steve: I remember seeing Gary in 1988 at The Channel, and the stage was not enough. I remember him climbing rafters. He's still doing that.

Noise: Gary, what's going to kill you?

Gary: The stage. That sounds like a cliché but it's true. I can't walk after shows. I can't! You think it's funny?

Noise: You could maybe stretch first.

Gary: I do! I do all the good things, but still…

Noise: Let's talk about the music. You three are the primary songwriters. How does that work?

Steve: When Gary first started this, it was a project. After coming out of Van Halen and all that, you know, wanting to find a new canvas. I'm sure to a certain extent it was a deliberate departure from all things his past had to offer. So initially, Gary contacted me and we just started the process of writing. He'd offered some broad strokes as to some of the things he wanted to accomplish. Just to get things going, I had some rough tracks. We started bouncing them back and forth. Very shortly after that, Leo came in. It started developing into a band.

Noise: This CD, Exit Elvis, is diverse. Do you think diversity on a record works for or against you?

Leo: Well everything works against you now, so you just have to say "screw it!"

Noise: I'm guessing Leo is the jaded, surly guy in the band?

Leo: No, not jaded at all! I think it's quite the contrary-we're making music for music's sake.

Steve: We're making the music we wanted to make. Our deal with Spitfire Records, a strong independent, instead of signing with a major, gives us the luxury of not having restrictions, not having to conform the music. Not having to conform the vision. It allows us to make the kind of record that everybody involved wanted to make.

Gary: Extreme was the hair across many an ass, because we didn't conform. And that's what inevitably drove me out of Van Halen. Now I've found guys who have that spirit, so this is a very uninhibited record. You know what? It's funny. Talking to our manager the other day, about the mainstream. If we sounded like Godsmack we'd have no problem getting on the radio. But because there's a unique sound, it's more difficult. That's an old story. But we made the record we wanted to make.

Noise: Some of the songs are divided into movements. That brings to mind Extreme's III Sides to Every Story.

Gary: "Exit Elvis" is a mini-suite. It's vignettes of different applications. Everything from Spanish guitar to girls choir, violins; it's somewhere between The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Conceptually it ties in the whole record. There's some great, great, GREAT guitar work on that one.

Noise: A return to the guitar solo?

Leo: Not just solos, not just solos. There's MUSIC. People say "solos" like it's a dirty word. They get these impressions! But back in the classical days, there's some great classical music that's wailing, really fast, difficult to play, but it wasn't considered…what, was Bach a shredder? No, he's not. He's just playing a passage as quickly as-

Gary: He's not on the defensive or anything…

Noise: Ha ha! Does he think I just called him a wanker?

Leo: Well, the word wanker did come up the other day…

Noise: I'm just saying nobody's really doing the raging guitar solo anymore.

Leo: We were feeling pressure to make sure there was SOME guitar…

Gary: You were, I wasn't.

Leo: Oh, just like you weren't feeling the pressure from Van Halen to write serious, different lyrics.

Gary: I did the exact opposite of what they wanted.

Leo: And I played right into it? Okay. I have to say, I think the guitar is NOT wanking. Ugh, I hate that word. But I do think it's musical.

Gary: This all stems from me complimenting you on "Exit Elvis," doesn't it? I thought I was complimenting him!

Leo: Guitar-wise I was up against some guys that were great on their own, did some good things, but I needed to find the place where I was at, and I think I did that. To be lumped into something because of Gary's past is not fair to us. I think we have something really new to put out there.

Gary: I'm just as much a fan of the heavy guitar stuff as the subtle acoustic. I think what Leo brings to the table is this jazz fusion guitar that's sometimes very subtle within Tribe of Judah's rock context. There's movements, there's theatre, and that plays into the lyrics, the complexity of the music, and the subtleties.

Steve: There's definitely a lot of layers, which lends itself very well to repeated listening. It does translate live, because of where the technology is now. Writing this stuff, it was always in the back of my head that this was going to have to be performed live. We theoretically can reproduce every single sound. However, a studio record and a live performance are two different animals. There was a handful of shows we did last year, which was all about finding that balance between the guitar and the keyboards and the programmed stuff, and trying to make sure that people weren't stepping on top of each other, and figuring out what things which are necessary on the record aren't as important live. You want to recreate the vibe, but you don't want to be forced to make it sound exactly the same.

Noise: It sounds like you've made what used to be known as an "album," one cohesive whole. Another thing nobody does anymore.

Leo: There's a lot of things nobody does anymore on that record!

Noise: How are you going to get people to listen to Tribe of Judah on its own merit, without having people say, "Oh, it's that 'More Than Words' guy?"

Steve: It's good trying to get in old fans of Extreme or even Van Halen, people who want to see what Gary's up to now.

Gary: Well, I hope there's a high standard of expectation. Extreme is almost ten years removed, so there's new faces. The existing fans, to their credit, they are loyal.

Leo: We'd played like ten shows, and by the fifth show people were singing the words to Tribe of Judah. There are some musicians in the band that people will pay money to go see, because you don't see that type of playing every day. What do you call it, we're monkeys…?

Gary: "What are we, carnival monkeys?"

Leo: Yeah! Because when you come down, you're gonna see some stuff!

Noise: You guys taking this on tour?

Gary: Yes. Mid-November. Hopefully coast to coast. And we'll see you there! And I promise you that I will not face you during the first song.