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“I’m not sure what we’re gonna do next year, but I am sure we’re gonna do a lot of stuff”

Interview with Mark Morton, Lamb of God’s guitar player

2022. augusztus 09. - moravsky_vrabec

lamb_of_god_travis_shinn.jpgLamb of God will release their new album, Omens, in October, but the first leg of their tour will reach Hungary on the 10th of August. We had a good chat with Mark Morton, their guitar player, who gave us some insights on tour preparation, the recording process, and even on signature guitars – among other things.

Rockstation: Hi Mark, where are you now? At the time we are speaking, it is probably very early in the US, and in just a few days you will set off on a European tour.
Mark Morton: Hi, I’m in Hamburg, Germany, because we came over a little earlier this week to do some pre-production, some rehearsals, and to have a couple of days to get acclimated to the time.

How can we imagine these rehearsals? Do you have the stage built somewhere or are you doing some secret club shows?
We just have a sound stage in a music facility with a big room where we have set up all the gear as if it were a show. We rehearse, balance the sound, and just make sure all the lights are working properly and that kind of stuff. It’s not so glamorous, it’s not that exciting, except for maybe to people who don’t do that all the time. It’s really just kind of a stage rehearsal.

That is not public I guess.
Only the band and the crew, yeah.

I just read the other day that you have a temporary new member, Phil Demmel, to play some shows.
Oh yes, Phil Demmel has been covering for us a number of times on different occasions. You know, there are times when things come up and one member or another has to miss some shows for something they need to do at home. I also had to do that, I think most of us had to do that at one point or another. So Phil is gonna cover for us on these shows. He is a great guitar player, a great friend. We are used to playing with him, he has done a few shows with us under different circumstances for numerous members in the band. So we are glad to have him here.

In the meantime you released a song, a Megadeth cover, called Wake up Dead. In the music video it looks like no one was in the same place at the same time. So how did that happen?
It was recorded remotely before the tour [with Megadeth], and it was just a fun way to bring the two bands together around a classic Megadeth song. It was awesome that a lot of involvement was there because initially we were just about to cover one Megadeth song and maybe get Dave [Mustaine]’s blessing for that, or get him to sing a part, but then they really all got involved. It was a really fun moment, and the fans seem to love it since it is such a great song. It has always been my favorite Megadeth song, so I had a great time doing it.

The band seems to be quite active in joint projects, which wasn’t that typical in the past. Is it because of technology or does it have some marketing background?
Well, I don’t know. We’ve had guests on our records pretty much our whole carreer. But I know what you are saying that the collaboration thing is becoming more prevalent. I don’t know what’s behind it, but it seems to me – honestly, it is just a theory I have, it’s an observation – that rock and metal started taking cues from a lot of the pop and hip-hop stuff, which really takes artists and puts them together and they are hopping on each other’s tracks. And the fans like that, they like to see different pairings of their favorite artists. I’ve been a fan of hip-hop my whole life and I always watched that happen and I remember thinking: “how come we never do that?” And all of a sudden, it became very popular and people do that kind of thing across all genres. And you are right, technology helps, too, because people can work together without actually being in the same room. It’s always better creatively to work with someone in the same room, but it is not always possible. And you can still do great stuff with people working remotely.

You have already released 2 singles, but the new album, Omens, is only scheduled for October. Is it a new thing that the preparation for the release takes so much time?
It seems to be, József, a very modern approach to releasing records. I don’t know why that is, I don’t know what market research or what algorythm or what sales strategy it is. But the record company is way smarter, at least in regard to selling records, than I am. That’s how it’s done these days, and so I don’t mind. I like having songs out and flipping around, and getting people’s feedback on the material. It’s allowing us to play new songs in the set long before the album comes out, because the songs are already out there. It’s interesting to see how people receive the new material, and hopefully it builds some excitement and anticipation for the album coming in October.

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When did you wrap the recordings of Omens?
Actually, the recordings were finished at the very end of February. But the mixing and mastering also took some time. I don’t remember exactly when the final master was approved. Mixing and mastering, I would say, took well over a month. I don’t know when the final version was done, but we finished the actual recording studio work at the end of February.

Talking about the recording process, did it happen at one place, in a traditional studio?
We recorded the Omens album at Henson Studios in Los Angeles. We were there for a month and we were all there together. It is one of the cool things, one of the stories about this album, that all of the songs, at least the basic tracks, were recorded while we were all playing together. All five of us were recording live, including vocals, including Randy. I would say that the majority, certainly more than half of the vocal tracks that you hear on the album, were from those live takes. So we recorded all together in the same room. Of course things were overdubbed, things were fixed, things were re-recorded, but the bones of each song were from live takes, and that’s really cool. 

You already showed the cover art of the album, and after the clocks, the dead bird is back. Does it have any additional or hidden meaning?
There are a bunch of hidden meanings, and if you start really looking at that album cover, there are all kinds of little signs and symbols all over the place, and they all mean different things. We could talk for a very long time about that. Ken Adams is the guy who put all that together. For me personally, it is just a really cool album cover. It looks cool.

When you compose music for Lamb of God, are you together with Willie? Or do you work separately and then come together later?
A little of both,really. Sometimes we write together in the same room, sometimes we work individually in our home studios and then play stuff to each other, it depends. 

You had a stable line-up for almost 20 years, and then Chris left and Art Cruz joined the band. Omens is the second album he plays on. Does he have any influence on your music?
I think his influence is his playing style – what he brings in as a drummer. Composition-wise, Lamb of God music is always written by myself and our other guitar player Willie. It hasn’t really changed in terms of how we write songs. But I think Art has his own incredible style as a drummer, and I think in this new album he felt a little more liberated to stretch out. Our self-titled record was the first he recorded with the band, and he wanted to stay true to the traditional sound. But this time I feel he stretched out a little bit, and put a little more of a personal touch on the drumming, and I am glad for it. His playing speaks for itself.

And do you keep in touch with Chris?
I’ve spoken with Chris, yeah.

You also have a signature guitar, the Dominion, which is a Jackson model. Can you define the something extra it gives you? What does it feel like to have a signature guitar?
Well, having a signature guitar is a really cool thing. You pick different specifications from all different types of guitars and put together the exact combo that you want. Jacksons have been a great tool for me over the years and I’ve played them for a long time and they are really great guitars. I enjoy playing them.

That means that you’d already played Jackson guitars before you became an endorser of the brand?
I did, yeah, I did. Not exclusively, but I did have a Jackson, yeah.

And now do you have to use it exclusively, or do you have to use it in videos? Does it tie your hands somehow?
No, I’m free to do whatever I want.

How many guitars do you use in a live show?
It depends on the set really, because we have different tunings, and different tunings require a different guitar. Currently in the set I use 3 tunings, so I have 3 guitars and then a backup for each one. So typically I have at least 6 guitars with me on tour.

Has it ever happened to you that you lost a guitar on a tour or anywhere?
No, I have never lost one.

What about the analog vs. digital discussion? How do you relate to the digital tools and gadgets?
It really depends. I am not the type who thinks that anything digital is bad. For effects and that kind of thing, I tend to use more analog. And in terms of amplifiers, I like tube amps. There are some great models out there. But there are also some digital replicas that people are using in plugins and that kind of thing. And I use these in different scenarios, for me they are really good. They are sometimes good substitutes for a great sounding tube amp. But the tube amp will always be primarily what the ideal situation is.

And what amps do you use?
I use Mesa Boogie amps and currently I am using Mesa Boogie tube amps. Different models, lately the Badlander and of course the Mark IV, which is one of their older models that I still use as well.

Do you have any recording equipment with you when you are on tour?
Not on tour. I have a studio at home, it is not like a full-fledged recording studio, but it’s a nice workspace where I am able to record very functional demos for any kind of material, but I don’t carry that stuff on the road.

Your solo album, Anesthetic, was released 3 years ago. You said in an interview that during the downtime of covid you also wrote some songs which would end up as solo material. Is there any continuation planned?
There are no plans, there is nothing to announce. But I very much look forward to doing another solo album, and I hope to get the opportunity to do so soon. I am always working on new music, and certainly some of that new music will end up on that solo record. All that is true, but I don’t have anything specific to announce.

One of Chester Bennington’s last appearances was on your album. Does it have any special meaning to you?
The song and my work with Chester certainly has a very special meaning to me. My memory of working with Chester is that we had a lot of joy and we had a lot of fun working together on that song. It was an honor being at work with him creatively, and I am really grateful that I got that chance. Yeah, so that song is very special to me.

How long do you plan in advance? You will be on tour soon, the album comes out in October, and I guess a longer tour will follow. So your calendar is full until when?
Until the end of the year. There is some talk of some stuff next year, but as far as I know, my calendar is booked till the end of this year. I’m not sure what we’re gonna do next year, but I am sure we’re gonna do a lot of stuff.

Lamb Of God Web / Lamb Of God Facebook

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