Paul Roman is The Quakes frontman, one of the best and most influential psychobilly bands ever. Pioneers of the 80s scene, still a great live act, a new record coming next year, for more than 20 years Paul Roman has been stuck to his guns and to a 1963 Gretsch Nashville, his main axe.

After contacting him, Paul sent us some pictures of the Gretsch that has revealed itself even more fascinating that we initially thought. In this interview, Paul unveils some of the modifications that were made to his guitar but we didn’t want to miss the chance to ask him about his working methodology, his awesome first record and his personal views on the current psychobilly scene.

JosePerdicion.com Where did you get your 1963 Gretsch Nashville? What’s the name of the shop? Do you know anything about the history of the guitar and his previous owner?

Paul Roman (see attached photo of the original receipt) – I don’t know who owned it before, but they played it a lot. At the time I wanted to get ANY Gretsch guitar.This was the first one that I found but I would have taken just about anything that said Grestch:-)

J. You swapped old stock Filtertrons for a humbucker bridge and a mini-humbucker Seymour Duncan neck. Which exactly models are these pick ups?

P.R. When I got the guitar it already had two Gibson humbuckers in it. I later replaced one of the Gibsons with a Seymour Duncan.

J. Despite the fact you removed Filtertrons, the guitar keeps some of the classic Grestch tone, is it as a result of mixing the bridge pick up with that Seymour Duncan?

P.R. I mainly use the SD pickup but I get a nice mellow sound with both for songs like “What would they say” and “Killing moon.”

J. When you re-wired the guitar, did you just replaced the wiring harness or did you modified the circuit?

P.R. Yes it’s modified. I took out the other pickup selector switch for the same reason Setzer did- it’s in the way and accidentally gets switched while playing. It was kind of useless anyway for me. I took out the other volume knob, again useless to me. It’s wired- main volume- pickup selector and on off and that’s it.

J. You stated that you stuffed the hollow body with some maple blocks? Why? Did the guitar have any feedback problem?

P.R. It’s not for feedback it’s for sustain. It was suggested by a guitar tech in Buffalo New York and it works very well for me. The tech was very good and he knew what to do. I trusted him to “operate” on my guitar:-)

I have the Melita bridge with worn out plastic saddles and a plastic nut so the blocks give back some sustain that those things take away.

J. Why did you choose a Melita bridge?

P.R. That came with the guitar and mine needs to be replaced. It is glued into position and the saddles are not moveable anymore after years of sweat and corrosion:-)

J. It is amazing how much distortion your guitar can handle bearing in mind that is a hollow body Gretsch, is it as a result of the blocks and the humbucker?

P.R. I think it’s a combination of the two but it has more to do with the pick up.

J. Where does the distortion come from? do you crank your Fender Deluxe Deville or is it all produced by the Ibanez tube screamer? don’t you use any kind of compression?

P.R. I’m getting rid of the Deluxe deville:-) It’s ok but I much prefer the sound I had with old early 70’s Twin Reverb amps. I don’t use a distortion pedal much, maybe only on a couple songs each show. I like to get that natural distortion from the amp without having to turn it up to loud – just a little edgy. I don’t use a compressor but I do use an old Arion delay pedal that seems to have a little bit of gain to it. It’s the old ones that are made in Japan.

J. Is the 1963 Nashville still your main guitar? What other guitars do you own?

P.R. Yes that is the one I use nearly all of the time. I have a 2001 Gretsch Electromatic “sparkle jet”. It’s a cool guitar I use it in the studio to get a different texture to some songs. I also have a guitar that was “made” for me by a local luthier named Kevin Wyman. It’s a Harmony body and a Gibson neck. The bridge is hand made. It sounds good and I have used it in the studio a lot. That’s it for my guitar collection I’m afraid:-)

The Quakes

J. Quakes first record is something apart of psychobilly scene and any other musical genre, what were you thinking of when you recorded this album?

P.R. We were very young. Dave Hoy was 16, Rob Peltier was 18 and I was 20. We were very excited to be in London recording a record for Nervous records. We loved all the old Nervous stuff. We also knew we had to put our own stamp on this music and make it different in order to stand out.

J. How long did it take to finish all the recording and what do you remember of these recording sessions?

P.R. It was done in about a week. Sadly there wasn’t much time to correct mistakes. This was before protools:-) The masters are long gone now.

J. You stated that the cover of your debut album is an imitation of Stray Cats first record cover because you had to follow their steps in order to get noticed, move to London and so on. Where did the idea for the cover come from? From Nervous Records or from the band?

P.R. It was our idea. We had seen other such records such as the Dave Phillips album that looks like the Gene Vincent cover and some Polecats pictures that were modeled after The Beatles. It was a gimmick but it was also symbolic for us. We just thought of it as we had to go to London like the Stray cats did in order to get a record deal. We tried to get the picture as exact as we could.

J. In your opinion, why the presentation tour of the record was canceled?

P.R. I don’t really know. I think it was some kind of scam between the booking agent and a promoter. Looking back at the proposed tour schedule, it would have been almost impossible logistically. We were very naive. The cancellation of that tour is really what broke up the band.

J. After the first record The Quakes sound changed and became more clean, more rockabilly. Why? Evolution or imposition by the recording label for marketing reasons?

P.R. No, simply a progression in our ability to play our instruments and the addition of Brian Doran on drums. It would have made no sense to do another album the same. “Voice of America” is actually the sound that we were going for prior to the first record but we couldn’t play. Songs like “One of a kind” were written before the first Quakes lp came out. A painter doesn’t paint the same picture over and over, he paints a different one but you can tell it’s the same painter. Bands like The Clash and the Beatles managed to change their sound but you knew it was still them. They brought all of their “pop sensibility” to whatever they did.

J. “Voice of America” and “Last of the human beings” are both great records, why did your recording deal with Nervous Records come to an end?

P.R. Each record was a one lp deal. When we recorded Quiff rock for Tombstone, they offered us the best deal at the time. Sony was not interested in another album and the psychobilly scene was kind of quiet at that time. With the internet and new technology, I realized that I would be better suited making my own records.

J. What do you think right now about Nervous Records? Some bands from the era said that it was disappointing, perhaps because they thought it was a bigger thing

P.R. I don’t want to go there:-)

J. What’s wrong with the recording industry that almost has no space for good bands like yours while doors are wide open for any musical aberration? Why “Madonna” is a big star and not The Quakes?

P.R. I believe there is room for all of that. We are a niche band in a small scene. Of course I wish that we had been more successful but I’m very happy where I’m at. Our fans are great and it’s still fun to get out and play.

J. Well, your records are sold or at least have been sold in a lot of countries including the USA, whole Europe and Japan. You have toured all these countries as well. You may be in a niche but the market for your niche is a global market, is it so small?

P.R. It’s small enough that I have to go to work tomorrow:-)

J. What’s your creative process? you have a song on your mind, you put it down or do you take your guitar and start playing chords until anything arises, do you join other members of the current band, do you listen some records… where does the sound of The Quakes come from?

P.R. I make demos all the time. I have lots of songs going back 25 years, some of them develop into things we use and others never get finished.
I constantly write lyrics. Usually I’ll bring ideas to the practice room and we will try things out and I can usually tell if it will work for us and with whatever line up I have at the time. When getting ready to do a record I purposely try NOT to listen to things that I don’t want to be subconsciously influenced by and sometimes I will purposely listen to things that I am trying to get the essence from.

J. Whenever you are going to record a new album, how is the studio work? Do you practice with the band in order to have it clear what exactly are you going to record on each track or do the songs change/evolve as you record them?

P.R. I mostly record at home and record drums in the studio. On some songs, the whole band goes in and records live. I usually have a clear picture of what it’s going to be but sometimes in the mixing process, the song can take a different path. Most songs are demoed several times making changes along the way and some are very fresh and we just go with it.

J. Do you double tracks?

P.R. Yes I like to double vocals. Tim Polecat showed us a lot of cool things we could do with vocals. If you listen to the Polecats stuff, there is a lot of real cool vocal harmonies. One thing we did was slow the tape down a little and sing a double – when you put the tape back at normal pitch, you get a great harmony.

J. Do you involve in production tasks; arrangements, mixing, mastering… or is there any producer behind the tracks? What degree of involvement was in the first years and what level is now?

P.R. With the first lp, it was in the hands of the producer and I was there for the mix. From then on I am totally hands on in every aspect. I don’t know much about mastering so I pretty much just sit there with my mouth shut:-)

J. Please, tell me anything about the forthcoming album, due to February, 2009.

P.R. It will have 12 or 13 songs. There are some guest musicians. There is a variety of types of songs. I think people who already like the Quakes will be happy and people that hate us will hate us even more:-)

J. BTW, what do you have in mind for the next 10 albums? (less would be totally unacceptable)

P.R. Someday I’d like to put out all the demos that have been made over the years. It’s just a lack of cash that prevents me from doing more not a lack of ideas.

Paul Roman views

J. You stated that you go on tour and come home with no money. Who or what pay the bills then?

P.R. I have to pay the bills. This is just a glorified hobby. The guys in the band get paid first even if we lose money.

J. Besides your very own label, Orrexx Records, do you run any other business? How can a musician manage to stay more than 20 years stuck to his guns?

P.R. I have a business restoring designer 20 century furniture. Any money I make from the band or the label goes right back into it. It’s because we are not so big that we can do whatever we want. I’ve seen some bands get to the point where it becomes their “job” and the creativity suffers and they are scared to try new things. I have nothing to lose by trying new things. No record company will suffer if I put out a bad album and that gives me the freedom to not worry about it.

J. What kind of music do you like to listen now? What bands/artists? What would be your favorite record if you had to choose just one?

P.R. I listen to all the same “billy” that everyone else listens to and western swing and old country but I like to listen to 80’s new wave a lot. I like melodies.

J. Did you ever meet Brian Setzer?

P.R. Yes on the Blast off tour. I had backstage passes for two nights in London thanks to Gavin Cochrane who took the Stray Cats first album cover shot. The Stray Cats had seen our album and contacted Nervous records about it. I got to meet the guys but it was a star studded backstage party and they were all trying to get a minute with the cats. Robert Plant, Lemmy, Jeff Beck, Mike from the Alarm, Britt Ekland etc. We just kind of stayed in the corner and took it all in:-)

J. You have lived both worlds; the era of the recording labels, when a recording deal was everything for a musician and the era of the internet now, when every record goes straight to the mule and it is downloadable for free. From a business side, releasing a new record has no sense at all but as an excuse for a new tour. From another point of view, a lot of labels closed, there are less new bands so less competition. Old bands like The Quakes are big winners to some extent, they are known and they can still tour. What do you think of the internet era? is it for good? What’s the future for the new generation of psychobilly bands?

P.R. It hurts me as a small label when people can download my songs for free. I think kids EXPECT it to be free. It’s very hard to make back the money you spent recording and pressing. The internet has helped to bring the scene closer together and it’s a lot easier to organize tours. As far as new psychobilly bands go, they have to remember that’s its psycho BILLY. Of course things change but the roots never change.

J. Thanks for your time and music!

P.R. Thank YOU!

www.thequakes.com
www.myspace.com/thequakes