{"id":69333,"date":"2021-03-29T01:21:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T06:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69333"},"modified":"2021-03-31T11:19:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T16:19:34","slug":"interview-with-george-lynch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-george-lynch\/","title":{"rendered":"George Lynch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Vast discography and decades of successful tenure on the music scene are privileges of relatively few in the music industry. But once achieved, can the legendary status become more of a confinement than a blessing? \u201cThey just want their Coke to be Coke, they don\u2019t want New Coke,\u201d says George Lynch \u2013 one of the guitarists that need no further introduction \u2013 speaking about reactions to some of his more experimental projects. Hardrock Haven has recently caught up with George to discuss The End Machine\u2019s new album, his other projects and his perspective on different aspects of songwriting, recording and functioning in the music business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credits: Enzo Mazzeo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: With the new album by The End Machine, titled Phase2<\/em>, obviously there will be a lot of reviewers comparing it to its predecessor. Do you think there\u2019s actually any point in such comparisons, as each album is actually an evolution of sorts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Well, I think it\u2019s more of a devolution, in the sense that it\u2019s more of a prequel to the first record and I would say that I would flip them… I look at this second record as the first record, because it\u2019s more basic, more meat and potatoes and slightly less adventurous. But the trade-off is it\u2019s a little more accessible and we try to make sure we have really strong hooks and just really solid, stick-to-your-riffs kind of quality to it versus being eccentric and adventurous. To me, it should be the first record (laughs). And the first record feels like it\u2019s the sophomore record, like, \u201cOkay, now we\u2019re stretching out a little bit.\u201d Like Led Zeppelin II<\/em>, you know \u2013 we take some chances and string out in different areas and are being a little more self-indulgent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: The End Machine\u2019s line-up are your former bandmates from Dokken and Lynch Mob respectively, and obviously the drummer Steve Brown is \u201cWild\u201d Mick Brown\u2019s younger brother. Do you think knowing each other so well and having certain chemistry throughout the years translates somehow into the music you make together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Absolutely! I mean, you don\u2019t have to go through that honeymoon period when you\u2019re trying to develop a chemistry and you discover your personalities are conflicting… You\u2019ve got all of that out of the way and you can jump right in on day one and start focusing on the work. So, there\u2019s this huge advantage to being familiar with the people you\u2019re working with and knowing that you have a good rapport and a working relationship. It\u2019s a mutually productive collaboration, and there\u2019s good chemistry there. You don\u2019t have to think about all that stuff, \u2018cause all that stuff can be an energy sucker and can really kill projects, you know (laughs). So we didn\u2019t have that concern. Everybody was very professional on one hand and very positive in what they brought to the table \u2013 there wasn\u2019t any negativity. Because in this kind of work, a lot times it can become a little bit of a drag work-wise, you know… and it\u2019s nice to have people that can joke around once in a while and add some levity and lightness to the proceedings, so that you can sometimes take a break (laughs). So it\u2019s nice to have a sense of humor and sometimes get along and just get away from the music for a second, which we did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. And yet about the change behind the drum kit, what did Steve bring into The End Machine and was it any different than his brother\u2019s input?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: I\u2019m gonna be honest \u2013 playing with Mick\u2019s brother, Steve, was like playing with Mick. In some ways, it was a little fresher, because Steve is younger and not so beat up by the industry. He hasn\u2019t been touring for four decades, like Mick has, and you know \u2013 all that can have an effect on you. It can make you jaded, it can make you callous, it can make you cynical… And I\u2019m not saying Mick is all those things, but it continued to have that effect on all of us. This can really suppress your enthusiasm for what you\u2019re doing. Steve didn\u2019t bring any of that negativity to the table. He\u2019s tons of positive energy and that\u2019s infectious and it\u2019s good to have around. Especially when you work with old guys like us, we need that young blood to feed off (laughs). Sort of kidding, but nah, he was great to work with. And he has the same style of playing as Mick, the same feel \u2013 which is very rare, but you would expect that I guess \u2013 and the same personality. He\u2019s the clown of the band, he\u2019s got a great sense of humor, he\u2019s always joking… He plays real hard, [he\u2019s] heavy hitter just like his brother… Sings just like him too, and Mick was really fundamental to our background vocals, so his brother fills that spot very well \u2013 he\u2019s checking off all the boxes! You couldn\u2019t have found a better replacement for Mick. We call him \u201cMild\u201d Steve Brown, like \u201cWild\u201d Mick Brown (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Many of the artists who take part in various projects created by Frontiers Music SRL admit that after a while these projects naturally evolve into a regular band situation. Is it the case \u2013 or will it be the case \u2013 with The End Machine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: We always hope that it would be more of a band, and that was the idea initially that Jeff [Pilson] and I and Robert [Mason] talked about. [It] was that it would be something that we at least could go on tour \u2013 specifically Japan, we thought. We ended up doing only three dates for the first record here in the Southwest United States \u2013 we just didn\u2019t have time to do any more. But we still hold out that hope… and I think there\u2019s a good chance that we\u2019ll do some touring with the band, so it will be actually more than a project. Because when you look at the lineage of this project, it really goes back to Jeff and I in Dokken, then doing the first LP [Lynch\/Pilson, 2003\u2019s Wicked Underground<\/em>] record together, then doing the T & N [2012\u2019s Slave To The <\/em>Empire] record together and that led to The End Machine. So there\u2019s really this thread of continuity and these are all evolutions of the same project; it\u2019s just Jeff and I, really. So this is the sort of the current expression of that effort, and I think this one is really the one that\u2019s gonna stick. I mean, we\u2019re not gonna change it or become something else after this \u2013 we\u2019re gonna keep it The End Machine. The records sell well and we know people would come to see us live, so that\u2019s a viable touring option for us. The challenge is to find the time to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And as you\u2019ve mentioned Dokken \u2013 in one of your earlier interviews, you described the new The End Machine material as more \u201cDokken-centric\u201d. Was it easy or challenging to balance the Dokken vibe and whatever musical vision you had for the album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: It wasn\u2019t easy, but also wasn\u2019t hard. It\u2019s just we had to remain vigilant as far as our focus and what we were trying to do when we were writing the songs. So we had to keep reminding ourselves of what it was that we were trying to do. And what we were trying to do was not to copy Dokken, but to put ourselves in that place mentally where we thought and remembered that we were thirty five years ago, or whenever it was when Jeff and I were writing partners and writing a lot of this material. And one of the things we focused on was the process of how we wrote these songs and in those days it was a guitar riff or a drum beat and we had our real strict formula and when it came to the lyrics, the melodies and the vocal melodies, it was [that] we had to have hooks. We always write the hook first, and then everything else would be built on that. So, that\u2019s what we did. And we had to constantly police ourselves while we were composing and make sure we weren\u2019t going off on tangents and being self-indulgent and exploratory and too adventurous… I know it how it sounds \u2013 like counter-productive and counter-intuitive, which it was to us, \u2018cause as we\u2019re writing, we\u2019re like, \u201cOh man, I came up with this really cool part! We\u2019re gonna make this work somehow!\u201d And then, \u201cWait a minute, does that really serve the song…? Is that really what we\u2019re trying to do here…? No, let\u2019s think about the larger picture, let\u2019s think about that hook and the formula \u2013 we have to serve that and confine to that. And that\u2019s what we did a pretty good job of, I think, on this record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So that was about the songwriting, and what did the recording process for the new album look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Well, during the pandemic the compositional process and pre-production couldn\u2019t be really separated from the recording process, \u2018cause what we would do is we would write and then the writing was really the part of the recording… Because I would sketch everything out with the scratch drum track that was programmed and then I\u2019d play the parts with no bass \u2013 just the guitar \u2013 and finally get arranged it all, piece it together, and then it\u2019d be sent out to the drummer. And the drummer would record to that, the send it back \u2013 and I would re-record the guitar parts. But not always, as sometimes the guitar parts that I recorded initially were fine and we\u2019d leave that. So maybe I\u2019d add embellishments or second track or I\u2019d do solos and things like that. Then it goes back to Jeff and Jeff does his bass parts, and then it goes to the singer and he sings his vocals and backs. We add any keyboards that we need, or anything else \u2013 do any fixes, acoustic guitars, piano… the extra things, and then we send it to the mixer. So it\u2019s really a kind of a grey area \u2013 writing and recording is really all part of the same incremental process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: From the standpoint of such an experienced musician as you are, what advantages do you think a self-produced album can have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: We didn\u2019t mix it \u2013 we had an outside mixer in Italy \u2013 but we self-produced it indeed. And to this day, I really don\u2019t know what that means. As long as I\u2019ve been in this business, I don\u2019t know what the producer is supposed to do… I worked with a lot of big producers and I still don\u2019t know what they do. I\u2019m sure they do something, but I\u2019m old school and I think bands are just bands. And I don\u2019t like bands that outsource everything, \u2018cause to me that is not a band when you have other people write your songs, and even other musicians come in and play your parts, then you have somebody produce it and tell you what you\u2019re supposed to be, and how you\u2019re supposed to sound. That\u2019s what the band does (laughs). That\u2019s why you\u2019re a band, you know (laughs). And I pride in doing a lot of that stuff, and I love doing all that stuff \u2013 I love writing, I love playing and I have an idea what it should sound like, and so does Jeff. That\u2019s why we work together and we don\u2019t need somebody else to do all that for us. I don\u2019t understand the point \u2013 maybe some people do need that, I don\u2019t know… But then, it wouldn\u2019t be us. If I\u2019m playing somebody else\u2019s song they wrote, that really wouldn\u2019t be my vision, so I don\u2019t know why we would do that. Seems strange to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Obviously an upcoming release date of a new album means an increased social media presence these days…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Well, now your social media activity is your metric for success as far as labels look at your band and tell what your fanbase is like, what your appeal and your sales potential is and so and forth, so it\u2019s all about that now. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m the guy who asked about that stuff, \u2018cause I\u2019m a sixty-six-year-old oldschool rocker (laughs). When I say \u2018rocker\u2019, I\u2019m just barely keeping up, yeah… but I\u2019m aware of that there\u2019s a brave new world that we live in, and that\u2019s okay. I mean, I\u2019m a big fan of Instagram, so that\u2019s pretty easy to negotiate and I enjoy going on and posting things. It\u2019s interesting for me because I like doing a mix of personal things that I do \u2013 like I ride my motorcycle or I go backpacking and do all kinds of things like that \u2013 and I mix it up with my guitar building which is what I\u2019m doing now in my shop here… or I\u2019m in my studio, or I make an occasional political post or some comment on current events… You know, I try to keep it interesting and mix it up quite a bit and also use it as a way to promote things I\u2019m involved in \u2013 if I\u2019m playing somewhere or there\u2019s a new release, like The End Machine coming out April 9th<\/sup> \u2013 I\u2019ll post the video or something. Or if I have a guitar that I finished building and I wanna sell it, I\u2019ll take this guitar and post it up online on Instagram and immediately get ten responses that somebody wants to buy it. So it\u2019s a marketplace of ideas and commerce and all kinds of interesting things. But I just link my Facebook and my Twitter to that, so that kind of controls and feeds all that. I don\u2019t really interact directly to Twitter and Facebook. I just interact with Instagram. And then I hire somebody who handles all my social media and they interact with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Speaking about the collaborations and different projects you\u2019re a part of, last year you\u2019ve released an album in collaboration with Dino Jelusick as Dirty Shirley. According to what Dino told me in an interview, you described it as being in your top three albums you\u2019ve ever recorded and what\u2019s the reason for that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Well, it was top three albums of that year that I recorded… Just kidding. I\u2019m really impressed with Dino. I mean, it\u2019s a funny story when the label [Frontiers Music SRL] first introduced me to him and asked me if I am going to work with him. I had no idea who he was and for some reason I had the impression that he was an Italian Pop singer. And I agreed to do the project \u2018cause I thought that would be really interesting, and different, and challenging. \u2018Cause I love Pop music and I love the structure of Pop music that\u2019s designed to work with how the human brain works… you know, repetitiveness, the heartbeat and all these frequencies and all that. So I just thought that\u2019s the kind of record I was making, so initially I started writing for that and I threw a couple [of] ideas out there to him. And as he lives in Croatia, there wasn\u2019t any real direct contact other than some e-mails, I think. And then he sent me back what he did to the songs (laughs), and I was like, \u201cHoly shit, this guy\u2019s a monster, as if Ronnie [James] Dio and David Coverdale had a baby!\u201d (laughs) So of course, I had to rethink my writing process… Honestly, he can overwhelm the record in a wonderful way. And if I had anything to do over, I\u2019d definitely go and redo all the guitars over again, because I feel that when the vocal stops for the guitar solo, the energy just drops down like this [makes a gesture with his hand]. Oh my God, it\u2019s like this power and this majesty, this guy\u2019s singing like a fucking monster and all of a sudden I come along and it\u2019s almost like a break for him so he can go to the bathroom or get a hot dog and come back (laughs). He\u2019s a phenomenal artist, really incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. And do you plan to continue with Dirty Shirley sometime in the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Right now we can\u2019t, because there\u2019s some legal thing going on with him, I think. Nothing to do with me, but that precludes him from working with a particular label, from what I understand. I don\u2019t know too much about it. So unfortunately, as much as we both wanna do another Dirty Shirley record \u2013 we can\u2019t, until he gets that business sorted out. But if we do one, we\u2019ll definitely have a different album cover, \u2018cause I don\u2019t know where the hell that album came [from]. What does that mean…? I was like, who the hell thought of this? How did anybody look at this and think this is a good idea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: I guess everyone wondered about that…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: You know, the name of the band was supposed to be a joke \u2013 and they used it seriously. They were asking me what I thought for a name, and in my studio I have this wall of amplifiers \u2013 and one of the amplifiers is a Friedman Dirty Shirley. And so I just was looking at my wall when I was on the phone with them and I said, \u201cUm, what about Dirty Shirley?\u201d And I was kidding, and that\u2019s what they used. It\u2019s a name of a freakin\u2019 amplifier, and I just wasn\u2019t serious about it. Gotta be careful what you say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: True! Also in 2020, we\u2019ve heard from another project of yours called The Banishment which explores way different territories musically than you\u2019re usually associated with. What was the inspiration behind this concept \u2013 which, as you\u2019ve mentioned in various interviews, was something you\u2019ve been toying with for years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yeah, for many years \u2013 I remember initially one of the projects I was hoping to put together was with Tommy Lee as he and I have been discussing doing something like this back in the late \u201880s, if I remember correctly. We talked about it a few times, and then he went on to do something like that with Methods Of Mayhem. But I\u2019m a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy, and Prong and all kinds of other stuff… Lords Of Acid or sometimes a little Techno-flavored stuff like [the] Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method and things like that. So I don\u2019t know… I\u2019ve just always imagined that kind of music and what I can bring to it, being an interesting hybrid that I wanted to explore. And when I met up with [Joe] Haze, who\u2019s my partner in the project, he was all over [it] \u2013 he is a big Industrial and Techno remixer. So we just threw caution to the wind… he flew down from Utah and we held up in my studio for about a month. We created the bits for the songs then. It\u2019s been about six or seven years now that we\u2019ve been working on it on and off and we\u2019ve had a number of different singers… First was Mandy Lion from WWIII, but it didn\u2019t work out. Then we had some other guy but I can\u2019t remember his name, and then Tommy Victor [Prong, Danzig]. Tommy sang two songs but eventually bowed out \u2013 which is understandable, \u2018cause there was not much happening with the project. But we still may release his two songs as bonus tracks. Our current singer\u2019s the guy named Devix. He\u2019s an actor and he brought the whole \u201cdream punk\u201d concept to the project. It has a little Punk-ier aspect to it \u2013 at least in the vocal realm \u2013 but it\u2019s still highly polished, intricate music behind it. So it\u2019s really just a strange, unique hybrid of styles and I love this project, but you know… the problem with these kinds of projects for me is being a legacy \u201880s guitar player guy. A lot of people don\u2019t wanna hear that from me. They just want their Coke to be Coke, they don\u2019t want New Coke and they don\u2019t allow to change a recipe or formula. My way to deal with that is resistance through these projects. So that\u2019s the biggest obstacle in getting these things released and getting them heard. We\u2019re going through that right now, but I think we\u2019re coming out this year. We\u2019re talking to a label and I think it\u2019s very receptive and a right fit for us \u2013 so I think we\u2019re coming out, \u2018cause the record\u2019s already done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Funnily enough, I was just supposed to ask you about possibly feeling  pigeonholed by the reviewers and the interviewers \u2013 and as you say, also the listeners \u2013 who keep on dwelling on your past rather than your present and future direction…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yeah, it\u2019s a constant balancing. \u2018Cause I do so many projects and I serve the base, I guess \u2013 if that\u2019s the way to describe it. You know, the people that have supported me for decades and love Dokken and Lynch Mob… probably more my legacy catalog and style. And I appreciate that too, and I love that kind of music… I just like that and I like other things too, so I\u2019m not just trying to do it all to do it all, but just things that I\u2019ve always really loved. I love R&B music, I love Blues, I love Classic Rock, I love Soul and Progressive music and certain kinds of Jazz music… I love certain kinds of old Country music and Classical music to certain extent, and World music too… I mean, there\u2019s all kinds of things that I would like to explore and I know that\u2019s a little self-indulgent. But if you wanna listen to it, go and buy it and if you don\u2019t wanna listen to it, don\u2019t buy it. I don\u2019t understand the hate (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Exactly…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yeah, I still do the other stuff these people like \u2013 I still did Lynch Mob records and The End Machine records, and Sweet & Lynch, which is very \u201880s style… I\u2019m doing all that too, so I don\u2019t understand why people get mad that I do other things as well. That seems very strange to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Especially that you\u2019ve always been the one to take the bands you were a part of in new directions \u2013 like with Dokken\u2019s Shadowlife<\/em> or Lynch Mob\u2019s Smoke This<\/em>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yeah, I try not to base what I do on the market or any particular person\u2019s opinion… I mean, if I were to sit there and do that, I would never get anything done. You know, you can\u2019t make everybody happy \u2013 it\u2019s just never gonna happen. All I can do is what I feel is right. And with my chips forward, I\u2019m not saying that I shouldn\u2019t be smart \u2013 and I try to be \u2013 but is usually that I think about those things after the fact. But if I\u2019m inspired to do something, that\u2019s what is the most important thing to me… just to follow my heart and do something that I\u2019m inspired to do. It\u2019s not that complicated. And I put out too many projects, I get that, I compete with myself… I\u2019ve got a glut of records always coming out, every year \u2013 that\u2019s a problem… but I think it all sorts itself out in time and maybe people will go to appreciate me making efforts to go in slightly different directions. It\u2019s all primarily still Rock music. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m going off trying to be a Jazz king and change my hat and pretend to be this kind of guy or that kind of guy… I\u2019m still myself, just \u2013 you know \u2013 playing different flavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! So is it the same kind of idea behind Lynch Mob\u2019s Wicked Sensation Reimagined <\/em>which was released last year \u2013 again, to mixed reactions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yeah, I saw that. Again, it goes back to you can\u2019t make everybody happy. I\u2019m sorry, I just can\u2019t worry about that. I just do what I do. I can\u2019t bend in the wind whichever direction where the wind blows (laughs). You know, I stand by all my records \u2013 Smoke This <\/em>was the most reviled record I\u2019ve ever done and I love that record, so I\u2019m sorry… Maybe I\u2019ll be the only one that likes it, but hey, at the end of the day I\u2019m writing stuff for myself, really. I\u2019m writing stuff that\u2019s inside my head and I\u2019m chasing that dragon, and it\u2019s just a process for me… a lifelong process. And that\u2019s just the way of working it out, and that\u2019s all I can do. But I don\u2019t have to deal with anything else, so I\u2019ll leave it for everybody else to sort it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And what\u2019s the current status of your other relatively recent bands and projects \u2013 like Ultraphonix or KXM? Also, is there anything else you\u2019re up to at this very moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: With KXM, we\u2019ve started pre-production on our fourth record which we don\u2019t have a title for yet, but we\u2019ve written a few songs \u2013 I went out to Nashville to work with Ray [Luzier] and we\u2019ve been working with each other online as well. Once we\u2019re all vaccinated, maybe we all can get together, \u2018cause the KXM philosophy is we all get in a room for twelve days and write and record one song a day. No pre-production allowed, no pre-writing, nothing. We just have to write it on the spot. So that will happen eventually this year, but we\u2019re just not sure exactly when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, Ultraphonix recorded a jam record at the Nest Studios in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. And what we did was we just got in a room \u2013 an old analog room \u2013 and we ran the tape for two or three days and just jammed, kind of like KXM. But unlike KXM, there\u2019s not as many songs on the record \u2013 it\u2019s more just like free form, self-indulgent, just us going off… kind of writing songs, but just doing extended jams as well. It\u2019s a combination of that and it\u2019s really an interesting record, but definitely, you know… there\u2019s some mistakes on it and it\u2019s not perfect, but I don\u2019t mind that. It\u2019s real and that is interesting about it \u2013 that it is human (laughs). It\u2019s more of a process record. You kind of see the inside of the process by listening to the record. \u2018Cause that\u2019s how the songs are made for us… we just jam and after the jam session we go, \u201cOh, I like that! That was cool, what if we make that a basis of the song…?\u201d And that\u2019s kind of what we did. So that will be coming out this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then I also have the instrumental guitar record coming out called Seamless <\/em>coming out this summer on Rat Pak Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So that\u2019s a lot of things to look forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lynch: Yes. Or a lot of things to look forward to hating (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: For some people, probably… (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit The End Machine on Facebook<\/a>

And if you want to see what the place where Mr. Scary Guitars are brought to life looks like, let\u2019s take a virtual tour with Hardrock Haven and Mr. Scary himself…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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