Mar. 20, 2013 - Issue #909: Water Crisis
Volbeat
"It was the perfect situation at the perfect time," says Rob Caggiano, Volbeat's newest member, over the phone from Los Angeles.
His name may ring a bell for anyone familiar with Anthrax or the Damned Things, but the guitarist and producer has a new gig these days. His involvement with the Danish rockers, which was officially announced in February, all started when Caggiano was enlisted to do some production and guitar work on Volbeat's upcoming album, Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies, due out in early April. As the production process went on, Caggiano began playing more and more guitar on the album, and it didn't take long for the band to notice an undeniable chemistry brewing, eventually asking Caggiano to stick around as a permanent addition.
"I didn't expect to figure out another guitar playing gig as fast as this," admits Caggiano, who made the decision to leave Anthrax in January. "I kind of assumed I'd book some production gigs, do some records and that would bridge the gap until I figured out what I was going to do next as a guitar player."
Aside from the positive vibe amongst the group, Caggiano was drawn to Volbeat's musical style, a mash-up of classic influences such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, rock, punk, metal and rockabilly. Caggiano notes there is also a strong influence from one of his favourite bands—the Misfits.
In producing Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies, Caggiano wanted to maintain this multi-genre sound while capturing the energy of the band's live shows, an element he felt was lacking on Volbeat's previous records.
"I think one of the main things, and one of the reasons they called me to begin with, was because they wanted to try something different. They kind of felt like they were too comfortable and they were afraid of repeating themselves," Caggiano says of the approach to the new album, which also weaves in stories of historical and fictional characters who match the title and style. "Musically, there's a strong Western vibe throughout the whole record. Everything really makes sense and there's this common thread throughout the tunes and it's all linked into the stories and the lyrics ... a lot of it is based on real characters that lived years ago: outlaws and shady ladies."
Thu, Mar 28 (6:30 pm)
With Danko Jones
Shaw Conference Centre, sold out
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