Exclusive
Interview with Fred Hell for
Tigerarmy.com
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In
the third and final (for now) installment of exclusive interviews
with the individual members of Tiger Army done for this
site, we bring you drummer Fred Hell. Fred’s resumed jamming
with Tiger Army as they prepare for the recording of their
next album – he’s surviving and even thriving after being
the victim of a brutal home-invasion robbery in March in
which he was shot four times. “The 50-cent of psychobilly”
sat down with us in Mid-July to speak publicly for the first
time since the incident about what he’s been through and
where he’s headed. Read on!
--
Vintage C, webmaster
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Tigerarmy.com:
How's it going?
Fred
Hell: Good! Just getting ready to go to practice in awhile…
Tigerarmy.com:
You don't see a lot of Fred Hell solo interviews, so here we go...
we might as well start with the question that everyone has been
asking about. Tell us about what happened in March.
F Hell: I was just hanging at my friend’s
apartment and some crackheads came in to rob him, basically just
a home invasion style robbery. I remember seeing guns and
thinking, I guess I will finally find out what happens when you
die. They came in telling us to get down, and then a fight
broke out and I wake up in the parking lot realizing that I had
been shot.
Tigerarmy.com:
Damn, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. How many
times were you shot?
F Hell: I got shot four times -- twice in the ass, one in the
back which collapsed my lung, and one in the head.
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s crazy. Is it true you’ve got a bullet
in your brain?
F
Hell: Yeah, it’s there for the rest of my life. The
bullet stopped millimeters away from my motor skills area. The
surgeons just cleaned out the wound and said that it would be
more dangerous to remove the bullet than to leave it in. The
heat created from firing the bullet sanitizes it, so it’s
germ free. Once it’s in there the brain forms a callous/egg
type shell around it. To the doctors’ knowledge it
should be fine.
Tigerarmy.com:
Amazing. How has the recovery process been going? Are
there still effects?
F
Hell: First of all I'd like to thank Geoff, Nick, all my friends,
family and our fans for all the support I got when I was in the
hospital, especially my roommate Tzvi and his mom, Martha, who
took care of me like her own son when I was disabled at home. It
definitely made it a lot easier to fight back with such high spirits. But
for my recovery -- it’s going great now. When it first happened
I’d lost all feeling and dexterity to my left arm. It
was pretty much useless, I couldn't even hold a drumstick. But
the doctors let me come up with my own physical therapy program
and that’s been working really good. I've been playing
a lot and really focusing on my fundamentals. I'm really
excited about where my playing is at right now and can't wait
for what the future holds for me.
Tigerarmy.com:
It's only natural that people are curious about an event like
this, but you must get tired of answering the same questions over
and over...
Fred
Hell: Well not really, because it’s a crazy experience that
not many people live through, and hopefully some people can learn
something from it. The only thing I get tired about is people
asking me about when “Son of Sam” is going on tour. NEVER!!!
(laughs) [Ed. note: Fred is referring to people who still haven’t
“gotten the memo” that he’s been Tiger Army’s
drummer for two years now and don’t realize previous drummer
London May hasn’t been in the band since then].
Tigerarmy.com:
What have you learned from this experience and how has it effected
you?
F
Hell: Well, I definitely use my time to the fullest now and realized
that a lot of people believed in me. I have an opportunity
to give people hope in their own lives -- hopefully they can see
that I overcame this incident and maybe inspire them to not quit
and keep trying.
Tigerarmy.com: Very
cool. Okay, now that that stuff is out of the way, let's
get down to business and talk more about Fred Hell the musician
and Tiger Army. Tell us when and how you came to be a member
of Tiger Army.
F
Hell: Well I officially became a member of T.A. in November of
'01 after the tour we did with Dropkick and Sick Of It All. That
was my second tour with T.A. The way I started filling in
at first was that London had left the band and they had a tour
in Japan and one in the States already booked. At that same
time I was living in San Diego working at a pizza place crashing
on my friends couch, and saw that T.A. was planning to go on tour. I
emailed Nick asking him if they needed any road crew, since I
kind of new him from supporting T.A. with my old band [Ed note:
Union of the Dead], he called back seeing if I'd be interested
in filling in so they didn't have to cancel their tours. Of
course being a T.A. fan since 1803, I said yes. I couldn’t
do the Japanese thing because I didn’t have a passport at
the time, so my first tour was right after that -- it was with
TSOL at first and then our own shows after that.
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s cool to go from being a fan of a band to actually
being in it! How long have you been playing the drums?
F
Hell: I’ve been playing drums now for 7 years now, I started
in college and because of them I quit going!
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s funny! Where was that by the way?
F
Hell: Chico, CA [Ed note: not Chino!]. I lived in Chico 7
years, tried to go to school but at the time it wasn't for me. It’s
a great town to start playing music in, though. A lot of
parties and the local venues are real easy to book shows in. Plus
a lot of touring acts got through there since it’s kind
of on the way from S.F. to Oregon -- you get to jump on some good
bills.
Tigerarmy.com:
Tell us more about your old band that you’re speaking of
– “Union of the Dead.”
F
Hell: Union was my first band, I played in that for about three
years and we were primarily playing Northern California. We
had started as a hardcore band but could never find a singer so
we ended up playin’ punk rock and roll. It was sweet
‘cause my best friends Gerardo and Cliff were in it and
we learned and accomplished a lot together. The time when
we ended was tough, both those guys were trying to get real jobs
and had no luck with it [in Southern California]. They ran
out of money and had to go back home. Shit happens like that,
and I had this chance so I took it. We're all friends for
life and they were real supportive of me when it came to joining
T.A. I love those guys, definitely wouldn't be here without
them!
Tigerarmy.com:
Nick 13 told me that Tiger Army played one of their first shows
with you guys (UoD) after T.A. returned to gigging with the release
of the first album -- November ’99 I believe it’s
listed as in the site’s Gig Archive…
F
Hell: Yeah it was rad, we set up the show in a local hall
with our friend Pete G., who I met Nick through. The other
band that played was the Whitewall Slicks, another local Chico
band. The show was rad! I think there were about fifty
people there, but they were all T.A. fans so the show went off. I
remember the next week people had been hearing of T.A. from the
Give ‘Em The Boot sampler and were all stoked on
“Nocturnal.” They knew that I knew about the
band, so they'd hit me up about when T.A. was gonna play, and
I was like “They just fuckin’ played here dick, and
I told you to go!” (laughs)
Tigerarmy.com:
What was it like, going from UoD to Tiger Army?
F
Hell: Well, at first it was a big jump for me, joining a band
that I had been a fan of for a long time, and that also had already
established a fan base. It made me become more professional
in my playing, and revise my approach to playing gigs. I
went from playing 4 to 12 shows a month to 30 shows in the 32
days. The physical and mental demands that it takes to complete
a tour are demanding alone, and to have to rock at full potential
day in and day out was definitely something I wasn't ready for
at the time. Also, we always have some kids at shows who
drive up to 8 hours or sometimes even more to come see us and
you don't want to let them down, especially since it could be
the only time that year or maybe ever that they'll be able to
see you, so you don't want to disappoint them.
Tigerarmy.com: Definitely. What's
your drum setup/equipment?
F
Hell: In the last tours I used a pearl 4-piece kit. But I
just got a new 5-piece kit hooked up through Conaway drums. I
love ‘em, they’re custom made to have a big sound! I
use Evans G2 coated heads on the tops, black resonant on the bottoms,
and a clear EMAD head on the kick. I was using Zildjian cymbals
but for the record I'm gonna switch to Paiste. My friend
Todd Hennig (Death By Stereo) let me borrow his cymbals for our
“Incorporeal” video shoot and they sounded amazing. On
cymbals I like ‘em big and loud and I like to use a brass
shell snare for live shows, they cut through more. I also
just switched to Vater hickory sticks -- power 5a. My set
up is a 22x22” kick drum, a 10x13” rack tom and two
floor toms (14x16” & 16x16”). My main snare
is a Pearl Masters brass shell snare (6 1/2” x 14”). For
cymbals, I use a 14” High Hat, two 19” crashes, a
20” crash ride and a 22” ride. This new set up
is booming, I can't wait to go in the studio and then take them
on tour.
Tigerarmy.com: That’s
a lot of stuff (laughs). What are some of your influences
as a player?
F
Hell: Country, rock, and hardcore are my favorites. That’s
what really got me into drumming. I really like the different
dynamics those styles have. A lot of people don't realize
the power that country drumming has, rootsy yet powerful. I
really like the feel of the snare in those styles, too. On stage,
playing live I like watching Josh Freese and Chuck Biscuits. They’re
really animated and stylistic! I hate seeing drummers just
sitting there. I hate hearing an album and liking the guy’s
chops, and then seeing him live and going, “Is this the
same fucking guy? Rock that shit!” (laughs)
Tigerarmy.com:
What's your approach/philosophy when it comes to drumming?
F
Hell: I pretty much just try to make people head bang. I
really like a solid snare. What I mean is something like
AC/DC, where it’s simple but it’s just perfect for
the song. A good drummer plays with the song, and adds texture
where needed. It’s about the song, not about showing
off your skills. I see too many drummers go crazy but they
have no feel going on with the other guys in the band. But
sometimes I just like to break shit! (laughs)
Tigerarmy.com:
I understand that you used your recovery time to kind of study
and learn some new drum stuff, tell us about that.
F
Hell: Yeah, I watched some drumming DVD's -- old jazz stuff with
all the old greats and also listened to a lot of roots music,
and all my psycho albums. Going back from the beginning to
present time to help me understand the progression of it all. Seeing
what had been already done, if it worked or not with what
we do and trying to improve it.
Tigerarmy.com:
Yeah, it’s always good to know the roots. What are
your favorite psychobilly bands?
F
Hell: My tops have to be Nekromantix, Asmodeus, GWC and the DeadBeGonz. I
really like the eerie sound of those bands.
Tigerarmy.com:
What else do you listen to besides psycho?
F
Hell: A lot of straight up rock, old country, rockabilly, bluegrass,
industrial/electronic, metal, hip-hop, and I'm starting to listen
to a lot of Latin stuff. Flamenco, Brazilian, Cuban…
their versions of folk music.
Tigerarmy.com:
What's Tiger Army up to right now?
F
Hell: Rockin’! We’re working on new songs, I'm
really psyched, the new material is my favorite and is coming
along really fast. Now that we've got a practice room we're
really starting to gel, it’s nice to have our own private
rock space. Actually we share it with a friend’s band,
but you know… Everyone’s playing has stepped
it up and after all the crap that’s been going on in our
lives we're all really enjoying the rock.
Tigerarmy.com:
Hell yeah. By the way, what’s the latest on the new
album?
F
Hell: Well, we started practicing again at the end of June, I
think. We’re playing a bunch of new stuff and Nick
keeps bringing the new songs in. We keep learning that stuff
and practicing it, then when we’re ready we’ll book
a date to go in the studio and start trackin’. We’ll
start recording this fall probably and we hope it’ll be
out by spring.
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s awesome. What's Fred Hell into? Any collections? What
do you do in your spare time when you're not touring/practicing/recording
with TA?
F
Hell: Well, when I come off of tour I just want to lie down and
watch T.V. -- The Simpsons, The Family Guy,
the History channel and whatever movie or X-box game I buy on
tour. Right now I've been building my DVD collection and
also been trying to check out more books. I also started
collecting band skateboards, since I can't skateboard anymore. I
have four total, it’s huge! (laughs) I also started
playing guitar ‘cause you can't play drums at 4 in the morning
and like I said I'm really getting into flamenco, so I'd eventually
like to be able to play it someday. I'm also a big Hockey
and soccer fan, my Brazilian team Flamengo is doing shitty right
now, but my New Jersey Devils just won the cup, so it’s
all good.
Tigerarmy.com:
Speaking of Brazil, tell us a little about where you’re
from and where you've lived?
F
Hell: Well I was born in Brazil, moved to Switzerland when I was
4, during that time I also lived in Germany and Italy. I
moved back to Brazil at 11, and finally moved to the states at
12. Been here ever since.
Tigerarmy.com:
Do you speak other languages?
F
Hell: Yeah, I speak Portuguese and French, even though my French
is a little rusty. Forgot my German and Italian, and now
that I live with an Argentinean family I'm learning Spanish.
Tigerarmy.com:
Cool. Now I’m gonna ask you a bunch of random questions
about Tiger Army. What’s your favorite T.A. song, both
as a song and to play live?
F
Hell: Oh, that’s a tough one. Hmmm… (pauses)
“Outlaw Heart,” ‘cause it gives me time to catch
my breath, and I get to sing along with the crowd. And it’s
my favorite song.
Tigerarmy.com:
What's your favorite tour that you've done?
F
Hell: That has to be the Dropkick and Sick of It All tour. It
was super fun, great crowds, and a special time cause it happened
right after the September 11 attacks and everyone was canceling
tours. Everyone decided to go for it anyway and it was great,
‘cause it was what the people needed and everyone was really
unified. Also it was a great learning experience, watching
SOIA prepare everyday like they had done for so many years and
just kill it live was cool as fuck. Plus everyone in both
those bands was super nice and supportive. Definitely the
best overall tour by far.
Tigerarmy.com:
Favorite places to play?
F
Hell: Here at home of course, especially the Glasshouse, the Metro
in Chicago, Club Laga in Pittsburgh, and Philly -- the cheesesteaks
rule! I'd really like to play in Brazil…
Tigearmy.com:
How do you like touring?
F
Hell: I live for touring! Touring rules, that's why I was
so happy to join T.A. You get to check out all the scenes
in different zones and to meet all kinds of people. I've
always been the traveling type growing up worldwide, it’s
in my blood.
Tigerarmy.com:
What's the best thing about being in Tiger Army?
F
Hell: Playing music for a living with a band I believe in. I
love our music and Nick and Geoff have become brothers to me. I’ve
gotten to travel year round and meet some amazing people.
Tigerarmy.com:
Any last words?
F
Hell: I want to thank everyone who's supported me through my tough
times, I wouldn’t have made it without you. And to
never quit! There’s always some one who had it worse
then you. And thanks for reading this!
-fin-
