Brian Fallon
As Brian Fallon’s solo Journey finds him moving into a freer space as a player and writer, we talk putting down the pick, stripping ba ck the rig and leaving comfort zones
It’s fortuitous timing to meet Brian Fallon during our ‘rhythm and lead’ issue, because through Gaslight Anthem, The Horrible Crowes and now his second solo album Sleepwalkers he’s again proved that his willingness to learn from others and question his own approach as a rhythm player and songwriter makes him an inspiring musician to speak to. “When you’re picking up other styles, you’re constantly learning,” he tells us. “I learn tons of John Frusciante’s licks from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I’m never going to play like the Chili Peppers but I might use that if I’ve got a dub beat or reggae thing mixed with a soul thing. You can use those pockets, and I think it’s very wise to learn to play rhythmically because that’s really the thing that everyone is missing now. I would get bummed out when I would go and see people play acoustic and at festivals and it would be this onslaught of guitars. I was like, ‘You’re not separating anything.’ It’s essentially like a stream of chords. And when you’ve got your Marshall turned up to eight… the rhythm guitar could not even be there.”
It’s not long before we see for ourselves how Brian’s realisations are changing what and how he plays with live band The Howling Weather. And it’s clearly taking him to a good place at the show in Bristol tonight; chatting playfully with the crowd, using a stripped-down rig, playing fingerstyle and even performing Gaslight’s modern classic The’59sound on piano. There’s plenty to catch up on…
Have you consciously moved towards playing more fingerstyle?
“Yes, and that took effort. I was playing with a pick for a long time, and then there were things that I couldn’t get out of it. I’ll strum sometimes and I’ll use a pick, if the whole song is strumming I’ll use a pick. But I find as I get older and learn more about the guitar, I really veer away from strumming. I use little half chords and suspension licks and things like that. It comes from the need to accompany myself because I was playing acoustic sets and it’s such a drag when you’re playing an hour and a half show and just strumming all the time. It’s a real drain on the audience – they’re hearing the same frequency over and over again, the same pattern. Then I would go and see other people play and they would have these little fingerstyle things. And I thought, ‘I wonder if I could change it up like that?’ Then I carried it over to the electric.
“The more rhythm you add in your songs, the less you need to play. So I started looking into all the people that were doing that kind of thing, like Mark Knopfler and other fingerstyle guitar players. But I was also looking at players that use picks and adapting that style for fingers. I’ve got to the point where I can do it well. I played a bunch of songs on the record without a pick.”
For a lot of players that initial transition from pick to fingers can be quite daunting and uncomfortable…
“I practise all the time. There’s never a point when I’m not practising. It’s not something where you can just jump in the driver’s seat and be like, ‘Tonight I’m going to play with my fingers,’ because your fingers will be bleeding and you won’t sound good. You’ll hit a chord and it’ll just sound like ‘splat’. You have to really manipulate it. And no one ever notices, I wonder if anyone does – it might only be for me but I put a lot of effort into it. I don’t want to be a lead player, I don’t want to shred and play fast licks. I just want to be the best rhythm section ever.”
That’s something that is noticeable on the album – rhythmically you’re trying new things. Were you consciously taking yourself away from comfort zones and habits?
“Big time because I think I’ve done everything I can do the way I’ve done it for so many years. I had to find something else. And I was so into soul music and R’N’B stuff, I had to add it in, you know? Figure out how to blend it with the punk rock and rock ’n’ roll I grew up on. I know there’s another way to do it. Mark Knopfler was a good guide to me – watching his career. When I first started fingerpicking, the first thing I learned was Don’t think twice It’s alright from Bob Dylan. So I learned that the way that the record is. Because it’s mega fast, Travis-style. But it’s not incredibly difficult if you slow it down to 30bpm. I isolated: my thumb does the three low notes and then my first finger does the third string, my middle finger does the second and my ring finger does the first string. Then my pinky (you’re not supposed to) but I brace it on the guitar. You’re not supposed to do that with proper fingerstyle but that’s too hard. Knopfler does it with three fingers. You just have to slow everything down. If you can learn it slow, the muscle memory will kick in and you can
“there’s never a point when i’m not practising”
use it fast. That’s how you can do Don’t Think twice.
“So I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got this on acoustic, what do I do on the electric?’ And really the main guy is Knopfler. He’s the best at it. He can do those heavy riffs in Money for nothing but he’s got this really cool, pedal steel-style in Sultans of swing and Sofar Away. He’s playing pedal steel licks and it’s great. And that spoke to me: ‘What if I mixed that with what I do?’ You’re playing guitar like an organ now. Now you’re covering both bases. So I picked up Romeo and juliet on the resonator and that pattern. That was hard because it’s got sweeps and stuff in it. But you just isolate everything. Slow slow slow.”
Do rhythms come into the process early with writing now?
“I’ll start with it and once I get a rhythm down I’ll start playing along on the guitar but really, really spare. Maybe just a couple of stabs to get a melody. Then I’ll play on the piano or the organ and the rhythm will dictate the pace of the vocal and that will dictate the pace of the melody. I definitely don’t sit down with a guitar and strum. That happens almost never. It used to happen but not any more because I know it too well. It’s like too much of an old friend.
“On the last record I wrote a lot on the piano, almost all of it. A lot of it on the piano and a lot of it in my head. A couple of things, but not much came from the guitar. I know the guitar really well so it’s tough for me to find new places to go. I have to sort of trick myself. I was never a fan of open tunings, because some people will do that and fumble around. But that’s not my jam.”
You started to play piano last year and you’re playing keys onstage for a few songs now – what prompted you to do that?
“I’ve just always wanted to learn the piano and I’ve seen Bruce [Springsteen] do it solo and I think some of those versions of his songs are the most beautiful versions in the world. I’m a giant Tom Waits fan and a giant Tori Amos fan too. I was 37 and I thought, ‘Man I’ve got to learn how to play this thing.’ And I struggled, I still struggle. I’m big time struggling. I’m playing it every night and I’m hitting bad notes but I’m doing it and I’m letting people see me hit bad notes because I don’t want them to think it’s just that he’s got more talent than me. I don’t have more talent than you, I’m just working. The only thing that might separate me from someone else is that I might be able to focus longer and practise harder. I definitely don’t have the most talent. Kids can do it and I hope that it encourages kids: ‘Well, that guy’s fumbling around, why can’t I do it?’”
Does it affect your perception when you return to the guitar?
“It does make it easier to know where the notes are. My bass player [Nick Salisbury] is insane, the way he plays is so good, and the drummer [Dave Hildago Jr] too. And they’re like, ‘Put the minor third down on the seven’ and I’d be like, ‘What?’ Now I know. They said something to me the other day; ‘Can you flatten the third? ’and I would have