{"id":8158,"date":"2024-06-28T16:15:42","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8158"},"modified":"2024-06-28T16:15:43","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:15:43","slug":"tracii-guns-i-would-be-really-embarrassed-to-even-think-of-playing-along-to-pre-recorded-tracks-during-live-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8158","title":{"rendered":"TRACII GUNS: ‘I Would Be Really Embarrassed To Even Think Of’ Playing Along To Pre-Recorded Tracks During Live Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SOURCE Blabbermouth.net<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L.A. GUNS<\/strong> guitarist Tracii Guns<\/strong> has weighed in on bands who rely heavily on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse, pre-recorded tracks are becoming increasingly common for touring artists of all levels and genres and they’re not just used in pop music \u2014 many rock artists utilize playback tracks to varying degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn<\/a>, Tracii<\/strong> was asked for his opinion on rock bands who use pre-recorded tracks. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET<\/strong>): “I would be really embarrassed to even think<\/em> of doing that. It’s embarrassing to me. Could you imagine Chuck Berry<\/strong> playing to [pre-recorded guitar] tracks? Or Keith Richards<\/strong>, or anything like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If I was playing in a band playing original music, a rock and roll band, and I was there, and all of a sudden that band I was in was all over the Internet getting fucking mud thrown at ’em [for playing along to tracks], I couldn’t do it,” he continued. “[I would say], ‘Hey, I love you, guys. Thanks for the dough, man.’ But my legacy, I don’t want my legacy to be, like, ‘Yeah, I was the guy playing live in the band that wasn’t. That ain’t cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s been so many claims that like KISS<\/strong> uses tracks,” Tracii<\/strong> added. “Man, I was there [watching them play on the ‘Kiss Kruise’<\/strong>], I was on stage, I was with their techs, man. Those guys lit that place up with no [pre-recorded enhancements]. I don’t know what the fuck people are talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think some bands need it because that’s part of their production on their album,” Guns<\/strong> explained. “They’ll do, like, a three-part vocal harmony [on the album], but there’s only two guys in the band, and [there’ll be] a full orchestra [on the record] and shit like that. So those bands are more geared towards that thing, like they go in going, ‘Okay, this has to be set up like this because we’re doing it this way. And this is how we create this huge sound.’ And if that’s the intent going in, well, then there’s nothing to be ashamed of because then you’re known as ‘we’re an electronic band.’ Like NINE INCH NAILS<\/strong>, for example, or a lot of those first electronic, really heavy bands. What’s an even better one? MINISTRY<\/strong>. They’ve got a lot of electronic music going on, a lot of stuff going on. So when that’s the intention, that’s cool. But Johnny Martin<\/strong> [L.A. GUNS<\/strong> bassist], he ain’t gonna pre-record his bass tracks. We’re not gonna have a click track with L.A. GUNS<\/strong> or anything like that. But everybody’s different. It’s kind of laughable, I guess. But people do what they feel they’ve gotta do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KISS<\/strong> frontman Paul Stanley<\/strong>, who has been struggling to hit the high notes in many of the band’s classic songs for a number of years, has been accused of singing to a backing tape on KISS<\/strong>‘s recently completed “End Of The Road”<\/strong> tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2015, KISS<\/strong> bassist\/vocalist Gene Simmons<\/strong> slammed bands who used backing tapes for not being honest enough to include that fact on their concert tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks,” Simmons<\/strong> said. “It’s like the ingredients in food. If the first ingredient on the label is sugar, that’s at least honest. It should be on every ticket \u2014 you’re paying $100, 30 to 50 percent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they’ll sing sometimes, sometimes they’ll lip sync. At least be honest. It’s not about backing tracks, it’s about dishonesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s nobody with a synthesizer on our stage, there’s no samples on the drums, there’s nothing,” Gene<\/strong> continued. “There’s very few bands who do that now \u2014 AC\/DC<\/strong>, METALLICA<\/strong>, us. I can’t even say that about U2<\/strong> or THE [ROLLING] STONES<\/strong>. There’s very few bands who don’t use [backing] tracks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2023, KISS<\/strong>‘s longtime manager Doc McGhee<\/strong> defended Stanley<\/strong>‘s vocal performance on “End Of The Road”<\/strong>, explaining that the “Star Child” “fully sings to every song” at every concert. He explained: It’s enhanced. It’s just part of the process to make sure that everybody hears the songs the way they should be sang to begin with. Nobody wants to hear people do stuff that’s not real, that’s not what they came to hear.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When McGhee<\/strong> was asked to clarify if he was “actually saying there are backing tracks that [Paul<\/strong> is] singing to,” Doc<\/strong> said: “He’ll sing to tracks. It’s all part of a process. Because everybody wants to hear everybody sing. But he fully sings to every song.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2020, SHINEDOWN<\/strong> guitarist Zach Myers<\/strong> said that “90 percent” of rock artists use at least some pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. He told Rock Feed<\/strong>: “It bothers me that it bothers people. I’m, like, ‘Why does this bother you?’ It’s the way it is. People have been doing this since the ’80s. And we want the sound to be the best it can be. Could we go up there, just the four of us, and put on the best rock show ever? Of course. But that’s not how we wanna do it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former SKID ROW<\/strong> singer Sebastian Bach<\/strong> has previously said that he is “one of the last people” who are still not using pre-recorded tracks at their live shows. “I don’t know how much longer I can say to you that I don’t use tapes onstage, because I don’t, and I never have,” he told Consequence Of Sound<\/strong>. “And I still don’t. When I have opening bands, and they’re using tapes, and then I come out and I don’t use tapes\u2026 sometimes, it makes me feel stupid, because I’m like, ‘What am I doing, when all these kids half my age can come onstage and do all of my moves, but they don’t have to warm up for an hour before the show, or weeks, before the first show?’ Sometimes, I’m like, ‘Why do I even bother, if the public is so used to this other way?’ It’s becoming very rare to come see a good band that’s actually a real band \u2014 that’s not miming or doing silly moves while a tape is running. It just becomes more rare as the years go on.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, IRON MAIDEN<\/strong> guitarist Adrian Smith<\/strong> said that he doesn’t “agree” with certain rock artists relying on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. “I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don’t think it’s a good thing at all,” he told the New York Post<\/strong>. “I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We’ve toured with a couple bands that use tapes \u2014 it’s not real. You’re supposed to play live; it should be live. I don’t agree with using tapes \u2026 I think it’s a real shame.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One musician who has been open about his band’s use of taped vocals during live performances is M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcE<\/strong> bassist Nikki Sixx<\/strong>, who said: “We’ve used technology since ’87.” He added the group employed “sequencers, sub tones, background vox tracks, plus background singers and us. [M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcE<\/strong> also taped] stuff we can’t tour with, like cello parts in ballads, etc…. We love it and don’t hide it. It’s a great tool to fill out the sound.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2014 interview,\u00a0M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcE<\/strong>\u00a0guitarist\u00a0Mick Mars<\/strong>\u00a0admitted that he wasn’t comfortable with the fact that his band used pre-recorded backing vocals in its live shows, claiming that he preferred to watch groups whose performances are delivered entirely live. “I don’t like it,” he said. “I think a band like ours\u2026 I have to say ’60s bands were my favorite \u2014 ’60s and ’70s bands \u2014 because they were real, like, three-piece bands or four-piece bands, and they just got up there and kicked it up. Made a mistake? So what? Sounded a little bit empty here or there? So what? It’s the bigness and the rawness and the people that developed and wrote the songs and made them and presented them. To me, that’s what I really like. I mean, I could put on a\u00a0M\u00d6TLEY<\/strong>\u00a0CD and play with it all day long. I don’t wanna do that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOURCE Blabbermouth.net L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns has weighed in on bands who rely heavily on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse,… Read More »TRACII GUNS: ‘I Would Be Really Embarrassed To Even Think Of’ Playing Along To Pre-Recorded Tracks During Live Shows<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8160,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8158\/revisions\/8160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}