Wiser Time's latest single "XII" is now available at all digital retail outlets visit wisertimemusic.com to hear more
Chuck Hammer's Guitarchitecture Meets Wiser Time
By Deb Devi
How does a Jersey rocker with the kind of huge soulful voice possessed by only a royal few (think Paul Rodgers meets Chris Robinson) wind up creating trippy-yet-hooky, vintage-yet-futuristic, slammin’ rock-and-roll with seminal synth-guitarist Chuck Hammer (Bowie, Lou Reed)?
Not how you might think.
Although Hammer’s roots are in rock, what he wanted from Wiser Time singer and guitarist Carmen Sclafani initially was a bit–unusual.
“I invited Carmen into my studio to cut a couple tracks that required him to–on the spot–invent a vocal language,” Hammer explains. “I wanted something not in English. I wanted a kind of primitive, pre-language vocal. He did such a great job of layering his vocals in a completely invented language that I realized he was someone I wanted to collaborate with further.”
Hammer began expanding the guitar’s vocabulary when he toured with Lou Reed from 1978 to 1980, re-creating string parts from Berlin, Street Hassle and The Bells live with a Roland GR 500 guitar/synthesizer. Back home in NYC, Hammer layered guitar and guitar-synth tracks to create “Guitarchitecture” instrumental works, like his Glacial Guitars album.
These caught David Bowie’s ear, who invited Hammer to record on Scary Monsters. Rolling Stone named him a guitar “pioneer,” in a select group with Robert Fripp and Allan Holdsworth. Today, Hammer is also an Emmy-nominated soundtrack composer for shows including Trauma: Life and Death in the E.R. and The First 48, and has collaborated with avant-garde artists like Laurie Anderson.
Sclafani’s classic-rock band, Wiser Time, had already released three fine albums of ‘70s-influenced rock–There and Back Again, All for One and Beggars and Thieves—when he met Hammer at a jam session. Once Hammer heard Sclafani’s latest songs, the two found common ground in a mutual desire to love and honor the rockness inherent in cranking guitars through vintage tube amps–yet nudge it into the future.
They co-produced Wiser Time’s new EP, XII, which flows without pause from the swirling instrumental “Renaissance” to Sclafani’s righteous rock anthem “Gonna Be Alright.” Former Gov’t Mule/Black Crowes bassist Andy Hess and drummer Steve Decker laid down thick grooves, and keyboardist Rob Clores (Black Crowes, Warren Haynes) added Hammond B-3 organ and bluesy piano. Sclafani’s Wiser Time partner, Jimmy Somma of Sommatone Amplification, contributed blues-rock leads, plus the pick of his sweet boutique amps.
“There’s a real sense of rebirth happening right now that I wanted to express on XII,” Sclafani notes. “We’ve all had to persevere through so much adversity over the last ten years, and I think many people are embracing the idea of ‘moving forward’ in a more positive direction. It’s gonna be alright!”
“I think people can clearly hear my rock ‘n’ roll roots in the flow of my first three albums,” Sclafani adds, “and with XII, Chuck brought Wiser Time’s classic sound into a more modern place with technology and the influence of his creative process. This EP is just a taste of what we've’ve got cooking!”
More tracks are in the works, including some with drummer Billy Martin of Martin, Medeski & Wood. These are some exciting collaborations with the potential to refresh and revitalize the guitar’s role in rock, so Guitar International had a few questions for Hammer and Sclafani.
For the Full interview visit Guitar International
Learn more about writer Deb Devi the author of "The Language of The Blues" Here.
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