By: Matt Warnock
When one hears the words “one-man band,” they often get a comical picture of a cartoon like character dancing around with a bunch of instruments strapped to his back. While this may work for the movies or in TV shows, it is musicians like Claude Hay that take this term and turn it into an art form. Utilizing modern technology such as loop pedals and effects, Hay is able to bring together multiple layers of instruments and sounds into his songs, both in the studio and live, all without hiring a band. He is a DIY musician in the purest sense.
Hay’s unique approach, which also yields a very personalized sound, can be heard on his album Deep Fried Satisfied
Besides being a DIY performer, Hay also builds his own guitars, an example of which can be seen below in his double-neck guitar-bass combo. It is a rare feat these days for a musician to invent and perform on their own, hand-made instruments, Emmett Chapman comes to mind but that’s about it. By building his own guitars, Hay has formed a deep connection with the instruments, allowing him to connect in a way to his music that other players who play store bought instruments can.
Guitar International recently caught up with the talented Australian to talk about his new album, gear and getting out on the road.
Claude Hay Photo: Ben Price
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Matt Warnock: You build your own guitars. Did you build the double-neck bass/guitar on the front cover of your new album, and if so, where did that idea come from and how difficult was it to blend those two instruments into one?
Claude Hay: I first tried to find one, but I couldn’t with a short scale bass on top, so I thought I’d give it a go myself. The idea just came to me when I was jamming around on my 6-string guitar and I thought it would be great to have a bass on top, so you could loop a bass line and switch straight away to the guitar. It saves that time of plugging and unplugging and putting down the guitar when looping.
Then I started to write down ideas for the types of pickups, scale lengths, body designs and so on. I had an old piece of maple lying around in the shed, which was actually an old kitchen bench top. I kept it in there for ages knowing it would make a great guitar body one day. It was a bit of a challenge to build, but it was great fun to do so. I’ve got ideas for a few more now so we’ll see where those lead.
Matt: Besides being blues based, your music has a fingerstyle vibe to it. Being from Australia, were you influenced by Tommy Emmanuel when you were coming up?
Claude Hay: A lot of my early influences were rock players like Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Ritchie Blackmore. All my blues influence came from a movie that Steve Vai did back was in when I was in school, a movie called Crossroads.
Man, that movie changed my life. I learned all my slide licks from that movie. It had players in it like Robert Johnson and Ry Cooder. I still love to listen to the music in that movie today. It still raises the hairs on my arm. The tone and soul that Ry Cooder pulls out from his guitar is just amazing.
Claude Hay Photo: Ben Price
Matt: All of the songs on the record are originals except “We Will Rock You.” Why did you choose to cover this iconic Queen on the album?
Claude Hay: I guess I wanted a song that would suit a lot of vocal harmony and I just dig the song as well. The thing with looping the way I use it, is that it has to stay in one key or chord progression the whole way through, so this song fit nicely.
I wanted something I could turn inside out as well and it just seemed to work for me. I’ve always wanted to do a cover and try to do it in my own way. I’ve tried quite a few others and they just didn’t fit.
Matt: You play slide on the record. Do you use a different guitar for your slide playing, and if so did you build that one as well?
Claude Hay: I used a few things on Deep Fried Satisfied. I used a Maton solid top made here in Australia. Also, a small bodied Taylor to get that tight boxy sound, and my modified sitar, which is like a cross between a baritone guitar and a sitar, another one of my concoctions. When I run through some overdrive, it’s got this really nice bitey twang to it, which I just love.
Matt: On “How Can You Live with Yourself” you have a very distinct distortion sound. How did you get that sound on that tune and was that put in pre or post?
Claude Hay: That definitely comes from my modified sitar. It’s got Emg’s that sing, then I run it through this old fuzz pedal into my 5150 combo. I love that tone. I can’t wait to record more with that.
Matt: You recorded all of the instruments, besides backing vocals, yourself. Why did you choose to go this route rather than work with a band on the record?
Claude Hay: Because I’m a one man band. I wanted to produce an album that sounds like what I do live. It’s pretty much the same thing but with more microphones in the studio to pick up the sound more sonically. Where would we be today without loop pedals?
Matt: When you tour do you hire a band to play drums, bass etc, or do you just pare down the arrangements so that they work in a solo setup?
Claude Hay: All my songs on the album are the same live with just me. I play it all, and they sound exactly the same live as on the album. I’ve built pedals that hit the snare, kick and cymbals and I loop the bass lines and chorus vocal harmonies with a looper.
I do have a lot going on, it looks like I’m tap dancing and playing guitar at the same time, but it’s so much fun. It takes me at least a month to nail a song and get my head around it before I do it live. It’s so nerve racking the first few times I play a new song, if you stuff up one of the parts live it could be disastrous, the timing has to be spot on.
Matt: Any plans to do a U.S. tour in 2011?
Claude Hay: We’re booking a tour now as we speak for August, most likely starting off in Alaska and then heading south, can’t wait to head back over. I had so much fun there last time. It’s always exciting to go somewhere new and America has so much to offer and see. After all, I did write Deep Fried Satisfied mostly in the USA on my last tour there.
