Found an old interview with Cliff that I thought I'd share it with
everyone here...sorry about any typos...
The High Voltage bass power of AC/DC's
Cliff Williams
Credit: Michael Duclos - from the March 1995 issue of Guitar school
=A0=A0=A0 A hacking cough shoots through the
phone.
"Hang on; I need another cigarette, gotta get get my quota in - been up
15 minutes now and I've only had five so far!" =A0
AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams is calling from the plush Four Seasons
hotel in Los Angeles. His band's been off the road for three years and
out of the studio(with the exception of "Big Gun" from last year's The
Last Action Hero soundtrack) for over four, but Williams and company are
back at work on a new album.
=A0=A0=A0 =A0But don't go running to your local record store just yet;
Williams cautions that the band will serve no song before it's time.
" We haven't put a time frame on this thing," he says, "If the record's
not right, we don't want it out. If we say we're going on tour early
next year, they'll expect us to have the record done - we don't want to
be in that position. When we're done, we're done."
=A0=A0=A0Williams can afford to be patient. His career with AC/DC spans
over two decades, a period in which he has helped influence the band's
sound - and a generation of young low-end rumblers.
"We've had a number of studio engineers tell us about younger bands
looking to get that 'AC/DC' sound," he smiles.
=A0=A0=A0 While a clever engineer may be able to reproduce AC/DC's
sound, only a gifted bassist could come close to duplicating Cliff
Williams' swinging groove. His pumping, swaying bass-lines have
propelled AC/DC's multi-patinum recordings since he joined the band in
1977.
Now, nearly two decades later, Williams' groove and youthful attitude
are stronger than ever.
In the midst of a demanding recording schedule, Williams agreed to sit
down and talk about life in the sudio, life in AC/DC, and his approach
to bass playing in this Guitar School exclusive.
Guitar School: What's a typical AC/DC recording session like?
Cliff Williams: We always record live with the four of us playing and
Brian doing a rough vocal track. We try to get everything in one one
shot, but, of course, overdubs are added later. "Keep it fresh, keep it
fired up!" that's what works best for us. As I'm sure you know, the more
you play a track, =A0the more stale it becomes, and you end up driving
it into the ground. Over the years, we've even used some first takes,
though I can't recall when! (Laughs) It was probably on the Highway to
Hell album, because we were really against time. We basically had to
knock that album out super quick, so I wouldn't be surprised if one or
two of those tracks were first takes.
GS: Isn't Rick Rubin producing the band now?
CW: Yeah, young blood. He's got a slightly different take on things.
He's liked the band for a long time - or so he tells us -(Laughs)- so he
wanted to work with us. He knows the band has it's own sound, and that
we know what we want to hear. He's not trying to make us anything that
we're not, or take us down any side alleys, which is good.
GS: So there won't be any changes in the way the band approaches its
music on this album?
CW: No. Angus and Malcolm write all the material and they've never
tried to vary from what comes natural to them. The word "natural" comes
up a lot with us - if something does't feel natural to us, we don't do
it.The guys are writing the kind of material we've always done, and
we're trying to get it down to plastic to the best of our collective
ability.
GS: How do you approach a new song they've written?
CW: Well, nowadays they have a pretty good idea of what's going on with
a song before the full band gets to it. It's usually developed to the
point where they have a complete demo when they bring it into rehearsal,
which is a really good way to go about things. It's frustrating to get
everyone to interpret a song the way Mal & Angus hear it in their heads,
so they come in with their songs pretty well mapped out these days.
GS: Has that helped speed up the recording process?
CW: Well, we try to go as fast as possible. Fortunately, a lot of the
preliminary "beating heads against the wall" is done by Malcolm and
Angus on their own time, away from the band. Before we get anywhere near
a proper studio, we'll know what we're doing with a specific song. We'll
know it inside and out, so we can play it straight through without
worrying about things like "I don't want to screw up here." That way we
can get the best performance.
GS: Is your playing approach in the studio different from that of your
live act?
CW: It's slightly different. I'm much more precise in the studio. If you
fumble a couple things here and there on stage, well, it's gone and
that's how it goes. But what's goin' down on record will be there for a
long time, so you're a little more careful about what you do in the
studio.
GS: What's it like playing with drummer Phil Rudd again?
CW: Yeah, Phil's back! He was the band's original drummer, but needed
to step out for a number of years for various reasons. Now he's back
with a vengeance, and we're working very well with him. It's great to
have him back - he's always been the right man for the job.
GS: How does Rudd's playing differ from the other drummers that have
been in the band?
CW: Phil always had a natural feel for what this band does. Chris Slade
is a fabulous drummer and Simon Wright is a pretty good drummer, too,
but it just fits like a glove with Phil. You can't really put your
finger on it - it's just a feel.
=A0=A0=A0Actually, he was in the band before me. When I joined it was
already an up-and-running thing, but he and I clicked immediately. Well,
I guess I did - I am still here. (laughs)
GS: How did you join AC/DC?
CW: I auditioned. The band was looking to strengthen up their rhythm
section, so they came up to London where there was a larger pool of
players. They had a few records out at that point, were successful in
Australia and toured Europe once or twice, but hadn't been to the States
yet. They were looking to tour the States behind the Let There Be Rock
album. Anyway, I got a call from a friend of a friend who thought I
might be right for the job, and I ended up auditioning a number of
times.
GS: AC/DC has such a distinctive rocking-swing feel. What music
influenced your playing?
CW: For me it was old Stones, the Beatles, Kinks and some blues stuff.
England didn't get much of the blues music that was available here in
the States. There wasn't really a market for it over there, so I think
people were pretty ignorant of it. Some stuff would slide through, Like
Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, who'd we all listen to.
GS: How did you learn to play?
CW: I'd sit around listening to records and picking out notes.
GS: What attracted you to the bass?
CW: When I was 13 years old almost everybody I knew was forming a band -
this was in the early 1960's and rock was just breaking out. A couple a
guys I knocked around with started a band and it was like, "You do this,
you do this and I'll do that." (Laughs) Then, when I was 16, a local
guy, was a professional bass player, showed me a few riffs, but that's
about as far as my formal training went. Playing with AC/DC over the
years has been invaluable to me. It's just a tremendous band to play
with - completely solid, great in every respect.
GS: What kind of influence has Angus Young had on you?
CW: To keep out of his way when he's running around! (laughs) The
attitude he has towards everything he does is just tremendous - he's a
powerhouse! I don't know if it's rubbed off on me or not, but I'm sort
of in awe of it, I guess. (laughs) And he's turned me on to a lot of
good music.
GS: Any mishaps or collisions with Angus on stage?
CW: No, though there have been some close calls. Once we were opening
for Blue Oyster Cult at Red Rocks near Denver - which is going back
sometime. They would only let us have four white lights for our show, so
the stage was very dark and I remember Angus coming very close to the
edge.
GS:What are some of your favorite AC/DC tracks?
CW: Let There Be Rock, Live Wire, Gimmie a Bullet, Gone Shootin' and
Down Payment Blues.
GS: The last three songs you mentioned are all from Powerage. Do you
long for the old days?
CW: Well, you asked me and I told you. Actually, it was all new to me at
that point - Powerage was my first album with the band. To be honest,
we've done so much that I can hardly remember some of it without having
a song list in front of me. There's a lot of tracks! One old song,
called "What's next to the Moon" came up the other day when we were
kicking around in the studio. We hadn't played it in years. I'd
completely forgotten about it.
GS: Do you have any special remembrances, or recollections, of recording
Powerage?
CW: Well, we were all there.
GS: What bands or bass players are you drawn to these days?
CW: I don't listen to any. (Laughs) Some of it goes over my head - I
don't really get it. Actually, I saw the first video by Green Day and
really dug it because it reminded me of the Who when they were first
starting up. But as far as bass players go, I just don't know who they
are.
GS: Have you heard anything by Les Claypool?
CW: Who?
GS: Primus?
CW: No.
GS: Tapping?
CW: Oh, is that what it is? I mean, it's very good technically - just
not my cup of tea. Doesn't move me.
GS: Do you ever take solos?
CW: Do I solo? Noooo! Maybe if Mal and Ang's amp's blew up and the
drummer fell over! And it would be a sorry state, let me tell ya.
(laughs) No, I sound a lot better with the rest of the band.
GS: Do you play five-string bass at all?
CW: I've got one. It's a Music Man five-string and it stays at home.
(laughs)
I get lost on it. It's natural for me to go for my bottom E, and when
it's not a bottom E, it can throw you a curve ball. I use it for fun at
home n my little room or when local musicians come by to play.
GS: Do you get to play much when off the road?
CW: I sit in with friends who have an r&b band called The Juice. I do it
when they let me - It's great!
**********************************************
"The main thing about it is to give rock music a real kick
in the gut, ya know?" - Bon Scott
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