Wayne Kramer has cave-dwelling hermits on his mind. These, according to the legendary MC5 guitarist, are the only people on Earth who aren't familiar with the worldwide popularity of the Guitar Hero franchise. But Kramer is biased; he's become somewhat of an advocate for the game ever since Guitar Hero publishers Activision Blizzard approached him to be part of this year's anticipated release, Guitar Hero World Tour.
It's a match made in heaven for Kramer, who, at 60, is still going strong. Performing live shows and recording music for TV and movies as often as he can, there's no doubt that the plastic Gibson would feel right at home in his hands. That is, if he ever had time to pick it up. At this stage, he's just enjoying the popularity among his younger fans.
"I don't think I've actually ever strapped a Guitar Hero guitar on, but I've been talking to a few of my friends who are in the games, and they all tell me they're always getting their arses kicked by their 6-year-old nephews," Kramer says via phone from Los Angeles. "My nieces and nephews all had the same reaction when I told them: They asked me if they could get a free game. They think I'm all hooked up. I don't even know if I'll be getting a free game, and I'm in it."
Kramer is one of the more established artists to feature in the Guitar Hero games, having started his career in 1967 as a teenager and cofounder of the very loud, very successful Detroit rock act, MC5. After a string of personal problems, the group broke up, leaving Kramer to battle a serious drug addiction for several years before returning to performing in the '90s. Kramer is now recognised by Rolling Stone as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time and will soon have his very own, signature stars-and-stripes Fender, which the guitar company will release in honour of Kramer's career. "I'm so excited to have a model of my own guitar made," he said. "It's a great honour for a kid like me who used to look at catalogues of electric guitars hoping that someday he could own one."
Although guitarists all over the world will soon be able to strap on a Kramer Fender, faux rockers all over the Guitar Hero world will soon get their own piece of Kramer memorabilia, in the form of a brand-spanking-new rerecorded version of the MC5 hit, Kick Out the Jams. Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard announced to eager ears that the long-awaited Guitar Hero World Tour, the seventh game in the popular series, would feature exclusive rerecorded songs by the likes of Motörhead and The Sex Pistols. Kramer joined the lineup of rerecorders after teaming up with original MC5 producer Bruce Botnick as well as friends Jerry Cantrell (of Alice in Chains) and Gilby Clark (formerly of Guns N' Roses) to rerecord Kick Out the Jams. The session fell just short of the 40th anniversary of the track's first studio recording, Kramer wanted to keep its authenticity by including the original vocals recorded by Rob Tyner in 1968.
"I wanted the sound to be really heavy and modern, but I wanted the spirit to be original," Kramer said. "We started brainstorming and we came up with the idea of using Rob's original vocals. We have pretty amazing tools nowadays and so that was possible. I really wanted the guitars on the track to be slamming, and I thought I'd bring in some firepower by bringing Jerry and Gilby in, and the whole thing just came together."
When Activision first approached Kramer, the musician felt thrilled that the video game publisher's music taste ran that deep. "I'm really honoured that they think the music of the MC5 deserves to be with all the other great rock artists in there. I'm really humbled by it. It looks to me like [Guitar Hero World Tour] is a who's who and a cross section of the wide world of rock, and it makes me grateful that other people would be that interested in my songs, and that these songs might mean something to them. But just because people are playing my song on Guitar Hero doesn't make me any cooler. I still have to put my pants one leg at a time."
Musically speaking, a game like Guitar Hero can play a big role in education. Its ability to condense music history into a few hours' worth of songs has seduced many artist, ancient and modern, to lend their talents to the rhythm game. The benefit for them is as much music appreciation as it is millions of people hearing their work. "With a game like Guitar Hero, 'old' bands no longer exist," Kramer said. "Every band that was ever a band is a band right now. For those who are 16 or 17, The Who is a band right now. The Yardbirds are a band right now, Black Sabbath, the MC5, The Rolling Stones--it's all right now, and I think that's a terrific state of affairs."
Kramer believes Guitar Hero sends a positive message to those who play it, and he's got high hopes that it might even inspire one or two people to pick up a real guitar. "Games like Guitar Hero combine art that's been created over the last 40 years with activities that tech-savvy people of today are comfortable with and that they enjoy. I can't see how it won't inspire people to pick up a real guitar. There's got to be some 16-year-old somewhere that gets into the game and thinks 'This is really great.' Inspiring kids to be musical is a great thing; there's no downside to it. The more art that's in people's lives, the richer their lives are."
So what of the prospect of future involvement in Guitar Hero? "I'm certainly not ruling out being part of any future Guitar Hero games. I think it's all such great stuff, and I'm happy to do anything that I can to continue to get music to the people."
Kramer has just completed a score for a documentary film called The Narcotic Farm, which will examine the history of America's attempts to deal with drug addiction. After that, Kramer will begin work on a new TV series for HBO.
1 comment:
I hope it inspires people too. But far too often I see people who would be great and just need that little push to give it ago.
I think it comes back to the fact so many people are afraid to do something like this because of what others will think of them. Or they're afraid to put themselves out there.
Swallow your pride, hold your breath, and do it.
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