Folk Meets Metal

Given the ever evolving landscape of contemporary music, it was only a matter of time before some visionary artists posed the question, "What happens when folk meets metal?" Los Angeles based folk metal band Los Duggans has set out on a journey to solve this intriguing question. Not since Bob Dylan discovered electricity has there been such a significant study performed on these two seemingly disparate musical worlds.

Los Duggans

Like any good research project, the band has employed both quantitative and qualitative data to test their hypothesis. For starters, they assembled a four-piece band comprised of instrumentation that is equal parts traditional American folk music and contemporary death metal. Dylan Wilkerson a.k.a. "Skillet" (banjo and National guitar) and Pete Sheffer a.k.a. "Whiskey" (gutbucket and harmonica) keep the band instrumentally grounded in its historical roots. Meanwhile brothers Miguel and Adriel Hernandez ("Moose" and "Captain Moonlight", respectively) use their electric guitar and drum playing to give the band its contemporary metal edge.

More than just a curious experiment, however, Los Duggans has fused these genres in a way that transcends derivation and results in a sound that is truly ahead of its time. Vocalists "Skillet" and "Whiskey" cry and moan traditional songs of death, pain, blood, toil, and lost love with the fury of disciples gone astray in a salvation-less world. Songs like Preachin' The Blues, The Cuckoo, Pretty Polly and Country Blues are not played as homages to the past, but are signified as truths of the present. Wilkerson brings his traditional instruments to the 21st century through amplification and the use of subtle guitar effects. Sheffer plays the gutbucket (a one string bass made of a washtub, a pole, and a rope) not with his fingers, but by flogging the rope with a heavy mallet.

The vital urgency of this music is taken to the breaking point vis-à-vis the heartful drum work of "Captain Moonlight", and "Moose's" visionary distorted guitar soundscape: part delta blues, part Hell's Kitchen punk and part Southern California death metal. The songs may be old-time, but rest assured, this is not your great-grandfather's string band. LoveToKnow Guitar sat down with Dylan and Miguel to get the full story behind the fascinating work in progress that is Los Duggans.

Miguel: When we were working at the music store, Dylan and I were just thinking about playing together in some way. At first we were thinking metal, and then we thought punk, and then we thought of all these other crazy ideas, but we never settled on anything. Around the same time, Whiskey brought up the gutbucket idea, and his whole intention was to build a gutbucket, but to have somebody else play it. When we showed up for our first practice in Dylan's basement, I had my guitar, my brother had his drum set, Dylan already had his banjo and resonator, and Whiskey was like "OK, I guess I'll play the gutbucket." We jammed a couple songs, really easy stuff, including Preachin' The Blues. The version you hear is literally the version we played that first night.

Dylan: We looked around the room and there were some diverse backgrounds present. Miguel and Adriel are both, you know, Hispanic guys from East L.A., working class guys, and I’m from the Detroit area, and Whiskey was raised by ministers in the rural south. We all have very different backgrounds, we all like different music. The one thread that really binds it together is the idea of folk music as being an expression of the artistic impulse of the working class. It's the music of the regular people, not the people who are the fancy, concert trained musicians who are incredible- and we have tons of respect for as musicians- it's just a different thing that we are trying to do. We wanted something soulful that reflected being a working class person. Even our name having "los" which is the Spanish article for "the" with an Irish name shows there is a concept behind the band that is to try to make people feel proud to be working class and proud to be a part of the culture of the working class.

Dylan Wilkerson

Dylan: I believe that a lot of the tone comes from the amp, I really do. I think there's not a huge difference between a lot of different guitars, especially when you're playing live and it's loud. I definitely like tube amps. I really like (Vox) AC-30s, and I'd love to have one, but on a budget, we both use (Fender) Hot Rod Deluxes because, for being affordable tube amps, they have a pretty good tone. I do like boutique pedals. I use a delay boost pedal by Tech 21 because the signal that comes from my acoustic National resonator guitar is a low signal, so having a little slap delay with a boost beefs up the signal and makes it sound bigger and louder, and more present in the mix. I also really love Keeley electronics pedals. I have a Keeley Clean Boost pedal called the Katana that I really love.

Miguel: I'm not really a big pedal guy, I don't really use pedals at all. I like pedals and what they can do, but my set up is really very simple. It's a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, like Dylan said, but the speaker that's loaded in my amp is a crisper, louder speaker.

Dylan: It's a Celestion G12. Since he uses it on the dirty channel anyway, he's not really getting the distortion from the speaker; it's just amplifying a distorted tone, so that works well for his tone.

Miguel Hernandez

Miguel: I use a Gibson Flying V. I use the bridge pickup mostly because that is the one that gives you the better distortion. If I want to switch to clean, I'll use the neck pickup, which I set at a lower volume so it fattens up the tone and I get a creamier, smoother sound. I have my bridge pickup set up closer to the strings so the magnet will pick up the signal a lot faster and therefore it will give it a brighter, louder sound.

Dylan: For me, this has been an adventure, really. Playing an amplified banjo and an amplified resonator guitar in a band like ours where we play folk music with a really punk rock, loud, distorted element to it is a challenge. The first big hurdle was that there was constant feedback all the time. The only way I could figure out what to do about it was to stuff the insides of both instruments with rags, that dampen their acoustic tone, but don't really affect the tone from the pickup. It sucks because when you play them acoustically they sound really lame, but it's a sacrifice I made for the band, really, to just say that I'm really committed to playing live with the band. I have other guitars that I keep around the house to noodle with at home.

Dylan: We worked at a guitar store together for years. That was where we met and how we ultimately started the band, which, for a young musician starting off, is actually what I'd recommend that anyone should do. Go get a job at Guitar Center for a while, Sam Ash, or wherever, because you do learn a lot about the equipment and you get a chance to play everything for free.

Miguel: Absolutely, and you get to try it out on a daily basis. Every day you're sitting down and messing around with different guitars, different amps and different pedals.

Dylan: I think that, as a general philosophy about bands and gear, it's important to remember that most gear is a bunch of junk. If something seems gimmicky, in my experience, 90% of the time it is. You can't reinvent the wheel with a lot of this equipment. Get a good tube amp, get a good sounding guitar, get it set up so it plays good and is intonated correctly. Have a good tuner so you stay in tune while you're playing live. Turn up the tube amp a little so it distorts, and you're going to have a good tone if you're trying to play louder rock music.

The final analysis of any band's success must take into account how audiences respond to the music. To put it plainly, in a live setting, Los Duggans kills. The collective result of their sincerity, musicianship and overflowing energy is a truly unforgettable stage act. First time witnesses to the event are instantly converted into fans for life. If you get a chance to catch them live, do yourself a favor and go! Their compelling debut CD Calvary is available from their website, and don't forget to check out their MySpace page for additional information and to hear firsthand what it sounds like when folk meets metal.

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