Tony Rombola is one of the most down-to-earth guitarists in the rock scene today, but he admits that he has still been humbled by playing with Another Animal. The side project that includes his Godsmack bandmates (excluding Sully Erna) and Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane has meant playing to crowds that often times aren’t familiar with the quintet. A group that started out as a means to play leftover Godsmack songs evolved into a true labor of love, and Another Animal has indeed earned respect from more than just the usual Godsmack fans.
When
Rombola talked with
Ultimate-Guitar this summer, he was involved in yet another transitional period. While
Another Animal was working hard to get the word about its second single "
Fade Away" (the band’s blog recently mentioned the track wasn’t getting proper backing from its label), the members of
Godsmack had reunited to rehearse for a few upcoming shows. Although the future of
Another Animal was uncertain at the time
Rombola chatted with us, it was obvious that he still hopes that the side project won’t be put on hold indefinitely.
UG: I read in a MySpace blog posted by Shannon Larkin that “Fade Away” was not getting much backing from the label. Can you give us some details on that?
Tony: I actually don’t know much about it. I mean it’s still out there and it’s doing its thing. I’m not sure. But it has to do with getting it on the radio. There is a little bit of a conflict.
On that particular single are you using primarily an acoustic on the intro and lead parts?
Yeah. I use a Gibson J45 throughout that whole part.
Was that song another byproduct of your songwriting with Godsmack?
No, I wrote that one the day after “Broken Again.” We wrote it and the next day I had another acoustic song. Whitfield immediately came up with the melody.
Talk a bit about “Interlude,” which is an amazing instrumental on the album.
That’s a fun thing we did in the studio. We had a little jam for fun, and we put in on there because we thought it was kind of cool!
So that was the product of a jam session?
Yeah. We went in the room and we had an idea in terms of the octave and the melody. We had it kind of worked it. We weren’t going to have drums on it, but Shannon insisted on playing in the same room with us. So it was kind of improv the way the track came out because we played all together in the room. It was pretty spontaneous.
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| "It was fun and fast, but it came out good." |
Do you have acoustic jam sessions as often as you do with your electrics?
Yeah, sometimes. With Lee I would because he always brings an acoustic. But if I’m at home, I play electric. Every Friday night I jam with my buddies. I jam a lot at home, but it’s always on electric.
It does seem like the majority of artists I talk with write most of their rock hits on the acoustic. Would you say that you take the same approach to songwriting?
No, I would say most of my stuff is on electric. I do write acoustically, but the majority is when I’m playing at home with my rig. You get a hooky thing or even an accident can sound cool. I’ll record it, and if I don’t want to work on it right then, I’ll kind of put it away. It’s something to work on later and it might spark a little creativity. A lot of my stuff comes usually accidentally!
With the Another Animal album, did you stick with the same equipment you usually use when recording a Godsmack record?
No, but it was the same vibe. A lot of it was that heavily overdriven approach. I used different guitars. I used McNaughts, which are the guitars that I have been using live. But in the studio it’s Les Pauls. I use others on the heavy parts. We didn’t have a lot of time or money, so I pretty much went in and did a few tracks for each song with the Splawn. I think I did one track with a Diezel. So it was two parts Splawn and one part Diezel! But like I said, we didn’t have a whole lot of time or money.
It sounds like making the album was a labor of love.
Yeah. It really was. We went in there and had fun. It was fun and fast, but it came out good.
Has your studio experience with Another Animal been completely different in comparison with Godsmack?
Yeah, in some ways. Typically Sully produces, so he kind of calls the shots and what he wants to hear. He’ll grab knobs on an amp or experiments with guitars. So he’s pretty involved with the guitars. Whereas with this, I just wanted a real raw, great guitar sound. You know, a humbucker through a killer Marshall-type amp, which is what Splawn is. It’s pretty much a Marshall sound. It’s pretty straightforward. I didn’t really use any effects because I’m not a big effects guy. I was just trying to get the guitar track done so we could get it vocals.
Who took the main production duties on the Another Animal album?
We all did.
Are you currently writing more material for Another Animal? Or do you still have some songs leftover from Godsmack that you could use?
I always write and I’m backlogged! So I have a lot of stuff that’s ready for Godsmack, Another Animal, whatever. I like to always be ready. I never want to take that chance to come up with that riff. So I always have my recorder nearby. I’m always aware of it everyday.
You’re back performing with Godsmack as well. How is it going?
Yeah, we’re in rehearsal right now. We haven’t started yet, so I can’t tell you yet. In a few minutes I can tell you! We’ve rehearsed, but this will be the full production now.
When you’re in a new band it’s a little bit different, you’ve got to win people over again."
Kind of. I don’t know yet. I haven’t been in the room with everyone yet!
Sully did a solo acoustic tour earlier this year. Is that something that the full band might be doing in the future?
Sure. We’ve done it before in Godsmack. I’m sure we’ll do it again. We really had a good time.
I did see a YouTube clip of Another Animal performing one acoustic date and it sounded amazing.
On the tour we work with a lot of radio stations where we’d play acoustic. Whit sounds wonderful, so we would did those when we could.
Given the fact that Godsmack already has such a dedicated fan base, did most of the crowds embrace Another Animal on the tour?
No. It’s different. The shows were short on people. There weren’t a whole lot of people coming out, so we didn’t have the crowds. It wasn’t that vibe like at a Godsmack show. It was still cool, just less people. It had the same feel to it. It was almost like Godsmack when we were starting out. So it almost took me back 10 years! It was kind of neat. It was neat to experience that. The people didn’t know who we were when we first went on tour. When you were in Godsmack, you know there’s a cheering crowd and they’re going to like it. When you’re in a new band, it’s a little bit different. You’ve got to win people over again. It’s definitely a different feeling!
Was it a shot of reality in a way?
No, I’m pretty down to earth! It’s just an experience of reality. I wasn’t surprised.
Will you be writing another album soon with Godsmack?
That’s probably the next step. Right now we’ve got these shows and it’s hard to say when we’ll get together. It will probably be in the next few months. We’ve got songs, but we just have to get everything hashed out and figure out where we really want to go with it.
Will Another Animal be on hiatus for a short period now?
Yeah. Whit can carry the torch on his own. He’s perfectly capable of putting out more stuff and we’d love to tour with him. So he can continue on. It’s kind of a bummer to get him out there and then say, “Well, we’re going to do this Godsmack album now.” It’s like a cycle. You’ve got to write it, record it, put it out, and then you’ve got to tour it. It’s like every 3 years.
Interview by Amy Kelly
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