Aaron North is a very busy musician. He's recently come off a seemingly endless Nine Inch Nails tour, worked on the forthcoming DVD of that same tour, and manages to co-author a notorious, gossipy website, www.buddyhead.com. If that weren't enough, there's Buddyhead Records, with six bands on the roster including The PoPo, The Cassettes, and modwheelmood. Forget about sleep, is there time for North to breathe? Gearwire's Joe Wallace caught up with North during the Nine Inch Nails post-tour decompression period. (photo courtesy mp3.com)

GW: "For starters, tell us what you are currently doing, projects you are excited about, that sort of "where ya been?" stuff."

Aaron North: "Mmmmmkkkkkkk. . . For the most part, just layin' low after being out on tour for almost 2 years. The "decompression" stage is always torturous, but coupled with me being sued by ambulance chasers who claim I "attacked" them and think I'm rich, doesn't make for a comfy vacation vibe. I guess I shouldn't be discussing the legal stuff, but it's all over the internet already anyway, so whatever. Also just recently finished some mixing of a live Nine Inch Nails DVD that should be coming out early next year, and I think the only other kind of experience it could be relatable to would be scratching your eyes out with dull forks. The last thing anybody wants to do after touring forever is spend even more time working on songs you've played every night for as long as you can (or can't) remember. But, it's in the can now, and looks and sounds great. Rob Sheridan did an incredible job with the video."

"I think even longtime 'Nails fans will be surprised at some of the newer approaches to some of the older material. Other than that. . . in NIN-land, things are decidedly quiet for awhile. Everybody needs time away from that entity to gain some sort of fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm. I guess that's a fancy way of saying that we're all REALLY weird people, and if we don't spend time apart from each other, we will all kill each other and anybody else who happens to be standing in the crossfire. Har."

GW: "What are you working on, outside NIN?"

North: "I've been doing a lot of what I've always done for the last eight years. . . lots of Buddyhead stuff. Signed a couple new bands I'm really excited about. One is called The Cassettes and has a kinda folky- vaudeville-steampunk vibe. The other band is called The PoPo, and is kinda like Wu Tang meets Wire. No shit. Other than that, I've been workin' on some of my own music, and eating lots of Mexican food."

GW: "What kind of gear are you currently using in the studio or on stage that you are excited about? What gets you worked up in the gear department?"

North: "Hmmmm. . . what gets me worked up? I dunno. . . I'm probably one of the last guys you should be asking this question actually. . . I'm always the guy who lets a few other people be the guinea pigs first, so I don't hafta deal with the headaches of software quirks or glitches or whatever. From a guitar player's standpoint, my take on it is, you can only achieve perfection once. There's no such thing as "perfect and a half".

There's a reason a Fender Strat built in 2006, is nearly identical to one that was built decades ago. . . or why people try to make them as close to the older versions as possible. There's a reason a Fender Twin Reverb amp is still basically the same thing. Sure there's newer versions with newer features, but those "in the know" are always gonna buy the old ones, or re-issues of the old ones. Dorkus Malorkuses everywhere can program software all day in some lab somewhere trying to clone some tone Hendrix had on his first record, but at the end of the day, nothing beats diming an old tube amp, and PUSHING AIR. That's it."

The Guitar/Computer Connection?

North:"Some kid somewhere wants to know why he can't make his guitar feedback like Cobain or Townshend or whoever by plugging his guitar into his computer. Well. . . you can't feedback through yer f*#%'in computer. Not the way they did. You can sit there and chug away on Pantera riffs with a super tight sounding metal tone, but there's only one way Jimi could make the sound of his guitar lighting on fire, and then smashing it to pieces, and that's DOING IT. As far as studio stuff I AM stoked about, hmmmmm. . . I dunno how "new" or "cutting edge" it is, but the Sound Toys plug-ins are RAD. Super psyched on the one called "Speed". If you've recorded a drum take that you just wanna slow down or speed up a hair, or even more so, you just turn that big knob, and it doesn't f*&# with the pitch of the drums or anything at all. . . good stuff. Some of their other plug-ins are shit-hot as well."

GW: "Are you into guitar mods, DIY work, or customization?"

North: "I've been doing all sorts of stuff for years. Mainly learning in a trial by error sort of way on low budget tours, where I had to figure out how to fix my gear myself, otherwise I wouldn't be playing that night. Simple things slowly occurred to me that can go a long way. Forget about all the crazy, technical bullshit, it's the simple stuff that makes the biggest difference for "first timers" or kids who are starting to gig and tour for the first time. For example, I had to learn the hard way that "strap locks" are bullshit. You spend 20 bucks or whatever on these things, turn into yer buddy onstage, knock the tip off the thing, the spring flies out, and now yer standing there lookin' like a total d**che with yer guitar at yer ankles."

Guitar Mod. . . For 12 Cents

"Guitar Center doesn't want you to know that you can walk down to the hardware store, and for 12 cents, buy 2 washers you can put between the strap and screw, and that shit ain't comin' off for World War Three. I've also been buying certain old cheapo guitars for years, just for the pickups which are super hot and unique sounding, and then installing them in various Fender or Gibson guitars. Been doing it for years. Most guitars are designed tonally in a very safe way for people with very conservative and bland sonic palettes. Well, guess what? I have no desire to sound like Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughn, so why would I let some geek at some guitar factory somewhere decide for me that that's the way I should sound too? I could tell ya all the specifics, but that would ruin the fun and 'mystique,' wouldn't it?"

GW: "When you work with Trent Reznor, how do you get your tracks recorded? Are you working together in the studio, or do you take any sort of Mike Patton "Peeping Tom" approach where you are sending media back and forth remotely?"

North: "Well, speaking of "mystique", that's a subject we could really get into, but is more fun to let people's imaginations go wild thinking about. I will say this much; watching Trent work is a sight to be seen. Homeboy goes about the creative and recording process in a way which I've never experienced before."

In The Studio With Reznor

"Its inspiring and perplexing at the same time. I've never encountered a musician who is as technically savvy as this dude. Most "artists" have an approach where they feel like it should be somebody else's job to interpret their vision, and capture it in a recording. They are hesitant, or even incapable of getting their hands dirty and doing it themselves. For myself, coming from a punk background where everything was about DIY. . . doing it yourself. . . booking your own tours, putting out your own records, etc, etc, Trent's approach and work ethic echoes those same ethos to an extreme measure in the recording process. He has a sound he wishes to achieve in his head, and knows exactly how to achieve it, and isn't going to sit around and wait for somebody else to hold his hand or do it for him."

"It can be an intimidating situation, but it's pulled things out of me on a few occasions that I can't say would have surfaced otherwise. Whether or not they ultimately end up on the cutting room floor remains to be seen. There are dozens and dozens of pieces of music from "The Fragile" album, and even "With Teeth" that nobody has ever heard that personally is some of my favorite stuff he's ever done, but was never released for one reason or another. So, we'll see. I can guarantee the new album will venture into the unexpected though. . . that's for sure."