Taproot’s DeWolf talks Plead The Fifth
Michigan-based hard rock outfit Taproot has returned to the scene with a new record company – Chicago’s Victory Records – and a new CD… Plead The Fifth, but the same mix of heavy riffing and melody that has become the band’s calling card since 2000′s Gift. The band parted ways with major label Atlantic in 2006 and returned to Michigan to regroup and cut an indie release, Our Long Road Home. Now, back on a label, the band is winding down a US tour in the midwest. WTDP? had a chance for a quick Q&A with guitarist Michael DeWolf to talk a little history, the new CD and his gear.
WTDP?: Let’s look back to start. We lost track of the band after Blue Sky Research and just recently tracked down Our Long Road Home which was made after the spilt with Atlantic. What was the process like jumping from Atlantic to a self-release and now to Victory? Seems like three very different circumstances. Is that fair?
Mike: That is true to some degree and yet, we were always just plugging away. The business side is one thing that any band has to deal with, but as far as musically, we just did our thing. The biggest difference now is that with Victory we had strict deadlines… so we had no time to second guess ourselves which I think turned out to be a good thing for Plead The Fifth.
WTDP?: Plead The Fifth sounds like a pretty good marriage between the aggression of Gift and the melodic trends of Blue Sky Research. Was that conscious or just how the process evolved?
Mike: Yeah, it was a conscious decision indeed. Pretty much the only thing we knew starting out on this album was that we wanted to get some of the heavy back. The rest just evolved.
WTDP?: The obvious bridge between Our Long Road Home and Plead The Fifth is producer Tim Patalan. What has in been like working with him now on these last two offerings?
Mike: Tim is awesome. We are very blessed to know him and to have him so close and so willing to help us out. He is a maniac, but aren’t we all?
WTDP?: Should fans reading anything in the title Plead The Fifth? Maybe a certain piece of history the band has decided it is done talking about?
Mike: Not a whole lot behind it honestly. It’s our fifth album, so it’s really just a play on that.
WTDP?: The new record has some bone-crushing material on it… right from the start with the brutal launch into ‘Now Rise’. One of my favorites on the new one is ‘Stolage’, which itself hosts a fair share of thick riffage. What is the story behind that tune?
Mike: Um, I dunno. Steve and I get together to write the initial material. I remember coming over to his place and he had the big riff of the song laid down, but not much more. We just sat down and built around it really. It’s fairly hard to play live… I know that!
WTDP?: What is the chant going on at the beginning of ‘Release Me’? Sounds Native American, but it’s a little hard to tell. What’s the origin story for that song?
Mike: Yeah, that’s Steve’s dad actually. Musically, I took the riffs over to Steve’s house and we built the song. It took quite a while to find the right feel that I was looking for drum-wise, but Steve was patient and found it. Once he nailed the drum part it was like “Ok, this is gonna work”. Vocally, I think Steve just thought it needed that little extra something for those parts.
WTDP?: Are there any other bands out there right now that you guys are digging?
Mike: I know Steve (and now most of us) really dig Emmure. Personally, I listen to a bunch of obscure indie type stuff and pop/dance music. At the moment I’m mostly listening to the albums Blackout and Circus. (ed. note: Oof!)
WTDP?: Switching to gear, I remember hearing that the baritone guitars were coming out the closet for this record. What makes/models were used on the album?
Mike: We recently got hooked up with ESP. Our guitar tech Brian helped us out with that one. They were nice enough to provide us with all the guitars we needed for the road so that’s what we used. I use ESP/LTD Vipers and I love ‘em. I have two white standard scale, and two black baritones. My favorite would be my white ones.
WTDP?: What guitars/amps were used in the studio for the record? How does that contrast with what you have out on the road?
Mike: It’s the same set up pretty much for out on the road and recording. We like to keep it simple… Mesa amps and ESP guitars.
WTDP?: Also, what is your effects set-up these days?
Mike: I have a Rocktron Delay pedal, which I use for pretty much everything, a Rocktron Hush, a Boss Octave pedal, and a Korg tuner. That’s it!
