Ben Weinman: Actually, I never was into guitar players. When I was starting Dillinger I was listening to a lot of electric stuff like Aphex Twin. On top of that, I never have been one to use a lot of effects on pedals. I rely more on chords and the tones I am playing to recreate random sounding rhythms. I listen to very complex music but don’t use complex gear.
I tune to standard E, which is rare in heavy music. Although that’s the standard for guitar most people don’t hear that with heavy music anymore. Just the fact that I’m not tuning down to something crazy gives us a different sound.
The track “Widower” incorporates lounge music and piano. How did you decide to work those elements in?
On Ire Works we did “Horse Hunter” which I wrote completely on piano. We realized there are a lot of tools to use to write and stretch songs. I wrote that song on my own just tinkering on the piano and it worked its way on the record. A lot of the stuff that’s less typical of the “Dillinger sound” I just worked out on my own. I started to play it to the guys. Greg came in and owned the song.
What about “Gold Teeth On A Bum?” Parts of that song don’t seem all that distanced from pop music.
That’s one of my favorite songs because it’s catchy but it’s by no ways typical. It has one of the hardest riffs on the records. But it is catchy. It’s very special because it captures our ability in our later years to write these types of songs without losing what we’re known for.
Dillinger has broken into some platforms that haven’t been available to underground metal like Fox News and Conan O’Brien’s old show. Is it ever a peculiar feeling to be in front of such a large and different audience when you’ve also played in basements?
We played in a basement not long ago, actually (laughs). It’s always odd but we always felt like we were out of place. We played with punk bands or bands that were preaching more than they were playing music. Before our first album came out, we opened up for Mr. Bungle and those people looked at us like we were playing crazy, loud, annoying music. We’re used to that adversity. It’s important for us to always be taken out of our element. We don’t discriminate.
Wherever we go we just take over. Whether it’s an hour on stage or ten minutes on Fox, it’s our show. We always feel out of place no matter what. It (being on television) makes our parents feel like we are doing something important even if 90 percent of the time they think we’re insane.
