Dirty Honey Is Moving at the Speed of Sound: Interview

There’s a second in the guitar solo to “Can’t Find the Brakes,” the title monitor off Dirty Honey’s brand-new sophomore album, that epitomizes the younger rockers’ speed-of-sound rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.

You’ll understand it whenever you hear it. John Notto’s guitar goes “ooh—EEE—ooh—EEE—ooh,” a wild fluctuation achieved with the assist (and kit) of producer Nick DiDia, whose in depth recording resume additionally contains Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Notto had passport points that delayed his entry into Australia, the place Dirty Honey recorded Can’t Find the Brakes, and he was beneath the gun to re-record his guitar components.

“We’re sitting there and I was like, ‘What if Angus Young and Tom Morello had a baby?’ And then Nick pulled out that pedal,” Notto tells UCR. “That little part where I use that was the first take, so it’s a little out of tune because I was just going for it. And I wanted to perfect it and really do it, like, in tune or whatever. And Nick wouldn’t let me. He was like, ‘No, that won’t be cool.'”

Dirty Honey would not have time for second-guessing. The Los Angeles quartet — Notto, singer Marc LaBelle, bassist Justin Smolian and drummer Jaydon Bean, who joined the group for Can’t Find the Brakes — has been on a whirlwind-like upward trajectory since changing into the first unsigned band to prime the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart with 2019’s “When I’m Gone,” off their self-titled debut EP. Opening slots for Black Crowes, Guns N’ Roses and Kiss adopted, together with one other self-titled full-length album in 2021.

Listen to Dirty Honey’s ‘Can’t Find the Brakes’

‘Can’t Find the Brakes’ Adds New Shades to Dirty Honey’s Sound

Now they’re getting into their very own as bonafide headliners, filling giant golf equipment and theaters throughout North America on their present trek. On stage and on report, Dirty Honey is increasing the breadth of their songwriting. Can’t Find the Brakes options lots of riff-rockers, similar to the title monitor, lead single “Won’t Take Me Alive” and the slinky “Get a Little High,” however they coexist alongside the acoustic ballad “Coming Home (Ballad of the Shire)” and the expansive, jammy album nearer “Rebel Son.” They’ve added delicate new shades to their sound, however there’s nonetheless no mistaking their classic hard-rock aptitude.

“I was already chirping the whole time, like, ‘We’ve got to really … the old shit’s the old shit!” Notto says. “To me, the EP and the LP were really like one album, because creatively, we were all in the same headspace and the same spot. There was no talk of, ‘How do we go further? How do we expand?’ There was none of that. We were actually very much like, ‘Alright, let’s keep driving this truck down this lane’ kind of thing. And then, for me, once that was over and we were touring on it, I just felt like, ‘I don’t have as many of those riffs in me anymore. I want to go somewhere else.'”

READ MORE: Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey’s Tour Rule: ‘Be Great Every Night’

Dirty Honey decamped to DiDia’s studio in Byron Bay, Australia, to report Can’t Find the Brakes, marking the first time that they had the profit of making an album in particular person fairly than remotely. “We got to spend almost a month over there doing it with Nick,” Smolian tells UCR. “We finally had enough time, because we’ve always been rushed on all the other albums, always like seven to 10 days making them.”

‘It’s Gonna Be Dirty Honey and It’s Gonna Kick Ass’

The bassist echoes Notto’s sentiment about widening the scope of their songwriting on their sophomore album. “Everybody in the band is so talented. We are not just a riff band,” he explains. “We can play funk, we can play R&B, we can play blues, we can play acoustic, bluegrassy stuff, whatever. And we really want people to know that there is a lot more to us than [hums the ‘When I’m Gone’ riff]. … Whatever we do, no matter what style, it’s gonna be Dirty Honey and it’s gonna kick ass.”

Bean additionally makes his presence abundantly clear, not solely via his tight-yet-loose drumming however his vocal harmonies, which add a new layer to the band’s sonic stew. “I don’t know if it was necessarily planned, per se, but I just started throwing them in there, and everyone liked it, so I kept doing it,” he says. “I don’t think we’re necessarily pushing it too far in terms of … doing something in the recording room that we can’t necessarily pull off live, because John takes some harmonies as well. And if there’s a big gang part, Justin hops in on it, too. We didn’t want to go barbershop quartet with it. But, you know, adding a little bit of spice with some thirds and some fifths in there …”

Smolian chimes in: “Definitely makes those choruses hit a little bit harder.”

Watch Dirty Honey’s ‘Won’t Take Me Alive’ Video

Dirty Honey’s Constant Quest for Improvement

Dirty Honey additionally put these vocal harmonies to good use in live performance with a canopy of Van Halen’s “Could This Be Magic?” that proved short-lived. “Marc grew to hate it so much we’re not [doing it] anymore,” Notto laughs. “I think we did it for like the first six shows or something. And now we’re doing a bluegrass, double-time version of ‘Honky Tonk Women,’ which is also going over great.”

It’s only one of the some ways Dirty Honey continues to fine-tune their dwell presentation. Notto, particularly, is blessed and cursed with being a religious tone shaper, in fixed pursuit of the good guitar sound. It’s made him one of the most buzzed-about younger weapons in the rock guitar world, even when it generally comes at the expense of his personal enjoyment.

READ MORE: Watch Dirty Honey Cover Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ for NHL

To illustrate this level, Notto mentions the band’s latest dinner with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. “It was this really impactful thing he said to me. He was just like, ‘My mom used to try to show me off to people and be like, “Tell them what number of hours a day you follow.”‘ And he would be like, ‘Mom, I don’t know. I don’t have an amount. All I know is I just love it so much, I just want to always be doing it.’ … He just kept talking about how much he fell in love with something. And that’s all he could say was his biggest advantage, was that he loved it so much.

“So that basically resonated with me, you recognize, that he was in love with what he did greater than he was conscious of the rest,” Notto continues. “I used to be like, ‘Oh, that is the most superb factor I’ve ever heard.’ It’s fairly rad. So yeah, I hope to dwell that means.”