Is it hard to decide what songs to play live?
Well, it’s really hard with all of this material,
and we have so many songs that we sort of
have to play. As much as I enjoy playing on
everything, I kind of get a little tired of it. It
would be fun to do some stuff that we haven’t
done in a long time. I think it would be really
interesting and keep us on our toes, and that
would make for a very interesting DVD as well.
My mix tends to be pretty representative of
the whole sound. I have a nice, full drum mix
and keys in stereo, and vocal and bass up
the middle. I probably have a little more ride
cymbal, hi hat, snare and kick, in the whole
balance of the drums. The guitars I typically
have on the left side, and then I do a short
eight-millisecond delay on the right side, just
so I can get guitar hard left and hard right.
When is Rush going back into the studio?
Well this tour, it really, well… it killed us! We did
120 shows on this tour. The show is over three
hours, and we’re no spring chickens, that’s for
sure. So we decided we would take a year off
and get it out of our systems. Whether Geddy
and I get together sometime in the spring and
do a little bit of casual writing, that’s fine. And
we probably will—we get a little antsy. But I
don’t think we’ll get into anything until the fall,
and whether that’s going to be a new record or
another tour or what exactly, I’m really not sure.
I’m assuming at this point we would be working
on another album.
Any chance of another a solo album for you?
You know, I just did a big renovation in my
studio, and Rich Chycki, who engineered the
last couple of records and DVDs, has moved
in with me so we’re planning on doing a
lot of things. I’d like to do a little bit more
producing, working with some other artists,
Photo Andrew McNaughtan
and I’ve thought about doing another solo
project… that’s definitely along there somewhere on the stovetop. We’ll see.
ALEX LIFESON’S
GEAR BOX
Guitars
1 Gibson Black Les Paul Custom
2 prototype Gibson Les Pauls with Floyd Rose tremolo
3 reissue Gibson Les Pauls (’ 59 Gold top, ’ 58 sunburst,
’ 59 tobacco sunburst) with Fishman piezo system
2 Gibson Howard Roberts with Fishman piezo system (one
Fusion with Tune-O-Matic Bridge)
2 1976 Gibson ES-355s (Alex’s 1976 original
and Alex Lifeson ‘Inspired By’ Model)
1 Garrison OM- 20 Octave Mandolin
3 Martin D12-28 Acoustic Guitars
Amps and cabinets
2 Hughes & Kettner Switchblade 100 Guitar Amp Heads
2 Hughes & Kettner Alex Lifeson Signature Triamp MKII
Guitar Amp Heads
8 Hughes & Kettner 4X12 Guitar Cabinets
Effects and Routing
Furman PL- 8 and PL Plus Power Conditioner
1 Dunlop DCR 1SR rack wah
1 Ernie Ball 250k volume pedal
1 Mesa Boogie 4channel amp switcher
2 Axess Electronics CFX4 Amp Switchers
2 Axess Electronics GRX4 Guitar Router/Switchers
2 Behringer Ultralink MX-662 6 Channel Splitter/Mixers
4 Audio Technica AEW 5200 Guitar Wireless Receivers
3 Fishman Aura Acoustic Guitar Modelers
2 Custom Audio Japan GVCA- 2 Rev. 3 Midi
Programmable Volume Controls
1 TC 1210 Spatial Expander + Stereo Chorus/Flanger
1 Behringer XR4400 Multigate Pro
4 TC Electronics G-Force guitar effects processors
2 Hughes & Kettner Rotospheres
3 Palmer PDI 03 Speaker Simulators
