Playing for acts like Hillary Duff and Vince Neil of Motley Crue, this versatile guitarist clearly has a talent for all tastes of music. Jason Hook has an award winning instrumental CD titled "Safety Dunce" and is currently on tour with Alice Cooper.

September 2008

By: Amanda Waschuk (Calgary Correspondent – Canada)

Playing for acts like Hillary Duff and Vince Neil of Motley Crue, this versatile guitarist clearly has a talent for all tastes of music.  Jason Hook has an award winning instrumental CD titled “Safety Dunce” and is currently on tour with Alice Cooper.

Amanda: You have played guitar for artists like Mandy Moore and Hilary Duff and also for Vince Neil and now Alice Cooper, how do you make the transition?

Hook:  Well you did your homework…It’s tricky actually because those are such different styles of music that you just get in; look around and listen and chameleon your way by adapting to whatever they’re looking for in terms of sounds or guitar style.  And it is tricky to go back and forth with different types of equipment, having to create different guitar sounds, and to behave in a different way, it’s a little difficult to go back and forth.  Then I come back to a rock gig and you have to learn that all over again.  Basically you just get in first and figure it out later.  I’m way more of a rock guy, playing for kids wasn’t exactly my highlight…

Amanda: How did you get involved with Alice Cooper?

Hook:  I have a bunch of friends who play in the group so when they needed a new guy, they just called me up; Eric the drummer and Keri the other guitarist.

Amanda:  Did you play with Keri when you were with Vince Neil because I read that you were both involved with his band?

Hook: Not together but I was in Vince’s band first and when I left to go with Hilary we brought in Keri.

Are there any other artists you would like to collaborate with?

Hook: Yeah, I’ve been dying to get a hold of Eric Singer [as he enters the room], he’s really talented.  I’ve been a long term KISS fan so really anyone from that band… Because Singer is in that band.

Amanda: How long have you been with Alice?

Hook:  I started in May of last year.

Amanda: Alice is on tour with his wife and two daughters, does everyone get along and act like one big family?

Hook: Yes.  They have the back lounge of the bus with a double bed and a TV and a couch so they sort of stay back there.  But we’re all together and cozy on the big bus.

Amanda:  “Along Came a Spider” was released July 2008, have you been seeing much success?

Hook: I think so.  I don’t personally know what the numbers are but I’ve been told it’s one of the better performing records out of the last 5. 

Amanda: And you still have to do the tour for “Along Came a Spider”?

Hook: Yes, typically you line up your tours based on the release of a record but we’re a little bit behind because we didn’t hit Canada last year.  And they had built a new show with all new props and stuff so they wanted to use that new show and still hit Canada.  So in 2009, I’m assuming, they will build a new “Along Came a Spider” show and tour with that.

Amanda: What’s been the most memorable moment on this tour?

Hook:  That I can talk about?  A lot of it just kind of turned into one extended blur, sort of the same thing every night.  What’s trippy is this venue [the Jubilee in Calgary] is the exact same layout as Edmonton.

Amanda: Touring the world with Alice Cooper, where are you most excited to play?

Hook: [Sarcastically] Regina.  I’ve been touring for a few years so many of these places I’m hitting for the third or fourth time.  You don’t really know if it’s going to be special until you’re finished.  But Detroit is good, they have a good rock crowd.  You can always be guaranteed to play a slightly bigger venue with more people.  I look forward to playing LA because we don’t play there too much and I don’t know why.

Amanda: You’re based out of LA.

Hook:  Originally born and raised in Toronto, so I’m Canadian.  I moved to LA in 1994, I live in Studio City.

What are some up and coming bands that we should watch for?

Hook: I like Five Finger Death Punch, a metal band.  I love the Foo Fighters, but they’re not exactly brand new.  I’m deliberately trying to listen to new music, that’s my thing for this year.  Because you know on your iPod you carry all your old stuff like Led Zeppelin, KISS, Cheap Trick, Foreigner and I’m thinking no more, only new music.  Have you heard of Econoline Crush?  They’re opening for us.

Amanda: Alice’s show is very theatrical, do you get into the act as well and take on a persona?

Hook: Not so much a persona but we definitely have to build up some energy because we do have to run around a lot and it is very physical.  Singing, playing and rocking it’s hard to just stand still so I have a red bull and do some push ups.

Is there a pre-show ritual?

Hook: Not really, we just jam a lot of loud music and drink a lot of red bull in the dressing room.

Amanda: What do you love most about performing?

Hook:  Getting paid.  I’ve been doing it for so long where I’ve been hired to play other people’s music.  Playing something that you have created and seeing other people react to it, that’s an achievement and it feels fulfilling.  But to play for different people it more becomes a feeling of being lucky to have a good-paying job doing something you enjoy.

Amanda: Well you have an award-winning instrumental CD right?

Hook: I’m very much into doing my own thing.  All of my passion and interest and love for music goes into my thing.  And I come out on the road so I can finance my own thing.

Amanda: What does your CD sound like?

Hook: It sounds like a million bucks.  It’s instrumental music but it’s not overly self-indulgent like typical guitar instrumental.  I specifically made it very high energy and aggressive and fun.  It’s rock.

Amanda: Can you dish any secrets about Alice, does he have any strange habits?  What about any of the other boys?

Hook:  Many, I have to think of one that won’t get me in trouble.  He likes to eat licorice, loves to play poker.  He has a real passion for horror movies, but like the C&D grade stuff that you’d never hear of, just the worst.  He’ll watch anything that’s a horror movie.  We bought something yesterday called Caw; it was a horror movie about crows.

Amanda: Have you ever met a true rock star?  What made them so?

Hook:  Alice is.  I certainly meet a lot of people that think they’re rock stars.  I think rock star has a lot to do with how household your name is or would be.  It’s sort of open for interpretation.  Modern day rock star just means that people are buying your record, say you get to platinum or get to headline arenas.  If I say Mick Jaggar, that’s a rock star.  But there are a lot of guys who are living the lifestyle and are not known.

Amanda: What has disappointed you about the music industry?

Hook:  I don’t think anything has disappointed me because it’s all there, you just have to find your way to get to the core.  You always hear people saying “music business screwed me over” but it’s that way in any business.  You just have to be able to differentiate between the scumbags and the cool people and stay true to yourself and not behave unethically and you will find the right openings.  Just like in any business, it isn’t going to be great all the time.  The most successful people in the business have had the most incredible lows like Aerosmith broke up and they were all on drugs and booze, KISS had a period in the 80s when they couldn’t sell a record and couldn’t sell a concert ticket.  I think you have to accept that there’s going to be up and downs and therefore nothing has really been a disappointment.  I think I’ve had it pretty lucky.  But I do wish I started younger.  I started playing guitar younger but I had to move to LA to get anything cooking.  I think with Canada it’s a number issue.  There are more people in California then there are in the whole country of Canada.  So if you’re in the industry of trying to get stuff to people, it’s about being where there are more people to keep you alive.

Amanda: What tips can you give beginner guitarists like me?

Hook:  If you really break it down to the bare start, humans are simple: you’ll do something if it’s enjoyable and you’ll avoid something if it’s painful.  One of the mistakes that I see a lot of parents do is buy their kids an acoustic guitar.  Acoustic has its value but an electric is a lot easier to play it’s easier on the fingers, it’s lighter, smaller and the strings aren’t as taut.  Plus you get the cool factor of plugging it into the amp, etc.  I think there’s more there to hook a new player.  The other thing too is when I was learning I had a pitch pipe, which is how I would tune my guitar.  So I was forced to tune based on what my ear was hearing and it really trains you to hear those notes.  And I used to practice a lot to songs I liked and it really helps you to get a sense of timing and hear the beat.

You can check out Jason Hook on his official website at: www.jasonhook.net