Red Fang’s Aaron Beam Reveals Explains What a ‘Queen Bee’ Riff Is
This week Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Fang, will head off on of the most anticipated metal tours in recent memory. Red Fang bassist/vocalist Aaron Beam admitted that it's a no-brainer for his band to hook up with the trek, telling Noisecreep that "Mastodon is one of those bands that people have been saying we should tour with since the beginning. Their band obviously rules, and I think the people who come to their shows will really get what we are doing. I think this tour could be pretty amazing."
Red Fang have more in common with Mastodon besides being similarly minded doom haulers. The Portland riff merchants' latest album, 2011's 'Murder the Mountains,' was issued on Relapse Records, the label which gave Mastodon their liftoff.
Beam shared a behind-the-scenes story about the song 'Into the Eye,' saying that song felt like it wrote itself. It also contains what he deems a "Queen Bee" riff.
So what exactly is a "Queen Bee" riff? "We have about 300 riffs and bits of songs that have been lying around for quite awhile and were working on taking this really old idea and trying to develop it into a song," Beam said. "It has this amazing riff that we just have not been able to pair with anything else. Nothing else really sounds right with it. 'Into the Eye' was more or less spawned from that one riff, but does not include it, because it didn't really work. So that riff continues to be this sort of elusive "Queen Bee" riff that can generate other riffs and songs, but somehow cannot be contained inside its own song."
Watch 'Wires' From Red Fang
Since his band is about to hit the road with Mastodon, Beam revealed three non-electronic items he is packing in his suitcase to serve him well while away from the comforts of home. They are as follows: Gold Bond medicated powder "because this is a sweaty, sweaty business"; "one of those exercise rubber bands because I like to pretend I am going to work out," which is a noble goal on the road; and "Travel Scrabble for those long, long drives."
Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Fang, tour dates:
Oct. 25 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
Oct. 27 - Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds
Nov. 01 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
Nov. 02 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Nov. 03 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
Nov. 05 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
Nov. 06 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SODO
Nov. 07 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
Nov. 08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
Nov. 09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
Nov. 11 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
Nov. 12 - Milwaukee, WI - Rave Ballroom
Nov. 13 - Sauget, IL - Pop's
Nov. 14 - Kansas City, MO - The Beaumont
Nov. 16 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit
Nov. 17 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room
Nov. 19 - New York City, NY - Terminal 5
Nov. 20 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
Nov. 21 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
Nov. 23 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
Nov. 25 - Toronto, ON - Kool Haus
Nov. 26 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Nov. 27 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Nov. 28 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
Nov. 29 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
Dec. 01 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
More From Noisecreep
