The SmashUp’s Vin Alfieri Helped Alvin Shred Like Eddie Van Halen

It's been five years since Brooklyn post-hardcore outfit the SmashUp issued their debut LP, 'Being and Becoming,' but on March 16, the long wait for that sophomore set will finally be over for the band's patient fans when 'The Sea and the Serpents Beneath' hits record store shelves. And in those five years, the band has done a stint or two on Warped Tour and, in 2006, shared time on the road with Megadeth and Lamb of God as part of Dave Mustaine's Gigantour.

The SmashUp's members have been busy with other things since coming off tour in late 2007, hence the delay between the first release and this new one. Another reason for the long stretch between LPs? Guitarist Vin Alfieri's day job.

Alfieri writes and records music for use in film. His credits include tracks written for 'Legion,' 'Sorority Row,' 'Miss March,' 'Spring Breakdown,' 'Disaster Movie,' 'Iron Man,' 'Jumper,' 'Meet the Spartans,' 'Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,' 'Ghost Rider,' 'Epic Movie' and 'The Punisher.' But nothing compares to the work he's done for 'Alvin and the Chipmunks.'

"I did all the music for the first film, and we just did the second one," he tells Noisecreep of being part of the band that works on the music for the 'Alvin' flicks. He's even won an American Music Award for the first soundtrack, which has gone platinum. "When you get on some of these film projects, they tend to take over. These movies ... they eat up a year of your life. With the Chipmunks, there's so much music you need to record that doesn't even get used, because they want so many options. So, for that film, I made like seven full-length records during the course of a year. And so few make it."

Alfieri says he also had to be Alvin at one point. For 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel,' he was called into a studio, where he was fitted with a motion tracking suit. He had to play a guitar solo for the beginning of the film, during which Alvin does his best Eddie Van Halen impression.

"I did all of Alvin's guitar moves, but that day I had such a food poisoning from some bad sushi," he says. "I did all that guitar stuff and felt like f---ing hell. I've never vomited so much in my life. It was like an 'Exorcist' movie. I had puke in my beard. It was about an inch deep on the floor ... like a crime scene. In the bathtub, on the mirrors. Everywhere."

It was a long day, but the producers wanted accuracy. So, it took some time to get it just right. "They wanted it to look realistic, and it's like, 'It's a f---ing chipmunk playing guitar.' These things have claws. They don't have f---ing fingers. I really don't think some kid at the movie's going to be like, 'Wait, he's not playing that! I'm not buying that s---!'"