Ahrue Luster has had a career that spans 1.5 million records sold while playing guitar in two of the most respected metal bands on the planet today: Machine Head and Ill Nino.  Mr. Luster's legendary guitar style is aggressive and heavy, but his influences are pulled not just from the shredding metal legacy, but also from his Latin roots and the love for his family and heritage.  Recently I had the insanely cool honor of sitting down to coffee with Mr. Luster in Denver to discuss his new production company here in Colorado and also Ill Nino's new release Enigma. 

CMB: You are starting a production company here in Colorado, what are the details on that?

AL: Ever since I got into music I always wanted to someday produce bands, because it combines all the things that I really love about music.  I love being creative, I love the creative process.  And at the same time I have always been somebody who enjoys teaching and nurturing other artists� development.  I have produced some stuff for friends and I just started doing it locally with Less Than Under.  It's something that I really enjoy especially when we come up with something that's really cool.  When the people that I'm working with...when they see something in themselves that they have never seen before and then they go to a level that they have never been to before...watching them go through that process is a pretty rewarding thing for me.

Also I have been touring and selling records for the last ten years, and between all the records I have done, I have sold around 1.5 million records worldwide.  And I would like to continue to do it but I know that I also want to be there for my family.  You know I just had a little girl and with the kind of touring schedule that Ill Nino and Machine Head has had over the last ten years, I spend more time on the road than I do at home.  Eventually I want to be on the road less and at home more and I also want to continue doing something on the creative side of music.  I'm not really big into the business side of the music - a lot of it turns me off.  I went through a period where I was just totally disgusted with the music business and didn't want to have anything to do with the business aspect of it, but then I started seeing that there is good in it.  You just gotta find it.  So then I decided to get back into it and be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.  I have worked with four platinum producers over the past decade that I've been making records.  I have butted heads with the producers I have worked with so much that Ross Robinson said, �You know what?  You would make a good producer.�

CMB: So what is your new production company's name?

AL:  Well my grandfather is from the Philippines and when he moved here to the States, his last name was Ilustre, and he changed it to Luster to make it sound more American.  It helped him, because there was a lot more racism back then, but times are a lot different now.  So legally I have changed my name back to Ilustre.  I thought up the name of my production company and it's going to be Illustrious Productions.

CMB: Do you have any plans on opening a studio here in Colorado?

AL:  I have been doing records for a while now and one thing you realize is that it's not necessarily about the gear.  There's these big studios with 96-channel boards that's like a million and half dollars, and after you record the drum tracks the whole rest of the time recording you are only using one channel.  I think it's important to have a good drum room to get good drum tones, but the rest of the record you can do at home.  Like with Less Than Under, I am working in their basement.  So I'm kind of winging it with LTU and using their space as a studio.  Technology has changed so much that the big studio isn't necessary anymore to make a quality sounding recording.  But in about a year me and my wife are going to buy a bigger house and I want some studio space in my basement for the bands I'm working with to go to.  �Okay, so tonight your house, then your house on Wednesday, and then the drummers house on Thursday.� (Laughter.)

CMB: So how do you choose what bands to work with locally?

AL: Well one of the things with a band is they have to have something that is unique about them.  There are a lot of good bands, but many of them are just mimicking other bands or the flavor of the day.  Not to say that I won't work with some of those bands either, but what I am mostly looking for is a band that has something different to offer than everything else out there.  I don't want to add to the unoriginality of the world.

So that's mainly what I look for - something that sets a band apart from the other bands. A lot of people think of music as just notes and time signatures, but when it really comes down to it...I mean the reason I got into music was when I was a teenager.  I was going through a lot of difficult times in my life: I didn't have a stable home, I got arrested, and the one thing that got me through it all was metal music.  It was a lot more than just a series of notes and time signatures to me.  Music is a very spiritual thing to me and I feel like I'm on the other end now where I'm making music and kids are coming up to me all over the world and saying, �I was going through this difficult time in my life and I don't know what I would have done without your music in that difficult time.�  That's the main reason I do it.  Music means more to me than just a business or just a job.  And it means more to me than anything I would want to do for personal gain.  .

CMB:  Would you consider producing bands outside of the heavy genre?

AL: I mean I love metal music.  Metal music more than any other forms of music, there's great bands in all genres of music, but metal just has so much.  And that's what I grew up listening to and that's what I'm good at.  But I do listen to other styles of music.  I listen to jazz.  As long as a band is coming from their soul I enjoy it.  I would consider working with other styles of bands and I guess that would be getting me out of my comfort zone which is also good.  I have an affinity towards metal bands but I would not count out working with other types of bands.

CMB: So what is a session with Ahrue Luster like?  What can bands expect?

AL: Well I like to create an atmosphere that gives them confidence.  When you are confident, that's when you do your best.  I don't want to intimidate them.  I know a lot of times with bands they know that I have done a lot of things, things that they want to do.  I can tell that they are nervous or even not wanna play in front of me.  I don't wanna give off that vibe that I am an iron fist or anything like that.  I try to make it fun but also so that we are getting a lot done too.

A lot of times with unsigned bands, to get the music as good as it needs to sound, they need to get a little tighter.  Because the level of the bands that I work with, they don't know how tight you really need to be to make a good sounding record.  And I know you can fix stuff in Pro Tools.  But instead of having someone record a guitar part and then fixing it in Pro Tools, I will have them go home and practice the part and come back and play it right.  I try and make sure they're comfortable and confident, but at the same time I'm pushing harder than they have ever been pushed.  Sometimes people get discouraged by this, but at the end of the project they will come out a much better musician.  And that's what a producer�s job is.  I try and combine all the best lessons from all the best producers I have worked with like Ross Robinson and Terry Date and Johnny K and Eddie Wohl.  Sitting in a room with them for 8 hours a day for 2 months at a stretch you tend to learn a thing or two.

CMB: For the new Ill Nino album Enigma what were your inspirations and influences for the new songs?

AL: Well this time around we tried to have no boundaries.  We tried not to think, �Oh people aren't gonna like this.�  We just did what everyone was feeling.  Everyone in Ill Nino has such a wide range of musical influences.  Metal is the one form of music that brings us all together, but besides metal, everyone listens to completely different things.  So everyone just brought what they were feeling inside without thinking if it was going to be accepted well.  On the last record, we had Roadrunner saying, �This is where music is going now you gotta get with this.�  So we didn't have anyone telling us that this time.  With this record there was more of a free feeling.  It was also recorded in some place else other than New Jersey.  We were in Southern California.  It was nice out all the time.  That element we were trying to get out of Ill Nino just happened in California.  It was more of that relaxed vibe.  We didn't feel constrained and just did what we wanted to.

With Ill Nino there's just so many different influences that we use.  Of course there's the Latin and metal, but we use a lot of Arabic beats and Indian beats, and reggae tome beats.  Of course I draw a lot of influence from the Bay area metal bands like Testament and Exodus.  So I kind of bring that element.  Laz is into reggae, he loves the East Coast hardcore and punk rock.  Also Me and Laz see eye to eye on jazz, we both love jazz.

CMB: Are there going to be some big Colorado shows to support the new album?

AL: After the European tour, we are pairing up with someone to do an American tour.  I can't really say any names right now but we are talking to some acts that are around the same size we are and putting together some sort of package tour.  There will definitely be a Denver show once we put everything together.

CMB: Anything else you want people to know?

AL: Just that I'm a down-to-Earth person and I don't want people at shows to think that they can't come up and talk to me.  And oh yeah one more thing: You know KBPI?  I have lived in a lot of cities and I go to radio stations all over the country and all over the world.  And here in Denver I really appreciate how much KBPI tries to help the scene.  People don't realize because they live here and don't see what goes on in other cities.  Radio stations in other cities don't get involved with the community like KBPI does - like helping to support the local bands and all the charity work they do.  I met Uncle Nasty and he's still playing Machine Head's From This Day on the radio.  I met with him and went to a couple Horse gigs.  He's an awesome guy.  He's a really genuine person.  He has a lot to do with what they do at KBPI.  You gotta appreciate what they do for the community.  Just how involved that they are and I think it's a really cool thing.  You know if everyone works together, it just makes the scene better.  When one band gets signed in Denver it helps all the other bands.  It sure isn't going to hurt anyone to work together.  Colorado is definitely an up-and-coming scene.   

CMB:  What is the best way for bands to get a hold of you?

AL: My personal MySpace (listed below).  I'm going to build a MySpace for Illustrious Productions when I get a spare minute, but I don't know when that's gonna be (Laughter).

MySpace.com/AhrueLuster