mix it with some Christmas songs. My
Mom told me to make a nice Christmas
record, and I told her, 'Mom I can't make a
nice Christmas record, it has to rock.' So I
sat down, and the first thing I made was
"12 Days Of Christmas." I dropped my
tuning down to a D, and I started playing
these really evil riffs and then I went into
the melody. It was so funny to me when
you mixed the two together. Then I started adding more riffs, and it turned into
what it did. And I really wouldn't have
the time I left the station. So this money is
going to the local food bank, I'm going in
there for free and just giving my time.
And that's why the Christmas thing is a lot
of fun. It's a great thing.
IE: Apart from being a performing artist I
hear you're doing some work with Disney
and ESPN. What is the nature of your
involvement?
GH: With ESPN, I created some tracks
and cues that they use for the games, col-
DECEMBER 3
Black Flag – What The…
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Lou Reed – Playlist: The Very Best of Lou Reed
DECEMBER 10
12•2013
done another Christmas record, I swear to
you, until everybody kept asking me. The
radio stations were requesting it, the fans
were coming up to me and asking me
when is the next one coming out, and I'm
like, 'Next one?' So here it is, I recorded
over 40 Christmas songs, and it's become a
yearly thing for almost 20 years now, if
you can believe it. In 2015, it will be 20
years.
IE: How long before the idea of doing a
Christmas tour come about?
GH: After the first few years, I realized it
became sort of an annual thing, where I'm
expected to come out and do it. So now, I
really couldn't miss a year. I do a lot of
charity events too. I really do a lot of
fundraisers for families, kids, food-toy
drives. For that reason, this morning, I
auctioned myself off on a radio station in
New Hampshire for an hour long guitar
lesson, and it brought in almost $1,100 by
lege football and things like that. So they
really use it for a variety of the sporting
events. And then I worked with Disney
where I scored music for the roller coaster
called California Screamin'. It's a roller
coaster where they put sound in the car,
and it's timed to the track. It's really cool.
The first time Disney did it in Florida with
Aerosmith, and that's when they first got
the idea of putting music to the roller
coaster. My manager got a call one day
about it. They explained to him about this
ride, and they felt that since I scored the
music to The Endless Summer 2 soundtrack, I would be the perfect guy to do it.
I recorded surf music for that soundtrack,
and they wanted someone who would
have a California feel. So that's the story.
It was really incredible to be around
Disney, and see how their team works.
They're really an excellent team. I saw the
blue print of the roller coaster before it
was even built. They let me see the whole
10 illinoisentertainer.com december 2013
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