An Interview with Guitar Legend Carl Verheyen

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Few have become as well-known or as recognized for their ability on a guitar as Carl Verheyen. Named “one of the top 10 guitar players in the world” by Guitar Magazine, Verheyen is a critically acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, producer and educator. His varied career crosses genres and has lead him to be one of LA’s elite “first call” session players performing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows not including 17 albums and 2 live DVDs of his own.

Carl recently took some time to discuss his life story, career, and his own home studio.

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You grew up in California during some of the greatest decades in recorded music. Where did your passion for music come from?

My earliest influences were surf music. As a kid in California, we had all these local television channels with TV shows of just wave after wave of surfing. I was drawn by the sound of the guitar in all the music on those shows. Then, the Beatles came out and man, it was over.

I lived in a musical household. Both my grandmothers played piano and mom and dad were fans of music. They’d play Brazilian bossa nova, big band music, Sinatra, etc.

So, on my 11th birthday, I begged for a guitar. My grandmother gave me a $30 guitar and I had my first guitar lesson on that same day for $2.50.

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A lot of people know you as the guitarist in Supertramp, but that actually came later in your career. What was your first big opportunity in music and how did it happen?

I was a real self starter; always in bands in high school and after high school. I remember somewhere between 19 and 20 moving to the East Coast following a girlfriend. I attended Berklee College of Music for one year and decided I needed real world music experience and wanted to get back to playing live. I moved back to Newport Beach (Orange County) where there was a thriving music scene with lots of opportunities to play jazz. I could play Stairway to Heaven and Cream and other stuff, but jazz was something I wanted to conquer. I went down the “long dark jazz” highway for about six years playing Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Then, I got a call.

The Orange County Musician’s Union called and asked if I had a Wah Wah pedal. Ofcourse I said yes! They asked if I wanted to join the Union and they could give me my first job for two weeks at Knotts Berry Farm playing with Martin Mull. That later became playing with Elvira and eventually some stuff at Disney with Frankie Avalon.

Those all led to recording sessions in Orange County and I realized I needed to move to the “big pond” in LA and Hollywood. That’s where I landed gigs playing the theme songs for Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, and it all became a lot of studio work over the next 20-25 years.

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Several music publications have named you as one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Your talent provided countless opportunities in both who, what, and where you have performed. What were some of the most exciting moments in your career thus far?

I’m very fortunate, there’s been many. But I actually have to say it was when I joined Supertramp.

There was an audition and they let me know that evening that I got the gig out of 19 other musicians, some of who were my heroes at the time. We had a meeting at Rick Davies’ studio where we divided up who would play what and who would sing each part. I wrote it all out in music notation that night and came to the first day of rehearsals (it was at A&M Studios where Soul Train was recorded). I had it down. I mean we rehearsed it for two weeks and I had it. We wanted it to be perfect. They were of that old British garage band mentality where we’d stop the entire rehearsal because of one small issue with a keyboard.

We moved to Zoetrope Studios – a giant hanger type of studio for lighting rigs and setup – for about four weeks after a week off for them to prepare. We were all preparing to open in Newfoundland for four nights in this giant hockey arena.

So, the first show comes along and I’m supposed to play the opening. It was this B major power chord with massive distortion. These giant lighting trusses with a giant curtain. We count off, curtain opens, the light shines on me and I’m ready…and then nothing. Ha – I’d been used to playing for 40 people – not 25,000! We counted off again and I got it the second time around.

But, there have been a lot of great shows with my band over the years as well – playing for 3,000 people, singing along with a song I wrote in my kitchen. Playing in my band has been some of the most rewarding experiences. Back in September (2024) we went to Geneva, Switzerland and played at CERN celebrating their 70th anniversary for around 8,000 people. Astrophysicists – that was a lot of fun.

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Since the beginning of your career, you’ve worked with a wide variety of technologies and various musical gear. You own countless vintage guitars and amps, and you even have your own signature Kemper library. As technologies come and go, what is the criteria for something to standout for you?

You can really tell the things that are of the moment or of the time. For instance, drum sounds in the 80s. It really dates music. What I try to listen for when acquiring gear is does it have a classic sound? Does it have an organic sound?

There was a period in the 80s where these giant guitar rigs came out because of Andy Summers. I actually talked to him about it. We were listening to chorus, reverb, tremolo, and delay. None of these were based on the basic tone of the instrument. But, it hit me really hard one day around the end of the 80s when I probably had put $50,000 or more in an effects rack. I was just playing my 1961 Fender Stratocaster through a 1964 Fender Reverb amp straight in. It sounded better than all that rack gear and all those pedals I had invested in! So, I started to move away from all that stuff. I still use it for some of the studio work and movie dates – even other peoples’ records – for what they call the “money sounds,” but I always ask: Does the sound hold up year after year?

What are some of your favorite technologies now both in your own performance and recording?

So, I have a little home studio. I don’t make my own records here, but I can mic amps and use my Kemper library. I use the rack mount version of the Kemper that goes through a Neve 5211 mic pre-amp. From there I have a two channel audio interface that goes into Pro Tools.

I also have a pair of the Danley TDH-3’s in my home studio. I notice a richness through those that isn’t present in other studio monitors. I use them for everything – listening, recording, teaching, etc. Those monitors are a very valuable piece of technology.

In addition to my speaker, some of my favorite gear overall includes:

The Telefunken M80 dynamic microphone – great piece of gear.

I have a great example of every guitar – every Les Paul, Strats, Tele, 335s, etc. and I have a lot of great acoustics – Martins, Taylors, Alvarez, etc. I have a signature guitar – the LSL CV Special – I have a couple of those: a maple neck, rosewood neck, and a noiseless one for studio for real high gain and its louder than the entire string section.

I collect things for work and even if I haven’t used it in a year, I’ll keep it because one day I’ll be in the studio making my own records and I’ll think – oh that 100 watt HIWATT amp, I need that for this!

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You recently used Danley’s studio monitors recording your newest album Riverboat Sky and now use them in your own studio. What do you think?

They just sound richer than other speakers. They need more a little bit more power than some monitors but it’s because it’s a bigger box than I was used to. The richness and clarity is there. Most importantly, in playback I hear my tone. These big studios like Sunset Sound, Capitol Studio A or B – they have these beautiful sounding rooms. You wouldn’t hear it until you got there – but now I hear that same quality at home!

What’s next for you in either recording or performance?

This whole year (2024) has been touring for Riverboat Sky. I spent five weeks in Europe, two on the West Coast, festivals, CERN, and a few more shows to round out the year. I plan on working on a new record or possibly considering a live record with my band. It’s just trying to find the right venue and recording. We’re also looking at touring the East Coast where I might use a Danley live rig!  It should be a great year.

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