By Jeb Wright
Transcribed by Eric Sandberg

Drew Hagar plays guitar, writes songs and sings with Trevor Church and drummer Andrew Alejandro Saldate IV in a new band called Hagen Alter. You likely have not heard of them. In fact, this information may lead you to say nothing more than “Good for him” and be tempted to go about your way. And…you could do just that. I think you’d be making a mistake, though as Hagen Alter, is a very interesting band…with a classic rock legacy.  

Classic rock fans may be aware of a band called Montrose that had two other guys named “Church” and “Hagar” in it well. This is no coincidence. Drew Hagar’s dad is Sammy Hagar and Trevor’s is Bill Church.

Before you get too damn excited for the next coming of classic rock you need to know these boys are not riding on their pop’s coattails. Their band is not attempting to recapture their father’s glory days. Instead they are having a blast pumping out hard rocking garage rock/punk mixed with a modern edge. It is rhythm heavy with a retro 1960’s GOGO dancer beat to it.

In this interview Drew sits down with Classic Rock Revisited and talks about the first song released to the streaming services titled “Mourning Ritual.” You can watch the video below!

The completed entire album is a few months away…but this first song has a vibe that is kinda neat-o cool. Sure, they could have just redone Montrose but they believe in being true to their creativity. That said…Drew is not opposed to a Garage Rock version of one of Sammy’s classics as you will read below.

Read on Drew Hagar talks about being the song of a rock star and making his music. We also discuss how Sammy feels about his tunes and some of his other Next Generation rock star kids friends.

Enjoy!  

Jeb: So I had heard the rough demo mix of the new song "Mourning Ritual" and now I just got the new version with the drums and it sounds amazing.

DH: The first recording was a demo with a rough sketch of the drum. I had my buddy, Andy (Andrew Alejandro Saldate IV) come in and track live drums for it and it sounds a million times better.

Jeb: We just posted a teaser for the video the other day. When will the full video come out?

DH: The song is going to be dropping on all the streaming services and music platforms this Friday, May 4th and the video will be out May 8th.

Jeb: The song is "Mourning Ritual" as opposed to "Morning Ritual". That evokes sadness.

DH: I wrote this song based on my experience working in the corporate world for a couple of years during college and significantly more after college. The lyrics are about having to wake up every day and go to the same frick'n, soul-crushing job, that they hate.

It's inspired by the need for coffee or some other stimulant to get through the day and pick you up. That's everyone's morning ritual. When I woke up every day in that world I felt like I was mourning and lamenting my life. That's where the title comes from.

Jeb: People who know you from things we've had posted on Classic Rock Revisited.com have only heard acoustic stuff. This song is definitely not Drew's acoustic guitar coffee shop music.

DH: Exactly! I grew up listening to a lot of heavy music, Punk, Rock and Roll, Industrial and stuff like that. I was really big into Hardcore all through high school and a little into college. Even before I started playing music I always wanted to make a Garage Punk album.

When I was doing my music project, Appalachian Murder Bunnies, which was a folk duet, we joked about putting out an EP of folkier stuff and then surprising everybody by following it up with a full-length that was Garage Rock, like The Hives. Something loud, abrasive and in your face.

When that project died down I went through a lot of soul-searching, sadness and heartbreak and I started writing stuff that was more punk influenced and a little heavier. I had this vision in my head of a Garage/Folk hybrid. I was never really able to nail down the sound I was going for.

One of my good, old friends and the son of one of my dad's former bandmates, Bill "The Electric" Church (former bassist with Van Morrison and Montrose) is Trevor William Church, who is a badass underground Metal guitar god. He plays in the bands, Beastmaker and Haunt.

We had worked together previously with this thing my brother tried to put together called Fight Club which was kind of a disaster and never went anywhere. Trevor and I have always maintained our friendship and he told me, "Whenever you want to do something heavy, lemme know".

He's got a studio in his garage that's got that lo-fi authenticity I was looking for. So I wrote this song, "Mourning Ritual" and hit him up. In about six hours, bell to bell, we got the thing recorded. Everybody who heard it said, "What the f#ck is this?! This is Rad!" Were gettin' back in there to record a full-length in July.

Jeb: So you’re doing it old school, and make a real album, huh?

DH: I don't know if we're going to do the full-length right out of the gate, but there are a shit ton of songs that I've written in this vein that I think are all of a pretty high quality, but we might just pick the best six and put an EP out. My goal i the fall is to tour around and play some shows as a band in this style and gain a little momentum and then maybe put out a full-length next year.

Jeb: So this isn't just a one-off thing, because you know people are going to say, "We've got a Hagar and a Church making a song together"!

DH: There is a lot more on the way. We've already talked about this. We've been jamming on the songs with Trevor's best friend, Andrew (Juan Bonham) Saldate IV, who is a producer and the badass drummer for Beastmaker. I would look to add a bass player so Trevor can play lead guitar, he's a fantastic guitar player, but yeah, that's the goal, to get out there and play, get some momentum going and have a bit of fun.

Jeb: Sammy has known Bill forever, so did you know Trevor your whole life, or did you meet him later?

DH: Trevor's a little older than me, so I've known him since I was a fetus [laughter]. But we didn't really start hanging out and become friends until about 2012, when I worked with my brother on the Fight Club project. I was writing songs with my brother and playing rhythm guitar and Trevor was on bass. Trevor is a million times better on guitar so I was like, "I don't know what I'm doing here!"

It was cool but I knew it was doomed from the start. My brother's heart was in the right place but the execution was just a little all over the place and we never really ended up going anywhere with it.

Like I said, ever since then, Trevor and I have been talking about doing stuff together and everything timed out perfectly for this to happen. He's on the road right now and when he gets back we're going to get in the studio and do it.

Jeb: So the name of the band is Hagen Alter?

DH: That was actually Andy, the drummer, who came up with that off the cuff. He came up with the idea for the video and the name right after hearing the song. It's like a play on 'pagan altar' because we're all a little bit into the occult. It's a ritualistic altar, but at the same time, it's an alter-ego. And since I've been doing all this Folk music, it's like this is my alter-ego where I let my balls hang out a play some Rock and Roll.

A lot of people are saying it's a silly name, but we're playing ‘60s-‘70s Psychedelic Garage Rock here. I think it's perfect. I think it's hilarious.

Jeb: When you listen to the song it's got a modern sound, but at the same time, it's definitely retro. The drums have kind of a Nancy Sinatra vibe.

DH: We were definitely going for a retro vibe.

Jeb: Did you use vintage instruments or did you utilize studio technology to get that sound?

DH: Not super-vintage. The guitar on that is either my Taylor acoustic through a dirty Fender amp for the rhythm track or my Fender Jaguar, playing through Trevor’s Hovercraft, which is a great sounding guitar amp which sounds so nasty, really big or full. Then we played my Rickenbacker bass through there and Andrew played on his vintage drum kit. It's all live, real instruments. It's not like we played around with any computers. It sounds pretty much how it sounds.

Jeb: Your old man's not famous for that kind of music, so where does that influence come from?

DH: Like I said, I always loved that style of music growing up. I wasn't a skater, but I hung around with a lot of skate punk kids and we sat around listening to Punk and all kinds of random shit, smokin' weed in the garage. You know, just teenage stuff.  

I remember in the early 2000s there was a Garage Rock revival and I started getting really into that style of music. That started me listening to some of the older Garage bands like Thee Headcoats. When The Hives came onto the scene, I was really into them, even though they kinda went commercial. I saw them live and, to this day, they're one of the best live bands I've ever seen. They just capture so much f#ckin' energy and are so much fun.

Jeb: Even though I'm a rock guy, I grew up liking a lot of Punk, I was into The Clash, the Pistols and even The Dead Kennedys. It's definitely energy music.

DH: The Dead Kennedys are one of my biggest influences. I grew up listening to that a lot and, although Jello Biafra is said to be kind of a tremendous asshole. I respect his music and his lyrics and the whole movement he was trying to create. He was always outspoken politically and was never shy about getting into an argument, a legendary contrarian. Obviously I like Iggy & The Stooges, especially Raw Power. When I heard that I was like, "Holy F#ck!"

Jeb: I've been fortunate enough to interview him a couple of times and you you just wanna go, "Dude!" (laughter)

DH: He's incredibly intelligent.

Jeb: Extremely. When he talks about his roots, he tells me stories about things like the first time he saw The Doors, before they were famous.

DH: That's so crazy. A different time.

Jeb: Is there a Doors influence in your stuff? There are no keyboards but it definitely has that attitude.

DH: Actually, on some of the new tracks I'm demoing I've added some vintage sounding keys in there to see how it sounds because I f#ckin love The Doors and I love vintage psychedelic music and Psyche Rock. I love how we are currently experiencing a huge movement toward Psyche Rock again, with bands like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are f#ckin' blowin' up and Thee Oh Sees are getting really popular. There's a lot of really good Psyche bands out there. Tame Impala is another one.

Jeb: You'll have to text me some because I'm too old to know who they are!

DH: A name like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is a little hard to forget!

Jeb: Good point. Now when you get this out will it be on Spotify? People won't have to search at all for it?

DH: The only difficult thing is going to be the name. I haven't done any search engine optimization on it. I did Google it and the only thing that came up was a park in Germany called the Altar Hagen.

Jeb: You gotta play there!

DH: I would love to, man! I might be heading out to Germany and June. I'll have to scope it out.

Jeb: I've got to point out the obvious: you've been on the road with your dad, playing all your acoustic type stuff...this would have been a lot cooler!

DH: Tell me about it. All roads lead to now. I wasn't writing a lot of that style of music and the stuff I was writing, that was fresh, was difficult to play solo. I heard it in my head a certain way, so the songs I did choose to play solo were more in a Neil Young, singer/songwriter style.

I listen to a lot of different stuff, as does everybody these days, any kind of genre. And I agree, it seems kind of silly touring with my dad, singing that singer/songwriter Folk shit, and now, who knows who I'm going to be touring and playing with, playing real Rock.

Jeb: So you've got an album's worth of material in the same vein, so what do you call this? Modern Retro?

DH: I call it Gonzo Garage Rock. Fly by the seat of your pants, drug addled...some people say it sounds like Queens of the Stone Age, so it's kind of Desert Noirish? I don't know. I just call it Garage Rock because that's what it is. We practiced it in a garage, we recorded it in a garage, it's f#ckin' real fuzzed out and retro, that's pretty much what it is. I just love the word, "gonzo", one, because I'm a weirdo and two, because I love Hunter S. Thompson.

Jeb: Have Sammy or Bill heard any of this? Did you get any feedback from the old pros?

DH: I'm not sure about Bill, though I think he'd really love it because the bass is so wicked, but my dad loves it. When I wrote it and played it for him on an acoustic, he said, "That's not the most provocative song you've written but it's the best and coolest song you've written. I was like, "Thank you, dad."

Then I did a demo of it with an acoustic, run through a vintage Fender amp, and with a little freak sauce put on the vocal, a little reverb and delay to make it sound all psyched out and my dad f#ckin' loved that. He said, "You've gotta make a whole album that sounds like that!"

And I said, Yeah, "I'm going to see my boy, Trevor and we're gonna f#ckin' do this do this and it's gonna sound rad". Then I sent him the first mix and he said, "Holy F#ck, dude, where did this come from? First off, and second off, you gotta make more of this sh*t!" So, my dad loves it and I'm sure Bill would love it.

Jeb: Are you nervous taking something you created to your Hall of Fame, multi-platinum recording artist dad, or is he just dad?

DH: I have a really high standard for myself in general so I never want to do anything that's gonna suck. I don't send anybody songs I've written unless it's one of my better songs. I have to say, my dad is as objective as he can possibly be as a father.

Part of him will always be, "I really like this because he's my son", but he also gives real feedback. He'll tell me when he thinks something isn't great or it's undercooked. He's always so busy, I don't know when I'm gonna hear back from him but I always look forward to it because he gives me great advice.

There was a song I wrote a little while back called, "Dirty Feet", that might come out later with the Folk project stuff, because I'm still going to release that kind of music under a different name, and he told me, "It sounds cool, but it sounds like a lot of your other songs. You should make it have a Reggae vibe".

I said, "What the F#ck are you talking about?" Then I messed around with it and I thought, "Holy shit, he's f#ckin'right! Where did that come from?" He's very objective and he has a really good set of ears and, when he puts on the producer's hat, he says some very interesting and on the mic things.

Jeb: If there are some slow people out there, who have gotten this far and haven't realized it yet; your dad is Sammy Hagar.

DH: Son of Sam.

Jeb: Have you been tempted to title an album that?

DH: I have actually. I've been introducing myself that way live for a year. Andrew Hagar, AKA: Drew Hagus, AKA: The Son of Sam and the crowd usually pops [laughter].

Jeb: Hypothetically speaking: if you were going to garage rock up one of Sammy's songs, what would work the best?

DH: "Red" (from Sammy Hagar's self-titled 2nd solo album, AKA: The Red Album, 1977). That's my favorite Sammy song anyway. I've played that in my old garage rock cover band, when I first started playing guitar. That's really one of the only songs, along with "Halfway To Memphis" (Not For Sale, 2002), that I'm even comfortable playing. I honestly think "Red" is one of his best songs.

Jeb: That is absolutely perfect but it didn't occur to me. The one I came up with was "I've Done Everything For You" (Loud and Clear, 1980).

DH: It's funny you mention that because, in that Fight Club project, with my brother, we actually did a cover of that but we made it a little more Punk Rock. Of all the songs we did I thought that was the coolest because it was the most Punk Rock.

At some point, I wish whoever has the recordings, maybe my brother, would release a couple of the songs because it was really interesting and my brother has such a good voice. The vocals were great. We had Greg Kihn's son, Ry, on lead guitar, Trevor on bass and his buddy, Tony, on drums. I thought it sounded really cool but, for whatever reason, it just didn't work out.

Jeb: So when you have this album ready, and you take it to a record label, if any are left, and they say, "Hmm, we'd like Montrose song on here" (laughter). It's got to be tempting.

DH: I've had this conversation with some of the second generation musician kids. Steve Lukather's son, Trev, is one of my best friends. One day we were hanging out with Brooklyn Allman, Greg's daughter. She's obviously doing great and, from the get go, doing something totally different from her father; on tour with Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper. She is one of those people who will say, "I will never do a cover of my dad, I am my own thing."

Trevor and I are also very much our own entities but, at the same time, we're open to doing something our fathers had done just because it's just interesting for people and its part of the musical legacy.

Jeb: I would have to say that, like many things in our lives, there would have to be a reason to do it. I totally agree with her going for a much different vibe, even though Punk and Rock aren't that much different. People think it is but it really isn't…but when you go out into the weirdness that is not Greg Allman. I totally get it. But if you guys did it with the spirit of paying homage, having a little fun and knowing the people are going to like it, that's totally different than, "We're just gonna cover this so people will pay attention." It's not the same vibe at all.

DH: No. To be honest, when we do the full length I would love to put an early Sammy Hagar song on there, something like "Red", or an early Montrose song. I can think of a lot of stuff that would sound really cool.

Jeb: "Bad Motor Scooter" (Montrose, 1973).

DH: "Bad Motor Scooter" I still love that. Whenever he plays that live, I go kinda crazy.

Jeb: This conversation has led me to wonder something: Is there a secret second generation rock star club?

DH: You know....[laughter]. We're not "The Skulls". It's funny because I talk to some of my really good friends who've known me for a long time and don't have any pre-conceived notions about where I come from, and I tell them some stories and they go, "That's just f#ckin' weird. You live the weirdest life".

Just because of my family background I've been introduced to so many kids of other celebrity rock stars. They're all super talented. People say, "Oh it's gotta be so much easier if your father or mother is a world class musician. There are some doors that are opened for you, certainly, but at the same time it's an uphill battle against everybody else's expectations and, regardless of how talented you are, it's really hard to break out.

I talk about people like Lukas Nelson (Promise of the Real, son of Willie Nelson) who is at the top end of world domination. He's an incredible musician who's been touring with Neil Young for almost a decade. But, for whatever reason, people are now only starting to recognize him on the world stage. He tours like crazy. I don't even know how many shows he plays a year. Jakob Dylan is another guy. How many breakout songs did he have with The Wallflowers before people started to recognize him as not just Bob Dylan's son?

There are countless others and I would prefer not to get lumped into the category of being just some musician's kid. That's why it was Drew Hagus and that's why it's now Hagen Alter, so people will go, "What the f#ck is Hagen Alter? Sounds rad!" They have no idea it's a bunch of second generation musicians whose parents were in a band together. I think that's an interesting wrinkle but it's absolutely not what makes or breaks the band.

Jeb: If you were using that as a springboard then the music would sound much different.

DH: One hundred percent, man, there's no two ways about it. I don't expect to have any type of commercial success with my music. I never have. That's not what I'm doing this for. It's more of a personal quest.

Jeb: That is so different from the people I usually interview.

DH: If there was a way for me to stay underground and still make a serviceable living, a self-sustaining business that pays my bills, but not making a shit ton of money, that'd be fantastic.

I just really like making music and for the first time, I've made a song that I, objectively, enjoy listening to. That means a lot to me. It might not mean much to other people.

Download the single on iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/hagenalter
Bandcamp: https://hagenalter.bandcamp.com/releases
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hagenalter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hagenalter
Soundlcoud: https://soundcloud.com/hagenalter