Hurtsmile

Extreme has been my favourite band since the 90's. During then, my schoolmate got me into playing the guitar this way: He asked me: "You know Nuno Bettencourt, the guitarist from Extreme?" So I replied: "Extreme? That's the band that played More Than Words, right?" So he said: "Ha, if you think ballads are all they can play, then listen to this.." He popped Extreme's Pornograffitti CD into the player and played 'it('s a monster)'.

My jaw dropped together with the rest of myself since I was floored. That song is so energetic & hard-rocking. And with that, I got hooked with the band, Funk Rock and Nuno's guitar prowess that still stun me to this very day.

Gary Cherone is the vocalist of the band and currently, while Nuno doubles as Rihanna's guitarist, Gary is playing with another band he has put together with his brother Mark who plays the guitar. The band is called 'Hurtsmile'. Don't make the mistake of thinking Extreme is no more though, our boys are still playing and putting another album together.

Here's a video of a new number by Hurtsmile I came across recently. The cliché but factual lyrics aside, I really like the funky groove:



And I really like the name 'Hurtsmile' since it means smiling through pain. And I think Gibson guitars, just like PRS guitars, have a really sick tone. Too bad I don't like the looks of some of their body shapes. And that's with all due respect to guitar players who like them of course. This is just my opinion and so, it means nothing.

Come on, don't call me superficial here since besides tone, I think guitarists can only truly enjoy playing what we like to look at too. And I think this blog entry takes the cake as being the one with the most number of hyperlinks among all the entries here thus far.


- De Lion Speaks