You know all those crazy videos that you see posted everywhere in the metal community? You know, the smooth jazz version of Lamb of God’s “Set to Fail”, or the Disney radio version of “Hammer Smashed Face” by Cannibal Corpse? These vids have become quite the phenomenon, particularly on Youtube, and its due in large part to the incredible quality of them. Videos on the Net are usually a dime a dozen, especially when it comes to metal stuff, but these videos are professionally recorded dubs for no reason other than personal amusement. The question that everyone has been asking though, after giggling at their favorite songs dubbed with a country flare, would be “who the hell would do this, and why isn’t he/she the most famous dubber next to Mili Vanili?” Well, yours truly set out to find these answers, and it only took a number of bribes of South African officials and the original film reel of Die Hard: With A Vengeance to find him. The man’s name is Andy Rehfeldt, king dubber extraordinaire, friggin’ Grammy Award winner (no joke), and our personal metallic satirical hero. I was able to ask the man some questions after my arduous journey, to discover the man behind the myth.

AMR: Tell us a bit about who you are and how you got started posting dubbed music videos?

AR: My name is Andy Rehfeldt.  I work as a composer at Endless Noise Music and Sound Design.  My main instrument is a Stratocaster. I love playing guitar more than anything -- even though I used to be a keyboard player.
The idea of dubbing music to videos came when I realized I had Lamb of God vocal tracks  ( from the Wrath CD) that I could mess around with.  I found their most recent video on Youtube, downloaded it, and then decided it would be funny to have them play lighter, happier music.  When I posted it, that was very exciting to me- the fact that thousands of people could see what I’ve done.

AMR: Metal, as a whole, is often much too serious for its own good. Your videos satirize metal in a way that not many have been successful at, which has led to a ground swell of support from the metal community. Were you expecting this kind of reaction?

AR: Well, actually I thought LOG and their fans were going to want to kill me!!! Thank God they didn’t. A long time ago, I was also very serious.  But I took a long look at myself and the world around me, and found that not taking everything seriously made me feel much better. I owe alot to Frank Zappa, Spinal Tap, M.O.D and all the old punk bands that made me laugh.

AMR: As far as I’m concerned, every video you have produced has been golden. How do you choose your videos, and how long does it take for you to finish one?

AR: Thank you, and thanks to everybody who has written to me- it means a lot.  I’ll either find a video ( preferably current and popular ) that interests me or I’ll find vocals alone, off the internet, and then I’ll find the video. I then come up with a vision of how the song could be done, that would be funny and outrageous.  It’ll take me a couple hours to come up with the music, but recording and producing  takes up to five hours.  I usually do a little each day and after a few days, it’s done.

AMR: Have you received any comments, positive or negative, from musicians or their labels?

AR: Yea, Roadrunner gave me positive comments about “Set to Fail”.

AMR:My personal favorite video that you have created has been the smooth jazz version of Lamb of God’s Set to Fail. Its hilarious seeing a bunch of kids going crazy to elevator music. Which video would you say is your favorite?

AR: Probably “Set to Fail” is my favorite also.

AMR: Has there been any industry attention on your music to record a CD ala Richard Cheese?

AR: No, …. I wish. [Writer's Note: Any label folks reading this? Scoop this guy up!)

AMR:  If you could record an album with, say, 5 tracks of brand new songs that no one had ever heard of, what would they be?

AR: They would be heavy songs with funny lyrics.  I’ve already written many. Here are some titles, “Raging Gas Buildup”, “Stand Up And Wipe”, “I Gotta Think About a Babe to Bone Ya”,”Can I Pass Out on You Tonight”, “Mosquito With Aids”.

AMR: Do you have any plans for some upcoming videos?

AR: For the next one,  I think I want to find an outrageous live video from a  black metal band and make them sound all happy and wimpy.

Alright Andy, that’s all. Thanks a bunch for your participation! And now, a helping of Andy’s work.

http://www.endlessnoise.com/

http://www.myspace.com/andyrehfeldt

Lamb of God -Set to Fail( smooth jazz version)

Andy Rehfeldt (male) | MySpace Music Videos