EXTREME's NUNO BETTENCOURT Explains Where He 'Draws The Line' When It Comes To Using Backing Tracks During Live Shows

In a new interview with Jordi Pinyol, EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt weighed in on some artists' use of backing tracks to add extra instrumental or vocal tracks to a live performance, to enhance the sound or to replicate more closely the instrumentation heard on a recording. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, look, I think whenever we try to play live… It's like it's like the dilemma we had when we did horns on 'Pornograffitti'. You ask yourself, what do you do? It's got horns on three or four songs. And then we did 'III Sides [To Every Story]' and we brought horns with us on tour. But even now we're playing some of those songs, and you make a choice. You're, like, of course the songs rock without the horns… But lately we've been, like, 'Fuck it. Play with a click. Let's get the horns exciting there.'"

He continued: "I have no problem with any band — I don't give a shit if it's acoustic, rock, punk, fucking whatever — you're allowed to do whatever the fuck you want. You wanna pump in horns, you pump in horns. You wanna pump in synthesizer, you pump in synthesizer. People have been criticizing bands for doing that stuff. I tell them to go fuck themselves, because it's not your fucking choice. You don't like it? Don't go see the fucking band. But it's not wrong, and it's not right. An artist can do whatever the fuck he wants whenever the fuck he wants to do it. Who the fuck are you to tell him he can or can't do it? Now, having said that, you have a choice to buy a ticket [to] go see him or not or don't listen to the album. Or… I do draw the line when somebody is doing something and they're pretending to do it. That's a whole different thing. If we're sitting there… Like I use a [click track on] '[Flight Of The Wounded] Bumble Bee'… It's a click track. You can you can tell me that's bullshit, but Kevin's [Figueiredo, EXTREME drummer] not going pretending to do it. Same thing with 'Midnight Express'. I don't like when people pretend to do something or they're faking like they're singing or they're faking like they're playing horns, and it's not happening. That's not cool with me, because then you're lying to the audience; you're not performing anymore. So I'm of the mind that I don't give a fuck if a band, 90 percent of the sound is electronics and it's all being sequenced and it's 90 percent of the sound, but they don't have a guitar player and they have guitar going through. But if there is guys on stage faking it, I think that's a little bit unfair and that not cool. Do it if you want, but it's up to the audience if they wanna stay or not stay."

Bettencourt added: "The good thing about rock and roll to me, in music is there are no fucking rules; there just are no rules. And people can criticize, and that's their job, is to have opinions and journalists to do reviews of shows — no problem; everybody's got their opinion, and I respect that. But as an artist, somebody says to me that what I should and shouldn't do and that I shouldn't do this and they shouldn't have horns? I'm, like, I've got one word for you: go fuck yourself. No — 'go fuck yourself'; three words. Sorry. I quit high school. Go fuck yourself. You don't like what I do? Don't buy the fucking album. You don't like what I do? Don't buy a ticket. I don't give a fuck what you think about me. I don't."

EXTREME's latest album, "Six", was released on June 9 via earMUSIC. It marked EXTREME's first album since "Saudades De Rock" came out in 2008.

EXTREME is currently gearing up to perform for audiences across the globe on its headlining "Thicker Than Blood" world tour. It stretches from August 2 to December 16 and will see the band appear across the U.S., Australia, Japan and Europe, including special guests LIVING COLOUR (U.S., Australia and U.K. only) and THE LAST INTERNATIONALE (Europe only).