WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.339 Hola amigos, this is Billy Sheehan. I'm here 00:00:02.339 --> 00:00:05.400 with my dear friend Brian Colburn on my weekly 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.460 mixtape. I hope you enjoy the episode and I'll 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:23.190 see you around. Gracias. Welcome to My Weekly 00:00:23.190 --> 00:00:25.890 Mixtape, a podcast that takes the classic mixtape 00:00:25.890 --> 00:00:28.789 approach to building a modern playlist. I'm your 00:00:28.789 --> 00:00:31.339 host, Brian Colburn. One of the things I'm excited 00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:34.039 to do each week on My Weekly Mixtape is speak 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.259 with some of the incredible artists whose songs 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:39.100 have graced my mixtapes and playlists throughout 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:41.899 my life. Tonight's guest is one that I'm incredibly 00:00:41.899 --> 00:00:44.420 honored to welcome to the program because he 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:46.859 is one of the very reasons I am a bass player 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:49.500 today. And I'm talking about the one and only 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.060 Billy Sheehan, who's joining me tonight on the 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:55.000 road, literally, from the Winery Dogs tour bus. 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.240 Billy, thank you so much for joining me on My 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:59.990 Weekly Mixtape tonight. My pleasure. Thanks for 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:02.390 having me. So Billy, in keeping with the show's 00:01:02.390 --> 00:01:04.450 theme, tonight what I've done is put together 00:01:04.450 --> 00:01:07.329 a mix of some of my favorite songs of yours that 00:01:07.329 --> 00:01:09.969 I'm excited to learn more about. So let's get 00:01:09.969 --> 00:01:12.609 down to business. Alrighty. And since you're 00:01:12.609 --> 00:01:15.010 joining us from the Winery Dogs tour bus, it 00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:17.510 seems like a natural place to start. The Winery 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:20.109 Dogs, your power trio featuring yourself on bass, 00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:22.769 Richie Kotzen on guitar and vocals, and Mike 00:01:22.769 --> 00:01:25.530 Portnoy on drums, are back with a brand new album 00:01:25.530 --> 00:01:28.209 entitled Three, which is the band's first full 00:01:28.209 --> 00:01:31.549 -length album since 2015's Hot Streak and the 00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:34.530 first new music from the band since 2017's Dog 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:37.989 Years EP. The album's single, Mad World, includes 00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:41.760 a song -closing bass solo that... It absolutely 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.140 makes my jaw drop every single time I hear it. 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:47.459 And for context, I have been given permission 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:49.760 to play a small clip from the song. So before 00:01:49.760 --> 00:02:13.979 we move forward, let's take a quick listen. I 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:15.479 might have to give it a second for the smoke 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:17.340 to clear from the room because of all that fire 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:20.800 that just happened at the end of that song. Now, 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:22.960 seriously, Billy, when recording a song like 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.840 Mad World and taking into account your background 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.939 with jazz fusion playing, do you ever incorporate 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:31.439 an element of improvisation when you're tracking 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:35.240 a song like this? Yeah, generally, I'm just flying 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:40.479 with no thought. It's just improvisation. I don't 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:43.319 plan it out or map it out or anything. I just 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:48.159 go. And I enjoy playing like that. But the only 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.219 problem is later I have to go back and learn 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:55.039 it. It took me a while to figure out what I was 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.819 doing because I really pay no attention when 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.979 it goes by. So I'm not sure what fingering, what 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:04.020 position on the DACA playing. So that particular 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:07.080 solo was really tough. There's a couple of little 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:10.800 runs that I did in it. One little ascending run 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.080 towards the end that I was using a new technique 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:19.780 with. And I forgot what fingers I was using for 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:23.639 what. And you've got to use exactly what I used 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.659 when I recorded it or it's not going to work. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:31.259 So I finally figured it out and taught myself 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:33.400 a lesson. I should probably run a little GoPro 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.599 camera when I'm recording just so I can at least 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:39.659 see what I'm doing. So that was a tough one. 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:42.099 And then to get it up to speed to perform at 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:46.900 live. Performing live is another level of difficulty. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.860 Even if you know what the notes are at play now, 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.159 you got to do it. You don't get a second take. 00:03:54.939 --> 00:03:57.620 There's hundreds or even thousands of people 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:00.039 in front of you. You're standing at stage. You're 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:01.599 not sure if you're in a spot where you can hear 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.020 everything like you should in order to play it. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:06.759 And it can be, there's a lot of other factors 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:08.719 that can make it really difficult to play live. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:13.159 So I practiced it a bunch of times and felt confident 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.780 enough that I could do it live. And I blew it 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:18.000 maybe two or three times so far on this tour. 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:22.480 Not so horribly blowing it, but it was irrecognizable. 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.300 But a couple of times I missed a few of the notes, 00:04:26.339 --> 00:04:29.079 but I wanted to play it accurately how I did 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:32.009 it on the record. And I don't always do that 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:34.129 a lot because there's a lot of improvisational 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:36.750 things. Once something is on a record like that, 00:04:36.790 --> 00:04:40.029 it's kind of a signature little piece that goes 00:04:40.029 --> 00:04:42.629 in the song. I want to get it right. So I got 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:45.970 it right last night. We played St. Charles outside 00:04:45.970 --> 00:04:49.230 of Chicago, a sold -out show at the Arcata Theater. 00:04:49.649 --> 00:04:53.509 And I hit everything last night. But we'll see 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:56.290 if tonight is another story. Well, I've checked 00:04:56.290 --> 00:04:58.149 out several online clips from this tour, and 00:04:58.149 --> 00:04:59.689 as far as I'm concerned, you're hitting the nail 00:04:59.689 --> 00:05:02.490 on the head each and every time. Now, in between 00:05:02.490 --> 00:05:06.129 the 2017 Dog Years EP and the new album, you 00:05:06.129 --> 00:05:08.930 and Mike Portnoy also recorded two full -length 00:05:08.930 --> 00:05:12.009 albums with the band Sons of Apollo, that being 00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:16.110 2017's Psychotic Symphony and 2020's, well... 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.000 2020. Do you and Mike have a different approach 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.259 to crafting the rhythm section with Richie Kotzen 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:26.680 in a power trio versus the heavy prog keyboard 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:30.160 and guitar sound with Ron Bumbleforthal and Derek 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.019 Sherinian in Sons of Apollo? It's not incredibly 00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:38.740 different. It's just song by song or band by 00:05:38.740 --> 00:05:42.199 band. The Sons of Apollo stuff is a little stricter 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.519 because the arrangements are kind of prog -ish. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.579 They've got a lot of parts, some odd time signatures, 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:54.680 some more less bluesy sounding lines that are 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:59.220 planned. Okay, we're back. Sorry. I'm in the 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:02.220 tour bus, so we're going to maybe drop out here 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.540 and there. Sorry about that. No problem. Yeah, 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:07.779 I'm all about drums. So whoever I'm playing with 00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:10.160 or whatever genre, I'm on the drums. I'm looking 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:15.279 at the drummer, watching him, hearing him. linking 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.180 up with what he does. So Mike is pretty good 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:21.819 at a lot of different styles. Straight up rock, 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:25.699 I think is what he likes best, which people are 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:28.240 often surprised by because he played in a lot 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.079 of progressive bands. But I think he's like one 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.439 of the number one Beatle trivia guys in the world. 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:37.379 And Keith Moon is probably his favorite drummer 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:41.339 from The Who. But he handles pretty much anything 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:46.160 stylistically. So I follow the drums, not so 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.699 much worrying about what band or what they're 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:51.720 all about. Within the Winery Dogs, it's more 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:56.779 blues -based and solo R &B with Richie's voice. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.420 So we play things that way. I remember there's 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:03.379 one song off the first record that we play at 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:05.639 the show, one of my favorite songs called Regret. 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:09.759 And it's really in the pocket, beautiful ballad, 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:14.360 through the silk. Timing is really nice, but 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.120 it's almost an R &B kind of song, as Mad World 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.160 is a little bit too. That's got a lot of Motown 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:22.180 in it. So between the two of us, we can adapt 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.000 to most anything, and we just keep an eye on 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.540 each other, and we have a good ESP between bass 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:31.680 and drums, where we'll be in the middle of some 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:34.759 jam, and he'll break off and do some fill, and 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.879 I'll do the exact same thing on bass without 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.759 ever having laughed at it. We'll look at each 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.870 other on stage. We laugh about it because we 00:07:42.870 --> 00:07:46.329 come up with the same moves. And that happens 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.709 with a lot of drummers and myself because I really 00:07:48.709 --> 00:07:51.970 study what they do and I can anticipate what's 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:54.509 going to happen. You're coming around to the 00:07:54.509 --> 00:07:56.910 four count. He's going to do a fill. I think 00:07:56.910 --> 00:07:59.310 he's going to do this. And what do you know? 00:07:59.329 --> 00:08:03.129 He did. They matched together. So that makes 00:08:03.129 --> 00:08:05.610 live performance a lot of fun. Well, Billy, one 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:07.610 of the tracks from Sons of Apollo that I'd like 00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:10.730 to touch upon is Goodbye Divinity from the 2020 00:08:10.730 --> 00:08:13.209 album that I mentioned earlier. In the music 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:15.850 video, both you and Bumblefoot are playing double 00:08:15.850 --> 00:08:18.829 neck axes, which first off, as a bass player 00:08:18.829 --> 00:08:21.589 myself, I can only imagine how heavy that frigging 00:08:21.589 --> 00:08:25.910 bass is. So considering how heavy the axe is, 00:08:25.970 --> 00:08:28.149 I'm guessing there's some sort of musical leverage 00:08:28.149 --> 00:08:30.730 that playing a double neck bass would allow you 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:33.460 in a song like this. In Sons of Apollo, there's 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:36.159 a lot of things that are in that utilize a low 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.039 B note. And on a regular bass, of course, you 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.480 know, maybe some of your listeners don't. The 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.700 lowest note is an E, so the B is five half steps 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:48.120 down from that. So that would be a five or six 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.320 string bass that have that low B, but a four 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.399 string doesn't. So I take a regular four string 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:58.259 neck and tune it B, E, A, D, which are the last 00:08:58.259 --> 00:09:00.740 four strings of a five or six string bass. So 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:03.080 I can get that low note. But I still have the 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:07.500 four string configuration patterns shapes on 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:09.700 the fretboard. I don't have to adjust for that. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:13.580 I like the feel of four string under my hand. 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:17.419 It has an arc to it that enables you to play 00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:20.840 your right hand gets over the strings easily. 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:23.279 When you add an extra string or do it flat out 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.120 and it makes it harder to get in between strings 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:29.259 for my particular style of playing. So I prefer 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:31.799 four string. The double neck has one regular 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.559 neck and one tuned B -E -A -D. And a lot of people 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:36.940 go, well, it's just going to five string or six 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:38.860 string because I don't like five string or six 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:40.840 string. It feels completely different on your 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:43.340 right hand. And my right hand technique is kind 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:46.740 of my, the thing I really rely on a lot to do 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.080 some of the things I do. And it was built and 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.559 designed on four strings adding. I play six. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:58.159 I have a six at home on Mr. B's single, Top 40. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.779 It was a... I think it made it up to 14 or number 00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:05.820 12 on billboard. I used a six string bass for 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:09.720 Just Take My Heart. And live, I used the four. 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:12.799 And I could get all the notes, no problem. But 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:14.659 I like the double neck. It's actually really 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:17.200 well balanced. So it weighs a ton, but it's well 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.279 balanced. And those shows were about two hours 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:23.059 of intense playing. So every night I was up there 00:10:23.059 --> 00:10:27.179 with that, however many pounds it is, 20 or 30 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:29.620 pounds of bass. No problem. You know, it was 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:32.500 good, so it didn't bother me. But when people 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:35.379 play it, and I often take it, I do master classes 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:39.200 in Nashville, and I bring my double neck, I bring 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.779 my original P bass, the wife, I also bring the 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:46.120 pinky blue Yamaha that I used on Need of a Smile 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:47.879 and all this, because a lot of people want to 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.480 see those basses, and they always pick up the 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.519 double neck. Note how heavy it is, but note how 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:58.059 easy it plays. It's really a great playing instrument. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.340 So there's a little bit of a back off from some 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:03.679 people due to the weight, but it doesn't bother 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.980 me. And I often make the joke that my chiropractor 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:09.980 loves that bass because he knows they'll be in 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:12.500 business for many years as a result. And he's 00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:15.240 probably very thankful for that. Well, since 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:17.059 you brought up Eat Em and Smile, I'd be remiss 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:19.159 if I didn't also touch on that album because 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:22.379 it was the first music of yours that I was introduced 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:25.879 to via the amazing lineup of yourself, David 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:29.019 Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Matt and Greg Bissonette, 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:32.740 and Brett Tuggle. Is there a song or songs from 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:35.919 that era that you feel best captures your musical 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.289 experience with that lineup? Well, the Yankee 00:11:39.289 --> 00:11:44.230 Rose and Shy Boy and Going Crazy and Ladies Night 00:11:44.230 --> 00:11:47.809 in Buffalo, that whole record, Smile, we had 00:11:47.809 --> 00:11:51.110 a great time recording it. And that tour was 00:11:51.110 --> 00:11:54.370 a riot. Way different than the Skyscraper tour. 00:11:54.529 --> 00:11:57.549 I remember hearing from the guys in the band 00:11:57.549 --> 00:12:00.690 while they were on the Skyscraper tour that it 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:05.029 was just awful and they hated it. And I believe 00:12:05.029 --> 00:12:08.539 Steve quit in the middle of that tour. but also 00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:11.600 agreed to finish the tour, so he wouldn't leave 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.740 anybody hanging. But I believe he quit in the 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:17.539 middle of that tour. It was completely different. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:19.360 There were lines on the stage that you couldn't 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.700 cross. You couldn't run over there. You had to 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:26.360 stay in your spot on stage. We ran across a whole 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:30.299 75 yards of stage, back and forth, up and down 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:33.220 the stairs. We had a riot on that tour. We were 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:35.500 flying all over the place. Steve and I did a... 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:38.929 double solo together a bit of a comedy routine 00:12:38.929 --> 00:12:42.629 also so the hit of the smile was a riot and there 00:12:42.629 --> 00:12:45.990 was a lot of animosity generated towards dave 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:48.610 after that i think i don't know if it's because 00:12:48.610 --> 00:12:52.590 the bad change or not but i remember uh i was 00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:56.610 out in uh la and someone came up to me said well 00:12:56.610 --> 00:12:59.850 i just saw the uh david lee roth who were at 00:12:59.850 --> 00:13:03.929 san jose and the part where the surfboard goes 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:06.220 across the audience They said it looked like 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:09.460 it was really in the ocean because so many people 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:12.840 were spitting at him. And I thought, oh, then 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.980 I love Dave. And I just thought, oh, that is 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:20.139 just heartbreaking. So it kind of crashed and 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:22.600 burned from what I could see in the distance. 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:25.360 I was no longer a part of the organization. But 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:29.039 Edom's Foul was a riot. It was incredible. And 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:33.360 I'm supremely grateful to Dave for the opportunity 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.490 to play with him. in that band. And Steve Vai, 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.909 Greg Bissonette, Fred Tuggle, we lost recently. 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:43.389 But Steve and Greg are still my dearest friends. 00:13:43.929 --> 00:13:47.370 I just got a message from Greg, along with Dennis 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:49.970 Chambers, one of the greatest musicians I know, 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:55.090 amazing drummer I play with, and we're good friends. 00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:57.990 Yeah, but anything off of Edmund Spile I like, 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:00.230 even though that's life, the Frank Sinatra tone. 00:14:00.470 --> 00:14:03.789 We got the original horn charts from the actual... 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:06.629 recording of that with Frank Sinatra. That was 00:14:06.629 --> 00:14:10.169 pretty cool. And, uh, yeah, that, that was a, 00:14:10.250 --> 00:14:13.919 was a, an amazing experience. Well, since you 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.539 mentioned Niacin, your jazz fusion project with 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:18.460 drummer Dennis Chambers and keyboardist John 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:20.879 Novello, I want to jump ahead to that. To me, 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:22.940 it doesn't get any better than the incredible 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:26.179 tracks No Man's Land or Hell to Pay when I think 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:28.419 of the group. Can you talk about the writing 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:30.899 approach you take when playing in a trio with 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:34.519 a keyboard player like John Novello versus playing 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.340 in a guitar -fronted trio with a guitarist like 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:41.009 Richie Kotzen in The Winery Dogs? Yeah, keyboards, 00:14:41.210 --> 00:14:44.850 they approach their lines differently. And they 00:14:44.850 --> 00:14:48.889 don't always translate. Ultimately, they will 00:14:48.889 --> 00:14:51.730 translate to a fretboard. I don't think there's 00:14:51.730 --> 00:14:53.769 anything you could do on either one that could 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:56.590 be duplicated on the other, depending, of course, 00:14:56.610 --> 00:14:59.330 on the skill of the operator. But the keyboard 00:14:59.330 --> 00:15:02.169 lines are different, so I have to approach them 00:15:02.169 --> 00:15:05.149 differently. And sometimes they're tough. And 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:07.830 that's why, even when I was younger, I learned 00:15:07.830 --> 00:15:10.850 a lot of keyboard things. I listened to Oscar 00:15:10.850 --> 00:15:14.009 Peterson, a lot of classical music, Bach, the 00:15:14.009 --> 00:15:18.250 well -tempered Clavier. I had an album set that 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:21.730 was by a record company called Vox, a Vox box. 00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:25.330 It was a box of three records, and it was seven 00:15:25.330 --> 00:15:30.889 volumes of three records, 21 records, 42 sides 00:15:30.889 --> 00:15:35.019 of one guy on a harpsichord. Wow. And that was 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.460 all the Well -Tempered Clavier, a very famous 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:40.679 series of pieces of music by Johann Sebastian 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:44.059 Bach. And I listened to that whole thing. Unbelievably, 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:47.820 whenever I play it now, I drive people crazy 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:49.820 because this is one guy on a harpsichord for 00:15:49.820 --> 00:15:53.159 about a day and a half. But I learned a lot about 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:57.860 composition and how keyboards move as opposed 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.639 to fretted instruments. There's a style that 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.940 they go towards. So in Niacin, with the Hammond 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:06.740 B3, it was one of my favorite instruments. Not 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:08.860 only were the lines keyboard lines, but they're 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:12.159 jazzy. So the different tone centers, different 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.639 ways of moving. Now that was a little bit of 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:18.240 a hill for me to climb because I'm not a jazz 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.440 player. But fortunately, the other entity with 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:25.120 it, nice, it was Dennis Chambers. And his pocket 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.440 and his groove is so relentless. It grabs you 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.659 by the throat and you have no choice but to fall 00:16:30.659 --> 00:16:34.240 in the pocket. He's so great. I often refer to 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.120 him as the greatest musician I know. And he just 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:39.899 sits behind that kid and it's magic. He's so, 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:42.639 so great. And so that was a really wonderful 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.679 connection to make with Dennis. And it really 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.720 helped me to fit in the pocket of the keyboard 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:51.639 lines because I, like I said earlier, I'm all 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:54.980 about the drums. So by following Dennis' lead, 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:59.000 it really assisted me to fall into the groove 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.470 that made those lines sound like... I might know 00:17:02.470 --> 00:17:06.390 what I was doing. Or at least fake that I sound 00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:10.410 like I know what I'm doing. So it was a great 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:13.609 experience, that band. I hope we do some more 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:16.630 in the future. But the real key factor for me 00:17:16.630 --> 00:17:20.170 was Dennis' playing, helping me as a bass player 00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:24.930 acclimate to a style that I wasn't as fluent 00:17:24.930 --> 00:17:27.869 in. Though I had played bass to jazz music right 00:17:27.869 --> 00:17:31.000 out of high school. We actually played... sections 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.099 of miles davis mitch's brew and a high school 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:37.740 assembly wow at kenmore east senior high school 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:39.799 and you should have seen the look on the faces 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.220 of people they didn't know what the heck that 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:44.799 was because that's pretty far out jazz but we 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.400 we did we did that and some eddie harris another 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.960 great sax player and some frank zappa also well 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.460 we did some frank zappa excerpts and uh i don't 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:57.380 know if we twisted anybody instead of a pretzel 00:17:57.380 --> 00:17:59.430 that day but So, but I, but it was something 00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:03.410 I was pursuing early on until I got to play it 00:18:03.410 --> 00:18:07.589 or rock situations where it was just so much 00:18:07.589 --> 00:18:11.069 better energy. I'll bet for me personally, but 00:18:11.069 --> 00:18:13.250 I still do like a lot of jazz. I've, I've learned 00:18:13.250 --> 00:18:16.509 a lot from it, but it certainly was a, was a 00:18:16.509 --> 00:18:19.529 great experience for me playing with both those 00:18:19.529 --> 00:18:21.950 guys. Cause they were so well versed in it. And 00:18:21.950 --> 00:18:24.119 I learned a lot. Well, I know I could certainly 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.579 learn a lot from your jazz playing, so it sounds 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:29.619 absolutely fantastic to me. One thing that's 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:32.259 always jumped out to me in regards to your bass 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:34.559 playing is the tone that shines through in your 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:36.720 recordings, no matter what the band or project 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.259 may be. So for now, let's use Mr. Big as an example. 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:43.240 The difference between a song like Addicted to 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.180 That Rush and the band's massive hit To Be With 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:48.900 You, because there must be some kind of process 00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:51.279 you're going through, be it during the songwriting 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.140 or in the studio, to consistently achieve the 00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:58.359 perfect tone for each song that you record. Can 00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:00.900 you talk about that a little bit? Well, very 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:02.660 kind of you to say, yes, there's a different 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:06.200 approach on a more raucous, wild... song, like 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:08.660 Addicted to That Rush, the bass will have a little 00:19:08.660 --> 00:19:12.079 more distortion on it, but it's only added to 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.220 what's already there. Instead of substituting 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:18.559 a clean, normal, regular bass tone with a distorted 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.200 tone, distortion is added to that, so you've 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:25.160 always got real bass. And that has been a lot 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:27.980 of the, not so much secret, I talk about all 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:30.819 that, but that's part of that process. To be 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:33.380 with you is just straight up, just bass, like 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:38.160 that too, clean, regular normal amp pretty easy 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:42.359 and that first note after the clip when i slide 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:47.079 down from uh like a d flat an octave down uh 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:50.400 it's just a regular normal tone and i do believe 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:53.500 my hands have a lot to do with it for all musicians 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:57.220 here their hands are hit the tone and i'm on 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:00.420 tour now about three or four weeks in and my 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:04.839 calluses are like stone they're really and when 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:07.000 they pluck the string, there's a definitive note. 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:09.579 I remember I did a rock and roll fantasy camp 00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:13.220 recently, and I won't go into the process, but 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:16.960 I basically get campers, and I'm their counselor, 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:19.200 and I show them how to play a song, and then 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:21.420 we got to perform it at the end of the camp. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.140 And you get people of varying degrees of experience, 00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:27.680 some who can't play at all, some guys that are 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:30.019 pretty good. So as I'm rehearsing with them and 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:32.339 showing them through things, a lot of other... 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:34.980 bass players that I know from other big bands, 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.220 stuff like that. They're all out in the hallways 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:41.380 and everybody can hear each other's band. And 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:44.160 three different guys, very famous bass players, 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:46.319 open the door and go, are you playing with a 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:49.819 pick? I go, no, no, it's my finger. Another knock 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:52.740 at the door. Are you using a pick? No, no, it's 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:55.920 my finger. And they all thought I was using a 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.000 pick because my fingers were really calloused. 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:02.900 And you get the tack of the note. And on the 00:21:02.900 --> 00:21:05.480 left hand, too, they're extremely callous. I 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.440 posted a photo of my left hand torn to shreds, 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.500 literally, with deep, huge, eight -inch, deep 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:15.400 grooves in the fingers. And I love it. People 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.480 misinterpret it, thought I was hurt or painful, 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.059 and offer me all kinds of advice. No, no, no, 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:23.720 no, this is good. We want this. We want those 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:26.599 grooves. We want our hands torn up. It doesn't 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:28.859 hurt at all. Well, it hurts. The process hurts, 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.569 but in the end. You have to have those calluses 00:21:31.569 --> 00:21:34.509 or you can't really play. I'd rip my hands to 00:21:34.509 --> 00:21:38.369 shreds on rotosol strings, which in a pinch, 00:21:38.369 --> 00:21:41.789 if I had to cut a two by four, I've done this 00:21:41.789 --> 00:21:44.390 a couple of times. I'll take an old rotosol string 00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:47.210 and use it as a wire saw and hack my way through 00:21:47.210 --> 00:21:50.269 wood with it. It's a stainless steel round ball 00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:53.569 that you can use it in an emergency in the woods. 00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:57.009 Just take a bass string off, cut a tree down 00:21:57.009 --> 00:22:02.380 and start a fire. So tone -wise, the hands basically, 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:06.539 but again, on a more raucous or wild song, I 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:09.980 would add distortion to the regular bass tone 00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:11.859 that I already have. Another thing, when you 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:14.759 do distortion on a bass, you lose your low end. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.819 That's why I have to add it to what's there as 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:21.059 opposed to switch between one or the other. I 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:23.480 often use this as an example on the famous song, 00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:26.980 Dance to the Music by Sly and the Babbies. When 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:32.960 Larry Graham says, and he plays bass, he clicks 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.539 the buzz tone out. And it's a thin little buzz. 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:41.640 And it's just no low end to it at all. You hit 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.279 the distortion, you lose all that low frequency. 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:48.500 So my trick, if you will, is don't distort the 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:52.440 bass. Do a second signal bath and put distortion 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.019 on that and fix it in. And that seems to have 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:58.000 been very successful. Fascinating. Well, while 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.980 we're on the topic of Mr. Big, the band just 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:02.539 announced the Big Finish World Tour, with the 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:05.140 first leg taking the band to Japan and Southeast 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:08.140 Asia in July and August, while shows in South 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:10.319 America, Europe, and the U .S. are taking place 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.079 in early 2024. Joining the band on drums is Nick 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.960 DiVirgilio from Spock's Beard and Big Big Train, 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:19.720 taking the spot of the amazing Pat Torpey, who 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:23.220 the world sadly lost in 2018. What does returning 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.880 to the stage with Eric and Paul one last time 00:23:25.930 --> 00:23:35.450 Mr. Big for me was my biggest success. And I 00:23:35.450 --> 00:23:37.049 came out of David Lee Roth. I didn't know what 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:40.789 I was going to do. Precarious time. Didn't have 00:23:40.789 --> 00:23:43.410 a lot of money. And so I put a band together. 00:23:43.630 --> 00:23:46.730 I knew Pat and Paul. I found Eric. We got an 00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:49.890 amazing manager, Herbie Herbert. And we went 00:23:49.890 --> 00:23:53.349 after about two and a half years. Scored one 00:23:53.349 --> 00:23:55.410 of the most difficult things to achieve as a 00:23:55.410 --> 00:23:58.450 number one single. So that band beats everything 00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:02.109 to me. And we went through so many amazing adventures 00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:05.190 together. That song, To Be With You, was our 00:24:05.190 --> 00:24:08.329 passport to the entire world. We played everywhere 00:24:08.329 --> 00:24:12.049 in Indonesia, Australia, Japan, all over Europe, 00:24:12.130 --> 00:24:15.289 all over South America. Incredible. So we lost 00:24:15.289 --> 00:24:18.529 Pat. We did a few more shows with a gentleman 00:24:18.529 --> 00:24:20.750 named Matt Starr, who was a great drummer and 00:24:20.750 --> 00:24:23.609 a wonderful singer. There's little fine points 00:24:23.609 --> 00:24:26.569 to a drummer that everybody's different. There 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:29.950 were different fingerprint, iris, DNA, and it's 00:24:29.950 --> 00:24:33.170 just hard to replace someone. So we kind of dropped 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:37.410 it. Now we haven't played together since, but 00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:39.069 we thought, well, we'd like to go out again, 00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:42.430 but we needed that thing alto. Matt was a great 00:24:42.430 --> 00:24:44.289 singer, but he's a tenor. We need that. We need 00:24:44.289 --> 00:24:48.910 the three bar harmony. Myself, Paul Gilbert, 00:24:49.049 --> 00:24:51.589 and Pat Torby did. We need those three voices. 00:24:52.170 --> 00:24:55.549 Paul and I could just from, we're both tenors, 00:24:55.549 --> 00:24:58.109 so we could do low and mid, but we need that 00:24:58.109 --> 00:25:01.589 high voice. So Nick has a great voice, and he 00:25:01.589 --> 00:25:04.829 can sing in that range quite amazingly. Plus, 00:25:04.890 --> 00:25:09.269 he's a finesse, fine point drummer like Pat was. 00:25:09.829 --> 00:25:12.869 Very similar style. We've heard him play a couple 00:25:12.869 --> 00:25:15.269 of Mr. Big songs already that he recorded for 00:25:15.269 --> 00:25:18.569 us, and it's quite awesome. He's really, really 00:25:18.569 --> 00:25:22.000 great, and a wonderful guy too. So we wanted 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.680 to honor Pat and also say a proper goodbye and 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.480 not a farewell tour that happens every two years. 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:32.240 It's going to be an actual farewell tour. I don't 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.519 know that we'll ever play together again as Mr. 00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.079 Big. I'm sure I'll play with Pat or do something 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:40.500 with Eric, maybe something with Dick too. But 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:44.539 as Mr. Big, we want to end the chapter. A lot 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:47.420 of bands lose a guy, they replace him, they continue 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:50.210 on. I don't know if we... Really, we wanted to 00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:54.369 do that. Pat was my closest musical friend of 00:25:54.369 --> 00:25:57.849 my entire life, really. And I think it's a more 00:25:57.849 --> 00:26:00.809 honorable thing to do is to pay him tribute and 00:26:00.809 --> 00:26:03.069 move on. We have all the recordings. All the 00:26:03.069 --> 00:26:05.509 recordings are there. Everything we did is available. 00:26:05.849 --> 00:26:08.349 We got other stuff that we'll release that we 00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:10.609 haven't released, demos and things like that. 00:26:10.650 --> 00:26:12.950 It'll all come out. So I just thought it would 00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:17.539 be, we all agree to do a proper farewell. Honor 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:20.019 all the wonderful fans that gave us everything 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:24.799 we have. Everything I own, my home, my car, everything 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:27.740 comes from a fan buying a t -shirt, a ticket, 00:26:27.779 --> 00:26:30.619 or a record. I never forget that. And during 00:26:30.619 --> 00:26:34.559 my stay with Mr. Big, we had fans that were so 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.960 kind to us. And it would come to 10 shows in 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:41.819 a row. So we want to pay them a very strong thank 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:44.500 you and give them our gratitude. And then pay 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:48.940 honor to the great Pat Jorby. It was just a wonderful, 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:52.839 wonderful man. So that's the story. We kept Nick 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:55.259 a little private for a while because he had some 00:26:55.259 --> 00:26:56.960 other commitments. We didn't want to interfere 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.599 with what he was doing. But this is the first 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.440 I've spoken of it on your broadcast here. And 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:06.119 I met with Nick the other night. He came out 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:09.299 to a Winery Dog show. And just a great guy and 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:12.579 a wonderful, incredibly talented man. The Spock 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:15.019 Spirit stuff is just spectacular. And he sang 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:18.099 a lot of that band. So we're looking forward. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:20.960 We already have our rehearsal day set up. We're 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.720 going to go in it. Mr. Big was a singing band. 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:26.880 We were a harmony band. We did Green City, Sixties 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:29.539 Minds, Be With You, Just Take My Heart, all heavy 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:33.819 harmony. For encores and for special songs, we 00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:36.319 do Frosby, Stills, and Nash, Three Dog Night, 00:27:36.420 --> 00:27:38.920 all the harmony bands. So it's important to have 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:41.660 that alto. And Nick is going to be just spectacular 00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:44.119 at it. Well, I, for one, can't wait to hear it 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:46.660 live again. Billy, this past fall, your band 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:50.099 Talos released the album 1985. And the closing 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:53.059 track on the album is a stunning urethral instrumental 00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:57.940 entitled 7 -1 -H -D -H, which is for Phil written 00:27:57.940 --> 00:28:01.059 upside down in dedication to the late Phil Norrell. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:03.920 And once again, for context, I was given permission 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:05.940 to play a small clip from the song. So let's 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:43.440 do that now. Now, being a bass player myself, 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.559 I'd love to hear the thought process behind that 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:49.779 track and your left -right split of the, for 00:28:49.779 --> 00:28:53.180 lack of a better term, lead and rhythm bass parts 00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:56.119 of the song, because it's a truly fascinating 00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:58.740 listen and a track that really resonates with 00:28:58.740 --> 00:29:02.119 me. Oh, thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:04.220 that, because that was from the heart for Phil. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:09.220 That's its title. Phil was just a wonderful guy, 00:29:09.339 --> 00:29:12.430 one of the greatest lead singers. I've ever known. 00:29:12.690 --> 00:29:15.150 And the easiest person in the world to get along 00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:17.890 with. Not a molecule of lead singer's disease. 00:29:18.269 --> 00:29:21.950 He was just the greatest. And he sang that record. 00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:25.029 We knew there was some health issues, but we 00:29:25.029 --> 00:29:27.869 didn't know to what extent. He sang that record, 00:29:27.950 --> 00:29:31.390 went up to that mic, knowing that he was in trouble. 00:29:31.589 --> 00:29:35.750 Big trouble. And it was only a couple weeks after 00:29:35.750 --> 00:29:38.470 we finished that record that we lost him. So, 00:29:38.589 --> 00:29:42.339 I have so much respect for him. without even 00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:44.859 considering that. But knowing that he got up 00:29:44.859 --> 00:29:47.960 in that mic and hit it like he did, knowing that 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:51.220 this could be his last hurrah, I'm blown away 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:55.180 by that. So I wanted to do something. We were 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:57.420 doing the final mixes, and I wanted to just add 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:01.539 something on the record to dedicate to him personally 00:30:01.539 --> 00:30:04.599 what he meant to me, what he meant to so many 00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:07.319 people. So we did a little bit of a split. I 00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:09.990 wanted to lay some kind of a bet. down that I 00:30:09.990 --> 00:30:12.509 could play over. Instead of straight up just 00:30:12.509 --> 00:30:15.369 solo bass, it would be a little bit more musical 00:30:15.369 --> 00:30:18.490 and song -ish. It would have more of a theme 00:30:18.490 --> 00:30:21.470 to it than just a straight up solo. And I also 00:30:21.470 --> 00:30:24.549 created with the bass a heartbeat that fades 00:30:24.549 --> 00:30:30.089 out at the end, symbolizing, of course, losing 00:30:30.089 --> 00:30:36.970 Phil, a great man. And it was touching to record 00:30:36.970 --> 00:30:39.509 that. It was just me and my engineer, Scott, 00:30:39.630 --> 00:30:43.089 at my studio, and it got a little solemn. We 00:30:43.089 --> 00:30:46.470 really wanted to do something for Phil that we 00:30:46.470 --> 00:30:51.890 could just be a message to the world about his 00:30:51.890 --> 00:30:55.490 greatness, and hopefully that comes through. 00:30:55.789 --> 00:30:57.990 Well, not only does it come through, it tugs 00:30:57.990 --> 00:31:00.490 at your heartstrings without any lyrics, which 00:31:00.490 --> 00:31:02.890 in no way, shape, or form is an easy feat. It's 00:31:02.890 --> 00:31:06.150 simply an incredibly beautiful composition all 00:31:06.150 --> 00:31:09.519 the way around. Thank you. Well, Billy, at this 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:11.359 point of the interview, I've brought up a lot 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:13.000 of the songs that we've talked about tonight, 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:15.799 and I would forever regret if I didn't ask you 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:18.940 to put your stamp on the mixtape that we're creating 00:31:18.940 --> 00:31:21.599 from this interview tonight. So, Billy, if you 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:23.920 had to choose one song that you've recorded across 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:26.180 your entire career from any project you were 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:29.700 in that you feel best defines your musical legacy, 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:34.160 what song would you pick and why? Well, that's 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:38.009 a tough one, but I would almost. instantly default 00:31:38.009 --> 00:31:43.170 to, to be with you because it had such an impact. 00:31:43.589 --> 00:31:46.529 It's a very simple bass part. And there's one 00:31:46.529 --> 00:31:49.509 part in it that I take directly from Paul McCartney. 00:31:50.329 --> 00:31:52.849 When he's singing, come on, baby, come on over. 00:31:52.950 --> 00:31:55.349 That would be the one to hold you or show you. 00:31:55.369 --> 00:32:00.650 I forgot what it said, but it's right from Sergeant 00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:04.109 Peppers. And I did it on purpose because I love 00:32:04.109 --> 00:32:08.180 Paul McCartney. But it isn't a grandiose, flamboyant, 00:32:08.180 --> 00:32:14.180 wild -ass, crazy thing, which I do in some songs. 00:32:14.460 --> 00:32:19.619 So it would probably be a Mr. Big song or possibly 00:32:19.619 --> 00:32:23.960 David Lee Roth's version of Shy Boy, which is 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.339 another one where Steve and I kind of go off. 00:32:27.059 --> 00:32:31.140 Tough to pick one, but To Be With You, people 00:32:31.140 --> 00:32:33.759 worry that To Be With You is going to misrepresent 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:36.259 Mr. Big. Because most of our stuff is straight 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:38.859 up rock and art heavy. And then we come out with 00:32:38.859 --> 00:32:41.140 this little campfire ballad. Oh, it's going to 00:32:41.140 --> 00:32:43.460 be. And they would say, oh, you must be really 00:32:43.460 --> 00:32:45.720 pumped out. Are you kidding me? I'm the happiest. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:49.660 We pop champagne every day about that song. It's 00:32:49.660 --> 00:32:51.319 the greatest thing ever happened to any of us. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.039 We love that song. And I still do. And I love 00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:58.079 playing it. We look out over a thousand, 10 ,000 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:01.019 or more people. And the people are crying. You 00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:03.640 see tears on them when we play that song. So 00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:07.000 that. As much as I love the flamboyant technical 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:11.579 things and all that, that song was, that means 00:33:11.579 --> 00:33:15.640 so much to me in so many ways. Otherwise, again, 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:18.000 I'm sorry, I'm all over the map here on this 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.039 answer. I would say, well, Addicted to That Rush 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.259 was a pretty good launch for Mr. Big. I know 00:33:24.259 --> 00:33:26.920 our manager, Herbie Herbert, who's one of the 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:28.960 founding fathers of the music business. He's 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:31.559 the guy that put Journey together. He's the guy 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:34.089 that said, Why don't we sell t -shirts at the 00:33:34.089 --> 00:33:38.069 show with the band's name on them? And thus the 00:33:38.069 --> 00:33:42.670 merch business was born. So he loved that song 00:33:42.670 --> 00:33:45.390 right out of the box. And we lost him recently 00:33:45.390 --> 00:33:49.170 too. So in tribute to him, he instantly loved 00:33:49.170 --> 00:33:51.789 that song. It didn't do well only because it 00:33:51.789 --> 00:33:54.170 was released, I believe, in a very crowded field. 00:33:54.329 --> 00:33:56.650 A whole bunch of bands came out at that same 00:33:56.650 --> 00:33:59.650 time, the first Mr. Big record, that had a guy 00:33:59.650 --> 00:34:03.640 from a big band. and some other guys in it and 00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:06.279 uh so that formula was repeated over several 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:08.920 bands it got a little confusing so we managed 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:11.260 to make it through to lean into a record event 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:14.659 went forward from there but i i might say addicted 00:34:14.659 --> 00:34:17.719 to that rush could be one of them too but that's 00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.300 a tough question to answer you got me on that 00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:24.530 one Well, Billy Sheehan, being one of my first 00:34:24.530 --> 00:34:27.849 and biggest bass guitar influences, I can't even 00:34:27.849 --> 00:34:30.949 begin to say how thankful and honored I am to 00:34:30.949 --> 00:34:33.389 have you on the show. Thank you for the decades 00:34:33.389 --> 00:34:36.030 of amazing music you've created. And most importantly, 00:34:36.250 --> 00:34:38.489 thank you for taking the time tonight to speak 00:34:38.489 --> 00:34:41.710 with me on my weekly mixtape. Absolutely. My 00:34:41.710 --> 00:34:45.489 pleasure. Your kindness, I'm very thankful for. 00:34:45.929 --> 00:34:49.769 And to know that I've influenced another player 00:34:49.769 --> 00:34:52.969 in a positive way. is what it's all about, and 00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:57.190 that's my pay, that's my compensation, that's 00:34:57.190 --> 00:34:59.409 more important to me than anything, so I'm very 00:34:59.409 --> 00:35:02.750 glad you hear that, and continue playing, and 00:35:02.750 --> 00:35:05.179 I hope I see you around. That you most certainly 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:07.500 will, my friend. Mixtapers, remember, you can 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:10.079 find My Weekly Mixtape on Facebook, Twitter, 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:13.980 Instagram, and TikTok at My Weekly Mixtape. You 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:16.980 can also head to myweeklymixtape .com to hear 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:19.440 all the music we've discussed in tonight's episode 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:22.500 via the playlist embedded on the Songs of Billy 00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:25.039 Sheehan page, as well as to check out the full 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.320 catalog of My Weekly Mixtape episodes. If you 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:30.579 want to support the show, please consider becoming 00:35:30.579 --> 00:35:34.110 a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com. forward slash 00:35:34.110 --> 00:35:37.010 My Weekly Mixtape. That's all for this week. 00:35:37.110 --> 00:35:39.570 Thanks for listening and until next time, enjoy 00:35:39.570 --> 00:35:40.030 the tunes.