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Sweat On A “G” String: An in depth interview with Billy Sheehan |
Bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan has been primarily
known for his four string prowess with a wide range of
artists over the years. Whether he was burning up the
arena’s with the two bands he founded, Talas in the late
70’s and Mr. Big a decade later, touring in David Lee
Roth’s post Van Halen band or appearing alongside
guitarist and long time friend Steve Vai’s in his group
on various G3 excursions, one thing is certain and that
is that Sheehan possesses an all out potent combination
of both extreme musicianship and showmanship. Funny then
that for all of his accolades and reader poll awards
which have year in and year out placed him near or at
the top of the list recognizing him for his talents as a
bassist, that Billy was also laying plans for a solo
career of his own and one which would see him step up to
the microphone as a lead vocalist at the same time.
Compression
released in 2001 marked both his debut as a solo artist as well as a
vocalist. Cosmic Troubadour followed in 2005 and now he has just
issued Holy Cow which is the third instalment which continues his
same format of offering an even mixture of instrumentals and vocal
compositions. Billy also plays the baritone guitar which allows him all
the comforts of the standard guitar yet at the same time its lower
tuning matches the natural tonality and range of his singing voice.
Holy Cow is not only full of the typical barnstorming instrumentals
that we’ve all come to know and love from Billy, but he’s also put in a
lot of time working on another instrument, his voice. Paul Gilbert and
Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top turn in cameo guitar spots and Doug Pinnick
from one of Billy’s favourite bands King’s X comes in to lend a hand as
well. Holy Cow is quite simply Sheehan’s strongest record from
start to finish to date. The last time I spoke with him in November of
last year we discussed his Devil’s Slingshot project and he mentioned
briefly at the close of our interview that Holy Cow was on the
books for a first quarter release in ‘09. Well folks the eagle or should
I say the cow has indeed landed. Read on to get all the details about
this fantastic new album as well as the main reasons behind Mr. Big’s
upcoming 20th anniversary reunion.
Ryan:
I know you can be pretty critical of yourself and even though you’ve
joked in the past about your vocal abilities correct me if I’m wrong but
I think you pushed yourself a bit harder in this regard on Holy Cow
because to me your voice has more color or character. There’s more of an
emphasis on the melodies this time around specifically on tracks like
“In A Week Or Two”, “A Bloodless Causality” and “Just Another Humanoid”.
Billy:
Well I’m certainly a little bit more relaxed singing lead after having
done it on my previous two solo records. It’s not something I’m that
self conscious about. I’ve been singing for a long time. I’ve been
archiving old cassette tapes from the 70’s and I hear myself singing way
back in the day before most people were born. It wasn’t bad, it was ok
and it’s on pitch. I’m trying to sound as Bowie-esque or as
Halford-esque as possible and it seemed to work I guess. Singing is a
real funny thing because I remember hearing that Hendrix used to sing
behind a screen because he was embarrassed, so I can take a little bit
of that to heart knowing that I’m not the only one who can be self
conscious about his voice [laughing].
Ryan:
You’re primarily recognized of course for your talents as a bass player
and musician in general but what’s the reaction been like with regards
to abilities as a vocalist?
Billy:
It’s been surprising because I’ve been compared to a couple of singers
and I had to write back to people and say ‘You must be out of your mind’
[laughing]. I won’t say who they are because it would be too self
aggrandizing to mention but it was singers who are quite accomplished.
Again it’s a difficult thing to be objective with such a subjective
thing as your voice. It’s a common thing that many people have never
heard their voices recorded and when they have its like ‘Oh god is that
me?’ It’s like a universal reaction for every human being when they hear
their voice to think ‘Oh gee do I sound like that?’ I guess it comes
from a spot that we all have in common but I think that with enough time
and effort you can get over that. I can hear it when we’re mixing and
comp’ing which is where you put the vocals together. I have to be real
critical then and sometimes I tend to throw out things that are actually
ok but my producer Simone and the guy who mixes my albums Pat Regan they
fought me on it a lot of the times. They’ll be like ‘No it’s fine we
like it, don’t throw it away’ so it’s good to have another voice
fighting for my voice with me fighting against it.
Ryan:
The other day I had a healthy discourse with my colleague and the man
who runs Classic Rock Revisited Jeb Wright. He reviewed Holy Cow
and he is such a big fan of your instrumental work but to quote from
Zappa he wishes you’d ‘Shut up and play your’ guitar’ a bit more.
Billy
[laughing] Yeah and I can see why you know?
Ryan:
I’m not trying to stroke your ego or anything but at the same time I can
appreciate the fact that you’re putting it out there you know what I
mean?
Billy:
Yeah and that’s cool. I have no illusions about it because it is what it
is. It’s the same with my bass playing because some people hate my bass
playing [laughing]. That’s ok its fine, its art and some people are
going to love it and some people will hate it.
Ryan:
Yeah and anyways opinions are like you know what…
Billy:
Yeah and the first time I heard that quote I thought it was really true.
I just try to do my best and I do like to do some instrumental stuff on
my records. I’m generally a bigger fan of singing songs than
instrumentals although I’ve been caught up the last few years with doing
a lot more instrumental stuff, but I generally do like songs that have
singing in them. I still love playing instrumental stuff and I enjoy it
very much but it will probably always be split down the middle as far as
what I put on my records.
Ryan:
I was going to say that because in keeping with the format of your past
solo records you’ve once again opted to go with a mixture of
instrumentals and vocal tracks. This is a method you obviously feel
comfortable with.
Billy:
Yeah. Actually I think there’s more…
Ryan:
You have more vocal tracks on this one.
Billy:
Than on Cosmic Troubadour? Maybe you’re right. [Ed note: eight
out of fourteen tracks on Holy Cow feature vocals] Well one has Doug
Pinnik on it so that doesn’t count. I thought Holy Cow has more
instrumental tracks but the American version is a little different than
the Japanese version. The American version has the one string bass song
on it.
Ryan:
The one I have which is the American version has three bonus tracks on
it.
Billy:
Yeah there’s generally been a trend to doing more. When I’m doing a
record I usually write around thirty pieces which is usually distilled
down from sixty or more snippets. Then I go into the studio with about
twenty and we end up mixing around fourteen to sixteen. To mix a song
can sometimes take a whole day. In the old days they used to spend a
week or more on a mix it was unbelievable, then you’d go back and redo
it ten times. So it was just a matter of time and using the time with my
producer, he doesn’t work for free and he shouldn’t, so that’s what it
eventually boils down to.
Ryan:
You mentioned the song “Turning Point” which is the sole vocal track
where you turn the mike over to someone else in this case Doug Pinnick
from King’s X who turns in a great emotional performance.
Billy:
He’s supremely capable and one of my favourite voices of all time.
Ryan:
When you’re writing the material do you know right away that a song
needs a different voice and can you picture right off the bat who you
want to sing it?
Billy:
On this particular song I’d say yes. Not all the time but on this one
certainly. Again not to be too self critical but it was almost too
important for me. I can sing it and I can hit all the pitches, and
Doug’s voice is in my range but the qualities, tonality and approach are
night and day. I just thought that with Doug singing this that it would
be great. It’s a piece of music that I’ve had from awhile back and I
always loved it but I never had lyrics that I felt really worked well
enough for the music, which I love and I didn’t want a mediocre lyric.
Then when I finally redid the lyrics and actually came up with something
that I loved equally, the music and the lyrics, I wanted to have someone
that I absolutely love listening to and that was Doug Pinnick. Putting
him on there was a great stroke of luck and not only is Doug one of the
greatest vocalists that I know of he’s just such a wonderful guy and so
cooperative. Working with him was just a pure joy. He flew in and came
down to my little basement studio. The only problem he had was that I
was sitting really close to him and I don’t do a lot of isolation of
microphones and stuff like that. I believe in recording like it was in
the old days where things would bleed and naturally sound the way they
sound. So he was doing his vocal and I was cheering him on in the
background but unfortunately sometimes my cheers would step on his vocal
parts and we had to end up editing me out of there [laughing].
Ryan:
Lyrically you don’t write what I’d call typical songs about love, chicks
or cars that kind of stuff.
Billy:
Yeah I kind of pride myself on not ever having used the words heart,
love or baby.
Ryan:
Your lyrics I have to say are pretty thought provoking and I’d like to
ask you about some songs specifically but first off does writing lyrics
come naturally for you or do have to really work at it?
Billy:
It’s hard labour. I think it would be easier to build a ten story brick
building without a scaffold. However, having said that once the hard
work is over and it’s a very common phrase but the secret is in the
re-writing. I work and work and work to get a piece and then I generally
throw the whole thing out and then the song writes itself, and that part
is almost effortless. That to me is a good sign when I work and work and
work and then I get something finished and I keep that, because usually
I end up throwing it away. It’s the same with all of these songs, even
going back to a record like the Talas album Sink Your Teeth Into That.
Archiving cassettes as I’ve been doing recently I went back and listened
to the original lyrics that I had on a couple of those songs and I think
‘Man’ because I remember how hard I worked on them. But as the singer
would walk up to the microphone I would say ‘Hold on’ and I’d rewrite it
as he was standing there and that was way better. So the process is
generally super hard labour with all kinds of notes, references and my
own personal song writing notes. Its page after page and notebook after
notebook and then when that’s all done I generally throw that out and
start over and that almost writes itself. I can’t get to the easy part
unless I do the hard part first for some odd reason [laughing].
Ryan:
Would you say your lyrics are autobiographical, observational or a
mixture of both?
Billy:
It’s a mixture of both for sure. Sometimes I can’t help it be something
of my own but then when the lyrics start to take a turn where it no
longer fits my own personal experience I allow them to go where they go.
I would say that generally though they can have an element of an
autobiographical aspect to them.
Ryan:
In my opinion two of the strongest songs lyrically are “Make It To
Another Day” and “Turning Point”. Tell me a bit about those two.
Billy:
Well “Turning Point” just has to do with coming to a point of...
[pauses] it’s a little difficult to explain but I just happened to have
a personal experience where I was confronted with a lot of antagonism. I
had two choices or two ways to go and I decided to take the peaceful,
turn the other cheek, refuse to hate in return attitude and it was tough
because I really did get hit hard. But I thought to myself ‘I don’t
care’ because it was one of the biggest turning points of my life
personally. It was actually a gift to have had to be confronted with
such antagonism and allowed the opportunity to return it back, to turn
something back as a peaceful understanding. It was a hard thing to do
but I ended up coming out of it a way better person and supremely
thankful for it, though at the time that isn’t how I thought it was
going to turn out [laughing].
“Make
It To Another Day” is just about standing up against opposition in a
different way, more of a personal manner. There are so many people that
do get hit hard yet they let it roll off their backs and I’m always so
impressed and inspired by that. That was a similar concept with a
different approach. You know no matter how hard someone has you under
their thumb there’s still something in there that can allow you to rise
again and I believe that’s true with everyone.
Ryan:
Tell me about the song “A Bloodless Causality” because that’s another
interesting one.
Billy:
Right on. That one is about the idea that a lot of injuries that occur
to people leave no scars or show no blood and sometimes in a lot of ways
those are the worst.
Ryan:
Injuries of an emotional or psychological nature you mean.
Billy:
Exactly. For me a lot of times I can put a band-aid on it and it will
heal whereas there are a lot of things that you just can’t put a
band-aid on and it will be something that is going to dog you for many,
many years. This song is about a young lady learning that there’s
certainly more to it than what leaves a scar.
Ryan:
Holy Cow is dedicated in part to the late Mark Freeland. For
people who might not know who he was, could you shed a little insight
into this man’s talents as a musician and a human being and how you came
to know him and the influence he had on you?
Billy:
Great yeah. Mark was a Buffalo guy and he came to see me in some of the
first incarnations that I ever played in. We became fast friends from
the early days, he was a renaissance man in Buffalo and he was always
going above and beyond. He was mostly a punk rocker but he was also into
a lot of progressive music and he loved a lot of everything. He was one
of my dearest friends from Buffalo and certainly one of my most
respected musical friends. In going through my cassette archives I
actually found tapes of Mark and me in my living room with a bunch of
people making abstract improvisational spoken word music which is
priceless. I’ve extracted it from the cassette, I don’t know what I’m
going to do with it but I’ll post it or make it available some day. I’ll
contact his girlfriend or someone that’s either related to him or
whatever to see what or how I can put it out. He was just an amazing guy
and very inspirational. He just had a different take on everything.
Sadly he never really made it and we always speculate the ‘why’s’ behind
the people we know who are supremely talented and should be huge but
they just aren’t. Sometimes there’s no reason for it at all it’s just
the roll of the dice and with Mark I don’t know I think he could have
just been a gigantic force in the creative field be it music or art or
whatever. He was an incredible painter, poet, performance artist.
Ryan:
He dipped his hands into a lot of different things.
Billy:
He really did. That was his strong point and I think that may have been
the thing that ultimately undid him because he never really focused on
one thing. But I’m sad to live in an age where someone has to focus on
one thing and market it in order to get somewhere. I like the fact that
he was all over the map and I think he’s probably inspired dozens of
people who did go on to become successful and who owe a debt to him down
the line as a result. I think there is a place in the world for someone
like that and all artists that are the inspirational type, that inspire
other artists – I urge anyone who’s been inspired by someone who didn’t
make it to always try to give them a little credit because I think it’s
important for people to understand where it came from. For me Mark
certainly was an inspiration to me and I do owe him an artistic debt.
Ryan:
A couple of more questions for you Billy.
Billy:
Sure. These are good questions too.
Ryan:
Since the last time we spoke the big news is Mr. Big is going to fly
again and you’re going to be doing some shows over in Japan this summer.
Billy:
Yeah that was the first thing that came up. We’ve received a lot of
e-mails from people asking why we aren’t playing elsewhere but we just
haven’t had the time to put it all together yet because it’s our desire
to play everywhere.
Ryan:
I won’t go into the reasons for why the band broke up in the first place
but there were some issues there. So what’s changed in the last few
years to make now the right time to do this?
Billy:
It was a whole bunch of things converging at the same time. It happened
to be our 20th anniversary just by chance, which didn’t
really have much of an effect on us at all other than the fact that when
we got back together to have dinner and talk someone mentioned that it
was our 20th anniversary and we had no idea. Paul did a
couple of solos on the track “Dynamic Exhilarator” on Holy Cow
and going over to his house to work with him we had a great time. I had
jammed quite a bit with Paul here and there and I’d seen him around L.A.
of course, he lives here and Pat Torpey as well I see him quite a bit.
Paul and I hadn’t worked together though in the studio at least for
quite a long time, but we had a great time.
Ryan:
What about Eric (Martin) because I know there were some issues with him?
Billy:
Eric lives up in San Francisco so we weren’t exposed to him that much.
Yeah there were some definite issues and issues with management too but
we had sent e-mails back and forth over the last year or so that was
always pleasant, encouraging and complimentary. He has a couple of kids
and one of them wanted to play bass so I found a tiny little bass in
Japan and had Yamaha set it up left handed and sent it to him. Generally
the atmosphere was just settling out, lightening up and cool. After Paul
had played on my record he did a show at The House of Blues and he
invited me to come and join him. Pat was on the show also with Ritchie
Kotzen and we all got together.
Ryan:
There are some great clips of that show on YouTube.
Billy:
It was really cool. The response of the people was out of control and I
was surprised by it.
Ryan:
Is there any chance we’ll see Ritchie involved with the reunion as well?
Billy:
I don’t think so but Ritchie is our dear friend. We’re kind of back
doing the original version one of Mr. Big as it was, but Ritchie’s our
buddy and we all love him. He’s just one of my favourite players. I just
went to see him last week at The House of Blues, he and Paul played
again together with George Lynch and Pat and I got up and jammed again.
Ritchie is just a great guy. So it all came together and after we’d
played The House of Blues we all thought how great it would have been
if Eric had been there. So a couple of e-mails went out and we got
together and had dinner to see what was shaking and we said lets do
this. The Japanese promoter was the first one to hear about it and he
put in an offer for us to play right away. I’m kind of glad that nobody
offered us money first, we decided to play first. It wasn’t motivated by
some business deal. We got together at Paul’s place laughed our asses
off and had a great time. There have been some reunions that have been
put together for a lot of money and I personally know of some where they
can’t be on the same stage at the same time at sound check. I can’t live
like that and I couldn’t have Mr. Big be like that. I couldn’t fake it
in front of people and pretend that we’re enjoying ourselves when we’re
not. We’ve had some tough times in the past but every band has. We’ll
start with Japan and then go wherever people book us. After the Japanese
shows we might do something in Korea and Indonesia also. We went to
Japan to do some promotion and we played an acoustic set at the Hard
Rock Café and we didn’t rehearse. As we’re walking up to the stage and
the place is packed with press people I think all of us realized ‘Gee I
don’t know if we can do this’ [laughing]. We had done a sound check and
we knew what songs we were going to do and what key they were in but we
didn’t really rehearse.
Ryan:
It’s great to have been away for so long and then be able to get up
there and wing it a little bit. There’s room for some magic to happen in
there and that’s the best thing about music isn’t it?
Billy:
It really is. I like winging it. There’s something good to be said about
things that are rehearsed and scripted down to every note. Steve Vai
plays a very scripted, composed – you know where every note is exactly
in place and that is an art in itself. But I like the idea of sometimes
just walking in and going and a lot of Mr. Big was about that. Even if
we had never played again, after that dinner I was just pleased to hang
with Eric and have a great time with him and to have Pat and Paul there
as well, that would have been enough for me right there. The fact that
we’re playing again is also going to make a lot of people happy and
just the volume of concern in the e-mails for us to play together again
raised it to a higher level. That was also a big factor in this as well,
knowing that we’ll make a lot of people happy.
Ryan:
Last question for you. What’s the biggest fish you’ve ever caught?
Billy:
Recently in Montana I just caught about a sixteen inch Rainbow Trout on
a wet fly, fly fishing in the Madison River back in November. That was
good and probably the last big fish, although I have caught a couple of
big large mouth and some huge small mouth bass on the shores of Lake
Erie on the Canadian side. Just wading out from the shore.
Ryan:
On the Canadian side right on!
Billy:
Yeah on the Canadian side [laughing].
