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Darrin: Get Out of My Yard is a fully instrumental guitar album.
Your first of this genre of recording. It does have that trademarked
Paul Gilbert pop sensibility to it though. What approach did you
take in the writing and recording of the album?
Paul: For the longest time, I never wanted to do an
instrumental album. I don’t listen to guitar instrumental music very
much, even though I am a guitar player. I like bands with singers, I
grew up listening to the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, Rush and Van
Halen and things like that. But I AM a guitar player, and I play
guitar a lot so, it was sort of like having a tool, but not using
it. You use a saw, when you want to cut something down. I had a
guitar, so I thought “I’ll try this!”
I just went back, and listened to some of my favorite guitar
players, from the 70’s like the bands I mentioned, and tried to
imagine what they would do if they made an instrumental song and
made a whole album, filtered it through my brain, and that is how it
came out.
Darrin: What led you to create the human capo on the title track
of the album?
Paul: Umm, some of it may have come from desperation,
**laughs** I really wanted to begin the album with something that
would be surprising, and eyebrow raising to guitar players. I was
thinking back to the very first album I ever released, it was a
Racer X album called Street Lethal and it began with an
unaccompanied guitar solo called Frenzy. I did that when I was 19.
I was recording Get Out Of My Yard when I was 39. I wanted to show
the guitar fans that I still have as much fire now, as I did then.
Initially I tried all sorts of things, basically playing as fast as
I could, but I really wasn’t very satisfied with it initially. I was
working with this 3 string guitar that I cam e
up with tuned to octaves. You could do a lot of things on it that
you could not do on a regular 6 string guitar.
Darrin: You had it tuned to 3 E’s if memory serves correct
Paul: Yeah, all E’s like on the acoustic song on the album 3
E’s for Edward. So, after experimenting with that, I just took it a
step further and put a capo on, and decided to try and play it in
some different keys. I wanted to move the capo around, and use more
keys, and of course it is not that easy to move a capo around in
real time, so I thought “What about a human capo?” Plus, a human
capo LOOKS really cool on stage too. 2 people playing one guitar. At
the same time, I like the fact that it came from a musical place. We
never did it to be a thing to add to the show for looks, but more
that we did it because it made sense musically.
Darrin: You toured the new CD over in Japan. How were you
received over there?
Paul: Oh, Japan is ALWAYS good. It has been a place that
has always been, surprising. When I first went to Japan, it was with
my old band Mr. Big, and at the time we were doing really well
everywhere. We were doing tours in Europe and in America. But Japan
always seemed to have an incredible response. And as the albums and
tours went on, we got bigger and bigger over there, and smaller
everywhere else. After awhile, we just concentrated on there mostly.
I guess I took the easier and lazier way out with my solo career,
and exclusively played there. This is the reason I am enjoying G3 so
much, as it is the first opportunity for me to play in the States
for a long time.
Darrin: Which leads me to my next question. You are currently on
G3 wit Joe Satriani and john Petrucci. How has that been for you so
far?
Paul: It’s really really cool. We have done 5 shows so
far, and my own segment is a blast, up there with my band, playing
in the States again.
Darrin: Who is playing with you n your band?
Paul: A couple of people form the record. Jeff Bowders on
drums, Mike Szuter that has played on lot’s of my albums, is playing
bass, Bruce Bouillet who was in Racer X is back in the band, and my
wife Emi is playing keyboards.
Darrin: A great lineup
Paul: Yeah, and later on I get to do the big jam with Joe
Satriani and John Petrucci. It is REALLY high pressure, but a lot of
fun. High pressure because both of those guys are incredible guitar
players. We are all having a very friendly competition. You sit and
watch those guys play, then think..”What the HELL am I going to play
now” **laughs** It really is great, we are all smiling and having
fun every night, and we all have different enough styles that it is
great for the audience. We know that because everybody freaks out,
and it sounds like a jet airplane taking off when we finish playing.
Darrin: What material are you playing in your set of the show?
Paul: I’m doing a lot of stuff from the instrumental
record. I think that was the key to really getting on G3. I have
released a lot of solo albums, but for the most part they have
focused on the songwriting and vocal aspects, with some scary guitar
playing in between. The instrumental album, is ALL scary guitars so
it is perfect for the G3 format. I am still doing some vocal songs,
seeing Bruce is in the band, I threw in some Racer X stuff,
Darrin: Did Scarified make it into the set?
Paul: Yeah man, Scarified, and also doing some Mr Big.
Darrin: How is the hearing loss going? Are the new headphones
starting to slow down, or prevent any further loss to your left ear?
Paul: Yeah, I am wearing these drummers headphones. They
are not just good for protecting your ears from the stage volume
getting to your ears, but excellent for your singing, because you
can fully hear yourself. A lot of people wear in ear monitors now,
and if you look closely, you can see them on almost everyone now in
live shows. I still like the headphones because I can take them off
easily. I do like to hear the actual stage sounds once in awhile, I
can pull them off the ears just a little bit to hear what is going
on. I don’t care if they look funny.
Darrin: I actually think they look kinda cool. You and Eric Johnson
have a new trend that you are lifting off.
Paul: **laughs** But the headphones I have now do NOT have
a coily cable. But I have a big red coily cable for my guitar, so
that is ok. Something is coily.
Darrin: Every interview from you that I have seen, at some point
has you saying “Because playing guitar is fun!” and that there is
nothing that you would rather do. Have you ever thought of instead
of so much performance work, moving to composing, movie scoring,
orchestral stuff like Vai is doing, or even writing material for
other bands?
Paul: I have written some songs for other bands, a couple
of Japanese bands. And that was a great experience. The bands that I
w as
writing for were of a different style than what I was doing at the
time. I enjoyed writing for them so much, that is actually changed
my writing style a bit. They were more like a punk rock band like
Green Day. It was right before I did an album called Alligator Farm,
and if you listen to that album, you will hear a lot of punk rock
influence on it. Of course they get filtered through my brain, so
they come out a little bit different. That was a blast.
Movie scores…they always have strings. I am so used to writing
for a rock band. If I have to write for more than guitar, bass,
drums and maybe keyboards, my brain will explode.
Darrin: One thing that is particularly interesting about
Paul Gilbert is you never hear the negative comments. Paul Gilbert
threw his laptop out of a hotel room window and hit a pedestrian,
Paul Gilbert flips the local media the bird…Paul Gilbert was seen
face down in a puddle of vomit. What do you do in your life and on
the road to avoid all of that part of life?
Paul: Your other question before is the answer for that. I
like to play guitar. These last couple of years, I have gotten into
it even more. I have done a lot of teaching, and I think teaching
has improved my playing so much. When I need inspiration, I just go
down to GIT which is close to where I live in Los Angeles, and I
will teach for a couple of months, and I get so much from jamming
with the students and although I am teaching, I learn so much about
what I do not know. Like right now, I just can’t wait to get to my
guitar, I know the empty spots, and the parts I do not know,
**laughs** I am sitting here waving my left hand in the air.
Visualizing those spots that I am trying to search out. There are
certain areas of the guitar that I know really well, I can close my
eyes and know where each part of them are, where every interval is,
and then at the same time I realize the parts that I don’t know. It
is like an unexplored goldmine of notes. **laughs** I just want the
gold!! Musically that is.
Darrin: When did you get married?
Paul: I got married about a little over a year ago.
Darrin: I noticed Emi plays some nice piano and Hammond on the
new album. Does she help in the writing and creative processes
also?
Paul: It is really helpful to have her ear. She was
playing classical piano at 3 and has perfect pitch. She has worked
in the music industry and knows all kind of music. My way of working
tends to be coming up with a million ideas, which I am really good
at, but I am horrible at ending. It is nice to be ale to say “Emi,
come up, I have 20 things here, please tell me what is good!” Also,
when mixing, I can’t hear really well, I tend to mix in mono, and
with her around, I have the chance to mix in stereo.
Darrin: Some amazing songs came out of your old apartment on
Yucca Street. Songs like Green Tinted 60’s Mind came out of there.
What are some of the songs that have written since you were 19 that
you are proud of, and sit with you as favorites?
Paul: Let’s see… a lot of the stuff, when I was getting
into pop music with Mr Big. Originally with Mr Big, I was taking my
bluesy styled metal riffs, and that became stuff like Take a Walk.
That was cool, but I started really getting excited about writing
when I started getting back into the Beatles, and Todd Rundgren and
even Enough’s Enough which was one of our supporting bands. I really
fell in love with their songwriting. Green Tinted 60’s Mind was sort
of a breakthrough for me. I also liked that song, Nothing But Love,
a great poppy song, and Eric’s stuff, Just Take My Heart and of
course To Be With You. To me that was some of my favorite stuff that
Mr Big did.
Darrin: Recently, during NAMM week, you played a couple of shows
at the Viper Club, and you took part in the Jem 20 Ibanez show. Andy
Timmons said you had the unenviable position of clean up hitter that
night, but you were amazing. How did you like playing with that
lineup?
Paul: Oh, it was great. It was really, really cool. It was
amazing to hear everybody‘s style, and what they would do, over
whatever song it was that we were doing. It think it was Voodoo
Chile. To hear maybe 8 or 9 guitar players on stage, and GREAT ones.
Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Tony MacAlpine, Andy Timmons, Herman Li
from Dragon Force and I am probably forgetting more of them that
were there. As a guitar player sometimes you get into a rut, and you
think you know all of the notes, and wonder what else there is. And
in that situation, you get to hear how everyone takes those 12 notes
and does something really unique with them. That was a blast and
very inspiring. And And y
Timmons sounded GREAT. We also played the Beatles song Let It Be
together, and he just killed on that.
Darrin: So what is next? We know you are on G3 and have some
dates? Anything more domestically in Canada and the US than is
posted?
Paul: I think G3 is really raising peoples knowledge of me
in North America. I hope that will give me the ability to do some
solo shows as well. And maybe G3 will extend a bit. It is going
really well.
Darrin: After all these years of being a solo guy, and having a
great measure of success, have you ever thought that you would be
able to be a part of a band again? As in one member of a group?
Paul: I have thought about it, and I have always
wondered..who would sing, and who would fit with me, because I am
such an unusual person. Where do I fit in, or who fits with me? I
think from being a solo artist, you really get to be yourself, and
the more I am by myself the more my idiosyncrasies good and bad come
out. It is hard to stuff them back in once they come out. I think I
would have to find some people as colorful as I have become.
Darrin: Are you interested at all in hearing some old unreleased
Mr Big Stuff you played on, being released as a new album? Stuff
you wrote and recorded, but never made it to the record store?
Paul: I put one of those together and tried to get it to fly,
and the record company was paying us pennies and their offer was
horrible, so it was shelved for later. There was some great stuff
that we never released. Hopefully we can get it out there someday.
I am proud of it and would love to have it out there.
Darrin: When is the next show Paul? I know I have kept you long
enough already!!!
Paul: Tonight actually. In Anaheim.
Darrin: I hope it goes well tonight
Paul: Thank you, I am sure it will! |
Paul
Gilbert is not just a household name in Japan anymore. Not that he
ever was, but he has had incredible success in that particular
market. The shredder that was the founder of metal machine
Racer X and one of the 4 founding members and original guitarist for
Mr. Big has just recently released his first all instrumental guitar
album, named Get Out Of My Yard.