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Interview
by SashaS
28-10-2001
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| Billy Sheehan's 'Compression' cover |
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Art of suffering, life is
Billy Sheehan, considered the world’s best bass player, promotes a solo album with a first Euro-tour in seven years
Of all albums released this week the most low-key is Billy Sheehan’s ‘Compression’; you really need to know your music history to be clued in on this mature take on Rock kicking with modern elements. It is almost one-man show that can rock modern as well as traditional. According to his label boss, one Steve Vai, Sheehan’s album is “crafting hard-hitting yet melodic rock songs with stylish elegance,” but not before stating the obvious that “Billy is the greatest bass player to ever tread the planet.”
The title of the album is not inspired by Sheehan‘s love for Mercedes Kompressor but a designation of the creative process; computers have liberated and shortened the artistic process. Still, it didn’t prevent him from inviting a couple of guests, Vai on ‘Chameleon’ and drummer Terry Bozzio (both former Frank Zappa collaborators) on a couple of tracks.
“It was an amazing journey,” the famed bassie observes between Cappuccino sips, “I built my own studio, wrote the songs, did the lyrics, recorded it, sung it but have had a producer for a bit more objectivity… I’m really happy to have done it.”
What once was...
Having shared his playing past with Vai in Dave Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen days (second half of the 1980s), and co-founder of Mr Big shortly afterwards, the mild mannered man keeps his ear to the current musical trends to offer us a cyber-funky-abstructly-lyriced, ‘Three Day Blind’, alongside tracks such as ‘Perfect Groove’, a pure homage to vintage Bowie.
“Oh, you’ve noticed that,” Sheehan enthuses in a Swiss Cottage hotel bar, “and that was the idea; combine a modern sounding song with Bowie-sque vocal, ‘Ziggy (Stardust)’ or ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ periods, I’m a big fan of his voice. The other singer I admire is Peter Gabriel, especially his period with Genesis, ‘Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ (PG’s last with once-proggers in 1974) is one of my all time favourite albums. I wish somebody would make a film out of it. I have a bootleg-demo of the song writing process.”
“Working on my own, for the first time, on a computer, it made it become my mirror. It did speed up the process and increased my content of creative freedom. You might not expect to hear that from a bass player but it is the truth.”
“On my record,” he adds with justified pride, “I purposely didn’t use words Heart, Love or Baby in the lyrics anywhere because it constitutes 90 per cent of all commercial songs. I didn’t want it in my lexicon, they are so over-used.”
A perfect chord quest
Sheehan, who has been voted the best bass-player in the world on numerous occasions of which he comments “I’m humbled by it all, what can I tell you,” is also part of G3, Guitaring trio that includes Vai and Joe Satriani: he’ll be on visiting these shores in December with the former axe-meister.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Sheehan’s shakes his ponytail in delight, “because I haven’t played Europe since 1994, when we supported Aerosmith. And, I’m really looking forward to visiting Ireland, I’ve never been there and it is the country of my descendents!”
After making music for nigh to 30 years – Sheehan earned cult-status with his native Buffalo, NY, based band Talas – has seen many a change in the music industry. The one that concerns him the most is that fewer people control the taste of millions, followed by corporations refusing to develop talent in preference of ripping off instant profit on short-term acts.
“I believe that there is going to be a backlash,” Sheehan expresses his view (idealistically?), “because corporations like AOL Time Warner have become huge to be trusted. Technology will allow an underground to establish itself and I think that all kids of dance music are doing it. And we all are better for it.”
The merchants of chaos who caused the September 11 events “Have certainly changed the world forever,” but there is a big question whether music provided comfort or lacked power to rise to the occasion in the aftermath?
“Music as a medium has always been a spear-point of social awareness,” Sheehan observes, “especially in the 1960s. And I believe it can be again; that’s one of the reasons why I think that all the corporate music is nothing but entertainment without any substance.”
Hip’n’cheap starring in Hollywood-for-ears, so we avoid it.
“Yeah, exactly. There is also a recording revolution going on: anyone with a computer can make a record which ten years ago would require millions of dollars to do. Still, the amount of quality remains the same… If you were to listen to all the MP3s you’d discover that only 1% is any good and that percentage will remain… But, musicians have wonderful tool to express themselves, technology that allows them to go from a thought to a finished song in the fastest time ever; in two or three hours, from a nebulous, vapour thought to a complete song.”
Tour dates:
05 December - Civic, Wolverhampton
06 December - Astoria, London
07 December - Astoria, London
09 December - Vicar Street, Dublin
10 December - Vicar Street, Dublin
SashaS
28-10-2001
Billy Sheehan's album 'Compression' is released 29 October 2001 on Favoured Nations
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