1. At what age did you decide to become a professional musician?
9. Started playing violin. Loved it. Could see myself doing it forever.
2. Who were your earliest influences?
Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, Stravinsky, The Dorsey Brothers, Sinatra, Toni Bennett, The Stones, Beatles, The Who, John McLaughlin etc etc etc etc.
3. If you couldn’t have been a musician, what else would you have become?
Homeless
4. What do you like to do outside of making music?
Learn something new every day
5. What equipment do you use?
A variety of custom basses,mostly Spector, Zon. TC Electronic amp and speakers. Westone inears, Cad Mics. Sennheiser wireless systems. Fender and Zeta electric violins. Acoustic upright bass, violins, violas, cellos, mandolin, guitars, keyboards. Pro Tools. Waves Audio. Izotope. Native Instruments. KRK studio monitors. Dell computer systems. I could go on for another week here.
6. If you could do a collaboration album with anyone living or dead who would that be?
Vivaldi.
7. You live in L.A. If you were going to get a second house where would that be?
I don’t live in LA. I live Seattle. LA is my second home. I love the air in Seattle so, If I could afford it, the beach.
8. Who would you like to see Heaven & Earth tour with?
Anyone, as long as there is people in front of us I’m a happy man.
9. What is the best concert that you’ve ever seen?
My first rock show, The Who. The first time is usually the best..isn’t it? It helped me get my head out of just playing classical music. I was a privately trained classical violinist, violist from age 9 to 18. After that show I got me a Barcus-Berry violin pick-up..stuck it on my violin, plugged in, got a hold of Hot Rats by Zappa and learned Willie The Pimp on violin. I started listing to Sun House and John Lee Hooker. The rest is, well, ongoing.
10. Do you have a favorite song on the new album “Hard to Kill”?
I love it all
11. Please come up with a short description of your band mates.
Joe Retta: Pavarotti
Stuart Smith: The Dude
Steve Wilson: Bam Bam
Mike Mangan: The Nicest Man In The World
12. Do you prefer the recording or touring experience?
Love them both. Both are of course different. Can’t beat the creative depth of writing and recording. Can’t beat the musical dynamics and the instant audience response of live. The people are the reason why I still have a job doing this. They are, at the end of the day, all that really matters.
13. What is your favorite part of the world that you’ve visited?
Europe. Everything is so fucking old. I’m a west coast boy. Here if it’s 50 it’s old. Japan is culturally so different. Australia,they love Americans, one of the few countries that do.
14. What would be your advice to someone starting out in the music business?
The term “music business” is an oxy-moron, like military intelligence. It’s so different now than when I started. I got out of high school, jumped into a road band and instantly made a living. Those circuits are long gone. We all need money in one way or another. As a beginner you are going to have to find a way to balance money making and the creative endeavor in music. Much more difficult today.
15. What’s the best advice you’ve been given and who was it by?
You want your band mates to be great players. Just as important they need to have a look of style and you need to be able to ride in a tour bus with them. –Alice Cooper