26. MAY-DECEMBER 2006 - TOURING; IZZY RETURNS AND AXL FIGHTS

[Brian May] came to the show in London. [...] That [=the long delay] was a wear out. I remember that one too because I remember the catering eating that night, I ate spaghetti. Yeah, that was a long one. That was a hard time. That was when, yeah, it was a lot of stress during that show and that period. But yeah, you know, he came to the show. I didn't say anything, I think they introduced me and I said "Hi" and that was it or whatever. But yeah, that was a very stressful time. I remember I was just like, you know, aching from playing our part and then just beat up. Yeah, you know.

It's those things. It's the small things [that can set Axl off]. It's, "Who didn't fucking tape that, at the front of the stage, I almost tripped. I'm fucking here doing my fucking job." You know, "I'm not going to go on for another two hours. I'm going to take a break right now in the middle of the set." That actually happened. Yeah, and at a big... I think it was like a Rock am Ring, one of those big ones. I don't think it was Rock am Ring because that one actually went pretty smooth because I remember Metallica was there. But it was another one just like that, big, huge festival. Right after, I think, Welcome, I think it was, when we were playing Welcome to the Jungle, which is our second song in the set because we'd opened up with Chinese, he almost tripped and then he went to the side of the stage and just started mumbling the words. And everybody was like, "What's going on?" And it was like, then he went off to the side of the stage and we can hear him yelling in the mic thing, saying, you know, "I almost tripped, who fucking fucked up! I'm not gonna deal with this shit, I'm here singing," and you know, "I almost killed myself," that type of thing and it was a riot for a little bit and I think Tommy threw his bass and it hit the cameraman in the front of the head, so he felt bad. It was a complete meltdown for two hours. [...] Then we played for three hours and killed it, yeah.

It's usually because somebody fucks up and it's something super dumb. You know, like, "Oh," we just landed in Poland and I remember the show we didn't play till like 2 in the morning and the show was supposed to be at like 9 or something and we had to wait because - the show wasn't canceled, we actually played - but we had to wait while he was on the tarmac while someone went back to Paris on a commercial flight... or they had to get the concierge to get his coat out of his room and bring his raincoat on a commercial flight into Poland before he'd get out of the private jet to get to the gig, because when they were getting out of the plane it started raining and no one prepared him. And like, "I'm with like 15 people flying with me and no one thought it could be raining here. Where's my coat?"

And then during that period, I told them I was about to have a kid. And then that's when I said, "I'm going to leave the tour," and everybody was like, "Okay, well, we've got to get a substitute in." And then that's when we got Frank.

I think they were all cool. You know, I think at that point they were just like, you know, everything's so crazy, "Oh? Okay, whatever," "You got to go? Sounds great." You know, like, you know, Bucket was already gone. This guy Bumblefoot's in the band. You know, It was just like, "Oh, whatever, dude," "Yeah, do your thing."

No, I had it with the manager. And "Okay, we'll tell Axl," so I just kind of trusted that they would tell him.

And then it just crazy because of the level it has to work on is so big. And we had such big shoes to fill that it just creates this chaos. And then it wasn't even music anymore. It was just about, you know, "They're wearing Bucket out," "Oh, they're wearing me out, "Oh, Robin's upset, "Oh, Tommy's quitting," "Oh, you know," you know what I mean?

Frank's a great dude. And, you know, when I quit and he joined, he's perfect. You know, he loves it. You know, it's his thing. He's a rocker and he loves to do it. You know, he stands up and gets the crowd into it. I was, you know, wearing fucking sunglasses and a fucking bandana over my mouth to try to hide sometimes, just to be weird. You know what I mean? I was just like, "Don't look at me!" type of thing. So he's great for it.

Frank works perfect in it. He loves it. I went and saw one of the shows and it was like, "Oh, I get it." He's like standing up, fist pumping and stuff. I don't know if he does that now, but when I saw him one time, it was just like, "Oh, I get it." He digs. I kind of like, wear a hat and put my head down and just get through it. That's my style. [...] Frank is cool man. He's perfect for that band. He rocks out. He hits hard and solid. He's great for it.

When I left I was only supposed to be gone for two weeks, and then that turned into a month, and then that turned into three months, because I was getting a lot of studio work: “Hey, can you do this Gatorade commercial?” “Hey, we’ve got this Best Buy commercial.” “Write the music or make the beat for this….” I do a lot of work with Bootsy Collins on that side of things – the commercials and stuff. “Hey, Brain, can you put a beat to this?” We’re working on a Gatorade commercial right now. I’ve been a Bootsy fan for years, so I’m just honored to be working with him on any level. Anyway, I started doing more of that, so I was like, “Hey, Frank, I’m kind of doing this and they’re digging your playing. Would you mind hanging out and staying?”

He was thrilled – “Oh, man, this is the greatest gig in the world. I’m so happy, this is awesome.” And nobody else in the band was complaining, though they were like, “Well, are you ever coming back?” I told them, “Well, yeah, we’ll see what’s going on, but right now let Frank do it.” Frank is more rock. He’s more like the original Guns N’ Roses drummer [Steven Adler], which is more like straight-up rock – open hi-hat, bashing, hitting as hard as you can.

I guess they couldn't pull it!

I haven't told a lot of people this but that's sort of when I knew I was done, we were playing the rock show, KROQ show, I think, at the Verizon Amphitheater. I remember I was up there and I was playing the cowbell part to Nightrain and I was like, "I can't do this again." Like my body actually was stopping me from playing the cowbell. Like I couldn't physically do it cause I was like, I just had done it so many times and it wasn't a part that I would normally play either. And my body was rejecting it. And I just, that was the last time I ever played with them.

I was having a baby girl at the beginning of a tour in ’06, and I told them before I started that I would have to leave early. I got Frank Ferrer, who had played with [Guns guitarist and bassist] Richard Fortus and Tommy Stinson, to fill in, and that was cool. When I got home, I was kind of diggin’ being home. The album wasn’t out yet, and Frank was doing a great job and I was getting a lot of production gigs just staying home. I’m really into computers and music, and I have my own studio. I rent a room at Studio 880, and I built this MIDI studio with all these MPC’s and outboard gear, and I just started doing production – commercials for TV, that kind of stuff. And I kept getting more and more gigs and making almost as much money doing that as I was from touring and being a drummer. I also started taking theory lessons, piano lessons, ear training, computer and music lessons, going that route.

When I left I was only supposed to be gone for two weeks, and then that turned into a month, and then that turned into three months, because I was getting a lot of studio work: “Hey, can you do this Gatorade commercial?” “Hey, we’ve got this Best Buy commercial.” “Write the music or make the beat for this….” I do a lot of work with Bootsy Collins on that side of things – the commercials and stuff. “Hey, Brain, can you put a beat to this?” We’re working on a Gatorade commercial right now. I’ve been a Bootsy fan for years, so I’m just honored to be working with him on any level. Anyway, I started doing more of that, so I was like, “Hey, Frank, I’m kind of doing this and they’re digging your playing. Would you mind hanging out and staying?”

He was thrilled – “Oh, man, this is the greatest gig in the world. I’m so happy, this is awesome.” And nobody else in the band was complaining, though they were like, “Well, are you ever coming back?” I told them, “Well, yeah, we’ll see what’s going on, but right now let Frank do it.” Frank is more rock. He’s more like the original Guns N’ Roses drummer [Steven Adler], which is more like straight-up rock – open hi-hat, bashing, hitting as hard as you can.

[...] we were all kind of at that point just like in our own little space. So I didn't think much about it at all. I was just like, "Oh, okay, there's a third, you know, you replace Bucket with," you know, I had lost my friend at that point. And I had known that [?] leaving. So I was done with it. You know, I was already kind of like, "Well, I'm going to be leaving anyways."

You know, even though, you know, they've been great to me and everything. It's just still felt like... And it was a job because that's the gig. I mean, they already had huge success. You're going to have to play those songs. Well, any of those bands, anybody joins, it becomes kind of a job, you know. Even for Axl. [...] it's like everything around it that just wears you out. And then maybe I'm just not that kind of a person that can play in one thing in one band, you know, playing the same thing over and over again. I just feel like it's hard for me. I did it for a while and that's sort of the reason why I kind of left when I came back. I just couldn't really play that style anymore. It's just not who I am.

I guess they couldn't pull it!

i'm out of the currant touring band. i hope i can still be a part of the recordings!!!

the live shows were always a highlight for me!!! i'm just bummed i'm not a part of that anymore.

Naw not really... I just don't dig touring that much!

[Axl’s] always treated me really good. Even when I left and Frank [Ferrer, current GN’R drummer, pictured above] took over because I was having a kid, they were pretty accommodating. I think Axl was a little freaked out with another drummer coming in but I did it, he let me do it and it was kind of my decision not to come back because I was getting into other stuff like producing and film soundtracks.

It started with, I think, Primus when we were touring with Slayer, I think it was with Slayer, and I think we were like in Norway or something and they were rolling these huge cases that just looked like they were just, I mean they had been around the world, their Slayer's cases, road cases, and they had like a sticker from every country and they were just beat up. And I just looked in the mirror and I was just like, "Wait, I'm starting to look beat up," and like, "I'm becoming one of those road cases, I can't do this for the rest of my life."

I swear, dude, I still remember when those cases were rolling up and I saw them all beat up. And I was just thinking, "Wow,  I'm just gonna be one of those guys that's just on the road till I'm 50 years old, just like, you know."

I mean, Axl's always been great and, you know, all that. But by the end I was pretty much like, yeah, that road case and the touring was getting to the end. And I'm just like, "You know what? I'm gonna go back and do how I wanna, you know, and my life with, or whatever." So that's sort of the way that went.

I mean, I left because, you know, I had a kid and I just thought, I wanna really get this composing thing going, I wanna give it a shot. I wanna see if I can get some stuff going and sneak into it and make something happen. And I've done this, I mean, how many more shows do I need to play?

Yeah, it was all.. well, it's, you know, I was having a kid and it was interesting because for my own person... had nothing to do with Guns, you know, they're always good to me, they paid me well, you know, it had nothing to do with any personalities, really, for me, you know, that was in the band or whatever. It was more of a personal choice of, you know, I was having my first kid, I didn't want to miss that so it was right in the middle of tour so I left it, Frank took over for that month or whatever that was left because I had planned it that Frank would come in and he would do that. And then I was supposed to come back. And, you know, when they came back I went back and I did about six shows - I think it was six or seven shows - and I just remember on the last show I was this on stage and I think it was in Nightrain and, you know, when I was playing and I just was looking at the audience, looking at myself just looking at, you know, the whole situation I was like, "You know what? I can't put this shit [?] that this deserves," you know, I was like, "I don't have the energy for this," it's like, I don't know, "I just don't want to do this anymore." [...] You know, I went back to my hotel and I remember calling the manager at that time and I just said, "Dude, I just I can't do this, I can't, I can't do it for what it means," you know. [...] I don't know, I just was like, "I don't even want to play drums anymore," and I literally just stopped playing drums. I remember at that point Serge from System of a Down called me, you know, like after he found out I quit Guns and was like, "Hey, I'm doing this solo thing, would you tour with me?" and I was just like, "No." And I remember getting a call from that heavy manager from Korn and he was like - that's when Korn was still pretty big - and they were like, "Hey, you know the drummer just quit and, you know, Jonathan," you know, we had talked before, I had met him and he was like, "Hey, recommend you very highly and they want you to come and play or audition or do whatever," and I was just like, "No," and he was like, "What? You don't like money?" and I was like, "Well, yeah, I love money but I don't want to play drums anymore." So it was kind of that. I just said I didn't really want to play. That's sort of how I, you know, it wasn't anything to do with Guns, it was more just me, just going by just, you know, I want to try this composing thing.

But Bucket was, you know, at that point Bucket was like the third guitar player. So it was just like, "Oh, he's just playing parts." It wasn't like he ever looked at me and we got into a groove or a part or something, really. It was just like, "OK, you take the lead on this, and I'll take this." That's when I realized, like, "Wow, now I'm in corporate situation. Now I get what it feels like for someone to get a job at fucking IBM or whatever." They just go, and it's a thing that's going, and it's going to go whether you like it or not or whether you're involved. So I'm like, "I can either jump on and go with this, or I could fucking jump off, but I'm on it now." So there was some resistance. Yeah, there was some resistance from me going, "Wait, why do we have to rehearse tonight? We learned the songs once." You know, and it was just like, "No, we gotta keep going. This is a job, dude. We play these songs twice a day, four days a week, five days a week, and then you got the weekends off." And I was like, "What? Primus would be like, 'All right, let's go snowboarding!' 'all right, then let's play for a couple hours,' 'all right, cool, let's go do the gig.'" [...] Like with Primus it was kind of like jazz, it was like, "Here's the song," and every night it would be different, it would be couple BTMs slower, couple, you know, it would... "Oh, I changed the high hat parts"- [...] And it was like every show - you know, this was before people were like recording the shows and selling them - but yeah, Primus would have been great as one of those band is like, "Oh, I got!" you know, "did you check out the way they played," you know, "blah blah blah on Saturday night instead of Sunday? Oh, it's so different!" That's kind of cool that they take, you know, that was like the charm like you said. But with Guns, yeah, if I didn't do, you know, [hums the fill] in November Rain... People are air drumming it better than I'm doing it, you know.

[...] you know they have their run and then, you know, I don't know too much about... but I know that they move to different cities and stuff but I think, you know, sometime a lot of the show seems like they switch out the caps[?] when they move to see different cities also and they have a run for what? However long... Well, I get some run along a long time. Yeah, I don't know how they do it, they must be a different breed, because for other people in the band I don't think it was a problem. It's just for me, it could just be my, you know, undisciplined, you know, music career. Like you said, a lot of it's been so jumping around and doing stuff that I never had the facility and the discipline of learning, like, "Oh, okay," you know, this is a thing. I never understood, you know, I was playing with Les and Ler, and Ler and I were into skateboarding and basketball, and we'd go fuck off all day. And yeah, we'd do a good job at the shows, but it was kind of like, you know, "Well, how do I feel tonight?" "Well, I'm feeling a little tired, so I'll just lay back here and just let it go and do this kind of feel. I know my drum solo, it won't be so many notes," or something. But yeah, but in Guns, it was like, no, you're paid to play this song the way it sounds on the record because that's what they want to hear.

It was a tough one because I was used to like with Primus, you know, I just liked to play, get the show over and, you know, play four, five times a week even. You know, with Primus, you know, we do three shows in a row, have a day off, do two shows in a row and have a day off type thing. And, that would take up the week. With Guns it was like, "Okay we're going to play Rock In Rio," "Okay, we're leaving two weeks early," "Okay we're just now we're at the hotel," you know, "and we got ten days before the show." And I would be like, you know, "Wait, I just want to come here play this..." You know, it was like a lot of waiting around that kind of took me out. You know, the shows were like, you know, two or three a week type thing, and granted we did two and a half hour shows and they were more physical and we were headlining big things that we had to play longer and stuff. So that part of it kind of got me, the waiting around and waiting for Axl because Axl was on his time and that stuff. I had some great shows with them though, but I never felt like I never clicked. Like, you know what I mean? It never got to that touring clicking thing. But see, I had never done something on this big of a level. So I didn't know how to handle it, I think, in that sense. Like with Primus, it was like, "Oh, OK," you know, "we're all on the same bus, we're all going," you know, "into this war together and we're going to," like, you know, "we get off the bus together, we do our thing." You know, this one was like, "Oh, the band had two or three different buses." Nobody saw Axl. He flew to all the gigs. You know, the road crew, we never saw them. They're just, you know, on a whole different schedule. So it was hard to feel like a comradery going in with a band and becoming a band. I felt like we could never get on that thing where it was clicking. I mean eventually it did and when it did on some shows it was awesome. But when you're on tour and you're playing four or five days a week, it becomes a machine and you're just like, it's fun, you're shredding. You're like, "Oh okay, I'm going to just rip tonight." You don't even think about it. You just get up and get on stage and it's like-

i'm doing some top secret shit right now!!!!!!!!

Gettin paid and gettin laid!!!!!

But I’m still doing stuff, I’ve done some remixes for [Axl].

And, you know, I haven't seen him in a couple years because, you know, I just think that we just played each other out, if that makes any sense. We've been working together for 15 years in solo projects, like Giant Robot, we did together, we were in Guns together. He was like my best friend, you know, I think we just played each other out. And I think we just kind of said, "It's time," you know, "Brain, you're doing this thing now, I'm gonna go solo, do my thing." But, I'd have to say, he was one of, I mean, and still I consider him one of my best friends, I mean, you know, he doesn't let too many people in.

[...] we were doing a track for a video game. I think it was Twisted Metal. The last time I saw him was here. He came in. He was pretty... it was just a weird vibe, you know? I think he was maybe done with.... I don't know. I just felt something weird. Something was weird and he had left. And like I haven't talked to him since, and it's been about two years. And up till then I thought everything was great. I don't know if it was me. I don't know if he was just like, "Oh, I'm sitting here playing and Brain's getting all the credit," or if it was just, you know. He was done with just playing for other people. He felt like that, even though I felt like, "Hey, they know you're playing and you know you got credit on. If you look at iTunes it says 'Brain and Bucket,' you know, or whatever on the tracks and stuff." But yeah, I don't know. And then that was it. And then, you know, I see that he's still touring and stuff, you know, solo. And, you know, I want to reach out to him, you know, and stuff, but I just don't know how, you know, because I just don't know if I... Yeah, I don't know. You know, sometimes you just gotta like, yeah, just let things- [...] You just gotta kind of let things be what they, you know, you know, like, everybody's got their problems. And you just gotta, you know, I gotta worry about other stuff. But I do miss it. I mean, that's the part. And the creativity and the craziness. I mean, he's such a genius. I mean, I miss the four in the morning calls and all you hear like [imitating Bucket soloing]. He just solos for like 10 minutes. I mean, I got the phone off the thing, I'm just sitting there and then and then he was just like, "You think I'm getting faster? I think I'm getting faster, hold on." [imitating rapid soloing] This is like, he just plays guitar, you know? Yeah, I miss that because that's why I got into it, was for the freaks and stuff.

You know, I'm not sure [if we will tour together again]. We kind of just said we wanted to finish this run of shows that we had up to the new year and we did a New Year's show and that was fun, and that was a last show that we did. Since then, you know, we don't really, we haven't talked about anything. I mean, you know, I would love to do more shows with Bucket, I mean, he's probably, you know, my favorite musician that I've ever played with and I consider him, you know, one of my best friends so that would be awesome, you know, to do that. And as far as that's for drumming, that would be awesome and, you know-

That was just again, us hanging out. It all comes from just hanging out. Bucket was just, we were in San Francisco hanging out and Bucket was like, "Oh hey, you want to tour?" I was like, "Yeah, let's do this for a little bit." And so we went out for like a month and a half. [...] It was pretty trippy. It was tough at first because we were just not used to it, you know, like we hadn't played in a while. But it comes back pretty quick because, you know, we're just such a, you know.... He's been someone that I've just- [...] and a lot of my friends that came to the shows, you know, would just say like, "Oh my God," you know, "I was like, that was one of the coolest shows I've seen," you know, or whatever that hadn't seen it or whatever. New fans, new people that I've met throughout the eight years that we haven't played. And been in the composing world. They had come and been like, "Oh my God, I didn't know you could do that. And that's what you did with Bucket," you know, because they were just used to me doing composing stuff, which is not playing, it's just like- [...] Moving a mouse around and...

o with them. And I had never done that before because before that I was just mainly in bands that were allowing me to just do, "Here's the form, but just do your thing." And even with Tom Wait, that's sort of how his stuff was. You know what I mean? When we played every night with Tom, every night I probably played every song totally different. Like if you go back and you watch anything on YouTube, you know, each night it was like a different... I'd play it differently depending on how I was feeling, the tempos were different. Cause a lot of times I just go off of like how I'm feeling. So the songs will be really fast or too slow. Well, with Guns it's like, well, Axl can't sing it if it's this fast or, you know, because it just doesn't make sense, and the fans are expecting it to be a certain way.

I mean, dude, that's funny you're asking that because this last tour I did, it got weird for a second, you know, on the road because, you know, I don't know if you've been following Bucket, but the last, what, maybe seven years or something, he's been playing solo. [...] It's just been completely solo to tape. So when we decided to do this, you know, run of the West coast. And I think we did Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and then Seattle, LA, San Diego, you know, the whole, but this side of the... like for what I think we did, like, I don't know, like maybe a month and a half or something, and then we did one-offs all the way to the new year or whatever, like I think we started in September or something like that. So we did like about three months here and there, you know, playing and it was, we actually kind of, you know, it got weird for a bit because I think Bucket, I was doing it the way of, "Here's the song. It's just a form and I'm going to play it my way and it's going to be different every night." And it got weird because he was so used to doing it to the tape and no, in the tempo would be exactly the same in his own solo shows that he was having a hard time with it at first because he was going, "What are you playing?" Like, you know, like, "That's not the part," and I'd be like, "Well, I didn't learn the part, I just know that this is kind of the feel and this is..." But he was so used to it being exactly how his tape was every night, because, you know, when I looked at his schedule that he has coming up now or whatever, I think someone was saying he was touring so I was just checking out where he was playing, because he's going to do another solo run it looks like. It was like, you know, eight shows in a row, one day off, seven shows in a row, one day off, like that Mike Watt type of shit. And I was like, you know, like playing every day. And I guess he just gets so used to it that it was weird. Like we had to kind of find a happy medium of where I was going to play, how I was going to play every night, because it started to turn into more like, you know, a set thing that he was used to. I don't know if that's what the fans wanted. I know with GN'R that's what they want. You know, when this fill happens at the beginning of November Rain, it's got to happen and it's got to be the same, you can't do some kind of like 30 second notes fill when it's "Do do do do," you know? But with Bucket he was expecting kind of the, "Oh, hey, it was this fill that was I hearing every night for the last seven years." So yeah, it was weird. It kind of got weird, I have to say. [...] Yeah, I mean, you know, we have our, we call it the dark period when we don't talk for a while and that's just mainly because he's doing his thing and I'm doing mine. You know, like, I told, you know, I don't think I would want to do eight shows in a row on the East coast, then a day off and nine shows in a row, you know, some, you know what I mean? Like that many shows. And I think it's easier for him. I think he loves to just go out there and play every night and grind it out and just not even have a day off. I think it's kind of like a weird therapy thing for him, you know, he just likes to do it that much or whatever. Cause I think I remember him when we booked the first shows, he had booked our first shows we had ever done in like 10 years together, he booked five in a row, like, you know, like five, you know, and I go, "Dude, I don't think I've played five shows in a row ever." [?] a time as we grinded it out at the very beginning, but once the shows start to get to two hours, two and a half hours, three hours... You know, a drummer playing five nights in a row. I mean, you know, I'm not flipping 18, you know, or whatever. And I like to give up my all in every show. So, you know,  I just told him it was kind of hard and he was like, "Oh, oh, sorry, man," you know, "I forgot, you know?" Yeah, I'm bringing a band. So I think it's mainly that he just gets used to doing it himself. Kind of just goes out there and does it. You know, I don't really feel like it's anything towards... Cause you know, after the first like four or five shows, he started getting what you exactly talked about was, "Hey, you know, I'm a human. I'm not going to play it exactly like a metronome perfectly every time. So it is going to waver and my tempo is going to be different," because nobody wants to go out with a Buckethead show and watch a band play to a click and stuff. I get it if he's just playing a tape, you know, of course it's going to be what it is because it doesn't have the human element except for him. But when you bring a band, it's been a waiver[?] and I think the audience wants to see a little improv and a little just, you know, whatever happens. And that's the good shit, you know?

Blackbyrd is the closest thing to Jimi Hendrix that you’re going to run into. And Bernie is the Jimi Hendrix of the keyboards. I don’t know who’s heavier than Bernie as a musician, or anybody that I could pick right now other than Prince that I’d like to play with. We did a gig in San Francisco and we were learning some old songs and revamping them. Everybody brought in some jams that they had played before, some Praxis ones that Bernie and I had played, T.M. brought in some, Blackbyrd brought in some of his stuff. We listened to it very quickly and decided: Let’s make this a band. Don’t copy…don’t learn “Super Stupid” or “Red Hot Mama” the same way they were played on the albums. It would be more about, Which way would you play it, what is your favorite beat right now, or what are you listening to? Just play a beat.

So we just made up new grooves, and then those started morphing into more jamming – almost like the jam-band thing, but more Miles-y. I love the ‘70s Miles stuff. Agharta – I’m a huge fan of that. Al Foster – I love the open hi-hat rawness, and the fact that it’s these jazz people trying to play rock and twisting it in a weird way. So anyway, it started to get more into that, and I can’t tell you how awesome it’s been. Musically I’ve been so happy…I hope we can make an album and continue it. Because I really see this thing stretching into that Miles side, and that’s my favorite stuff.

I started the Web site BrainBeatz.com, and before that I made a beat DVD with Big Fish Audio, Pro Tools 24-bit. I just went to a studio, played all my grooves, and did a deal just selling it for producers, people who want to have the tempo. Now with time stretching and stuff, it can pretty much be any tempo, but back when I made it I had specific tempos and specific grooves. Now I’m trying to do that on my own through my site, just because I have a whole HD Pro Tools rig in my studio and a place to play the drums. So every time I get bored I just make a new beat. I flip it, do some weird stuff to it, and then try to sell it. I’ll probably make another DVD set, hopefully through Big Fish, and try to sell that to producers and stuff. I’m really trying to get more into the production side.

My heroes in drumming have been the John Bonhams, the Keith Moons, the Tony Williamses. But in terms of longevity and having a career it’s been more about Stewart Copeland and Narada Michael Walden – the people that have gone from drumming into production, and into doing soundtracks and writing songs. So during that whole Guns period I was studying up on technology, reading every music magazine that I could get my hands on that had to do with Logic, taking private lessons, and just learning everything I could about that stuff.

I’m just starting to do what Questlove is doing, but I really enjoy that. I enjoy tweaking on a kick drum for six hours, playing with sounds and synths and learning how synthesis works. After taking the two years off from playing live since my kid was born, I kind of miss playing now. The SociaLibrium thing was kind of like, “Man!” – you know, getting that rush, that kind of Zen feeling of being on stage and just being comfortable in what you’re doing. I don’t know if I want to just be a road dog the rest of my life. Doing a little bit of both is where I’m trying to head.

I am Brain. I like to think of my musical background as more of a "movement" so to speak. The evolution of a drummer into a composer…. Metamorphosis… Emotional, spiritual, and visceral… Real life. I began drumming in high school (egg stage). The drums and I had respect for one another and worked together for many years to establish an understanding (larva stage). This resulted in my having a desire for higher learning, attending college to hopefully become one with the drums (pupa stage). Later on down the path I had the good fortune of playing in bands like Primus, Guns n' Roses, and for Tom Waits (adult stage). Now, having gone into composing, I like to think of the current state of my life as "backstage."

So I just really started getting into computers and music. This is probably, you know, 1999, you know, around that time I was really thinking I wanna get into computers and computer music was just starting out. [...] And I always liked listening to the music in movies and stuff. I always kind of gravitated to that, not because I was like a drummer or musician, just more  I like the, you know, with the emotion and how music and film work together and if it's done really well, you get the best. Like Jaws or something, you know what I mean? It's the simplest thing, but soon as you hear that, you just go, "Oh! Shit, the sharks coming!" or whatever. You hear this, that low base and it's this, "There it is!" So I don't know, I just always have gravitated towards that. So when he had said that I had thought about it and when I saw those cases and thought, "Wow, man, you just tour for the rest of your life and you're just going to be this like, you know, road dog and just, you know," so I was just like, "I gotta get into something!" So I just started really getting into computers and music and just taking theory lessons, you know, jazz, piano, just classical, chamber music, everything. I just studied all kinds, this theory- [...] I was [studying] while I was on the road. So I would be like studying, you know, learning. And when I was off the road, then I would take lessons, get back on the road and just learn how to like plug in, you know. I remember being out with like Guns N' Roses, we were doing like Rock In Rio one time and Bucket and I would just be sitting there and trying to figure out how to like plug the first sound card that someone had sent us, into our laptops, it was like that black old school laptop, into the PCM slot or whatever and trying to make it, you know, we spent like 8 hours just trying to get like a piano to come through the keyboard or something, you know, because it was just that it was so early. So I was always interested in it and doing it while I was on the road [...]

[...] I did some, just some shows and did some stuff with The Crystal Method, so that's recently what I've been doing. Most of the stuff I've turned down, like, you know, a big one was like when Joe Satriani called me, I think he, you know, replaced me with Vinny Colaiuta, so I don't think they missed me. But, you know, he was like, "Hey dude, you know, I got this album, we're gonna go to Skywalker Sound, do all this stuff." And right then I was just like getting a video game with Sony, it was the infamous #2 [?]. It was from the Infamous series, right now I think they're on #4, but. And it's a big AAA game on, you know, for Sony PlayStation. And I was just getting it and going, "Wow!" that was my big turning point of, "Wow, I can either start getting into that or go back to just, 'OK, we're going to be in Europe for, you know, six months....' I don't know if you've seen those double decker Europe fucking tour buses, but no one wants to be on those things. So, you know, I mean, I just had to say, "You know, I'm getting into this, I have to take a chance, you know, I have to break in at one point," and it worked out great. I mean, the soundtrack was great. They asked me to come back to do #3. So, you know, Infamous Second Son just came out, so. You know, I got to play drums on it. I'm just trying to get that going.

I was never like the studio session kind of guy, you know. Maybe I just didn't have the talent to just pull it off or whatever, but I'd always like, there had to be more. I couldn't just go in and like read a chart and play something. I wanna know like, well, what are we playing? What are we making? What are we trying to make this? What are we saying with this that we're making? You know, I couldn't just, I just need to get my paycheck and play. That's why I think composing and that stuff is perfect, because the stuff that you have to do now, you're looking at scenes and you're saying, "Well, what type of sound are you making for this? Is it gonna be dirty? Is it gonna be clean? Is it gonna be," you know, "what mood are we trying to set for this setting?" And so it was hard. I think, you know, a lot of times I'd go and do studio work and people would just be like, "Look, dude, shut the fuck up, we just want you to play [humming rhythm]," because I'd be going like, "I don't think this is... you guys got the wrong drum sound if that's what you're going for, cause what are you trying to make out of this beat?" you know, like, "What are you saying with this thing you're making?" And so I think it was like just too much. So I think that's why the composing thing and that stuff was just the perfect, you know, kind of segway for to get into because it's like that's what I get called for now. It's like, "Hey, this is a game and it's like it's set in New Orleans and we need. you know, second line fields, we need you to gather some players together, we need you to, you know, get that kind of sound, how do we put it together?" And I kind of, you know, I can make that happen, you know. So it makes more sense than being just like, "Oh, I'm just gonna go to one session after another and I'm just the drummer," you know? "I'm just playing," because I like to get into the sounds and the feels and, you know, "Well, what kind of drum kit is gonna work, what are you actually, you know, making from this?" or whatever.

Yeah, cause a lot of it's not, it's just more, "Hey, just play the part, it's already set up," and it is just what it is and you just go in you do three or four sessions a day. I could just never be that guy because I just wanted it to be more, or something. Maybe I wasn't as good as like [?] or Josh where they could just go in there, and Kenny Aronoff and just, you know, kill it or whatever, you know.

I mean, there was a point, you know, even when I was done with Guns and I was trying to get in as composing thing and you know bands were calling like, you know, at that point I think like even Korn called and they were just like, you know, "Terry Bozzio wants like $5 million to go on the road. So, you know, can you do it for like, you know, this amount of money?" and I'd be like, "Oh no, I'm just sitting here and we're trying to figure out how the Azio driver goes into the, you know, blah blah blah folder and you know the thing," and I remember the manager going, "You not like money? Hello?" Like, "I'm offering you a bunch of money," you know? And I was just like, "I don't know, I just getting off on, you know, I'd rather do this." [...] I mean, I love Korn, don't get me wrong. But I don't wanna go out on tour again. I just don't want to be the drummer playing behind, you know, the thing or whatever, you know.

I really would like to get, you know, my goal, myself, would be really to get like a TV series. you know. I would love to do like an HBO series, be able to, you know, compose that, you know, like or whatever, you know, I mean, to me that would be that would be the ultimate goal. [...] like something like that and being even the composer would be the greatest, you know, for me because I've never done something like that where it's like, you know, weekly you have to kind of come up with music and, you know, it's a gig that, you know, like it's really stressful and hard for a certain period of time but, you know, I feel like that would be really fun. It's something I haven't done. You know, movies kind of spread over a long period of time, like in video games, like I think when we did Infamous, you know, that was like a year and a half of just like making music here and there and just spread, you know... I would like to have it, like, try it as a steady job for six months and see, you know, just like really get into composing. I just feel like it would kick my ass the way Guns did.

Currently I am working on a number of projects, most notably on scoring a film (with my writing partner Melissa Reese) called Detention. It is directed by music video heavy Joseph Kahn and stars Dane Cook and Josh Hutcherson. I am also preparing to run a marathon.

I'm partnering up with this girl, Melissa Reese, who is classically trained, and we just did that film for Joseph Conda [?], Power Rangers thing, that I was talking about that went viral for a little bit. We teamed up on that to, you know. We're hoping that's going to be our stepping stone into film and stuff because it went so viral, got like 15 million hits and stuff like that. That's what we're hoping to do, as far as a reel, you know, we've done enough on the composing now to to have a pretty good reel so I'm hoping I'm already kind of in it, like if-

And at that point, you know, Melissa and I were together for a while and a couple but then we kind of realized that shit, being together and also doing music 24/7, the plane was about to fucking crash, you know. We were just doing this movie called Love Is All You Need - I think it's funny ironic, "Love Is All You Need" [ed note: released in 2016] - and that's when it was like tough to like be together and working on a movie because working on movies is pretty stressful too, you know. You got the directors and staff they're [?], they're gone in their own way of like dealing with music and stuff like that. So it was a tough process. And so we were kind of, you know, parting ways as a couple

[?] we did all the cinematic stuff for her Bad Blood video. That was Joseph Kahn, he shot the video for that and he asked if we can do some of the cinematic parts like, you know, little beginning fight scene we put together.

Well yeah, that's sort of my thing is I really wanted to get into composing. And I think that's where Melissa and I were headed until she joined Guns and then got kind of, you know, that's like a full time thing. And I knew it was going to be a full time thing. You know, I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into, but, you know, she does now. She's been doing it for a couple of years [...].

Yeah, I would go out in two seconds [if Bob Dylan called]. Or Paul McCartney or somebody like that, you know, or whatever. Yeah, definitely. But you know, just to go out with like a another band... Or, I would want to be a part of a band. You know, if something started or something like that, I would love to do that and have creativity in it and and be a part of it. But just to be the hired gun, I think I'm just, you know... Because I still get to play drums and stuff on all the projects, you know, like any film stuff or any video game. They know that I know that side of it so usually it's a game that has a lot of percussion and drums in it that I'll be involved in. It's not like an orchestral thing or, you know, something like that, or only orchestral stuff. Yeah, I mean, you know, I would like to... I mean, if Axl called.. I mean, I do miss playing live, you know. I mean, I would want to do stuff as one offs. I wish I could get back into, you know, like maybe just one tour, knowing that was going to be it.

But yeah, I don't know, I mean, sometimes I wish I did stick with one thing, you know, as I'm getting older now, you know, I kinda regret that I left, you know, things maybe too early. Whether it's been Primus or even Guns, you know what I mean? [...] you know, financially as I'm getting older I don't know, you know, would it have been great to have played with Slash and Duff? Fuck yeah. You know, I mean, I wish I was on that because I really feel like, you know, that's the real deal and I would have loved to play with them, you know, on that thing. So I guess if I would have stuck with it I would have done it.

And the reason why I regret it is because I think in that moment I wasn't thinking, you know, I was just in a weird head space and I wasn't thinking it fully through. I was just kind of thinking, being selfish for myself, and I, you know, and then I see...

I'm still really tight with the, you know, people in the camp so, you know, as far as like being able to go they always hook me up, you know. I went to one of the rehearsals and stuff and I saw Slash and met him for the first time. I never met him before. And met Duff for the first time, you know. But Duff actually came to the show in Houston that Melissa and I did, you know, so that was cool, yeah. He watched it, or whatever, so that was kind of cool. And I think Dizzy was there and then Frank came and then, you know... I know a lot of the people still in there, Del, I mean, Del and I are, you know, I mean I love Del, he's like... I always consider him a friend whether or not I even had anything to do with Guns N' Roses or whatever, you know. So I feel like, you know.... And doing some of these remixes... you know, I've done some of these remixes I've always felt that connection is still there, you know, or whatever.

No, not really. I mean I haven't really, you know. My ex-girlfriend, Melissa, they needed a keyboard player, so she's in the band now. We've done some gigs together. She's like my composing partner. We still do music and stuff because we got some films coming out. That's sort of where if there's any connection at all, it's through her. I don't really talk to any of the band members really. [...] And once in a while, you know, I guess I'll text Frank or something or whatever and that, but you know, pretty much now that Melissa's in the band and we still do composing, that's kind of where the connection. If there's anything that I hear about anything, it's through her.

Yeah, it must have been something that [Melissa] posted on one of ours [=social media accounts] when we were going through storage or something. [...] I think their management did [send it to me]. Yeah, so I thought that was cool. I mean, I played on it, I'm 90% of it. So yeah, that's cool.

Right now I'm in the Bay Area, actually, because I was, as stupid as it sounds, I'm taking pro - like not pro, but he was a pro - taking tennis lessons and so- [...] I come up to the Bay because there's really this guy that is really rad that teaches up here. [...] But I guess, you know, I just got into tennis. It was a way to just kind of.... you know, lately, the last like year to like about two years now, and it's just a way to get away from music, you know what I mean? So it's like one of those things. I was into golf for a long time like, you know, I'd take my clubs out on the GN'R tour, the Primus tours, so I got into that. And then, I don't know, I all of a sudden I just... I played tennis in high school and I was just like, you know, "I want to get back into tennis." So right now I'm just up in the Bay, I'm up in the San Francisco Bay Area, because that's where this guy is and that's where my daughter lives right now so I come and visit her every other week anyway.

I had a my first USTA tennis match last night. [...] I mean, I played a little bit in high school, but I've been playing now pretty seriously for about two years taking lessons and shit and my goal is to get up there. [...] So I had my first match with an official USDA team last night, so yeah.

Yeah, like I said, I was working, I kind of got into it earlier because of the story, because it kind of related, with this Mars Mechanic thing that I'm doing with Mirv and Extrakd and Eddie Def is on it. [...] But yeah, you know, we're just putting out this album. You know, and it's funny, like I said, because the actual title song, Mars Mechanics, was one of the songs I turned in an outtake from some of the songs we were writing for GN'R because, you know, it's like, at that point, I've always been kind of a collaborator, you know, I like to like get together, you know, so when they, you know, I'm not just like sit around and yeah, of course I make, make some of my own music and do some of my own shit, but mainly, you know, I like collaborating with people. So, you know, it was like, that's why like this Melissa thing, you know, it's like, I think we work well together. So, you know, I'm doing that thing with her. And then for this project, I thought, "Oh man," you know, Extrakd and I have been talking about doing something for a long time and we thought, "Hey, let's bring in Mirv," and, "Hey, remember we were writing back in the day?" So we've been digging up all our old like disks and stuff, you know, like, I mean, literally like floppy disk and shit, stuff we had and like, you know, like old, like weird Macs and weird computer stuff and plugging them in and listening to the cool, you know, some of the stuff and all this GN'R stuff came up that I was submitting. And so we've, you know, and you know, so we've just been revamping some of those, you know, some were just so out that I just, you know, it's ridiculous. I just like, I can't even believe I turned this into Roy or whoever was listening. Maybe even Axl heard of it. I mean, you'll hear some of them on the album. And they're crazy. Like one is called Cosey, I think, because of Pete Cosey. He was the guitar player. I think he passed away, but he was with Miles Davis in the seventies. And he was always one of my favorite guitar players. Yeah, if you don't know, you should listen to that era like the Dark Magus and Get Up With It era, that I think Cosey's on some of those albums. And, I mean, if I turn that in, it's ridiculous. And that they ever get out, you know, online and click on Cosey. They would go, "Yeah, Brain's fucked up. I wouldn't have turned that in either." Not even cool. [...] Yeah, it's all the weirdo shit. This might not even be right for GN'R fans, but it's all the weirdo shit.

That's ready to go. We're just trying to see if someone wants to put it out. If not, we're gonna probably just put it out ourselves. So I'm thinking it's like the next month. [...] Yeah, we have it out to a couple of labels and they're checking it out and seeing if we can work something out. Not that we're gonna get any money, but it'd be cool to just have it out on something. And if not, we'll put it out ourselves.