2019.04.02 - Ultimate Guitar - Gilby Clarke Shares Major Update on First Solo Album Since 2003

Gilby Clarke Shares Major Update on First Solo Album Since 2003, Says He Reads Stuff on UG a Lot

UG exclusive: "The record is pretty much finished."

During a conversation with UG's Justin Beckner, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke talked about his upcoming solo album "The Gospel Truth," which will mark his first solo effort since 2003.

You can check out a part of the interview below.

This is for Ultimate-Guitar.com. Are you familiar with that site?

"Oh yeah, for sure, you guys have a great site there. I read stuff on there a lot."

So let's talk about the new solo album. We have a name for it now, 'The Gospel Truth.' Do we have a release date yet?

"Well, that's what I'm trying to find out. We don't have an official date yet. I'm still waiting on that. I'm hoping that it's going to be in May. But that's not official yet. It's a strange thing now, the actual release date can be confusing because they release singles before. I don't know, it's confusing to me. My job is to write, record, and perform. That's my part."

How long has this record been written and recorded?

"Well, that's an interesting question because I haven't done a solo record since 2003. During that time, I've tried to make this record a few different times but things would come up that would raid my song vault. I'm not one of those prolific guys who write 100 songs a year. If I make a record, I write 10 songs. If [an idea] isn't good, I just toss it. I won't finish the lyrics and waste my time with it if it's not something that does something for me. So I guess I'd say the writing and recording have been on and off for the last three years. That's kind of when I got serious and started organizing the musicians and tracking them and all that. I could say I started writing it 15 years ago but realistically it's been, like, three years."

You had a lot of guests on this album, who did you have playing drums and bass?

"Well, that's what's great about making a solo record, you're not tied down. So I had Kenny Aronoff played drums, Steven Perkins [Jane's Addiction] played drums, Matthew Starr [Ace Frehley, Mr. Big] played drums. I'm trying to remember now [laughs]... On bass, I used Sean McNabb [Dokken, Queensryche, Don Felder], EJ Curse who plays in my solo band, I used Nikki Sixx. That's all I can remember off the top of my head right now."

Was the revolving door of musicians just sort of the nature of the album coming together over three years or a conscious effort to broaden the sound of the record?

It was exactly the latter. It's to broaden the songs. Those days of going in having three weeks to make a record, I don't do it that way. I will sometimes do two or three songs at a time. I'll get a drummer and bass player in there and work together to cut a couple of songs. But yeah, it definitely had to do with the timespan the album was made. Everyone is so busy now with summer tours and corporate shows. A lot of us work a lot. So trying to nail down schedules is really hard. So if I have an idea that I want to develop, it could take two weeks before I can get the right drummer and bass player down to work on it. I don't usually demo songs. I love that interaction of musicians in a room together looking at each other and giving them a chance to participate in the song."

So you don't go in with a very structured song. I would imagine you allow for a lot of improvisation in the studio.

Absolutely. To me, that's what music is. There are some of us who are really trying to hold on to the past and that organic way a song comes together. I'll present my idea for a song, my chord, and melody and idea. Then I let the professionals do their thing. Steven Perkins is a gifted drummer and I really don't like telling him what to play. I want him to contribute to it. It makes it more special and I always find out later, when I listen back to it, that the thing I like about it most is always what I had nothing to do with. It's the new creative part that somebody else brought to the table."

Can we expect the guitars on this album to be more straight forward and 'in your face' as well? I feel like that's somewhat of a staple of the ‘rock and roll' sound.

"Yes, it's a very rock 'n' roll record. If somebody wants to hear a modern touch to it, it's not really a modern record. I like what I like. I hate to put it into a class, but it's classic rock. I like the way Bad Company records sound. I like the way Led Zeppelin records sound. I guess you could say it's a modern approach because we're using modern tools but I like loud guitars and punchy drums."

What did you use for guitars on the record?

"I have, like, four that I use a lot. I have a pretty simple Gibson Les Paul Classic, with stock pickups - stock everything. It's unbelievably light for a Les Paul and it plays easily and stays in tune. The two most important things when recording, for me, is that the guitar stays in tune, and number two is playability. The sound you can always tweak in the studio. SO that's my Les Paul Classic. I have a Tele that has a little 59 in it. So it's a '62 Tele with a humbucker in it. I have a Zemaitis which oddly enough, has Filtertrons in it. Then I have a Duesenberg. So those are my four main [guitars]. I always solo with my Les Paul but for the rhythms; that Duesenberg sounds so good through my AC-30, and the Tele sounds so good through the Fender Deluxe."

Is that Les Paul the burnt one from the GN'R days?

"No, it's actually a Goldtop that looks a little beat up but it's actually fairly new. I think it's from the late 2000s. I'm pretty positive it's chambered. But yeah, it just bites and plays really nice. I still have my GN'R Les Paul and I use it sometimes but not really that often."

Did you act as producer on this record or did you have someone come in and do it?

"I produced it. I do so much production with bands - it's a language and it’s a way of communicating with musicians in order to get the best performances. I've recorded with other producers before and I do like that but no, I think it's more of a financial thing. Those days of having a quarter of a million dollars to hire a producer and do a record, those days are gone. So I do it myself and I don’t think I'm missing anything by having myself produce it. I think it helps that I rely on the other musicians that I'm working with to contribute. I think it works pretty well. The guys I work with are so good. If they say something, I listen. If they are saying something or making a point, it's because they care. I let some of the reigns go as far as mixing. We're not quite through the mixing stages on this album yet but I let someone else mix it for me."

So the record is in the mixing stages at this point?

"Yeah, the record is pretty much finished, I still have a couple of little tweaks to do, otherwise once the mix is finished, it's done."

Is there a song or a riff or a solo or some element of your songwriting that you're most proud of on this record? What are you most excited for your fans to hear?

"That's a good question. Yes. There’s a song on it, the title song, actually, 'The Gospel Truth,' it's got some good stuff on there. It doesn't just sound like a rock song. If it didn’t have my name on it, it could be an alternative rock song. It's got horns on it - I used Cleto [Escobedo] from the Jimmy Kimmel Show to track the horns for me. So they’re real horns. It's kind of like that old Beatles thing where every instrument is doing something - the bass isn't doing what the guitar is doing, the guitar isn't doing what the bass is doing, and the drums are doing something different, it's got horns. I think that track just sort of stands out. Every time I play if for someone I get really good feedback on it in that they say it doesn’t sound like anything else I've done."

Are there certain specific aspects of your guitar playing that you really focused on honing in since the last record?

"Definitely. As a matter of fact, the thing I worked on the most while making this record was my lead playing. Over the years, when I’m doing anything outside my project, sometimes I get hired to be the lead guitar player, sometimes I get hired to play rhythm and I've noticed, actually through some of the YouTube stuff that's out there, that when I’m doing my solo shows, when I'm singing and playing and talking to the audience, sometimes my lead playing gets sloppy. So I did make a conscious effort on this record to clean that up. So I worked on my intonation and my vibrato, and those little things are things that I made a conscious effort to work on for this record and I think it shows."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/gilby_clarke_shares_major_update_on_1st_first_solo_album_since_2003_says_he_reads_stuff_on_ug_a_lot.html

Another part of the same interview, published on March 23, 2019:
*

Gilby Clarke: When I Joined GN'R I Was a Marshall and Les Paul Guy, This Is Why I Switched to Vox

UG exclusive: "I was a Marshall and Les Paul guy, just like Slash. He had a little bit more gain than me."

During a recent interview with UG's Justin Beckner, former Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke discussed his choice of gear on his upcoming solo album "The Gospel Truth." You can read one part of the chat below.

I’ve noticed that the classic style of rock and roll bleeds into your gear selection. In an age where everyone is going to these modeling amps – the Kempers, the Fractals, etc, are you still sticking with the analog gear in the studio?

100%. There are no Kemper on the record. I like the Kempers. I just produced a record for a band and we used a Kemper for the direct sound. But no, my album is all analog amps. Oddly enough, for me, [my rig] hasn’t changed. On my left side is usually a Les Paul through my 50 watt [Marshall] JMP and the other side is my Tele through an AC-30 or my Fender Deluxe. Some things really don’t change much for me?

When did that figuration come together?

Well, oddly enough, I’ve always been a Marshall JMP guy ever since I was a kid. I have pictures of me at 17 years old playing a Les Paul and a Marshall JMP. I always used AC-30s in the studio when I was recording. Somebody had one in a studio and I always thought it was a Beatle amp, I always thought if you wanted a clean sound, you go with an AC-30.
   
When I was in there, I turned it up and found that it had a beautiful saturated distortion with a lot more midrange. So when I joined G&R, I was a Marshall and Les Paul guy, just like Slash. He had a little bit more gain than me. Sometimes on stage if we both hit the same chord, I couldn’t tell who was hitting what.
   
So I switched over to VOX AC-30s during the G&R years. It really helped me separate my sound from his on stage and in the mix out front. So that is what really started the whole other side of my using AC-30s. When I was working with Slash in the studio, I couldn’t plug a Les Paul into a Marshall, I would just sound a lot like him. So I always used an AC-30 or, on The Spaghetti Incident?, it’s a ‘62 Fender Deluxe on pretty much the whole record.

Was there ever a talk when you started playing with Slash about one of you switching to a Tele and doing the old tried and true Les Paul/Tele combo that so many classic bands have done over the years? Was there ever a conscious effort to separate your tones in some way?

On my side, yes. On Slash’s side, I don’t think he really cared. But on my side, absolutely. Even though he had more gain, there is still that sonic frequency. But if you run it into an AC-30, it will cut through a bit better.

I feel like you just walked into an amp store and grabbed the three most iconic amps and you’re blending them all now.

It’s funny, I spent some time at my repair guy’s shop yesterday because I had my 50 watt JMP repaired yesterday. He had repaired it and I got it back and I didn’t like it so yesterday we spent hours going through tubes and changing out power tubes. He showed me what difference that makes in the sound. He was saying that people bring in all kinds of amps. I told him, ‘there are only three amps. There’s a Marshall, a VOX, or a Fender, as far as I’m concerned.’

Those are the classics and they’re classics for a reason, I suppose.

And look, I’ve got no problem with modern music. Music needs to move along and change. If we all liked the same thing it would be boring. I just know what I do and what I like and hopefully after all these years, you get better at what you do. I’m just another choice for listeners out there."

So, those were the amps you used in the studio. Did you change anything else up, using different guitars or effects?

Absolutely. I actually love putting a pedal in from of my amps, even if it’s just for a little more gain or a tonal change. For my live rig, I use the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food for solos or even if it’s just a little bit of a harder song that needs a little more gain. But in the studio I use a lot of different things. I love that Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal that works great with almost anything. A good old green Tube Screamer works great with anything. I tried the new Seymour Duncan 805 pedal and that was really nice. I had a lot of fun working with that. I also used the new SoloDallas pedal. That thing was great. I ended up using that a lot, especially when I was using my Marshalls. That’s an odd one. It’s kind of hard to describe what it does, but to me, it has a little more bass harmonics to it. When I play my Marshall, my Bass [setting is at] 4. That pedal adds this bass harmonic to the low end that’s really nice.

That’s the Schaffer Replica pedal, right?

Yes, exactly. The Schaffer replica. That’s such a fantastic pedal, especially if you play Marshalls.

Do you play through a wireless? Because if I’m not mistaken, that pedal is trying to replicate the old Schaeffer wireless units.

That’s exactly it. Back in the early days, all they had [for wireless] was the Schaeffer. But it had a gain stage to it to make up for the signal loss and that’s what that was. Angus Young got so used to it that he actually recorded with his wireless which is an odd thing. I’ve never tried the Schaffer wireless but I’ve tried the pedal version and it’s great.

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/gilby_clarke_when_i_joined_gnr_i_was_a_marshall_and_les_paul_guy_this_is_why_i_switched_to_vox.html

Part 3 of the interview, published on April 8:

*
Gilby Clarke Says He Became a Les Paul Player Because His Main Guitar Was Stolen, Shares Advice for Young Guitarists

UG exclusive: "By the time I got it back, I was so used to my Les Pauls, I just couldn't go back after that."

During a conversation with UG's Justin Beckner, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke talked about guitar stuff, explaining how he ended up playing a Gibson Les Paul, sharing words of advice for young guitarists, and more.

You can check out a part of the interview below.

What was your first guitar and what were some of the first songs that you learned how to play?

"Wow, that's a great question. I have to try to remember back that far... Let's just say my first real guitar was a Les Paul Standard. I had a black Les Paul Standard. To me, Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page, Peter Frampton, those were the players who were big when I started playing. So those guys all played Les Pauls. Peter Frampton had, probably the best-looking Les Paul so I got one that looked just like it except it didn't have three pickups. That was my first main guitar that I had. I actually had a couple of guitars stolen when I was really young. I was a big fan of Rick Derringer and he had a BC Rich Mockingbird Supreme. Man, I worked at a music store and I must have worked for, like, six months to pay off that guitar and oddly enough, it was stolen. I was playing on stage. I had just swapped it out for a song for a Gibson Melody Maker that I had just got. I looked back and my Mockingbird was gone. It was a real venue too, not just, like, a backyard party. Oddly enough, I got it back, like, five years later because it was such a unique guitar. It turned up at a pawn shop and my friend saw it and got ahold of me. So I went down there with the police report and everything and got the guitar back five years later.

That's always a heartbreaker, to have a guitar stolen. It's so great to hear about people being reunited with them, though.

"Yeah it is, and even today, guitars aren't cheap. You don't just go in and flop the credit card down often. So yeah, like I said, I had to work for, like, six months, five days a week, to pay for that thing."

Do you still have it?

"No. Oddly enough, by the time I got it back, I was so used to my Les Pauls, I just couldn't go back after that, I was just a Les Paul guy at that point."

A lot of our readers are people who are in the early stages of learning guitar. So, for the kid who just bought his first real guitar and they want to learn to play, what sort of advice would you give that kid?

"Once again, that's another great question. I think the best gift a guitar player, be they young or professional, can do, is listen. Listen to your surroundings. I think that, because guitar players often have this machismo alpha thing where they want to show off, the best thing they can do is listen to their surroundings. Learn to fit in. If you notice all the good guitar players, the guys we all really admire, are the guys who listen. They don't have to be on stage with five other guitar players showing off, they have that confidence. David Gilmour made a career out of that one magic note, you know? So I think listening is key, whether you're going to a jam night or whatever. I'm not saying fit in [as in, conform] but find your place within the music, don't go in so headstrong - more often than not, it's an ugly situation when you go in like that."

You've had a chance to play with so many amazing guitar players through the years, some of whom, I would imagine, are the players who inspired you to pick up the guitar. What are some of the important lessons that you've learned from listening to those people and playing with them?

"Wow, I think it's just how unique the good ones are and what made them who they are. It's all so different from what's out there today. I've had a chance to play with [ZZ Top's] Billy Gibbons quite a few times and sit down and play guitar and just talk and stuff like that. He just goes against all odds. When you listen to what influenced him, which was like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, he really doesn't play like any of those guys. He uses the lightest strings possible and has the highest gain amps possible, and he's the best rock/blues guitar player there is. So yeah, just appreciating those guys and their uniqueness and how they aren't like everybody else and how they didn't take the normal course of action to get to where they were."

Let's not forget that you, yourself are a guitar player that a lot of people look up to. What sets you apart from other guitar players?

"That's a hard one to answer about yourself. We just did a run of dates with my band and I'm always surprised - look, I'm not Slash, I'm not Jeff Beck, I'm not anywhere near those guys. But people are always surprised by my tone. It's not that dirty, it's not that saturated. Honestly, I'm using a different amp almost every night when we're doing these fly-in dates. So I have to deal with what I have when I get there."

From what I understand, you were a songwriter from the very beginning.

"Yes, that's true."

Were there any cover songs that you tried to learn right off the bat?

"Yeah, oddly enough, when I first started playing, when I heard Rush's '2112,' it blew my mind, because before '2112,' I was all about Led Zeppelin, KISS Aerosmith, Alice Cooper. So, when I heard '2112,' I was just, like, 'What the fuck is going on here?' I thought I learned it at the time but now, all these years later I look back and think, 'What the hell was I playing' but I [made an attempt] to figure that one out. I thought I had it at the time but man, I was way off."

Do you think it's possible to find your own unique tone while playing cover songs?

"Yeah, I think you can. Once again, all these things we're talking about come with maturity. As you're playing guitar, like we were talking about before, there are so many guitar players out there who just don't listen. They think they know it all, they think they have it all, and they often walk into a jam and think, 'Oh, I'm better than that guy,' and that confidence can be damaging. But I think if you can really listen to that cover song, even modern music, like listen to a John Mayer song and listen to his approach to it. It can teach you so much about songwriting and tone and all of those things."

That's good to hear because that's how I learned and that's how most people at UG learned, by looking up their favorite songs from GN'R and stuff like that.

"Yeah, well, that's a great way to learn as long as you have the maturity to do that. As long as you walk in feeling like you have something to learn, that's a great gift. Like I said, I'm in my mid-50s and making another record and I'm still learning things."

How do you define success as a musician?

"Wow, that's a hard one. I think as a musician, just being recognized for who you are and not just the band you came from and songs you wrote, but really for who you are. I really think that's success. Money and financial freedom is a great thing, but anyone who has achieved it will tell you it's really such a small part of it. Satisfaction comes from so many different things."

Are you going to tour again with Kings of Chaos? I know you missed the last tour.

"Yes, I'll be doing the Kings of Chaos stuff that's coming up in June, so yes, I'll be doing some more of that."

As far as your progression as a musician, what would you say is the biggest difference between Gilby Clarke in 2003 and Gilby Clarke today?

"I think as a musician, I'm definitely a better guitar player. I think early on in my career I was coming from the Keith Richards and Johnny Thunders school of guitar playing, which was very rock-n-roll. As you get a little older, you start fine-tuning things. YouTube has changed things. For all our lives and careers, we were relying on ourselves - we were the creative aspect. We weren't really listening to other people to cultivate music. We were creating it. Now, with YouTube, you can go back and watch and see what Jimmy Page did. It's not just hearing it, it's being able to watch and know that's what he did. So, as a musician, I think my playing has gotten better, I think it's gotten more defined. I think as a songwriter, lyrically, I've gotten better. Early on, I was into the artsy aspect of it. I was almost trying to confuse the listener by twisting things around, lyrically. Now, I’m a little bit more straight forward."

Gilby is gearing up to present his first solo album since 2003, titled "The Gospel Truth." The record will be out later this year.

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/gilby_clarke_says_he_became_a_les_paul_player_because_his_main_guitar_was_stolen_shares_advice_for_young_guitarists.html