Mr. Big’s Eric Martin Talks Of The Band’s Beginning, The Latest Album, And ‘The Big Finish’
Mr. Big is on their “Big Finish” tour and makes a stop in southeast Michigan at District 142 in Wyandotte on May 30th. The video interview is below, and you can listen to the audio-only conversation on my Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown podcast which you can listen to here.
Mr. Big From The Start
Eric told me the entire story of how the band started after his solo career had seemed to fizzle out in the late 80s. He spoke of meeting Billy Sheehan, a guy who he didn’t know about. It was interesting to hear how the pieces came together to form Mr. Big. He said his friend Mike Varney hooked him up with Billy, “And, he goes, well, “Billy Sheehan, do you know who that is?” And I go, I swear to God, I mean, not a clue. I wasn’t in the world, you know? I go. “Yankee Rose video.” Is that that guy from you know him? And I barely even knew Steve (Vai). I was, but, I mean, I knew who David Lee Roth was, so he goes, yeah, well, “He’s not in David Lee Roth anymore, and he’s looking to start a band. I played him some of your music.” He admitted to not knowing who Paul Gilbert was either. He said he saw him in a guitar magazine “And it was Paul Gilbert sitting at a kitchen table with a robe on, looking at a Wheaties box of him playing guitar, and he’s eating cereal. And I thought, “Oh, man, this guy’s got a good sense of humor. I could, I could work with that.” Even though he was a shredder, they formed a bond that remains to this day.
New Mr. Big Drops On July 12th
Eric had a lot to say about the upcoming album. Their 10th record Ten drops on July 12th. He told me how he and Paul recorded demos for all the songs. “We mapped it out perfectly,” he said. Eric talked of starting from scratch on this album and the reason for doing so. “This is the first time, ever in Mr. Big’s career that I wasn’t there. I did the demos. I wrote the songs and demos with Paul. He played bass guitar, drums, and some background harmonies with me. And we mapped it out perfectly, and he was basically the musical director. I had to go to Japan for some corporate, solo shows and, they were on Instagram and they took a picture and they were like, they were so happy. And I’m thinking maybe because I wasn’t there. I don’t know.”
Jay Ruston produced this album, as Eric explained to me why they went with the rock producer. “I liked what he did with the last Winery Dogs album…that record was slick”. Jay has worked on many rock albums in the last decade.
I also grabbed a couple of questions from some of his solo bandmates, PJ Farley and Jason Hartless. Those questions made for a few laughs.
Check out the complete interview below, and catch them at District 142 on May 30th….see you there!
