By Meltdown | WRIF
When I hopped on the line with Mike Mostert from In Theory, he was just coming off a 16-hour studio session down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama—a town legendary for its deep music roots. “I started around 2 in the afternoon and didn’t get home until 6 in the morning,” Mike told me. “It throws your whole clock off.”
But Muscle Shoals is exactly where Mike wants to be. “There’s probably more studios in a 10-mile radius than anywhere else in the world,” he said. Not bad for a guy who started in New York, spent years in California, and is now soaking up the bluesy Southern rock energy.
And that energy is all over In Theory’s sound. When I asked Mike how he’d describe the band to someone unfamiliar, he didn’t hesitate:
“We’re like a modern Zeppelin or a swampy Soundgarden,” he said. “Our singer Tony Cavino has this Chris Cornell thing going on… but with the range of Robert Plant. And being here in Muscle Shoals, I can’t help but soak in the blues.”
Enter: Eric Gales
Their newest single is a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You”—featuring none other than guitar legend Eric Gales.
So, how do you get Eric Gales to play on your track?
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Mike laughed. Turns out, the connection came through bassist Victor Wooten. “Eric’s been one of my idols for years. I was supposed to meet him through Victor, but I couldn’t make the camp because I take care of my parents two weeks out of every month. So I reached out when Eric was playing near my parents’ place—and he told me to come to soundcheck.”
And just like that, the magic happened.
“Eric said, ‘F*** soundcheck—let’s do something.’ That was October. By December, we were in the studio together.”
Mike didn’t waste any time pulling a band together. “I brought in Glenn Sobel from Alice Cooper, Joe Hart from Jason Isbell’s band, and Clayton Ivey, who’s one of the original Swampers,” he said. “It had to be perfect.”
They even tracked the bass parts remotely using AudioMovers, with Joe Hart playing just down the road due to COVID precautions.
“We recorded his parts from half a mile away, and I monitored them in real time from the studio. It was insane.”
Not Just a Cover
You might think they stuck close to the original Zeppelin blueprint—but this one’s got a twist. The inspiration actually came from a Europe live performance of the same track—with an orchestra.
“I’d been practicing that version on YouTube,” Mike said. “But even that wasn’t locked to a grid. So we had to completely rebuild the timing. Our singer had to re-track the entire song in an hour. First take. And he was pissed. Which is why it sounds amazing.”
As for the guitar parts, Eric and Mike didn’t bother mimicking Jimmy Page.
“We didn’t do the classic Page licks,” Mike explained. “Our note choices were our own. Some of my lines have that Beatles ‘I Want You’ vibe. There’s even early Queen in there. But it wasn’t on purpose—it’s just what came out.”
Up Next in Part 2: Mike talks working with Vinny Appice and Tommy Henriksen, a powerful connection to Angel and his late brother, and how In Theory’s new album came together with the help of some rock legends.
