Extreme Interview

The Gauntlet: Hey Gary, how's everything?

Gary: Doing well and you?

The Gauntlet: Busy but good. I took a look at the new Extreme DVD "Take Us Alive" and must say I love you guys on the smaller stage.

Gary: Thanks. I think that for me after playing all different sized stages that theaters are the best. They keep the band nice and tight and closer to the audience. With arenas and stadiums you really can't connect as you are so far removed.

The Gauntlet: What made you finally get around to doing a DVD?

Gary: That is the question as we are a band that prides ourselves on being a live performance band. We did document the "Pornograffitti" shows in '91 but we never put it out. We changed managers and the band slowly broke up. We never pulled it together with that. Someday that footage will come out. We never knew we would be doing it again 13 years later. We now hope to be documenting every tour we go out on even if it is on a club level.

The Gauntlet: Extreme broke up just as the internet was starting to become mainstream. What is it like returning to this new world?

Gary: In '95 the internet certainly wasn't what it is now. It was there but no MySpace or Facebook. I don't even think Napster was started yet. If you are around long enough there is always change. Kids now don't know what 45's are. Kids now don't even buy CD's. Those are for people our age. Kids download songs, not albums. Sometimes I think putting out a long playing album is dating yourself. I wonder how we would have been if we had this growing up? I get lost on Youtube looking up old Queen footage. Two hours later I am wondering where the time went. They have stuff I grew up on but never saw. The good thing is kids can find some good stuff like Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, but there is so much bad stuff too.

The Gauntlet: I think if there internet was around when I was younger I wouln't have gotten into as many bands and the ones I did get in to I wouldn't have had as much of an appreciation for them. It took me 3-4 weeks of doing chores to get enough money to buy a cassette, two hour bike ride to go down to the record shop. That was it for me for the entire month. If I didn't like it, the next band wasn't a click away.

Gary: That is a great point. We grew up in an era where you'd wait for the Queen record to come out and that was your world. You were loyal to that band and if you liked them you'd go back and collect their old albums. It is almost like baseball and free agency. No one is loyal to a team anymore, they are now loyal to a player. This generation is being dumbfounded by the amounts of information that is out there. I don't know how kids can even stay on a subject. They are getting hit from all sides. Now don't we sound like our parents?

The Gauntlet: I know...it is awful. There is also a live CD of the performance?

Gary: Yes, originally it was going to accompany the DVD. But now it is our first official double CD. I am excited as the bands I grew up on like Aerosmith and Kiss have double live CD's and now I got mine. I actually think that on the tour when we were playing the old material we were playing the material better than we did on the albums originally. We were much younger and greener back then. I think now we just blow that stuff away.

The Gauntlet: Have you ever thought about going back and re-making an album?

Gary: Umm..I don't know. Nuno and I have talked about not being able to listen to some of the early CD's as far as production. What motivated the band to get back together was creating new music. Right now the focus is on us playing live. There is a whole generation of people that have not seen us live. Not that we feel obligated to play the old material, we enjoy it.

The Gauntlet: Being gone 13 years you have to have this whole new generation of fans at this point.

Gary: When we started the tour in Europe, we almost thought we were going to have some older fans but by the time we got on the road and played the first couple shows, we were elated that there were 17 year old kids there. It is a new world for us to discover. Bob Dylan is a new artist to a kid now or [David] Bowie. There is so much out there from us now and kids get turned onto us from things like Guitar Hero. There is a new generation of kids to tap. It reminds me of when Aerosmith had their second coming with "Permanent Vacation". They turned on a whole group of people who didn't even know the old Aerosmith. They don't know it is music from daddy's generation. There is a purity to it.

The Gauntlet: What went into the song selection for the DVD?

Gary: On tour I am usually putting the setlists together. For me it is always about balance. If you overload an audience with too much new material they will end up going to the bathroom. We keep their attention with material that they know. It is a balance of the catalog. Not that we have a lot of records but we want to touch on each record. Some songs work live. It is funny as no matter what we do live, we will always play more material from "Pornograffitti" as it is the most popular. For the last show and DVD we tried to throw on everything from the tour. We did a medley from the first record. We stayed away from the covers. On the tour we did a nod to Michael Jackson but we didn't put that on as there was enough Extreme material. We didn't change our mindset or anything because we were recording.

The Gauntlet: Are you tired of "More Than Words"?

Gary: Extreme is in a unique position as this is our return after 13 years. We have no problem playing any of the material. I remeber in '94 and '95 we were tired of doing that material. We wanted to move on. I don't think that was the right thing to do though. We have to remember we are playing for our fans and the majority of people haven't seen us live before, especially now when we haven't been around for 13 years. You don't bite your nose to spite your face. In 95 we were sick of More Than Words but not on this tour. A lot of the people at the shows now were kids when More Than Words came out. It was actually one of the highlights of the show. That song became a duet with me and the audience. We enjoy it. I think a lot of our attitude back then, especially with me and Nuno. We didn't appreciate the moment. We were always looking to the next song or the next record. To Pat [Badger] and Paul's [Geary] credit, they would tell us we should enjoy the moment more. This time around, we are really enjoying the opportunity to play. Now will I be jaded in five years? Will I be pissed about playing More Than Words again? Maybe.

The Gauntlet: What is next?

Gary: Nuno is doing shows with Rhianna and rehearsing to go on tour this year. We talked about doing a week or so for the 20 years since "Pornograffitti" came out. Whether or not that happens is up to the Rhianna schedule. The plan is to do a leg this year with Extreme. As far as writing goes, Nuno and I are always writing separately. When we come together we will put some stuff together. I may go out to LA and do some pre-production with Nuno. We will definitely have some new material next year.

The Gauntlet: Were you writing a lot for Extreme during the hiatus?

Gary: Yeah, I had different solo projects. There were always lyrics or songs and Nuno would say the same, that this was an Extreme song. In a way, when Nuno and I get together, anything can be an Extreme song. We truely try to keep it honest and where we are at and what inspires us at the time. When Nuno and I are writing, then it is an Extreme song.

The Gauntlet: That is true. There really is no single Extreme sound. Where does the diversity come from?

Gary: Nuno and I will start the songs and when we bring it to pre-production then everyone will contribute. I think it is basically what we grew up on. I mentioned The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Queen certainly influenced us. It was their philosophy. Queen is probably the best example. Those four players up there doing it with a rock song, a piano track, a cabaret song, etc. Those are the bands that really inspired us. We don't really think of those bands though, we just try and create. It can also be a song on the radio from a newer band that can inspire a song. I can't say enough about Nuno. The kid is brilliant. I can't keep up with him. He has it coming out of his pores and is unbelievable to watch. We were doing pre-production for the last album and i'd take a cigarette break while Nuno was tuning his guitar. By the time I'd come back in, he'd be working on another song at the piano. I'd pull out a lyric and we'd go. It is tough to keep up with him. I have never seen anything like it. [pauses] I take that back. I have seen something like it before. I got to see Eddie [Van Halen] do the same thing. Eddie was also a guy that I couldn't believe what would come out of him musically. You'd be in awe watching these guys.

The Gauntlet: You were fortunate enough to sing with two of the best guitarists of our time.

Gary: I know...I am blessed. I took a lot of hits in Van Halen but I wouldn't trade it for the world. You don't run across this inspiration very often. I consider myself very lucky to have done it twice and to have collaborated with Nuno. I am not trying to sound humble or anything but it is tough to keep up with those guys that are truly brilliant. They are both different though and have different ways. Eddie was more of an absent-minded professor. Nuno knew what he was going for. Eddie was just absent-minded until he put on a guitar. That was his language. He's a little out there but brilliant.

The Gauntlet: In the 80's it was common place to shuffle guitarists around a bit. Did you have to fend off any advances early on to keep Nuno from going on to bigger things before Extreme hit it big?

Gary: That seemed to be the norm then. Maybe not on Nuno's level, but you know the guitar players from bands. Extreme was funny though. Even though we came from that era we never really fit in. We were never really a party band even though we had songs that leaned towards that. There were offers for Nuno to play with Janet Jackson and another from Ozzy Osbourne at the time. We were all for that. That meant Extreme's profile would have been higher if Nuno jumped on the road with Ozzy. Nuno more than anybody didn't want to leave Extreme. It was as much his band as it was mine and the other guys.

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Tags:  Extreme, Van Halen , Gary Cherone, interviews

Jason Fisher    April 02, 2010