Interview with Billy Sherwood (Yes, Circa, Nektar)
Interviewed by Kevin Pollack
Recently I spoke with musician/producer extraordinair Billy Sherwood about his brand new solo album The Art of Survival.
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RCM: How did you get involved in music?
Sherwood: My parents were both entertainers and so it was a natural progression to follow in their footsteps.
RCM: How did you get approached for Nektar’s new album?
Sherwood: They are signed to the same record company that I work for on other projects.
RCM: How did the idea for your new album come to be?
Sherwood: Watching a lot of news and getting inspired to write about it all… There have been some major events in the last few years geo-politically speaking.
RCM: What were the influences behind the new album?
Sherwood: Global affairs… and the desire to explore ways to talk about them without telling people what to think, rather just to ignite the thought process and conversations.
RCM: How do you have time to take on so many projects like Circa, The Prog Collective, etc?
Sherwood: I love music. I work on music all the time and in my own studio where the clock doesn’t matter as it may for others trying to get things done in a particular time frame. This allows me to work whenever I like, which is a lot.
RCM: What artists to you listen to on a regular basis?
Sherwood: I have my favorites, Weather Report, XTC, Genesis, Gentle Giant, and a lot of the stuff I grew up with. I am a creature of habit in my musical choices for personal listening pleasure.
RCM: Who are your musical influences?
Sherwood: Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis , Gabriel, The Police, Sting, XTC, Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Jeff Beck… and a bunch of others, too many to mention.
RCM: Would you ever write a new Conspiracy record?
Sherwood: Chris and I have spoken about it, but it comes down to schedules and at present geography. I live in LA and Chris no longer does. That alone makes the process tricky. That said you never know… we shall see.
RCM: How did you get into producing?
Sherwood: Quite by accident… Started out with an artist who needed an engineer to translate my musical vision. That changed when I began engineering my own and other peoples projects, the producer role fell into place rather naturally afterwards. Being able to engineer sound and shape a project is a big part of the producing process.
RCM: What collaboration was the most memorable for you?
Sherwood: Recording Malcolm McDowell at my studio/home for the “Back Against The Wall” project. He perfomed “The Trial” and did a great job. I recall thinking as he was doing it… that’s the guy from “A Clockwork Orange” out there in my iso-room, how cool is this!!!
RCM: What is the difference between your last album What Was the Question and The Art of Survival?
Sherwood: I think The Art Of Survival is structured in a more conpectual manner… every track relating in some way back to the “The Military Industrial Complex”, which is the 1st track and sets the stage for the rest of the record. In the writing for “What Was The Question” there are more personal driven themes, but there are a few world affairs related tracks I had touched on and I knew I wanted to explore further… “Counting The Cables” and “Free World On Fire” for instance were the precursor for TAOS.
RCM: What do you have next in the works?
Sherwood: Writing the next “Prog Collective” record and actually have the entire frame work for it tracked and sounding very cool!! Also working on a CIRCA: LIVE CD which will be made up of various recordings from various gigs we have played recently. In addition to that, I am finishing a band called “XNA” who’s debut CD will be coming out soon… and also another band I am producing called “Days Between Stations”. I work with new bands/artists all the time. I encourage people to reach out to me if they are in need of production, mixing or whatever I can do to lend a hand in. I am very active on facebook (Billy Sherwood HQ http://www.facebook.com/billy.sherwood.54?ref=tn_tnmn) and admin my own page. I have been introduced to new bands in this way and have ended up working on a bunch of cool new projects as a result… as I always say, don’t be shy, come to my page and say hello, if I can help in any way to further the cause of music getting out there it’s a good thing!!
Important Links:
http://www.billysherwoodhq.com/ (online store) http://www.circahq.com/ (online store)